L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 22 L'Italo-Americano W h e n w e t h i n k o f I t a l i a n i m m i - gration to the US, our thoughts i m m e d i a t e l y g o t o t h e sunny shores and hills of Southern Italy and we're not making a mistake, real- ly: of the 9 million people w h o a r r i v e d t o A m e r i c a from the Belpaese between 1880 and 1915, about 70% was from the South. B u t b e l i e v i n g t h a t Northerners weren't intere- sted in realizing their very o w n A m e r i c a n D r e a m would be wrong. Towards the end of the 19th century, m o r e a n d m o r e f a m i l i e s from Veneto, Piemonte a n d F r i u l i V e n e z i a - G i u l i a especially, made their way to the other side of the pond and started a new life. What many of us perha- ps don't know is that, in t h o s e y e a r s , a n o t h e r n o r t h e r n r e g i o n , o n e k n o w n f o r i t s b e a u t i f u l mountains, considerably contributed to the growth of the burgeoning Italian- A m e r i c a n c o m m u n i t y : Trentino. A little known reality, but very influential and of immense value for the heri- tage of Italians in the US: this is why it's a pleasure for L'Italo-Americano to g i v e s p a c e a n d v o i c e t o V i n c e n z o M a n c u s o , documentarist and mind b e h i n d t h e T r e n t i n i Americani project, fully dedicated to the Trentino c o m m u n i t y i n t h e U S , California included. D u r i n g o u r i n t e r v i e w , V i n c e n z o t e l l s u s m o r e about the "Italian migra- tion stereotype" mentioned j u s t a f e w l i n e s a b o v e : " W h e n w e t h i n k a b o u t I t a l i a n i m m i g r a t i o n , w e a l w a y s t h i n k a b o u t t h e S o u t h , b u t t h e e a r l i e s t migrants, in the 19th cen- tury, were actually from the North. Trentino, along with Veneto, contributed greatly to that flux," he explains. " T o d a y , T r e n t i n o i s one of the wealthiest regions in the country, but in the years between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 2 0 t h , a l m o s t h a l f o f i t s population was forced to migrate because of their poverty," Vincenzo conti- nues, explaining that the n e c e s s i t y t o k e e p t h e m e m o r y o f t h e s e p e o p l e and their journey alive lies at the heart of the project. " I w a n t e d t o s a v e t h i s memory: if Trentino is such a rich region today, it's also thanks to the people who l e f t t h e n , l e a v i n g m o r e space and opportunities for those who stayed." Developing this project was almost "written in the stars" for Mancuso, who had an interest in detailing FRANCESCA BEZZONE P r e s e r v i n g m e m o r i e s , s t r e n g t h e n i n g identities: the Trentini Americani project Vincenzo Mancuso (left) and Daniel Zadra-Wallace, a Trentino-Americano, in Idaho (Photo: Vincenzo Mancuso/ Archivio DocumentaFilm) LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE Continued to page 24 Selling Homes Throughout The Bay Area Adele Della Santina "The Right Realtor makes all the di昀erence." 650.400.4747 Adele.DellaSantina@compass.com www.AdeleDS.com DRE# 00911740 Expert in preparation, promotion, and negotiation!

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