September/October 2009 Notes

September/October 2009 Notes
From PRIMO’s Editor Truby Chiaviello…

SAN FRANCISCO OPERA

Our feature article on San Francisco Opera is sure to make Italian Americans in that city, and those of every city in America, especially proud.

As the article points out, the opera company, today considered one of the finest in the world, was founded by Gaetano Merola of Naples over 70 years ago. We feature an in-depth biography of this incredible visionary who deserves credit for establishing opera not only in San Francisco, but in Los Angeles as well.

Merola’s legacy is immediately noticeably in a music education program that bears his name. The Merola Opera Program, offered by San Francisco Opera, fosters the talents of promising opera virtuosos. The 11 week program provides classes and opportunities for young artists to perform in public. Some 1,000 students have graduated from the program. Known as Merolini, alumni have gone on to sing in operas performed all over the country.

Visit the War Memorial Opera House and you will find inside a plaque commemorating some of the Italian Americans who supported Merola in his bid to start an opera house in San Francisco. In 1921 Italian American fishermen, bakers, grocers, and residents of North Beach and other neighborhoods donated funds to Merola to produce his first opera there. In 1931 Italian Americans supported the construction of the War Memorial Opera House.

The catalyst in the community was Giuseppe Brucia, an immigrant from Capo San Vito in Sicily. A well-respected businessman, he acquired a $15,000 loan from A.P. Giannini, founder of the Bank of America, to satisfy one picky tenor’s demand for payment in gold coins. His son Joseph was also a major supporter of the opera company, funding the first opera simulcast held at San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza. Joseph’s dogged determination led to the aforementioned plaque reinstalled in the opera house, after the first was stolen. Besides his father, names on the plaque are those recognized for their generous donations such as Louise Dana, Antonio Farina, James V. Frevola, Milano Milani, Alfonso Napolitano, Amedeo Napolitano, Amalio Paoni, Amedeo Paoni, Anacleto Paoni, Giulio Stradi, and Gigulielmo Torchia.


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ITALY’S REPATRIATION OF ARTIFACTS
What makes this PRIMO edition truly remarkable is our investigation into Italy’s repatriations of relics and artifacts owned and displayed by America’s museums.

Titled “Who Owns Italian Culture,” consisting of four articles and an essay, our expose stands head and shoulders above all other media outlets in coverage of this issue. Much of what was written on the subject in other magazines and newspapers reported missed the mark. Disturbing elements in the story were overlooked. Reporters seemed to side with the Italian government and their claims that artifacts and items of antiquity here in America were stolen from Italian archives, libraries and archaeological sites. Our coverage shows a different view.

Read “Who Owns Italian Culture?” and you will be as troubled as I was regarding the Italian government’s denial of property rights, their presumption of guilt and the belief that history belongs to government not people.

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Three art museums, in particular, had to turn over considerable material to Italy. For lack of space, we were unable to include the following list of items returned:

CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART
Apulian Crater Vase, Apulian Epichysis, Apulian or Campanian Lid, Donkey Head from Greece, Processional Cross, Tuscany, Sicilian Vase in the form of a pig, 435 B.C., Red-Figure Duck Askos, 350 B.C., Etruscan Bracelet, silver, 6th century B.C., Etruscan Bracelet, silver, 6th century B.C., Column Krater, Greece, 590 B.C., Campanian Bird, 4th century B.C., Red-Figure Lekythkos, Campania, 4th century B.C., Apulian Lekythos, 4th century B.C., Epichysis, 4th century B.C.

MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BOSTON
Two-handled vessel (nestoris) about 420-410 B.C., Lekythos, about 500-490 B.C., Water jar (kalpis-hydria) depicting Apollo making a libation before gods and goddesses, about 485 B.C., Two-handled jar (pelike) depicting Phineus with the sons of Boreas, about 450 B.C., Statue of Sabina, about A.D. 136, Water jar (hydria), about 530-520 B.C., Vase for bath water (loutrophoros) depicting Pelops and Hippodameia in chariot, 320-310 B.C., Mixing bowl (bell-krater), about 380-370 B.C., Oil flask (lekythos), about 490 B.C., Two-handled jar (amphora) depicting the murder of Atreus about 340–330 B.C., Triangular support for a candelabrum shaft, decorative colonette, or small basin, A.D. 20-60, Two-handled vessel (nestoris) depicting athletes in conversation with girls, late fifth century B.C.. Mixing bowl (bell-krater) with Thracian hunters, about 440-430 B.C.

