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Watts Towers

A Long Journey in the Italian American Story

Suma Kurien and Gianfranco Norelli

"By understanding how Italians became Americans and what happened to them along the way, we have learned a great deal also about America". "Finding the Mother Lode" documents the...

Book Presentation - Sabato Rodia's Towers in Watts: Art, Migrations, Development

Natasha Lardera

Luisa Del Giudice's book, Sabato Rodia's Towers in Watts (Fordham University Press, 2014), provides an insightful, thorough study of the man, his monuments, and their cultural and...

The Watts Towers in Southern Italy: Connecting California with Irpinia

Laura E. Ruberto

Looking for the future of Sabato Rodia’s Watts Towers in the small town of Serino, in the province of Avellino.

Leo Politi, Saint Joseph, and Las Golondrinas

Laura E. Ruberto

Children’s literature, the Watts Towers, and Italian-Californian celebrations of Saint Joseph’s Day.

A Tourist Visits Italian in California

Joey Skee

In recognition of co-blogger, Laura Ruberto, who intelligently expounds on West Coast iterations of Italian America, I offer my touristic encounter with things Italian in the...

Italian America’s Eureka Moment

Laura E. Ruberto

Finding Romano Gabriel’s Wooden Sculpture Garden along the Italy-California border.

La Ruota della Fortuna, Niki de Sainte Phalle's take on an Italian Garden

Laura E. Ruberto

Looking at the undercurrents of Italian migrant identity in Niki de Sainte Phalle’s Giardino dei Tarocchi.

Zamboni!

Laura E. Ruberto

A little diddy about California’s role in the Italian American invention of an ice-resurfacing machine.

The Garden of Earthly Delights in Fresno

Joey Skee

A Brief Visit to California’s Subterranean Marvel, Baldassare Forestiere’s “Underground Gardens.”

Holy Land USA, a Religious Vision in Ruins

Joey Skee

During the 1960s and 1970s, 40,000 people visited Waterbury, CT annually to pray at Holy Land USA, a Catholic theme park created by John Greco. Now it lies in ruins.

Holy Land USA, a Religious Vision in Ruins

Joey Skee

During the 1960s and 1970s, 40,000 people visited Waterbury, CT annually to pray at Holy Land USA, a Catholic theme park created by John Greco. Now it lies in ruins.

Italian Americana, California Style

Laura E. Ruberto

Driving for hours takes us to three California Italian American vernacular sites -- from urban LA to rural NorCal with a stop along the freeway in the Central Valley.

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