Thirty-One Days of Italians
Celebrating Italian heritage by acknowledging the accomplishments
of Italians and Italian Americans in America
The purpose of this website is
to educate others about the
significant contributions that
those of Italian heritage have
made to America.
Biographies range from one to
several paragraphs providing
an overview, and links to a
collection of selected
resources are provided for
more in-depth research.
The information is intended to
be shared and distributed;
however, the work in this
website is a result of massive
hours of researching,
organizing, creating, and
writing. If you use any of the
information on this website,
please give proper credit by
citing Thirty-One Days of
Italians and adding a link
to this website. Thank you.
jtmancuso@earthlink.net
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without permission except when published with this credit:
Excerpt from Thirty-One Days of Italians, ©2024 Janice Therese Mancuso.
At publication, all links were active.
Copyright 2007-2024
Janice Therese Mancuso
LITERARY
Helen Barolini (1925-2023)
Called the Dean of Italian American Writers, Helen Barolini, author of more than fifty
literary works including her classic novel Umbertina, was skillfully adept in depicting Italian
American culture from a woman’s point of view. The granddaughter of Italian immigrants,
Barolini traveled among cultures after her marriage to an Italian journalist. She has
received numerous awards, among them “Best American Essays” (twice), the Society for
the Study of Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States (MELUS); “Lifetime Achievement
Award”, “Sons of Italy Literature Award”, and Americans of Italian Heritage “Literature and
the Arts Award.”
For Umbertina, published in 1979, Barolini, received the “Women in Literature” Award from
the American Committee on Italian Migration. The book has been a mainstay in college
classes that examine women and culture, and Umbertina was reissued in 1999. Barolini
traveled between the United States and America, conducting seminars about Italian
American culture.
Helen Barolini: Life Story
NEW Remembering Helen Barolini: Chronicler of Italian American Women
NEW Umbertina Summary
NEW Italian American Woman Writer Helen Barolini: The Dream Book
Italic Identity - Chapter IV: Italicity by Helen Barolini [PDF]
Helen Barolini Papers [Syracuse University]
NEW Helen Barolini: An Inventory of Her Collection at the Harry Ransom Center
John Ciardi (1916-1986)
Poet laureate, etymologist, awarded numerous honors, and namesake of the award which
honors poets for their significant contributions to Italian American poetry, John Ciardi was
the son of Italian immigrants who migrated to Massachusetts.
In 1938, he graduated Magna Cum Laude from Tufts University, and as a recipient of the
Avery Hopwood Award for poetry, he attended the University of Michigan. In 1940,
Homeward to America, his first book of poems was published. Ciardi taught at Harvard
University and Rutgers University, wrote 21 books of poetry, 16 volumes of children’s
poetry, hosted a radio show on NPR for nine years, and is well known for his translation of
Dante’s Inferno, among many other accomplishments.
Daniela Gioseffi (1941)
Born in New Jersey and surrounded by a large Italian family on her father’s side, Daniela Gioseffi began her diverse career as a
peace activist and journalist, moving to classical acting, and then teaching and writing. She received several scholarships and
grants, and while attending Montclair University, her early poetry was published in the campus literary magazine. Gioseffi’s first
collection of poems, Eggs in the Lake, was published in 1977, and since then she has published four more collections, a novella, a
novel, and short fiction.
Winner of numerous literary awards and grants for poetry and performance poetry, Gioseffi has traveled throughout the United
States and Europe, reading and lecturing from her works, and she has been interviewed on television and radio stations, including
BBC and NPR. She has published reviews, conducted interviews, is an active member of many literary associations, and the
founder of several Web sites. In 2007, Gioseffi received the "John Ciardi Award for Lifetime Achievement in Poetry." In 2002, her
verse was engraved in marble in Penn Station.
Author and Activist: The Daniela Gioseffi Story
Daniela Gioseffi Biography
Poets & Writers: Daniela Gioseffi
Poetry Foundation: Daniela Gioseffi
Poem: A Longing So Complete
R.A. Salvatore (1959)
With over 30 million copies of his books sold and 22 on The New York Times best-seller lists, fantasy and science fiction author R.
A. Salvatore has created a special genre of fiction, capturing the imaginations of readers worldwide. Most of his books are series –
the popular Forgotten Realms and DemonWars Saga – and his works have been translated into 14 languages. Among the 19 sagas,
other series include The Legend of Drizzt, The Icewind Dale Trilogy, Neverwinter Saga, and Paths of Darkness.