GETTY MUSEUM
Cult Statue of a Goddess, perhaps Aphrodite - 88.AA.76, Askos in Shape of a Siren – 92.AC.5, Fresco Fragments – 71.AG.111, Lekanis – 85.AA.107, Two Griffins Attacking a Fallen Doe – 85.AA.106, Attic Red-Figured Neck Amphora – 84.AE.63, Fragment of a fresco: lunette with mask of Hercules – 96.AG.171, Apulian Red-Figured Pelike – 87.AE.23, Apulian Red-Figured Loutrophorus – 84.AE.996, Attic Black-Figured Zone Cup – 87.AE.22, Attic Red-Figured Kalpis – 85.AE.316, Attic Red-Figured Kylix – 84.AE.569, Apulian Pelike with Arms of Achilles – 86.AE.611, Attic Red-Figured Kylix – 83.AE.287, Attic Red-Figured Calyx Krater – 88.AE.66, Attic Janiform Kantharos – 83.AE.218, Attic Red-Figured Phiale Fragments by Douris – 81.AE.213, Marble Bust of a Man – 85.AA.265, Attic Red-Figured Amphora with Lid – 79.AE.139, Apulian Red-Figured Volute Krater – 85.AE.102, Attic Red-Figured Calyx Krater – 92.AE.6 and 96.AE.335, Attic Red-Figured Mask Kantharos – 85.AE.263, Etruscan Red-Figured Plastic Duck Askos – 83.AE.203, Statue of Apollo – 85.AA.108, Group of Attic Red-Figured Calyx Krater Fragments (Berlin Painter, Kleophrades Painter) – 77.AE.5, Apulian Red-Figured Bell Krater – 96.AE.29, Statuette of Tyche – 96.AA.49, Attic Black-Figured Amphora (Painter of Berlin 1686) – 96.AE.92, Attic Black-Figured Amphora – 96.AE.93, Attic Red-Figured Cup – 96.AE.97, Pontic Amphora – 96.AE.139, Antefix in the Form of a Maenad and Silenos Dancing – 96.AD.33, Bronze Mirror with Relief-Decorated Cover – 96.AC.132, Attic Red-Figured Bell Krater – 81.AE.149, Apulian Red-Figured Volute Krater – 77.AE.14, Statuette of Dionysos – 96.AA.211, Attic Red-Figured Calyx Krater (“Birds”) – 82.AE.83, Group of three Fragmentary Corinthian Olpai – 81.AE.197, Paestan Squat Lekythos – 96.AE.119, Apulian Red-Figured Volute Krater – 77.AE.13


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END THE CASE AGAINST MARION TRUE
One cannot talk about repatriation of artifacts without mentioning Italy’s case against Marion True.

Not all lovers of Italian culture are Italian. True is one such person. A native of Oklahoma, True is the former antiquities curator at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California. An expert in classicism and ancient Mediterranean culture, she was in charge of the Getty’s acquisition of artifacts and relics. She helped to establish the renowned Getty Villa, located in the hills outside LA, filled with items of antiquity from ancient Rome and Greece. Thanks in part to True’s efforts, the Getty rose to become one of the top art museums in the world within a 20 year period.

Now True’s world is turned upside down. She is the first American museum antiquities curator ever to faces criminal charges in Italy for trafficking in illicit artifacts.

Italy’s case against her is more eventful than justifiable. Trial proceedings in Rome are tarrying. Four years and six months into the case and the prosecution has yet to rest. The defense phase may take another four years. The presiding judge will retire in three. Meanwhile a host of issues between the Italian government and America’s museums have been settled.

One wonders what good can still come of the case.

Damage done to Italy from True’s alleged crimes is resolved. The Getty returned to Italy many of the suspected artifacts mentioned in the trial. Civil charges against True were dropped last year. A similar criminal case in Greece was dismissed earlier because the statute of limitations had run out. Most American museums have changed their acquisition policies to reflect greater compliance with Italian patrimony laws. Italy’s message has been received.

