Enter NIAF's 7th Annual Photo Contest - Deadline is November 3! This year's theme is "Non Mollare" which in English means "Don't Give Up!" We are looking for uplifting images that represent your hopes and dreams during these difficult times. Our judges will choose five winners. Each will be awarded a one-year NIAF Sustaining Membership.

Visit: https://bit.ly/2Ft4fTj.

#photocontest #photography #dontgiveup #nonmollare #covid19 #pandemic #NIAF #supportNIAF ... See more

Day 29: Grucci Family, Fireworks by Grucci is one of the oldest fireworks companies in America and one of the most respected in the world, for #ItalianAmericanHeritageMonth.
In the late 1800s, Angelo Lanzetta traveled from Bari, Puglia – in southern Italy – to America, settling on Long Island, NY, and continuing with his trade as a pyrotechnician. He passed his craft along to his son Anthony who trained his cousin, Felix Grucci Sr. Today, Fireworks by Grucci, is one of the oldest fireworks companies in America and one of the most respected in the world. The company provides fireworks for all types of private, public, and corporate events, and each year, Fireworks by Grucci offers a comprehension training program for certification as a Grucci pyrotechnician. In 1929, the family relocated the business to Bellport on the south shore of Long Island. In 1940, Felix married Concetta DiDio, who, along with their three children, James, Donna, and Felix Jr. (and later, Donna’s husband Philip Butler), worked to build their fireworks company. Over the years, Felix Sr. developed a stringless shell – which prevented pieces of the fireworks from catching on fire – and pyrotechnic simulators and training devices for the U.S. military. The company started using electronic launching in 1977.

At the insistence of his son James, Felix Sr. agreed to enter the Monte Carlo International Fireworks Competition in 1979. The rules require that all fireworks must be handmade by each competitor, who must also arrange and complete the firing sequences. The Gruccis, then known as the New York Pyrotechnical Products Company, were awarded the Gold Medal – the first entrant from the United States to win the competition.

The company, and family, suffered a severe setback in 1983 when an explosion destroyed the Bellport facility and James – and another family member – were killed. The family was on the verge of closing the business, but thousands of cards and letters, along with keeping the business going in memory of James, convinced them to continue. Two years later, the company, now Fireworks by Grucci, dedicated a new plant on 80 acres in Brookhaven, just a few miles from the Bellport location.

Since then the family has provided fireworks for some of the largest and most celebrated worldwide events, among them the Olympic Games including the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China; Presidential Inaugurations, Centennials, including the Brooklyn Bridge, Queensboro Bridge, and Statue of Liberty; and the opening of the Atlantis Palm in Dubai, billed as the largest fireworks show to date.

Phil Grucci, the grandson of Felix Sr., is the fifth generation to join the family business. He started working there in his teens and is currently the President/CEO.

[Content Credit: Author, educator, and researcher Janice Therese Mancuso established Thirty-One Days: http://thirtyonedaysofitalians.com/honorary.htm]

#Puglia #GrucciFamily #FireworksbyGrucci #LongIsland #Fireworks #Bellport ... See more

Day 28: Charles J. Bonaparte, established a special investigative force that became the FBI, for #ItalianAmericanHeritageMonth
Born in Baltimore, MD, Bonaparte (1851-1921) served as Attorney General during President Theodore Roosevelt’s administration, Bonaparte established a special exploratory force that became the Federal Bureau of Investigation. With a law degree from Harvard University, Bonaparte started a private practice in Maryland in 1874. Shortly after, he became involved in civic reform to promote honesty in government and was the founder of the Reform League of Baltimore and one of the founders of the National Municipal League – now the National Civic League – and later became its president.

Bonaparte was a member of the Indian Rights Association and was a member of the Board of Indian Commissioners. He was Secretary of the United States Navy, and in 1906, he was appointed United States Attorney General, and served until 1906. It was during his term as Attorney General that he initiated the Bureau of Investigation, evolving into the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1908. Bonaparte was the great grandnephew of Napoleon. To learn about Napolean’s Italian roots, visit: https://bit.ly/34BcnuX.

[Content Credit: Author, educator, and researcher Janice Therese Mancuso established Thirty-One Days: http://thirtyonedaysofitalians.com/honorary.htm]

#italianamerican #FBI #TeddyRoosevelt #bonaparte #bounaparte #Napolean #AttorneyGeneral #Harvard #baltimore #CharlesBonaparte ... See more

RSVP Deadline is Tonight! Live & one night only, don't miss the event of a lifetime. Register now for NIAF’s Virtual 45th Anniversary Gala – https://bit.ly/2YSu1ah.

