Italian American Heritage Month: We Are Everywhere!

 

Italian American Heritage Month: Frank Stella

Frank Stella is an Italian American painter and printmaker, whose work is recognized in the “post-painterly abstraction” art movement. His early works showcase many elements of minimalism, which is why he is also considered by some as a minimalist, although most of his later artworks do not strictly follow minimalism. 

He is best known for his use of geometric patterns and shapes in creating both paintings and sculptures. Stella is arguably one of the most influential living American artists: his works utilize the formal properties of shape, color, and composition to explore non-literary narratives.

Born on May 12, 1936, in Malden, MA, Stella went on to study history at Princeton University before moving to New York in 1958. Having moved to the city, Stella was immersed in the heyday Abstract Expressionism, but it was the work of Jasper Johns that inspired Stella’s Black Paintings of 1958-1960.

Stella’s art was recognized for its innovations before he was twenty-five. In 1959, several of his paintings were included in Three Young Americans at the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College, as well as in Sixteen Americans at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (1959–60). Stella joined dealer Leo Castelli’s stable of artists in 1959. In his early series, including the Black Paintings (1958–60), Aluminum Paintings (1960), and Copper Paintings (1960–61), Stella cast aside illusionistic space for the physicality of the flat surface and deviated from the traditional rectangular-shaped canvas.

Today, Stella’s works are held in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Kunstmuseum Basel, the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Tate Gallery in London, among others.

Italian American Heritage Month: Adriana Caselotti

Adriana Caselotti was born into an operatic family. 

Her father Guido, an immigrant from Italy, taught music in New York City. Her mother Maria, originally from Naples, sang at the Royal Opera. Her sister Louise was a noted opera singer & voice teacher. 

At 18, she was chosen by Walt Disney to voice Snow White in his first full-length animated feature Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs (1937). He had been looking for a fresh as well as natural voice and asked her father if any of his students might be suitable. Upon hearing Adriana's voice, he realized his search was over. 

In the days of studio contracts and indenture, Walt wanted to keep the mystery of Snow White's voice, so except for a bit part in The Wixard of Oz (1939), she didn't do any other film work but later she did some voice over work. When comedian Jack Benny wished to have her appear on his radio show, Walt refused as he owned the voice and it couldn't be used anywhere else. 

She tried opera singing, invested in real estate and the stock market while living a full life.

Italian American Heritage Month: Robert Venturi

 

Italian American Heritage Month: Giulianna Tesoro

Did you know that there was a famous woman inventor who obtained more than one hundred and twenty-five patents? Her name was Giuliana Cavaglieri Tesoro, and she helped to make great strides in the field of fiber and textile chemistry. Many of the fibers you use today and textiles you wear would not have been possible without her.

With a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Yale University, she was able to work in many areas of chemistry for industrial companies. She also held a position as a research professor at Polytechnic University in Brooklyn, New York.

Through her work and research, she developed processes to prevent static accumulation in synthetic fibers, designed flame-resistant fibers, pioneered improved permanent press properties for textiles and discovered ways to make new manufacturing projects run at peak operation and efficiency. Tesoro held her more than one hundred twenty-five patents in areas related to organic compounds and textile processing.

Like many women working in technical fields during her time, she entered a profession that was often male-dominated. Her accomplishments demonstrate persistence, expertise, and the ability to succeed through dedication to research and innovation.

Italian American Heritage Month: Alicia Keys

Before the world knew her as Alicia Keys, she was Alicia Augello Cook — born in Manhattan on January 25, 1981. Through her mother, Teresa “Terri” Augello, her family roots reach Sciacca, a seaside town in Sicily’s province of Agrigento. Her maternal ancestry also includes Calabria: an Italian connection woven into her African American and European heritage.

Raised by her mother in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen, Alicia began piano lessons at seven. Her mother worked hard to support them while encouraging her daughter’s love of music and performing — helping a childhood passion become a lifelong calling.

Her breakthrough came in 2001 with Songs in A Minor. Blending classical piano, soul and R&B, the album introduced a remarkable young songwriter to the world. “Fallin’” became her signature breakthrough, and in 2002 she took home FIVE Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist and Song of the Year.

