Insana, Lina
(2023)
Interwar (Be)longing: Transnational Currents and Small Ethnic Philanthropy between the US and Italy.
In: Pitt Momentum Fund, 16 Oct 2023, University of Pittsburgh.
Abstract
How did Italian immigrants use institutions (beneficial societies, newspapers, long-term cultural commemoration projects) to negotiate their positions between cultures and nations? What was the role of icons of italianità such as Dante, Columbus, and Marconi in the mediation of interwar, diasporic Italians’ feelings of belonging to Italy and the US? The leadership of these institutions and projects was typically in the hands of prominenti—well-resourced men who wielded significant power in their communities. And yet, a century on, identitarian initiatives such as Columbus memorials are often mythologized as emerging from laborers who (according to this narrative) collected nickels and dimes at picnics and after mass to realize costly commemorative projects. As such, this exploration of institutional philanthropic practices and the mediating historical figures that were often associated with them, either implicitly or explicitly, must consider the class-coded activities that these institutions sponsored (parades, picnics, literary readings, cultural lectures, banquets, and the like). This research aims to explore the institutions and icons that mediated interwar belonging in North American Italian "colonies,” through the lens of a range of philanthropic practices ranging from what I call the “small philanthropy” of immigrant clubs and società, to the larger philanthropic habits of cosmopolitan elites.
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