FRANCO HARRIS

 

Harris, a notable former American football player, is an Afro-Italian American, his father, Cadillac (Cad) Harris, was an American Negro and his mother, Gina Parenti, an Italian war bride from Lucca, Italy. Harris is one of nine children. Harris was born at Fort Dix, New Jersey on March 7, 1950. He grew up in Burlington County, New Jersey where he graduated from Roncocas Valley Regional High School in Mount Holly Township in 1968. After graduation he attended Penn State University and played for their football team, the Nittany Lions. At the time he weighed 230 pounds and was six foot two in height. On offense, he served as a full back and on defense as a blocker for Lydell Mitchell. Both were later to become celebrated professional football players. As a blocker he gathered almost 1400 yards on the board and fourteen touchdowns. He was the leading scorer of his team.

After graduation, in 1972, the Pittsburg Steelers selected him from the NFL draft. Many felt that they should have drafted Mitchell instead. Nevertheless, The Baltimore Colts selected Mitchell in the same draft.

Any of the doubts of those that opposed his draft were soon changed because Harris’ first year was one of outstanding performance. He began his first season by carrying the ball 188 times, running the ball for ten touchdowns and caught three touchdown passes. Because of this Sporting News and United Press International named him as NFL’s, “Rookie of the Year.” After his first season Pittsburgh’s Italian American community fans became “Franco’s Italian Army. Many wore helmets with his number “32” on them.

Harris played for thirteen more seasons. Twelve of these were with the Pittsburgh Steelers. His last season was preceded by a financial disagreement with the Rooney family who were the owners and managers of the team. He resigned and played one season for the Seattle Seahawks in 1984, he then retired.

During his tenure with the Steelers he helped them win four Super Bowls, in 1975, 1976, 1979, and 1980.  In the Bowl of 1975, Steelers defeated the Minnesota Viking 16-6, he played so well he received the MVP award. He was the first African American as well as first Italian American to receive the award.

Many remember Harris for his catch called, “the Immaculate Reception,” labeled as such by a sports news reporter. In a 1972, playoff game, the Steelers were behind the Oakland Raiders 7-6 with twenty-two seconds left on the clock. Terry Bradshaw threw a pass to Steelers receiver, John Fuqua, but Oakland’s Jack Tatum deflected it as he was tackling Fuqua. While the ball was in the air, Harris caught it just before it was about to hit the ground. He scooped it up and ran sixty yards for a touchdown. The referees discussed whether it was a legitimate catch, and decided it stood. The crowd was ecstatic. Harris’ success gave the Steelers their first ever playoff win.

In 1990, the Pro Foootball Hall of Fame inducted Harris, and in 2011, the New Jersey Hall of Fame recognized him for his service and contributions to the sport.

Harris has a son Franco Dokmanvich Harris Jr. born 1979, birthed by his longtime companion Dana Dokmnovich. In 2009, “Dok” ran for the Mayor of Pittsburg, but lost. He received twenty-five point three percent of a three way election. The incumbent ran away with fifty-five percent.

Harris came from a large family, his siblings are Piero, Luana, Alvara, Daniela, Mario, Marisa, and Giuseppe. His brother Piero (Pete) Harris, who also was a collegiate football player, died from a heart attack on August 15, 2006, at the age of forty-nine.

Currently, Harris owns, along with Lydell Mitchell, a bakery and sausage factory in the Pittsburgh area. He is involved in and provides funding to Penn Staters for Responsible Stewardship and serves as part of the advisory board at Penn State’s Center for Food Innovation. His Super Bakery, produces nutrition-oriented foods for school children. In 2006, The Heinz History Center, home of the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum, installed a life-size statue of Harris at the Pittsburgh International Airport’s grand concourse. His jersey number “32” Officially has not been retired; nevertheless, it has not been issued to any other player. For photograph display one can go to Amazon.com or easily surf the web for a multitude of pictures. Enjoy!

Val Camonica

VAL CAMONICA CITY AND VALLEY    

In the eastern province of Lombardia, Italy, one of the largest valleys in the central Alps, is the valley of Val Camonica. It extends from Tonale Pass to Corna Trentapssi in Pisogne, one of the fifteen communes around Lago d’Iseo. Pisgone sits at the northern end where the Oglio River flows through the valley before entering the Iseo. The local residents call the lake, Sebino from the original Latin name Sebinus.