Then came songs that became part of so many people’s lives: “If I Ain’t Got You,” “No One,” “Empire State of Mind” with Jay-Z, and “Girl on Fire.”

Today, her achievements include 17 Grammy Awards. In 2025, she also received the Recording Academy’s Dr. Dre Global Impact Award, recognizing her influence beyond music. Her creative journey has even reached Broadway through Hell’s Kitchen, inspired by her own New York upbringing.

From a little girl at the piano to an artist heard around the world, Alicia’s story brings together talent, determination and the many roots that shape an American life — including a family connection to Sicily

Italian American Heritage Month: Joe DiMaggio

Before he became an American legend, Joe DiMaggio’s story began with a Sicilian family and a journey across the ocean.

His parents, Giuseppe and Rosalia, came from Isola delle Femmine, a fishing village near Palermo on Sicily’s northern coast. For generations, the DiMaggio family had earned its living at sea. In California, they continued that tradition, building a new life far from the island they had left behind.

Joe was born on November 25, 1914, in Martinez, California, the eighth of nine children. He grew up in San Francisco’s North Beach, a neighborhood shaped by Italian immigrant families, close to the fishing boats of Fisherman’s Wharf.

His father hoped his sons would become fishermen. Young Joe had other ideas. He disliked cleaning the boat and the smell of fish, and the neighborhood baseball fields offered a welcome escape. What began as a way to avoid chores became the beginning of an extraordinary career. His brothers Vince and Dom would also become Major League All-Stars. (joedimaggio.com, baseballhall.org)

Joe joined the New York Yankees in 1936 and spent his entire Major League playing career with the team. Known as “Joltin’ Joe” and “The Yankee Clipper,” he became famous for his powerful hitting and the effortless grace with which he covered center field.

In 1941, he recorded a hit in 56 consecutive games—one of baseball’s most celebrated achievements. Here’s a detail even some fans may not know: in 1933, while playing for the minor league San Francisco Seals, he had already put together a 61-game hitting streak.

He finished his Major League career with 2,214 hits, 361 home runs and a .325 batting average, earning his place in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955. (baseballhall.org)

Across 13 seasons, DiMaggio won nine World Series championships and three American League Most Valuable Player awards. He was an All-Star in every season he played.

For Italian Americans, his success carried meaning far beyond the scoreboard. At a time when immigrant families and their children were still confronting prejudice, a son of Sicilian immigrants became one of the most admired figures in America. Seeing the name “DiMaggio” celebrated across the country offered a powerful sense of recognition and belonging.

His connection to Italy continued throughout his life. He visited relatives in Isola delle Femmine and took part in efforts to promote baseball in Italy, bringing the sport that had changed his life back to his family’s homeland. (transatlantictransfers.polimi.it)

Beyond baseball, his marriage to Marilyn Monroe and his place in popular culture made him recognizable to people who had never watched a Yankees game. Simon & Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson” helped carry his name to another generation. (baseballhall.org)

From a Sicilian fishing family to Yankee Stadium, his life connects two shores through migration, ambition and opportunity.

American born. Italian roots. A remarkable chapter in the Italian-American story.

'The Mob' On Hulu? No Way! Take It Down NOW!

The Italian American One Voice Coalition (IAOVC), America’s largest independent Italian American anti-bias organization, today condemned Hulu’s new reality series The Mob for its demeaning and hurtful portrayal of Italians and Italian Americans through the tired mobster and mafioso stereotype. The series is packed with mob references, threats of violence, and casual talk of “wacking” people. By filming in Italy, The Mob ties that stereotype to the Italian people and the Italian homeland, as if being Italian and being a mobster were the same thing. IAOVC demands that Hulu answer for it.