The prosecution’s case adds to the burden of justifiability. The convoluted nature of the antiquities trade makes it so. Too long is the line of buyers and sellers, brokers, middlemen and women, conservators, auctioneers, and private collectors to reasonably conclude True knew she was buying hot merchandise. Weak circumstantial evidence has led prosecutors to offer guilt by association. Touted are the curator’s sporadic dealings with suspicious collectors, i.e., a thank you note from her to a convicted smuggler on an unrelated matter is entered into evidence. Another tack is criminal negligence. A patronizing tone by Italian archeologists accompanies the theory that True should have known artifacts were stolen based on her extensive experience and education.

The case is unnecessary and unfounded. Italy should drop the charges against her.

THE LUCCA BAN

The worst law enacted thus far in 2009 is Lucca’s ban on “ethnic foods.”

New vendors who wish to serve kebobs, falafel, tortilla wraps and Chinese takeout are now illegal in the city. Only those “ethnic food” vendors established prior to the law can remain in business.

The city administrators argue that foods served by immigrants, mostly on street corners and back alley entranceways, are a threat to Italy’s culture, more pointedly Tuscan cuisine. As they see it, tourists and residents of Lucca will forego the food of gourmets to feast on fast food cooked on outdoor hibachis and served from two-wheeled carts. They fear if given the choice we will prefer Moo Goo Gai Pan over Pasta Primavera.

Between Pisa and Florence, the walled medieval City of Lucca, with about 83,000 people, is noted for its hospitality and livability. Before the ban, Lucca was celebrated for its purity. As restaurants and trattorie in Florence, Rome and Venice gave in to the fickle tastes of tourists Lucca remained true to tradition. The food served in the city has always been unapologetically Tuscan, with recipes among others of wild game from nearby forests roasted with locally grown vegetables and herbs. (Reference: Please read article “Lucca-Italy’s Walled City,” in the July/August 2007 edition of PRIMO.)

Immigration is a touchy issue with me. As editor of PRIMO I have been immersed in the history of Italian migration to America. Much of that history is plagued with the persecution of Italians at the hands of opportunistic politicians and their ethnocentric constituents. As Italian immigrants took up residence outside the country’s major cities in increasing numbers the backlash against them went into high gear. It led to the passage of the National Origins Act in the 1920s for the primary purpose of keeping out Italians.

Based on this it is hard for me to agree to any law that prohibits immigration...anywhere. And that in essence is what the Lucca food ban does. It is not a law to preserve Italian culture but rather to throw out immigrants. It takes away the livelihoods of Arabs, Africans and Chinese in Lucca. Many will have to return to their native lands or come to America as a result.

There is so much I dislike about the law that it is difficult for me to find where to start. But I will try and share with you my top two peeves.

First, the law is wrong on its stated premise. The idea that Italian food is under threat of becoming extinct is ludicrous. In fact the opposite is true.

Here in America Italian cuisine reigns supreme. Every grocery store carries foods imported from Italy or inspired and created from Italian recipes. Italian food is served almost everywhere in America from the finest restaurants to the local sandwich shop. The cities of these immigrants, Cairo, Nairobi, and Hong Kong, all have numerous Italian restaurants there as well. Italian prepared foods are consumed all over the world, more so today than in the past because of free trade. Take for example Nutella, the hazelnut chocolate spread from Italy. It is fed to children all over the Middle East. And pasta; it is now a staple in households throughout Africa. The growing Chinese middle class have developed a taste for Italian wine. And then there is pizza…enough said.

Italians can rest assured that their food and culture is alive and well in the world.

That I find most galling about the law is how it seeks to tell people how to live their own lives. Why is it that officials everywhere feel a need to dictate human behavior? In that way Lucca is no different than anywhere else. But Lucca’s ban tries to govern personal choice at its most intimate level. What is more personal than the food you eat? According to Lucca administrators, the state can trust you as an adult to vote, to serve in the military and to own property, but not to choose which food to eat on the city’s streets.

It is mindless. I can only hope the days of Lucca’s “ethnic food” ban are numbered.

Until then, I advise everyone to follow the law. The next time you find yourself in Lucca, remember this: Like it or not, you have to eat delicious Italian food.

ITALIAN AMERICANS OF THE FBI

Pick up the November/December 2008 issue of PRIMO and read the reality about Italian Americans and criminal justice.

No, Italian Americans are not inherently connected to organized crime as it may seem we are according to mainstream media. We are not all gangsters, thugs and petty criminals.
Rather, as the issue highlights, Italian Americans have been and still are today at the forefront of enforcing the country’s laws and regulations, investigating crimes, apprehending and prosecuting suspects.

