Official Opening of the Museo dell'Emigrazione Italiana in Jersey City

The first floor of Casa Colombo opens the new exhibits with memorabilia, documents, and artifacts collected in two years of hard work

Jersey City, NJ (PRWEB) October 28, 2005 -- The Museo dell’Emigrazione Italiana at Casa Colombo, is pleased to announce the official opening of its new gallery. The ceremony took place Sunday, October 30, 2005 in Jersey City at the presence of dignitaries and the community.

After months of hard work, the Museum relocated on the first floor of Casa Colombo. The layout of the space was designed by architect Augusto Ferretti. It will display memorabilia, documents, and artifacts collected so far from the community. Each item has a story behind, a dream of an immigrant and his family. The display offers a very informative background about Italy: from the passports you can understand the evolution of Italy from Kingdom of Sardinia to the Savoia Monarchy (after the unification in 1861), to Republic and finally to the current participation in the European Union. Dresses and miniature furniture, offer and occasion to talk about the economic boom in the ‘60s. In an adjacent room, there are going to be in-loop screening about the experiences of Italians in America: their accomplishments and the discrimination they had to suffer as an ethnic group.

The Museum is an open invitation to reflect about Italian-Americans as significant portion of the American society. More than 1.5 million residents of New Jersey are of Italian descent, representing nearly one-quarter of its population. Jersey City used to be the first home for countless Italians. As a special tribute to those immigrants, the Museum will celebrate on this occasion the one-hundredth birthday of an Italian lady, personification of the Italian immigration to Jersey City, and quintessence of the Museum’s mission.

The Museo dell’Emigrazione Italiana is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and promoting the contributions and heritage of Italians and Italian-Americans. Casa Colombo, built in 1936 by Italian immigrants, will maintain a proper place in the history of our immigrants in New Jersey, featuring the experiences, customs and traditions of those brave first immigrants, their important accomplishments with records, artifacts, photos and other items that would otherwise fade away or be lost over time. For additional information and to arrange a visit, please contact Carla Mastropierro at 973 727 4877. Press contacts: Daniela Puglielli, ACCENT PR - 908 212 7846.

###