L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2016 www.italoamericano.org 4 LOS ANGELES ITALIAN COMMUNITY 1 908 is a crucial year in L.A.'s Italian-American history for at least two reasons. F irs t of all, in that year L'Italo-Americano was founded by the cultured F lorentine, Gabriello Spini. Secondly, in that same 1908, it was built the Italian Hall in Downtown L.A., as a focal point of gathering w ithin the then flowering "Little Italy." Beside reading about the his- tory of the numerous surges of Italian immigrants in Southern California - on our newspaper as well as on several specialized bibliography – since the inaugu- ration of the Italian American Mus eum of L os Angeles (IAMLA) on August 14 th at the newly restored Italian Hall, it's finally possible to learn about the Italian-Americans' achieve- ments and downfalls across the decades, through its interactive and multimedia exhibits. The museum's permanent collection consists of seven indi- vidual exhibitions arranged chronologically and thematical- ly: Italy's Im pr int on Nor th Am er ica and the Am er ican Wes t; Pioneer s ; Settlem ent; Italian Hall; Dago!; Italians in Hollywood; and Culture. Adjacent to the display cases, there are state-of-the-art video installations, featuring hundreds of rare and never-before-seen images and his torical docu - ments. If you are unable to physical- ly reach IAMLA, its permanent exhibition content is also show- cas ed online via G oogle Cultural Institute. VALERIO VIALE IAMLA's Executive Director, Marianna Gatto The newly inaugurated IAMLA in DTLA teaches us about our common past Dear readers, I hope you'll forgive a brief digression, just to s ay th at a precious copy of L'Italo-Americano - dating back to early 1900's – is stored inside one of the display cases. We have to thank historian, author, educator, but above all IAMLA's Executive Director, Marianna Gatto for having tire- lessly spearheaded a long and exhausting advocacy campaign to bring the Italian Hall back to its original splendor. Now that her brainchild is fully operational, we endorse her hopes to build a stronger Italian- American community in L.A., around a common past made of radiant successes in all fields, in spite of deeply rooted prejudice and discrimination against our ancestors. What is your cultural back- grou n d ? How w as you r u p b rin gin g in an I talian - American household? I'm Marianna Gatto, historian of the Italian-American commu- nity as well as executive director of the Italian-American Museum in Los Angeles (IAMLA). My family from my father's side emigrated from Lago, in the province of Cosenza, Calabria, and Lucca Sicula - province of Agrigento, Sicily - to the US in the late nineteenth/early twenti- eth century. Growing up, we did not speak Italian at home, only s ome dialect at times . M y father, Joseph Gatto, and grandfather w ere largely res pons ible for teaching me Italian and Italian American values, such as the importance of family and hard work, a love for good food, and a respect for history and communi- ty elders. The struggles of my grandpar- ents, and the stories I heard from so many others, inspired my commitment to this project, to unearthing and preserving this history. Your book, Los Angeles's Little Italy, came out in 2009. What are the major takeaways from it? The idea behind my book is to provide readers with the back- ground information about the Italian-American presence in Los Angeles. Most people thinks of Italian immigration in the city as a phe- nomenon of 1940s up until the '60s. Truth is that the first set- tlers came in California around 1820s, when the state was still under Mexican control. My main focus is to commu- nicate the invaluable contribu- tions by Italian-Americans to this region. This newly inaugurated per- manent exhibition is hosted in historic building itself for the Italian-American community, the Italian Hall. What is its his- tory? In what way was your advocacy campaign to restore the building challenging? The Italian Hall was built in 1908, in what was then the core of Little Italy, that later on expanded to incorporate the neighborhood equivalent to today's Chinatown (including Saint Peter's church). Other two strongholds of the Italian-American community, documented in our exhibition, are Lincoln Heights and San Pedro. The Italian Hall was used as a gathering place, until in the early The Italian American Museum of Los Angeles (IAMLA) was inaugurated on August 14th at the newly restored Italian Hall Continued to page 5

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