The Casa Italia Library
Traveling Exhibit Italians in Chicago
The Italians in Chicago Traveling Exhibit, will be available for loan starting in Italian Heritage month in October. This will be the first time in decades that the Traveling Exhibit will be available for loan. Visitors at your location can view the panels as they first appeared in 1981, plus the configurable display can be combined with screenings of the award-winning PBS documentary And They Came to Chicago, narrated by Joe Mantegna.
The display moved from an idea to reality when a grant was awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities for the project. The exhibit was first displayed at the Chicago Public Library Cultural Center in downtown Chicago in the Spring of 1981. It was enthusiastically received as many visitors first became aware of this aspect of Chicago life and history. After it’s run at the library it found it’s home at Casa Italia and a portable version of the exhibit was then created.
The sixteenpanels cover 81 years from 1880-1961----documenting living conditions, the passage from Italy to Chicago, festas, weddings, labor, school, church, neighborhoods and much more. The documents and especially the photos present a vivid and unforgettable journey through the decades. 8 zig-zag free standing panels can be configured to suit the space available.
For more information, or to schedule the display for your library or location, please call Dominic Candeloro at 1 (847) 951-9109 or e-mail dominic.candeloro@gmail.com or call the Casa Italia business office at 1 (708) 345-5933.