John D Calandra Italian American Institute

Our new exhibit "Built in the Neighborhood: Italian American Boxers from Cleveland" opens Friday June 5! We need your help identifying the individuals in this photo. Know anyone? On far left is boxer Tony Brush whom the park in Little Italy on corner of Random and Mayfield Roads is named for. We need to know the others. Thanks!!!

Turning 35 years of the Italian American Writers Association into 35 more When the Italian American Writers Association (IAWA) was first imagined in 1989, it began with a simple but revealing question. The late Robert Viscus

“Joseph Negri was born in Pittsburgh on June 10, 1926, and began hitting the strings at age three on ukulele while singing. Immediately a hit on local radio, Negri soon became a Pittsburgh musicians union member throughout his teens. He served in the U.S. Army for two years, and in 1943 toured the States for several years with big band leader Shep Fields and His Rippling Rhythm Orchestra.”

https://www.jazztimes.com/features/tributes-and-obituaries/joe-negri-guitarist-composer-handyman-from-mister-rogers-neighborhood-dies-at-99/?v=0b3b97fa6688

Congratulations to Dean Anthony Julian Tamburri for receiving the Award for Leadership in Italian American Studies at the Sons of Italy Foundation’s 37th Annual National Education & Leadership Awards (NELA) Gala last Thursday at the Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center in Washington, D.C.

The award recognizes Dr. Tamburri's decades-long career of research and publications which have made him a leading voice in the Italian and Italian American Studies academic communities. We are grateful to celebrate his work at the Calandra Institute, Queens College, CUNY, and the global community of Italian American scholars.

Photos courtesy of OSDIA / Varner Creative