“This is not entertainment. It is ethnic stereotyping, packaged and sold for ratings,” stated Andre DiMino, President, IAOVC. “The title alone says it all. The Mob. And they filmed it in Italy, so the message to the viewer is that Italy and Italians equal organized crime. Imagine a network green-lighting a reality series that reduced any other people and their homeland to criminals, thugs and buffoons. The outcry would be immediate, and the show would be pulled. Yet when it is Italians and Italian Americans, the entertainment industry shrugs, laughs and cashes the check. Why does political correctness vanish the moment the target is Italian?”

Filmed in Italy, and Turning a Nation of Culture Into a Criminal Backdrop

Italy gave the world Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Dante, Galileo, Verdi, Puccini, Marconi and Montessori. It gave the world the Renaissance, opera, and some of the finest cuisine, fashion, engineering and design on earth. Hulu and the producers of The Mob chose to take cameras to this land and use it as the setting for a show built on mobsters and violence. 

That choice goes beyond one program. It tells American viewers, and a global streaming audience, that Italy is a place of mobsters, and that Italians at home and abroad are criminals or wannabe criminals. It hits Italian Americans especially hard, because the ties of family, heritage and ancestry that bind them to Italy become raw material for a cheap stereotype. 

A Double Standard the Industry Refuses to Admit

Hollywood and the streaming giants say they are committed to inclusion and respect, and they apply those standards loudly and rightly to other communities. Italians and Italian Americans are left out of that protection. For decades they have been acceptable targets, and The Mob is the latest example.

The series trades on the same worn-out formula:Mobsters and mafiosi as the defining image of Italian and Italian American identity
Casual talk of violence, including threats to “wack” people, played for laughs
Bimbos and buffoons as the supporting cast of a so-called Italian world
Italy itself as the stage for the stereotype.

“This is not harmless fun,” DiMino continued. “These images shape how Americans and the world see Italians and Italian Americans. They affect how our children are teased in school, how our young people are viewed by employers, and how our community is judged. Stereotypes cause real harm.”

The Real Italian and Italian American Story

Nearly 17 million Americans proudly claim Italian ancestry - hardworking, law-abiding citizens, and their contributions are among the foundations of this nation:
Scientists and inventors, from Enrico Fermi, whose work helped usher in the atomic age, to Antonio Meucci, recognized by the U.S. Congress for his pioneering work on the telephone
Public servants and jurists, including Fiorello La Guardia and Supreme Court Justices
Physicians and medical researchers who have saved countless lives
Business leaders, artists, filmmakers and athletes who enriched American culture
Police officers, firefighters and military heroes, including the Italian Americans who ran toward danger on September 11, 2001, and the generations who served in World War II and every conflict since

“Our fathers and grandfathers fought on the beaches of Sicily and Salerno, built America’s bridges, tunnels and skyscrapers, and ran into burning buildings to save strangers,” DiMino said. “To reduce that legacy, and the land it came from, to a cartoon of ‘wise guys’ and ‘wackings’ is an insult to every one of them.”

Shame on Those Who Lend Their Names, Especially Those of Italian Heritage

IAOVC reserved particular criticism for cast members of Italian heritage, including Bruno Tonioli and Aida Turturro, who have lent their talent and credibility to the production.
\
“It is especially disappointing, and frankly shameful, when people of Italian heritage take part in perpetuating the very stereotype that has wounded our community for generations,” said DiMino. “They know better. They know the cost of these caricatures. To participate in The Mob gives cover to producers and executives who would never dare to do this to anyone else. We call on them to reconsider their participation and to stand with their heritage, not against it.”

IAOVC’s Demands

The Italian American One Voice Coalition calls on:
Hulu and its parent company to acknowledge that The Mob should never have been commissioned, and withdraw it from its platform.
The producers, writers and executives of The Mob to take responsibility for the stereotypes they have promoted and to meet with Italian and Italian American community leaders.
Advertisers and sponsors to reconsider their association with content that demeans an entire people.
The entertainment industry to extend to Italians and Italian Americans the same respect and sensitivity it demands for every other community.
Viewers everywhere to speak out. Do not watch. Do not share. Do not subscribe. Contact Hulu and demand better.

