L'articolo tratta dell'autore Richard Leto, un italo-americano. Leto ha pubblicato il suo primo libro, "My Italian-American Roots", in cui descrive il suo orgoglio di essere nipote di immigrati sia da parte di padre che di madre. L'articolo include un estratto del libro in cui descrive come Filadelfia sia stato il luogo in cui tutti i suoi nonni emigrarono, e dove lui vive. Filadelfia rappresenta ancora una parte importante della sua storia personale, perché collega tre generazioni qui in America.

In “My Italian-American Roots,” I describe how unearthing my family time capsule, a simple cardboard box kept for years in my parents’ basement, provided a glimpse into my family’s past. The box, with its precious and museum-quality heirlooms, helped me connect to my family history and the story of my Italian immigrant ancestors who gave me my Italian American roots.

As a first-time author, authoring my book was truly a “labor of love.” It allowed me to reflect and connect with my family history, my upbringing, and my experiences as an Italian American.

The box, truly a family treasure chest filled with a collection of old photos, keepsakes, and original documents, some of which were over 100-years-old, did not make it to the trash pile. Instead, the contents remained safely untouched and well-preserved for nearly 100 years. These now-organized family items, much like a collage, tell a bit of my family legacy, which includes the stories of my paternal and maternal Italian immigrant grandparents, my own upbringing, and my family's deep connection to the Little Italy enclave of my hometown in South Philadelphia, PA.

This simple cardboard box provided a route for me to explore my family's history and to connect with my cherished Italian ancestral roots. For so many of us who share in the Italian American experience, the journey of tracing one’s family roots can take many routes!
Please enjoy these excerpts from “My Italian-American Roots”.

“I am extremely proud to be a third-generation Italian American, or to say it another way, an American of Italian descent. I am a direct descendant, a grandson, of Italian immigrants who came to America during the Great Arrival and settled in the Little Italy enclave of South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (South Philly). Upon organizing the numerous contents of the unassuming cardboard box that is my family time capsule, I decided to write the pages that follow, which tell my family’s story within my hometown of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the old Italian American neighborhood of South Philly.

All my Italian immigrant grandparents came to Philadelphia, never went back to Italy, and died in Philadelphia. My deceased parents were the children of these Italian immigrants. They were born and raised in South Philly, and they too never moved away and died in Philadelphia. In a strong sense, Philadelphia is where my Italian American roots coalesce. Philadelphia is the bond that connects my grandparents, my parents, and me to the Italian American experience.”

“It will be obvious as you read the following pages that I repeatedly mention the names of my Italian immigrant grandparents. This is no mistake. My Italian American story cannot be told without them!”

Richard Leto was born and raised in the Italian American enclave of South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (South Philly). He currently lives in Columbus, Ohio with his wife Susan. He is the grandson of both paternal and maternal Italian immigrants who emigrated to America during the Great Arrival and settled in the Little Italy enclave of South Philly. 

On his paternal side, his grandparents Francesco and Caterina (nee Tropiano) Leto emigrated (circa 1910) from Santa Caterina dello Ionio (Calabria-Catanzaro). On his maternal side, his grandparents Aniello and Elisa (nee Basile) Lucera emigrated (circa 1902/1910) from Comune di Biccari (Puglia-Foggia).