The 100th anniversary of the founding of the FBI gives us an opportunity to examine the extraordinary contributions Italian Americans have made to American justice. The FBI is one of the best law enforcement agencies in the world. Italian Americans have been a part of its successful run since its founding…by an Italian American. Pick up this issue and read our interview/profile of the first and only Italian American to serve as FBI director, Louis J. Freeh. Read about the Italian American who began the FBI, Attorney General Charles Joseph Bonaparte. Read about six men, from different generations, who serve or have served in the FBI: Italian Americans Daniel J. DeSimone, Joseph Bonavolonta, Dr. Joseph DiZinno, Alfredo Principe, Drew Parenti and Joseph Persichini, Jr. Read about what they have done for our country in nabbing murderers, drug lords, gangsters, bank robbers and domestic terrorists.
Pick up the November/December 2008 issue of PRIMO and share with others one part of the true story of Italian American crime fighters.



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This PRIMO issue instilled in me a newfound appreciation of the FBI as I am sure it will in you.
Although this issue focuses on the contributions Italian Americans have made to the FBI, it is important to note that the FBI prides itself on being neutral in ethnicity, race, gender and religion. A case in point: We were helped immensely by the FBI press office and other staff members there, almost all of whom were not Italian Americans, most notably press officer Betsy Glick.

A reputation the FBI has is one of secrecy and formality. I found this not to be the case in working with the FBI. The agents and support specialists we interviewed were approachable, courteous and answered most of our questions.

I extend my thanks to everyone at the FBI for their help in this special issue of PRIMO.
Here are two articles not included in this issue for lack of space; they highlight the ultimate sacrifice of two FBI agents and anecdotes of FBI investigations of some famous Italian Americans.



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KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY
Fifty-one FBI agents lost their lives fighting crime over the past 100 years.

Two of them were Italian Americans.

Anthony Palmisano and Gregory W. Spinelli.

Both men were young: Palmisano was 27 years old and Spinelli 24.

A hallmark feature of the FBI often overlooked by critics is its advancement of racial equality and ethnic assimilation in internal operations.

Palmisano and Spinelli symbolized this attribute.

Palmisano was not alone when he was gunned down on January 8, 1969. His partner, also killed at the scene was Edwin R. Woodriffe, an African American.

The two agents were on the trail of Billie Austin Bryant, an escaped convict from Lorton Prison. They had entered an apartment in Southeast Washington, D.C. where Bryant was hiding. The fugitive shot the agents while they were in the hallway.

Consider the times and the FBI’s inclusive efforts regarding race and ethnicity are all the more noteworthy. Both Palmisano and Woodriffe were from the New York City metropolitan region. Palmisano was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1942 and earned his degree from Seton Hall University. Woodriffe was born in 1941, grew up in Brooklyn and graduated from Fordham University.

The two likely would not have known each other had it not been for the FBI. Palmisano entered the FBI in 1967, the year race riots consumed his hometown. He transferred to the Washington, D.C. field office where he worked with Woodriffe. That was in 1968, the year Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated and race riots overtook the nation’s capital.

Special Agent Spinelli was killed on March 15, 1973 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Spinelli had been in the FBI only three years when he and several other agents attempted to arrest Arthur Tilmer Mankins and Bonnie Lou Logan, suspects in a savings and loan robbery. As the agents detained Logan, Mankins ran off through a nearby forest. They pursued him to a construction site where he shot Spinelli.

In looking at a black and white photograph of Spinelli taken at the time he joined the FBI in 1970, one finds it impossible to decipher his ethnicity. Tight features, a strong neck, thick black hair portrayed a healthy young man. His black rimmed glasses bespoke a person of intelligence and responsibility. He could be any American, any grandson of any immigrant from almost anywhere in the world. Only his last name betrays his ethnicity.



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INVESTIGATED ITALIAN AMERICANS
Complying with the Freedom of Information Act, the FBI has become in recent years one of the more open and transparent of federal agencies regarding its past investigations.

They have made available to the public scanned copies of inner agency memos, reports, letters, press clippings and other correspondences kept on infamous criminals, celebrated politicians, activists and entertainers.

What one finds examining the FBI files is a deposit of fascinating anecdotes in FBI history, a composite of America’s pop and criminal culture. There are files on a number of famous Italian Americans, many of whom were victims of crime.