“We are done being the punchline,” DiMino concluded. “Italians and Italian Americans have earned respect, not ridicule. Hulu made a mistake by getting involved with The Mob. We will not be silent. We urge every American who believes in fairness to join us in saying: ENOUGH.”

About IAOVC

The Italian American One Voice Coalition (IAOVC) is an IRS-registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to combating defamation and negative stereotyping of Italian Americans and to promoting the community’s true history, achievements and contributions to America. IAOVC is a nationwide coalition of Italian American organizations and individual members. IAOVC membership is open to individuals and all Italian American organizations to join together as a coalition defending and celebrating Italian American heritage and culture. To join visit iaovc.org/membership.

IAOVC issues a free email newsletter, “The Alfano Digest.”. The Digest issues alerts on instances of bias, stereotyping, discrimination, and defamation. It contains informative Italian American cultural, educational and heritage information. To request the Alfano Digest at no charge, fill out the form on iaovc.org.

Italian American Heritage Month: Kaylub Giamanco

🚨 HERO - Kaylub Giamanco, the Concealed Carrying Father in Bend, Oregon who grabbed his Handgun and took out the Silver Rail Elementary School Shooter last week, just told his story for the first time. 👏 While driving past the school around 1:00 PM on his way home for lunch, Mr. Giamanco saw a 16-year-old Gunman dressed in black fire a Shotgun outside the school and climb over the fence toward the building. Giamanco pulled his legally owned .40-Caliber Handgun from his truck console, called 911 as he pulled into the parking lot, and told the dispatcher: "I'm sorry, I have to go in. People are going to die." "I started hearing children pleading for their lives, and then I started hearing gunfire. And I just started army crawling faster and faster. And I told myself, this is probably the last thing that I'm ever going to do." "I crawled through the bottom window that was shot out and continued onto the rug inside where there's a little breezeway with stairs. And then the special needs classroom was to my left. At that point, I was on the ground on my hands and knees. I re-racked my weapon to make sure that a live round came out so that I knew that I was ready to go." Police say the Maniac Shooter still had roughly 44 Shotgun Shells left when a brave Teacher tackled him and Giamanco ended the threat for good. Both that fearless Teacher and Kaylub Giamanco are TRUE American Heroes who saved countless children's lives—Giamanco (and the teacher) should receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom IMMEDIATELY! 🇺🇸 Every time anti-gun Democrats lecture law-abiding Citizens that nobody "needs" to carry a firearm, remember what happened in Bend while they have armed security. CONCEALED CARRY SAVES LIVES! 👏🏽 https://t.co/VN4bm4kDlI

— Jay Costa (@JayCostaUSA) October 23, 2026

Italian American Heritage Month: Tuto Il Mondo!

 

Italian American Heritage Month: Antonio Meucci

Antonio Meucci gave the world a way to hear the people it loves from far away. He couldn't even afford the twenty dollars it took to protect his own invention.

Meucci was born in the San Frediano quarter of Florence on April 13, 1808, the oldest of nine children. He studied mechanical engineering and chemistry at the Accademia di Belle Arti starting at age 14, working odd jobs to pay for it because his family couldn't.

By his twenties he was working as a theater engineer, eventually landing at Florence's Teatro della Pergola, where he built a basic acoustic tube system to communicate between the stage and the control room. That job took him and his wife, Ester, to a theater in Havana in 1835, and then to Staten Island, New York, in 1850.

Most inventors chase a breakthrough to get rich or get famous.

In 1854, Ester's rheumatoid arthritis had gotten so severe she could barely leave her third-floor bedroom. Meucci built her something else entirely: a working voice connection between her room and his basement laboratory, so he could hear her call for him without climbing the stairs every time.

By 1861, that device had become a full electromagnetic telephone. Meucci built more than 30 versions of it over the following years.

He never had the money to protect any of them.

On July 30, 1871, a ferry boiler exploded near Staten Island, killing more than 60 people. Meucci was badly burned and confined to bed for three months. To cover the medical bills, Ester sold almost everything of value in the house, including his electrical apparatus, to a secondhand dealer.

In December 1871, Meucci filed a caveat, a notice of invention, with the U.S. Patent Office. It cost twenty dollars. Renewing it cost ten dollars a year.

