List of the Italian Expressions and Traditions Mentioned in the interview:
buonuscita |
liquidation |
morra |
Italian hand game |
cappella |
mausoleum |
sagna |
lasagna |
tortellini |
meat stuffed pasta |
Lasciatemi cantare, con la chitarra in mano, lasciatemi cantare. Sono un italiano. tutto qua |
Refrain of Italian song by Toto Cutugno: “Let me sing with my guitar in my hand, allow me to sing. I am an Italian.” That’s all. |
List of the Italian Expressions and Traditions Mentioned in the interview:
buonuscita |
liquidation |
morra |
Italian hand game |
cappella |
mausoleum |
sagna |
lasagna |
tortellini |
meat stuffed pasta |
Lasciatemi cantare, con la chitarra in mano, lasciatemi cantare. Sono un italiano. tutto qua |
Refrain of Italian song by Toto Cutugno: “Let me sing with my guitar in my hand, allow me to sing. I am an Italian.” That’s all. |
TIMING |
TOPIC OF DISCUSSION |
00:01 - 2:00 |
.Biographical information |
2:44 - 5:00 |
Childhood: working on the farm and quitting school |
5:00 - 7:00 |
Dreams of coming to America |
7:40 - 10:00 |
Memories of working construction and starting a landscaping business in New York. |
10:00 - 12:30 |
Accident on the job and selling the business |
12:36 - 13:30 |
Buying property in New York |
13:35 - 14:40 |
Remembering friends from Abruzzo who immigrated to Yonkers and the surrounding areas |
14:40 - 15:40 |
Enjoying an Italian lifestyle in America: playing morra, gathering on the weekends |
15:50 - 16:50 |
Family vacations with relatives in Italy |
17:00 - 22:00 |
Soured relationships with siblings in Italy over money and property |
22:00 - 23:00 |
Process of becoming an American citizen and change in sense of identity. |
23:00 - 23:45 |
Visiting Avezzano as an American citizen |
23:50 - 26:30 |
Trip to Italy in 2019 as an addio and only remaining wish to move his parents and sister to a different cemetery plot. |
26:30 - 28:00 |
50 anniversary of coming to the US and discussion of favorite Italian things: food, song, drink. |
28:00 - 28:40 |
The advantages and opportunities of being in America |
28:40 |
Thank you and closing |
Name: Edmondo Catania
Place and Date of Birth: South Philadelphia, PA, 09/23/1944
Generation: 2
Family Origin:
Spoken Languages:
Relocation to Florida: 2012
List of the Italian Expressions and Traditions Mentioned in the Interview:
Name: Edmondo Catania
Place and Date of Birth: South Philadelphia, PA, 09/23/1944
Generation: 2
Family Origin:
Spoken Languages:
Relocation to Florida: 2012
List of the Italian Expressions and Traditions Mentioned in the Interview:
0:07 |
Beginning of interview with Edmondo Catania |
0:56 - 3:00 |
Grandparents settling in Philadelphia and description of the old neighborhood |
3:30 – 5:00 |
World War II and parents’ newlywedded life |
5:00 – 6:45 |
Memories of food and festas in Philadelphia, anecdote about grandfather’s bakery |
7:00 – 8:20 |
Grandfather’s funeral and father’s commitment to Ed’s future |
8:30 – 10:40 |
Ancestral property in Sicily and Ed’s first trip to Italy at which time he met his relatives who had not emigrated |
10:40 – 11:40 |
Memories associated with food and navigating the language during the trip to Sicily |
11:50 – 14:30 |
Piecing together family history through Zio Giovanni’s stories and property ownership |
14:30 – 15:00 |
Cultural distinctions between maternal and paternal hometowns in Sicily |
15:00 – 16:00 |
Hosting a dinner and delivering a speech of appreciation to the relatives in Sicily |
16:00 – 18:00 |
Parents visit to Sicily regarding the land and the continued pursuit of claiming the ancestral property |
18:00 – 22:00 |
Talks about identifying as Italian growing up in Philadelphia and throughout life, compared to the ethnic identity of his sister, cousins, and next generation |
22:00 – 26:00 |
Memories of his father including: his father’s letters from when he was in the service, the dedication Ed gave at his parents’ 50th wedding anniversary, wartime stories he associated with his father. |
26:00 – 29:00 |
Ed’s professional life, marriage and family life |
29:00 – 30:00 |
Use of Italian, English, and dialect in different settings |
30:00 – 32:45 |
Family professions: baker, tailor, steam fitter, military serviceman; involvement in racketeering |