Wladziu Valentino Liberace
The FBI file on Liberace contains almost 400 pages, much of it an inventory of the entertainer’s stolen jewelry recovered in 1974.

Liberace came to the attention of the FBI in the mid-1950s. The agency was investigating an extortion racket aimed at famous homosexuals. They considered interviewing Liberace a possible victim of the scheme.

The FBI uncovered in a separate racketeering investigation Liberace placing almost weekly $40 to $60 bets on horse races with a bookie in Buffalo, New York.

Later Liberace reported to the FBI nearly $25,000 of his jewelry stolen on Valentine’s Day while staying at the Statler Hilton Hotel in Dallas, Texas. The FBI recovered within months of the robbery dozens of 14 karat gold watches and rings from a Chicago jewelry store. The items had inscribed Liberace’s unique initials.

Viola Liuzzo
Italian American through marriage, Liuzzo was killed by the KKK in Alabama on March 25, 1965.

Registering African Americans to vote, she was driving back from a meeting with Leroy Moton. After interviewing scores of police officers and civil rights workers, the FBI concluded that Liuzzo and Moton were ambushed by KKK assassins on the highway from Selma to Montgomery. Eugene Thomas, Collie Leroy Wilkins, Jr. and William Orville Eaton were arrested and convicted of violating Liuzzo’s civil rights and each sentenced to 10 years in a federal prison.

Frank Sinatra
The FBI file on Sinatra is massive, some 2,403 pages.

As FBI documents show, Sinatra’s fame and wealth often made him a victim of anonymous death threats, frivolous lawsuits, and unfounded rumors.

The FBI began monitoring Sinatra as early as 1944. They investigated parents that year who threatened to lynch Sinatra because they thought their bobbysoxer daughters skipped school to see his shows. One night in 1966 Miami police received a phone call from someone who announced he was going to throw a live hand grenade at Sinatra while the singer performed on stage. Several letters from an anonymous sender in Illinois some years later requested $11 million in return for not killing Sinatra.

The FBI kept tabs of civil lawsuits filed against Sinatra throughout his career. Publishing companies initiated most of them claiming copyright infringement and damages against him in the millions of dollars. All were considered frivolous and dismissed by the courts.

The FBI files validate the reputation of Sinatra as an egalitarian individual who supported numerous charities and promoted better race relations and intercultural understanding. He penned an article in 1946 titled “We’re All Americans – We’re All Immigrants,” that was republished in a Croatian American newspaper employing some former Communists. For this Sinatra was alleged to be a Communist sympathizer. The FBI investigated the matter and concluded otherwise. They found Sinatra one of the most patriotic of celebrities who often volunteered to entertain troops overseas in World War II and the Korean War.

Sinatra was dogged for some time over an anonymous allegation that he bribed officials $40,000 to obtain a draft deferment in World War II. The FBI found that allegation “baseless.” The physical examination of Sinatra for draft service revealed he suffered from mastoiditis, a rare disease that could adversely affect one’s hearing, and so warranted his 4-H draft status.
The FBI performed an exhaustive investigation into Sinatra’s alleged ties to organized crime. Sinatra was rumored to have been sponsored by mobster Willie Moretti in New Jersey, a bag man for Lucky Luciano in Cuba, a partner with Sam Giancana in Las Vegas. The FBI investigation found these allegations unsubstantiated. True, Sinatra partied with gangsters; but he also partied with politicians, sports figures, writers, artists and other entertainers. The FBI concluded that Sinatra was really a victim of guilt by association, fodder for the rumor mill by gossip columnists and anonymous informants with dubious motivations.

Rocky Marciano
With a right cross that instilled fear in opposing boxers, Rocky Marciano was apparently not all that scary to one extortionist.

The heavyweight champ contacted the FBI in 1954 after his father Perrino Marchegiano received a letter that began “Listen Mr. Marchegiano.” The writer announced Marciano’s wife and child would be killed if the champ did not take a dive against challenger Ezzard Charles. The letter was signed “Desperate Duo.”

Marciano received weeks later another letter, this one addressed to “Cocky Rocky.” It stated in part “We mean business…if you fail to obey us and win the fight its curtains for your wife and child…”

Lab analysis of the letter’s envelope, paper and handwriting led the FBI to arrest a subject who was mentally ill.

Marciano refused to press charges.

You have heard from me, now I want to hear from you. Please reply with your questions and comments. Thank you for reading PRIMO.