He renewed it twice. In 1874, he couldn't find the ten dollars, and the caveat expired.

Two years later, Alexander Graham Bell filed a telephone patent using the same laboratory space where Meucci's old materials had been stored. A patent examiner later said that if Meucci's caveat had still been active, Bell's patent never would have been granted.

Meucci spent his final years suing to prove the invention was his. A New York court ruled against him in 1887, in part because he couldn't afford a real lawyer and testified in broken English. He died on Staten Island on October 18, 1889, at age 81, without ever getting the credit or a single dollar from it.

Every immigrant who has ever watched someone else get paid for their idea because they couldn't afford to protect it recognizes exactly what happened to Antonio Meucci.

On June 11, 2002, 113 years after his death, the United States House of Representatives passed Resolution 269, stating that "the life and achievements of Antonio Meucci should be recognized, and his work in the invention of the telephone should be acknowledged."

The house Meucci shared with the Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi on Staten Island still stands today as the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum, open to visitors who want to see where the telephone was actually born.

Some inventions get remembered by the name on the patent. Antonio Meucci's gets remembered by the wife he built it for.

H/T; True Stories

Italian American Heritage Month: Santino Ferrucci

Santino Ferrucci, the 2019 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year, completed his fourth consecutive season with AJ Foyt

Racing in the No. 14 Chevrolet. The 2026 season marked his sixth full-time season and ninth overall in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.

At 16, Ferrucci became the youngest winner of a British Formula 3 race and later competed in GP3 (now FIA Formula 3) and FIA Formula 2 before returning to the U.S. in 2018 to race in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and NASCAR. He has also competed multiple times in the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals. In 2025, he finished 16th in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES standings, with a best finish of second at Detroit; his career-best points finish was ninth in 2024.

Off track, Ferrucci enjoys golf, online gaming and restoring go-karts, including two he still owns from his early racing days. Featured in GQ Magazine at age 11 as a karting prodigy, the Connecticut native now resides in Dallas, Texas, and lists steak and Italian cuisine among his favorite foods.

Italian American Heritage Month: Rudolph Valentino

 

Don't Say He Didn't Try To Warn Us!

As France is burning, I keep thinking of what the UAE Foreign Minister said a few years ago 👇 He accurately predicted this. https://t.co/EgQClncb2s

— Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) October 17, 2026

Italian American Heritage Month: Dion DiMucci

The seat on the plane cost $36. That was a month’s rent for his parents. So the kid from the Bronx said no.

It happened in February 1959 in Clear Lake, Iowa. Singer Dion DiMucci was 19, on a winter tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper. The tour traveled by bus. A small plane was chartered for the next leg. He was offered a seat.

But $36 was exactly what his parents paid every month for their apartment in the Bronx. He couldn’t do it. He took the bus.

On February 3, 1959, the plane crashed. Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper and the pilot were killed. Dion was alive because he could not bring himself to spend his family’s rent.

He had grown up in Belmont, the Italian neighborhood of the Bronx, around Our Lady of Mount Carmel. His father, Pasquale, was a vaudeville entertainer. Dion taught himself guitar when he was 10. With the Belmonts, and then on his own, he became a star. “Runaround Sue.” “The Wanderer.”

But there was something the hits didn’t show.He had been drinking since he was 12. By 14, he was using heroin. The fame didn’t stop it. The crash didn’t stop it. “You know they didn’t have grief counseling in the Bronx,” he said years later.

One person stayed. Susan Butterfield, his sweetheart since his teens. They married in 1963. In his memoir, he wrote that she had “a high tolerance for unacceptable behavior.” But even Susan had a limit. She told him she could not stay and watch him destroy himself.

On April 1, 1968, he got down on his knees. “I got on my knees and asked God for help,” he said. He has not had a drink or a drug since. That same year, he recorded “Abraham, Martin and John,” a song for the leaders America had just lost. It brought him back to the charts.