In college, Salvatore switched majors from computer science to journalism after reading J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. He
wrote his first manuscript in 1982, and held other jobs until he began writing full time in 1990. A collection of his work at his alma
mater, Fitchburg State College in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, includes numerous manuscripts and papers from published and
unpublished works.
In American Library Association regional conferences, Salvatore has given talks on why young adults are interested in fantasy and
adventure fantasy. His first novel, The Crystal Shard, was published in 1988, and set a course for a career as a prolific writer. Other
projects include stand-alone novels; writing the story for the video game Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone, among others; the first
– Vector Prime (and several subsequent books) – in the Star Wars series of novels; and collaborating on stories for comic books.
R. A. Salvatore Website
R. A. Salvatore [Macmillan Publishers]
Forgotten Realms [Bibliography]
Dungeons & Dragons’ The Legend of Drizzt
Fantastic Fiction
Giovanni Schiavo (1898-1983)
Cited by many as the person most responsible for initiating Italian American studies, most notably in history, Giovanni Schiavo was
born in Sicily and migrated to America in 1915. He attended John Hopkins University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in
1919, and attended Columbia University and New York University for graduate studies in economics and banking. He worked on the
editorial staff of several newspapers and in 1934 started Vigo Press, established to publish his works on Italians in America.
Schiavo wrote a collection of books focusing on the Italian influence in America that included The Italians in Chicago Before the
Civil War (1934), The Italians in America Before the Civil War (1934), Philip Mazzei, One of America's Founding Fathers (1952),
Four Centuries of Italian-American History (1952; republished in 1993), Antonio Meucci: Inventor of the Telephone (1958), and
The Italians in America Before the Revolution (1976).
In 2005, a two-story brick building – built in 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri for an Italian restaurant and residence – was accepted in
the National Register of Historic Places. The architect and builder Louis Scatizzi collaborated with the owner of the property and
restaurateur Armando Pacini in designing the building, and the prominent architect was featured in The Italians in Missouri (1929),
written by Schiavo. In the registration form for historical recognition, Schiavo’s book was cited as a resource; and the application
itself gives an historic overview of the lives of Italian immigrants in the early 1900s.
The library of the American Italian Cultural Center (in Metairie, a suburb of New Orleans) houses the Giovanni Schiavo Collection,
the complete works and research materials. Many of Schiavo’s books are available from numerous online sources.
NEW Giovanni Schiavo, The Pioneer of Italian American Studies
Guide to Giovanni E. Schiavo Papers [PDF - Center for Migration Studies]
Giovanni Schiavo and Professor Rudolph Vecoli: Their Legacies
Four Centuries of Italian American History [Scroll down for searchable PDF - Italic Institute of America]
Who Stole Meucci’s Invention? Excerpt from Antonio Meucci: Inventor of the Telephone]
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form [Pacini, Armando, Restaurant]
Pietro Di Donato (1911-1992)
Best known for his 1938 novel, Christ in Concrete – which was later made into the 1949 Venice Film Festival award winning
movie, Give Us This Day – Pietro Di Donato became a bricklayer at 12 years old to support his family after his father died in
a construction accident.
Basing Christ in Concrete on his father’s death, it first appeared as a short story in Esquire magazine and two years later
was released to critical acclaim, besting Grapes of Wrath as the Book-of-the-Month Club selection. Christ in Concrete was
praised for its prose and its ability to convey the realism of an Italian immigrant family coming to terms with the culture of
America.
Pietro Di Donato Website
Italian American Narrative: a Study in Pietro di Donato's Fiction
Violence of the Job: The Plight of the Immigrant in Pietro di Donato’s Christ in Concrete
Christ in Concrete and Catholicism
Pietro di Donato Collection [Stony Brook University]
Pietro Di Donato Papers [University of Minnesota]
John Ciardi Biography [Poetry Foundation]
John Ciardi’s “Divine” Legacy
Poet John Ciardi
John Ciardi Transcript
John Ciardi: Edged Out by the Beat Generation
Rebroadcast on origin of the phrase “Great Scott” (npr.com; 1985)
College of Men at Rutgers 1954 Address
John Ciardi Collection [Stony Brook University]