Val Camonica’s name derives from the Latin Vallis Camunnorum, meaning the “Valley of the Camunni,” a people who were living there at the time of Roman conquest. Where these original people came from is unknown; nevertheless, they left a significant legacy. Most impressive is the rock art. There are some 300,000 petroglyphs, making it the largest center of rock art in Europe. The chronology of these rock carvings pass through four ages, beginning with: the Palaeolithic-post Palaeolithic carved figures of game, elk and deer. Next is the Neolithic or onset of the copper age, these appear to be maps.  The Copper Age (2800 to 2200 BC), consists of carved figures of people and cattle plowing fields, of pigs, game, trees, and weapons. The Bronze Age art figures (2200-800 BC) consists of weapons, daggers and axes, and people praying. The Iron Age, (800-16 BC), there was an upsurge in the rock art, constituting, approximately 80% of all extant figures. These are scenes of duels, horse riding warriors, hunters, field plowing, dogs, birds, houses, Etruscan inscriptions, swords, snakes, and spears. There is a large concentration of these at the Naquane National Park of Engraved Rock located in the valley.

Another legacy left by residents of Val Cammonica, from the Renaissance Period, were two witch trials. These are included in the list of the biggest ones occurring in Italy. These occurred in the years from 1505 to 1510 and again from 1518 to1521. These trials brought about the death of sixty persons in each trial. The major source of information about them is from a Venetian Marin Sanudo, who was the chronicler to the Council of Ten, the governing body of the Republic of Venice during the trials. However, the Bishop of Brescia, Giacinto Gaggia, had the court’s recorded documentary evidence of the trials destroyed to prevent use by anticlerical opposition.

Christianity spread into the area around the 5^th century. Despite a three hundred year establishment the area was still suspect as being pagan into the 8^th century. Apparently, that suspicion continued into the next millennia causing the trials.

Prior to the occurrences in Val Camonica, the inquisition burned witches in South Tirol and in Valtellina. An inquisitor, Antonio da Brescia complained about the heresy and witch craft happening in Val Camonica. Subsequently, on June 23, 1505, the inquisition burned seven women and one man in the commune of Cemmo. In 1510 sixty men and women confessed to having injured people, animals, and land with their spells and that Satan helped them to cause fires. The literature indicates the trials put sixty-four persons to death and imposed other forms of punishment upon those not condemned to the pillory.  

The second trial occurred from 1518-1521. During the first few months of 1518, the judicial process led by Bishop Peter Durante, who presided at the court of inquisition, stationed investigators at the various parishes of the valley. The investigators reported that some women, in the towns confessed to having spread a “powder” from Satan in the air, causing sicknesses and the death of some two-hundred people. The inquisitors accused some of spreading the plague by magic and some of causing thunder and lightning. The court burned sixty men and women at the stake. One-hundred and seventy-one years later, the witch trials began in Salem Massachusetts, the hearings and prosecutions of individuals accused of witchcraft occurred from February 1692-May 1693. Of the two-hundred people accused of witchcraft, nineteen (14 women and 5 men) were found guilty and hanged. See attached photographs. If you would like to leave a comment simply click on comment and a form will appear for you to do so.

 

 ROY CAMPANELLA

Campanella, known, in his prime as Campy, was an Italian–African American baseball player of fame. His father, John, was of Sicilian descent and his mother, Ida, of Negro heritage. He was born on November 19, 1921 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and passed away on June 26, 1993 at the age of 71 in Woodland Hills, California.  Campanella had two older sisters, Gladys, and Doris and an older brother Lawrence. When he was born the family lived in Germantown section of the city and when he was seven years old they moved to an area of the city known as Nicetown. This community was a mix of races thus he attended schools with members reflecting the same. Due to his light-complexion many fellow students called him “half-breed.” Some writers conjecture that this experience toughened him to life leading him to fight as a Golden Glove Boxer.

Campanella’s teenage years occurred during the great depression. His father made a living by selling vegetable and fish from a truck. He later opened and operated a grocery store. Campanella did his share for the family by working with his father, and shining shoes, selling newspapers. He, at some point, had a milk route.