And he kept going. In 1989, he entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He came back to the Catholic faith of his childhood. He has reached out to men fighting addiction, including men behind bars. Today he writes about recovery with his friend Adam Jablin, a man he has known since Adam was 12. “We are in recovery together,” Dion says.

Every Italian family in the Bronx had a mother like his. The rent money counted out on the kitchen table. Every dollar meant something. Nobody wasted it on a plane.

Dion DiMucci is 87. He and Susan have been married for more than 60 years. In June, he walked onto a stage in Greenwich Village and played a sold-out show. He told the crowd about the $36. He told them about his sobriety. “In the last five years, I have written 40 of the best songs of my life,” he says.

Dion DiMucci said no to a plane seat because it cost his parents’ rent. He said yes to sobriety on his knees in 1968. He has been sober for 58 years, and he is still singing. 

Italian American History Month: Constantino Brumidi

 

Italian American Heritage Month: Adam Carolla

Adam Carolla (that's his actually name, his dad was Italian American) is best known as a comedian, actor, radio personality, television host, and New York Times best-selling author. 

He currently hosts The Adam Carolla Show, which holds the Guinness Book of World Records for the most downloaded podcast. Adam started The Adam Carolla Show podcast from his home office in February 2009. The podcast now receives more than 30 million downloads a month and has been featured in Fast Company Magazine, Entrepreneur, The New York Times, and The Los Angeles Times.

After years of “digging ditches and swinging hammers” on construction sites throughout Southern California that led to a job rebuilding a boxing gym, Adam traded that for an opportunity to coach boxing. Little did he know this would lead to a fateful meeting with Jimmy Kimmel, which would officially put him on the path to comedy stardom.

After joining Kimmel on KROQ’s hit morning show, Adam launched his national comedy career on the syndicated radio program Loveline with Dr. Drew Pinsky. MTV developed a television version of the show, which was co-hosted by Adam and Dr. Drew for five seasons (1996–2000). With Jimmy Kimmel and creative partner Daniel Kellison, Adam created and starred in two hit Comedy Central shows, The Man Show (1999–2003) and Crank Yankers (2002–2005).

He later took that construction acumen into the television world with TLC’s The Adam Carolla Project, which saw him and old construction buddies remodeling and flipping his childhood home; Spike TV’s To Catch a Contractor where he busted shady contractors and made them fix their shoddy work; and Adam Carolla and Friends Build Stuff Live where he coached celebrity guests on various DIY challenges.

Adam became a New York Times best-selling author when his book, In 50 Years We’ll All Be Chicks, topped the charts for ten weeks. The audio version went straight to the #1 position on iTunes. He has since written five more books including New York Times best-sellers Not Taco Bell Material and President Me.

Adam also co-wrote, produced, and starred in two independent feature-length films: The Hammer (2007) and Road Hard (2015), a crowdfunded comedy that raised over a million dollars in a single month. Through his venture Chassy Media, he produced the inspirational documentaries Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman, Uppity: The Willy T Ribbs Story, and The 24-Hour War, which documents the battle between Ford and Ferrari in the 1960s for racing dominance at Le Mans.

Along with hosting his daily podcast, Adam headlines clubs, theaters, and casinos nationwide as a stand-up comic touring his particular brand of commonsense comedy that aired as his first stand-up special on Fox Nation in the winter of 2025.

Italian American Heritage Month: Elise Stefanik

Elise Marie Stefanik proudly represents New York's 21st District and is in her sixth and final term as the most senior elected Republican in New York, having decided not to seek re-election. 

Elise learned, lived, and understands the values of hard work, perseverance, determination, and grit. Her mother is of Italian descent. As the first member of her immediate family to have the opportunity to earn a college degree, Elise graduated with honors from Harvard. 

From 2006 to 2009, Elise served in the West Wing of the White House on President George W. Bush’s Domestic Policy Council Staff and the Chief of Staff’s office where she assisted in overseeing the policy development process on all economic and domestic policy issues.

