L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5 2023 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D e a r r e a d e r s , October, offi- cial or not, will always be Ital- ian Heritage Month in the hearts of Ital- ian-Americans throughout the United States. Following is an assortment of Italian connections for you. *** In 2001, among the hon- ored dead at the World Trade Center on 9/11, were 343 fire- fighters, 23 police, and 37 from the Port Authority of Italian descent. *** Italians began settling in Colorado in the 1850s, and on April 1st, 1907, Colorado became the first state in the nation to establish Colum- bus Day as a legal holiday, predating the federal govern- ment's designation by 30 years. 20% of Colorado's pop- ulation claimed Italian ances- try by the early 1920s. *** October 4th is the feast of St. Francis of Assisi. Francis was born in Assisi in 1182 to a prosperous mer- chant family. He was a lively young man, said to have been carefree and liberal, so much so that his family was happy to see him go soldiering for Assisi. His experience as a soldier, followed by impris- onment and a serious illness, led to his dramatic conver- sion. He disappointed his parents by utterly rejecting the family business and, in fact, renouncing all wealth. Francis embraced a life of extreme poverty and encour- aged others to join him. He responded to God's call by f o u n d i n g t h e M e n d i c a n t Order of Friars, now called t h e F r a n c i s c a n s . H e a l s o helped another female con- vert, Santa Chiara, found the Poor Clares. Francis died at the age of 44 from illness. San Francisco is named in his honor and the S a n t a C l a r a V a l l e y i s named for his dear friend and fellow convert, St. Clare. *** In a desolate valley outside Eureka, Nevada, lies the common grave where five Italian charcoal burners were shot dead in 1879 while strik- ing for better wages on the burgeoning mining frontier. Their names were Giovanni P e d r o n i , M a r c e l l u s Locatelli, Teodoro Zesta, Pompeo Pattini and Anto- nio Canonica. For over a c e n t u r y , t h e i r p l i g h t w a s practically unknown. Silvio Manno rescued them from obscurity with the 2016 pub- lication of his book, Charcoal and Blood: Italian Immi- grants in Eureka, Nevada, a n d t h e F i s h C r e e k M a s - sacre. The Fish Creek Mas- sacre is considered the first act of violence against Italian immigrants in America. *** L u c i a n o P a v a r o t t i , tenor, was born in 1935, on October 12th, the day former- ly known as Columbus Day t h r o u g h o u t t h e U n i t e d States. He was born in Mode- n a , I t a l y , a n d b e g a n h i s career to critical acclaim as R o d o l f o i n P u c c i n i ' s L a Bohème in 1961 in Reggio Emilia. *** October comes from the L a t i n w o r d o c t o , " e i g h t , " because this had been the eighth month of the early Roman calendar. *** Judge Victor M. Campi- longo passed away peaceful- ly on October 1st, 2022, at his h o m e i n S a n R a f a e l , s u r - rounded by his loving family. He was 94. Born to Biagio ( B i l l ) C a m p i l o n g o , a n d Josephine Cellilo Campilon- go, and raised in San Francis- co, he graduated from Galileo High School in 1945. He then matriculated to the Universi- ty of San Francisco, and grad- uated in 1949 with a B.S. in political science. He married his one and only, Lucille Bur- rafato, in 1950, and the cou- ple had three children. He was commissioned as a sec- o n d l i e u t e n a n t i n t h e U S Army Reserves in 1949 and was called to active duty dur- ing the Korean War in 1951 and 1952, where he served as a heavy gun battery comman- der. In October of 1952, he returned to active reserve duty and retired honorably in July 1979, after 30 years of s e r v i c e , w i t h t h e r a n k o f colonel. Victor received a US doctoral degree from San F r a n c i s c o L a w S c h o o l i n 1958, and practiced law in San Francisco until he was appointed to the San Francis- co Municipal Court in 1970. In 1972, he was elevated to the San Francisco Superior Court, and by 1989, he had become the presiding judge of the Appellate Division. Vic- tor had was also an officer in Advancing our Legacy: Italian Community Services CASA FUGAZI If you know of any senior of Italian descent in San Francisco needing assistance, please contact: ItalianCS.org | (415) 362-6423 | info@italiancs.com Italian Community Services continues to assist Bay Area Italian-American seniors and their families navigate and manage the resources needed to live healthy, independent and productive lives. Since Shelter-in-Place began in San Francisco, Italian Community Services has delivered over 240 meals, over 900 care packages and made over 2000 phone wellness checks for our seniors. the Justinians, the Italian- American Judges' Order. *** S t . P e t e r a n d P a u l Church celebrates the 139th year of its existence. In San Francisco, North Beach's main church opened for busi- ness in 1884 and commemo- rates its birthday in October. *** The San Francisco, Cal- ifornia, earthquake struck shortly after 5 p.m. on Octo- ber 17, 1989, disrupting a World Series baseball game, which was about to begin, and collapsing a busy free- way and dozens of homes and buildings, including Joe D i M a g g i o ' s h o m e i n t h e marina. *** Antonio Meucci owned a candle factory on Staten Island, where Garibaldi was once employed. He tinkered with inventions of all kinds a n d i n v e n t e d a n e l e c t r i c apparatus that could trans- m i t t h e h u m a n v o i c e . H e could not afford the cost of a patent, and so took out a caveat in 1871, which was renewed in 1872, 1873, and 1 8 7 4 . H e p r e s e n t e d h i s d e t a i l e d p a p e r s o n h i s teletrofono to the V.P. of the American District Telegraph Company of New York, who promised to have his tele- phone tested, but he never did. When Meucci requested the return of his papers, he was informed that they had b e e n l o s t . G r a h a m B e l l obtained his patent in 1876, f i v e y e a r s a f t e r M e u c c i ' s caveat. Meucci lost his case. The case was appealed, but unfortunately, Meucci died before it came up for hearing in 1891.

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