In high school he played foot, basket, and baseball, and quite often the team mates chose him as captain in whatever team sport he engaged. However, his passion was for baseball.

As a high school student, word of his baseball abilities spread and the Phillies allegedly offered him a chance to work out with them, but upon learning he was black, they rescinded the invite. Nevertheless, at the age of 16 he dropped out of high school and in that year, 1937, he began his professional baseball career with the semipro team, the Bacharach Washington Elite Giants of the Negro League.  His mother was not so keen on the idea of him working with adult men, but when she learned he would make more money in one weekend than her husband made in a week she consented. His career developed quickly; by 1939, as a 17 year old, he took over the regular catching chores and helped lead the giants to playoff victories over the Newark Eagles and Homestead Grays. The team later moved to Baltimore and Campanella became a star player. By 1941 he won the MVP honors as the star of the 1941 Negro League East-West All-Star Game. He was a versatile talented ballplayer, but catching was his primary role. Many considered him as the greatest catcher in the history of baseball.

In 1942 and 1943, Campanella played in the Mexican League with the Monterrey Sultans. Following that he went on a South American tour. By 1946, Campanella moved into the Brooklyn Dodger’s minor league system, which was preparing to break the MLB color barrier with the positioning of Jackie Robinson, whom they assigned to the Montreal Royals, an affiliate in the Class AAA International League. Meanwhile, the team sought to assign Campanella to a Class B League. But, the general manager of the Danville Dodgers of the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League believed the organization was not ready for racial integration. Thus they sent Campanella   to the Nashua Dodgers Class B New England League. The first American League to present a professional baseball integrated line up.

Soon after his acceptance, during a game the manager Walter Alston was ejected and Campanella took over and became the first African American to manage Caucasian players of organized professional baseball. Jackie Robinson’s first year in the major league was in 1947, and the following year Campanella began his MLB career with the Brooklyn Dodgers.  He played with them until 1957. During his tenure he played in the All-Star-Game every year from 1949 on. He hit home runs in five straight games in 1950. He received the MVP award in the National League three times: in 1951, 1953, and 1955. Campanella’s career ended after suffering injuries from a vehicle accident in which it paralyzed him from the neck down. However, with therapy he was eventually able to regain use of his arms and hands. He remained involved in baseball as a scouting supervisor and coach. In 1969, the Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Campanella, the second African American after Jackie Robinson, so honored. Campanella died on June 26, 1993 at the age of 71 in Woodland Hills, California. His MLB batting average was: 276, home runs 242, and runs batted in 856. Below are photographs of him, one in his younger playing days and one from 1961. For more detailed information see Society For American Baseball Research https://sabr.olrg/bioproj/plerson/a52ccbb5, and Wikipedia.

 

Frank Charles Carlucci III GCIH

GCIH – The Grand Cross Order of Prince Henry. (Ordem do Infante Dom Henrique)

Carlucci was a politician and diplomat who was the United States Secretary of Defense from 1987 until 1989. He served under President Ronald Reagan. Carlucci was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania on October 18, 1930 and was the son of Roxanne Bacon Carlucci and Frank Charles Carlucci. His father was of Swiss-Italian descent. Carlucci attended the Wyoming Seminary, a Methodist college preparatory school located in the Wyoming Valley of Northeastern Pennsylvania. He graduated in 1948 and in 1952 attended Princeton University where he achieved an AB (Artium Baccalaureatus). Here he roomed with Donald Rumsfeld. Note of interest an AB and a BA Baccalureate of Arts. Baccalaureate evolved into Bachelor, of which we have of the Arts or of the Sciences. The English word Bachelor originally referred to the person.

In 1954 -55 he went to Harvard Business School for an MBA (Master of Business Administration).  Prior to that he served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy from 1952-1954.  He followed that joining the Foreign Service, working for the State Department. In 1961, Carlucci was the second secretary of the United States Embassy in the Congo and a covert CIA agent. While there political rivals executed Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the independent Congo. Later released documents demonstrated that President D. Eisenhower, ordered his execution; however, others accomplished the deed instead.  Nevertheless, a fictionalized film about the incident, depicted Carlucci as involved in the assassination. Carlucci adamantly denied the claims of his involvement and succeeded through court processes to have his name removed before the public release of the film.