It is the highest and most humbling honor of Elise’s life to represent Upstate New York and the North Country in Congress. She is proud to work tirelessly every day to bring a new generation of leadership to Washington on behalf of her district’s hardworking families, small businesses, farmers, students, seniors, service members, military families, law enforcement officers, and veterans. She is unapologetic about fighting every day to give her constituents a seat at the absolute highest levels of government.

Elise lives in Schuylerville with her husband Matt and their young son Sam. They are proud to call Upstate New York – the cradle of the American Revolution – home.

She is currently the Chairwoman of House Republican Leadership. At the time of her first election, Elise made history as the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. She continued this historic rise and went on to serve as the highest-ranking woman in Congress as House Republican Conference Chair, where she was the youngest woman in history to serve in top elected House leadership. Elise has consistently won historic re-election victories, often by the largest margin of any Republican in the Northeast and consistently earning the most votes in the history for any congressional candidate in the North Country.

Hailed as "a star" by President Trump, Elise served on the Intelligence Committee during impeachment hearings and played a leading role as a member of President Trump's Impeachment Defense Team. Elise is widely recognized as one of the most effective questioners in Congressional hearings - most notably when she set off a global reckoning addressing antisemitism in higher education. Her questions to Ivy League university presidents forced multiple resignations and set the record for the most viewed Congressional testimony in history, with billions of views worldwide. Due to this strong moral leadership and her extensive policy record, Chairwoman Stefanik is an internationally recognized leader in combating antisemitism.

In 2024, Elise was featured on Time Magazine's 100 List as one of the 100 most influential leaders in the world. Previously, she was profiled on Time Magazine's Next 100 List. She has been named many times to Washingtonian Magazine's Most Powerful Women in Washington List. Elise was included in Fortune Magazine's 40 Under 40 list for many years and was named among the top most powerful leaders in New York in City and State.  Elise was awarded the Distinguished Civilian Service Award by the United States Army, the highest honorary award granted by the Secretary of the Army. 

Elise also founded and launched the political organization E-PAC to increase the number of Republican women serving in Congress which helped make history electing the highest number of Republican women ever by nearly tripling their representation in the House.As the first member of her immediate family to have the opportunity to graduate from college, Elise earned her B.A. from Harvard. At Harvard, she was selected as an Undergraduate Fellow for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

She is unapologetic about fighting every day to give her constituents a seat at the absolute highest levels of government.

Italian American Heritage Month: Filippo Mazzei

 

Italian American Heritage Month: Bobby Darin

Bobby Darin’s voracious desire for show business fame was fueled by a sense that the sword of Damocles was always hanging over him. Darin was born Walden Robert Cassotto on May 14th, 1936 in the Bronx to a family of very modest means.

At an early age Darin developed rheumatic fever which damaged the valves of his heart. He was a frail and sickly boy, and normal stickball in the streets or roughhousing with other kids his age was just not possible for him. He was however a very bright and gifted boy and his “mother” Polly realized this early on. Polly was a Vaudeville performer in her youth and she encouraged Bobby to explore music and to read constantly.

Music played a big part in the Cassotto household in Bobby’s youth. By the time he was in his early teens he could play the piano and drums. With Polly’s love and encouragement and with a deep desire to make Polly proud, Bobby began to plan and work towards his dreams.

Bobby attended the prestigious Bronx High School of Science which only very gifted students could attend. After graduation he attended Hunter College but dropped out after one semester. He concluded that college was not the path for him and he would “fight the fight in the streets to achieve his show business dreams.” He began to write songs and sing demos and hung around the famous Brill Building, which was the epicenter of music and creativity in New York City at that time.

The musical gods shined on Darin as a recording session on April 10, 1958 produced a song that would go to number 3 on the charts. ”Splish Splash” was written by Darin in 15 minutes after a half-joking dare from disc jockey Murray the K Kaufman’s mother. Other hits soon followed such as “Queen of the Hop,” and the beautiful Latin-flavored tune he wrote “Dream Lover,” which sold over a million copies and went to number 2 on the charts. With regular appearances on the Dick Clark and Ed Sullivan Shows and regular touring gigs, Darin began to fulfill the dream he and Polly had mapped out.