Please note that this is a live event only; there will not be a recording of the Gala shared with the attendees or the public.
#NIAFGala45 #ItalianAmericanHeritageMonth #italianheritagemonth #ItalianAmerican #NIAF #SupportNIAF ... See more

Day 27: Constantino (or Costantino) Brumidi for #ItalianAmericanHeritageMonth
Known as the "Michelangelo of the Capitol," Brumidi (1805-1880) was born in Rome and emigrated to America in 1852. In Rome, he studied art, painted frescoes in several palaces, and was commissioned to work at the Vatican. He lived in New York, then later moved to Washington, D.C. where he offered his services to paint the unadorned walls of the Capitol Building. He started painting the walls and ceilings of the Capitol in the mid-1850s and continued until his death in 1880. When Congress was in session, Brumidi was commissioned to paint frescoes for other buildings, most notably the Stations of the Cross at Church of Our Lady of the Scapular and St. Stephens in New York City. The rotunda of the Capitol, with the Apotheosis of Washington, and the frescoes and murals on the first floor of the Senate wing – the Brumidi Corridors – are among the most elaborately decorated public places in America. In January 2007, U.S. Senate Bill S.254 was proposed to posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal to Constantino Brumidi, in recognition of his contributions to America. On July 1, 2008, the bill was signed by the President and became a law. A medal was designed and cast by the U.S. Mint, and a duplicate Bronze Medal was issued in 2008.

[Content Credit: Author, educator, and researcher Janice Therese Mancuso established Thirty-One Days: http://thirtyonedaysofitalians.com/honorary.htm] ... See more

The RSVP deadline is tomorrow so don't wait! Grammy and Tony Award-winning singer and actress Patti LuPone is participating in NIAF's Virtual Gala and you should too! RSVP now: https://bit.ly/2YSu1ah

Note: As this is a live event only, there will not be a recording of the Gala shared with the attendees or the public. Refunds will not be administered to registrants if they missed the event or watched it live.

#NIAFGala45 #PattiLuPone #Grammy #Tony #VirtualGala #Gala #NIAF #SupportNIAF ... See more

Italian espresso aims for UNESCO status: https://bit.ly/3jpz3m8.

#UNESCO #espresso #heritage #Italianheritagemonth #ItalianAmericanHeritageMonth

Day 26: Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman nominated on a major party ticket for Vice President of the United States, for #ItalianAmericanHeritageMonth

Born in 1935 in Newburgh, N.Y., to Italian immigrants, her mother was a seamstress and her father was a restaurant owner. Geraldine Ferraro earned her law degree from Fordham University, one of two women in her graduating class of 1960. She went on to practice civil law while raising three children. She was appointed Queen’s County Assistant District Attorney in 1974 and assigned to newly established Special Victims Bureau. In 1978, Ferraro was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives winning election for two additional terms and earning seats on several congressional committees.

During her career, she focused much her legislation on equity for women, especially in wages and pensions. In 1984, Democratic presidential candidate Walter Mondale selected Ferraro to be his running mate. Although they were defeated, Ferraro will ever be remembered as a trailblazer who broke down barriers for women and Americans. Ferraro passed away in 2011.

[Content Credit: Author, educator, and researcher Janice Therese Mancuso established Thirty-One Days: http://thirtyonedaysofitalians.com/honorary.htm]

NIAF will end Italian American Heritage Month by having the biggest #ItalianAmerican celebration of the year at our 45th Anniversary Gala on October 31! Learn more: https://bit.ly/2YSu1ah.

#GeradlineFerraro #NOIAW #NIAF #ItalianAmerican #VPCandidate ... See more

Day 25: Amerigo Vespucci, America’s namesake for #ItalianAmericanHeritageMonth
Vespucci (c.1451-1512) was born into a wealthy family in Florence and received his education under the tutelage of his uncle, Giorgio Antonio Vespucci, an influential scholar who had established a school for nobles. Amerigo studied language and the physical sciences – astronomy, cosmography (maps), and geography – that most likely caused an early interest in exploration.

The Vespucci family was well established in Florence, founding a hospital and building a church, both still an historic part of the community. The church contains a fresco, Madonna of Mercy, by Domenico Ghirlandaio, that is said to depict members of the Vespucci family – including a young Amerigo – being protected under the extended arms of the Virgin Mary.

After the death of his father, Vespucci’s responsibilities to his family and his family’s connections, earned him a position with the de’ Medici family as a financial manager, first in Florence, then in Spain. By the late 1490s, with news of Columbus’s voyages, Vespucci turned his attention toward exploration. He sailed for Spain and then Portugal, making four voyages between 1497 and 1504. Traveling twice to explore the coastline of South America, Vespucci was the first to realize that the New World was a new continent. His affiliation with the de’ Medici family was well known and letters describing his journeys were widely distributed throughout Europe. Many historians cite both as reasons why leading German cartographer Martin Waldseemuller identified the new continent as America, named after Amerigo, when he created a map of the world in 1507.

[Content Credit: Author, educator, and researcher Janice Therese Mancuso established Thirty-One Days: http://thirtyonedaysofitalians.com/honorary.htm]

NIAF will end Italian American Heritage Month by having the biggest #ItalianAmerican celebration of the year at our 45th Anniversary Gala on October 31! Learn more: https://bit.ly/2YSu1ah. ... See more

Buona domenica! #MakeSundayItalianAgain during #ItalianAmericanHeritageMonth! 🇮🇹🇺🇸