BUON COMPLEANNO, FRANK SERPICO

I was reminded that April 14th was the 90th birthday of Frank Serpico, the heroic NY cop who fought racism and corruption in the late 1960s.  (Note: If you go to the Almanac icon on our website and click on “April,” you’ll learn that on that...

Another Italic First

The two oldest man-made objects standing outdoors in our country are from Italy. Balbo Column, Chicago One is the Balbo Column in Chicago, a gift from Mussolini to commemorate the mass flight across the Atlantic by 24 Italian seaplanes in 1933.  The other,...

A NEW YORK—AND ITALIAN—STATE OF MIND

It’s been nearly a year since a papal conclave elected a new pope: Cardinal Robert Prevost—from Chicago, no less. Both of his grandfathers were Italian.  Frank and Bill for their morning brew The Italic Institute of America had its own informal conclave...

Our Inner Pagan

Today is celebrated as Little Easter in Italy, a recovery from yesterday’s religious blow-out. For those of you who think that Catholicism saved the ancient Italic people from their pagan ways, think again.  It’s a question of theory vs practice.  Peter and Paul...

Going Wobbly

Now that a statue of Columbus adorns the White House grounds, thanks to a non-Italic president, our community leaders should take the hint and redouble their efforts to restore the Great Navigator’s place in history.  However, I fear that many who speak for our...

CHICAGO, CHICAGO, THAT TODDLIN’ TOWN

Institute members may recall that in 2007 we initiated, co-produced, and supervised the first-ever, full-length (60 minute) documentary on the history of Italians in Chicago called, appropriately, And They Came to Chicago: The Italian American Legacy. It was shown on...