The 1959 album “That’ s All” launched Bobby Darin into another level of artistry, global fame and critical acclaim. “Mack the Knife” reached number one and stayed there for 10 weeks and sold over two million copies. “Beyond the Sea” reached number 6 and may be the most well known Darin song ever due to its constant usage in movies, ads, documentaries and TV shows. Darin won a 1959 Record of the Year Grammy Award for “Mack the Knife” and a Grammy for best new artist.

The early 60’s saw Darin perform to sellout crowds at the most prestigious nightclubs in the country, from the Copa in New York to the Flamingo in Las Vegas. He also began to do movies. He met his future wife Sandra Dee on the film “Come September” filmed in Italy in 1960. A seven-picture deal with Paramount showcased what a fine actor he was. His gritty performance with Sidney Poitier in the film “ Pressure Point" brought critical acclaim. His role in the 1963 film “ Captain Newman M.D.” with Gregory Peck garnered him a best supporting Oscar nomination.

In 1968 Bobby had become close with Senator Robert F. Kennedy and he campaigned for him actively. He was with the Senator the day before he was killed in Los Angeles on June 5, 1968. This stunned Bobby to the core but an even more painful chapter was about to be revealed. RFK had spoken at length with Darin about his running for political office. Darin was serious about it and when his sister Nina and “father” Charlie heard about it they had to unearth a very dark secret. Nina and Charlie feared that if Darin got into politics the press would uncover a hidden bombshell. His beloved Polly, whom he so revered, was not his biological mother but actually his grandmother. Nina, who he had known as his sister his entire life, was actually his biological mother.

This revelation emotionally scarred Darin for the rest of his life. He was angry with Nina and he felt that his whole life had been a lie. In the wake of a totally changed musical landscape, the death of RFK, and the revelation about his family, Bobby Darin sold all his possessions and moved into a trailer in Big Sur in northern California to reevaluate his life. He read voraciously, spent time with his son, and debated politics with friends who lived on the property with him.

Gone were the super polished Vegas act and the hipster swagger of a consummate showman. What replaced it was a man who was writing and singing about the issues the country was facing and what he personally was facing; turmoil. He told Dick Clark at the time that he was “lost” and that back in the day he “chose plastic when he should have chosen ethnic.”

By 1971 Darin was facing serious health problems. Throughout the 60’s he would battle heart arrhythmias and extreme fatigue. In February 1971 he underwent open-heart surgery to put in a pacemaker. The surgery was a success and he began to reemerge into the show business world again. In addition to Vegas gigs, he appeared as a guest on many TV shows of the era including the Flip Wilson Show, The Dean Martin Show and Sonny and Cher.

Darin was determined to not to be an old rocker or Vegas hipster simply to be trotted out for retirement conventions. In 1972 he got his own weekly variety show on NBC, which ran through 1973. He also had a regular gig at the prestige venue of the time, The Las Vegas Hilton which was home to Elvis and Barbra Streisand. Things were on the upswing for Bobby Darin after the tumultuous and deeply troubling times of 1967-68.

In early 1973 Darin was again having severe heart arrhythmias and exhaustion. The finest Doctors of the day could not find the cause. After wrapping his NBC TV show in May 1973 and then closing for the final time at the Las Vegas Hilton in August 1973, Bobby Darin went to LA to rest and try and get better. On December 20th, 1973 he underwent exploratory open-heart surgery. The Doctors found a massive infection in his heart and he died hours after the surgery. He left his body to medical research in the hope he could help other people. He was 37 years old.

Darin was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Songwriter's Hall of Fame in 1999, and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010. His life was portrayed in the 2004 feature film “Beyond the Sea” for Lions Gate entertainment. The 1998 PBS documentary “Beyond the Song” told his story in a poignant way with interviews from his peers, friends and family woven with footage of him performing. There have been five books written about his life. Because

In 2018 “Dream Lover” The Bobby Darin musical broke box office records in Melbourne, Australia and won a Helpmann award, the equivalent to a Tony Award in the US. Now, the new Bobby Darin musical "Just In Time" is a big hit on Broadway.