Governmental positions held by Carlucci over the years, beyond his initial military service, his primary embassy position, and CIA operative positions were: 4^th Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity 1971-1972, United States Ambassador to Portugal 1975-1978, 13^th Deputy Director of the Central, Intelligence Agency 1978-1981, 18^th United States Deputy Secretary of Defense 1981-1982, 15^th United States National Security Advisor 1986-1987 and 16^th United States Secretary of Defense 1987-1989.

During his term as Ambassador to Portugal, the people remembered him as among the winners of the November 25th Coup d’Etat. For his role, in maintaining good relations and playing a prominent role after the Carnation Revolution officials changed the name of the American International School of Lisbon, to “The Carlucci American International School of Lisbon” in his honor. It is the oldest American school in the Iberian Peninsula.

Carlucci was married twice, his first wife was Jean Anthony 1954-1974, and his second was Marcia Myers 1976.  He had three children, two with his first wife and one with his second. His political affiliation was republican. He died on June 3, 2018 at the age of 87.

LA CATTOLICA DI STILO

La Cattolica is off the beaten path of touristy places to visit in Italy. It is not a town but a church and sits in the mountains of Calabria overlooking the Adriatic Sea. It is in the commune of the city of Stilo which is the town of origin for the ancestors of former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta.

The surprise one will receive when they visit La Cattolica is its size. Pictures on the internet cause it to seem as if it is a large building, of which it is not. The Byzantines built the church in the 9^th century (800 AD), when Calabria was part of that Empire.

The word Cattolica derives from the Greek word katholiki which referred to churches built with baptisteries. La Cattolica is one of the most important examples of Byzantine architecture; it follows the inscribed cross plan as you can see by the structures on the roof. There are five-barrel like short round towers with windows and with the roofing tiles on the towers laid in a circular pattern. Inside the church are four large columns holding up the ceiling, which also divides the interior into nine similar spaces, and three apses. The construction is of brick and the interior walls were, at one time, full of frescoes; a few of them remain. The apse looking out on the valley had a bell installed in 1577 in accordance with the change of rites from the Greek to the Latin.

In the interior are some Arabic inscriptions, indicating the Arabs might have used it as a Moslem religious shrine. The Saracens occupied the region starting in 847 AD for twenty five years.

The chapel inside may be able to hold seventy people comfortably. The building is still in use as a church for special occasions such as marriages and baptisms. It is a national monument and well visited by Italian tourists.

Nancy D’Alesandro Pelosi

Pelosi was born on March 26, 1940. Her father, Thomas J. D’Alesandro, became a House Representative the year before she was born. He remained in office until 1947, after which he became the 39^th Mayor of Baltimore. The first Italian American to hold that post. His parents immigrated to the United States. Her mother Annunciata M. Lombardi immigrated from Compobasso, Campania, Italy. Pelosi’s father claimed mainly northern Italian roots, and of course his wife was a southern Italian. Pelosi was one of six children—the last and only girl. Since her father was the mayor during her late childhood and teenage years many affectionately called her—the Mayor’s Daughter.

Pelosi came from a religious Roman Catholic family. She attended catholic high school and followed that with Trinity Woman’s College in Washington, D.C., from which she graduated in 1962 with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science. Her initial experience at college was one of cultural shock. Since she lived, played, and attended school in Little Italy going to college away from the family and community took an adjustment. After college she worked as a congressional intern for a for a Maryland senator. Since her father was involved in politics the children were active in his campaign activities. Pelosi, when she was twelve years old attended the 1952 Democratic National Convention.   Consequently, politics were a natural to her.

After graduation, she married Paul Pelosi a Georgetown, graduate from San Francisco on September 7, 1963. After marriage they settle in New York, where he worked as a banker. By 1969, and after having five children they moved to San Francisco. There Nancy was active in politics as a supporter. She had no expressed intentions on running for any offices and eventually became the Chair of the California Democratic Party from 1981 until 1983. An incumbent, Phillip Burton, in the U. S. House of Representatives died (1983) and his wife, Sala Galante Burton, ran for his seat and won, however, after winning the second term she died two months after the election. Before her death, she recommended that Pelosi compete in the upcoming special election. She did and won not only won the special election, but the following 1988 regular election and continued to do so till this day. She has consistently garnered up to 80% of the votes. 

In October of 2001 the House elected her as minority whip. Her job was to ensure that democratic members would vote with specific pieces of legislation that the party supported and Republicans who may swing their way. She became the first woman to hold this post.  The following year she won another post as Minority Speaker of the House. The first woman to hold that post too. On January 3, 2019 on the opening day of the 116^th United States Congress, Pelosi received 220 votes to become, a first woman once again to hold the post of Speaker of the House of Representatives. The Dean of the House, Don Young swore her in along with the rest that took the oath of office.  The Speaker is second in the United States presidential line of succession, after the Vice President and ahead of the President pro tempore of the Senate.

 Pelosi, has been a very active individual seeking many forms of legislation. Many have recognized her for her endeavors and accomplishments. Some honors she received are: The Knight Grand Cross of the Order Merit of the Italian Republic, The Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun from Japan and in 2006, in Barbara Walters’ list of Most Fascinating Person of the Year, Pelosi was one. In the list of Forbes world’s most powerful women of 2014 she was ranked 26^th.

 RITA LEVI-MONTALCINI

 

Rita was born on the twenty-second of April, 1909, in Turin, Italy. She was one of four children, three girls and a boy, she being a twin of one of the girls. Her mother was Adele Montalcini. The family was wealthy and of Sephardic Jewish faith. The family was Victorian in their values, and her father Adamo Levi, an electrical engineer, believed women should not attend higher education as it would interfere in their role as future mothers. The family, as a whole engaged in intellectual pursuits; thus, it didn’t take much effort for the daughters to change his mind.

She studied medicine at the University of Turin and in 1936, she graduated from medical school with a summa cum laude degree in medicine and surgery.  After which she enrolled in a three year specialization program in neurology and psychiatry. She did research on the effects peripheral tissues have on nerve cell growth. But, because of her Jewish ancestry, Mussolini’s “Manifesto per la Defesa della Razza,” (Manifest for the defense of the Race), caused her to lose her job. When things became worse in Turin, the family escaped to the country side, and had to follow that with going to Florence where the family remained in hiding during the German occupation of Italy (1943-45). By 1944, the Americans cleared Florence of the Nazis and she was able to surface and became actively involved in nursing and caring for refugees suffering with infectious diseases. When the war ended in 1945, she was able to resume her research at Turin.

In 1947, she accepted an invitation to a post at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri by zoologist Viktor Hamburger. Here she was to repeat the research performed before the war in the study of the growth of nerve tissue in chick embryos.

In 1948, they discovered that a variety of mouse tumors spurred nerve growth when implanted into chick embryos. The two traced the effect to a substance in the tumor that they named nerve-growth factor NGF. Levi-Montalcini further showed that the tumor caused similar cell growth in a nerve-tissue cultures kept alive in the laboratory. Stanley Cohen, another interested scientist, joined her at Washington University, and he was able to isolate the nerve-growth factor from the tumor.

Levi-Montalcini planned to remain only twelve months, but the excellent results of their work impressed her to continue. In 1956, the University offered her the position as an associate professor and two years later that of full professorship. In 1962, she developed a research unit in Rome. She remained active both here and abroad. She also held the position of Director of the Institute of Cell Biology of the Italian National Council of Research in Rome.

NGF was the first of many cell-growth factors found in the bodies of animals. In 1986, Dr. Levi-Montalcini received due recognition when she, along with her colleague, Dr. Stanley Cohen, earned the Nobel Prize in medicine for the discoveries of NGF and of EGF, epidermal growth factor, which is used in the treatment of severe burns.

She published an autobiographical work, In Praise of Imperfection, in 1988. At the following internet address she provides a short interesting autobiographical sketch telling of her parents, sisters, and brother and war experiences. Levi-Montalcini held dual citizenship of Italy and of the United States. She passed away on the thirtieth of December 2012, at the age of 102.

http://www.nobel.se/medicine/laureates/1986/levi-montalcini-autobio.html