20th century

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Remembering a World War II Veteran Through His Work

Authored by Emily Leo

A watercolor painting depicting a scene from life in Franklin Square during the 20th Century. A temporary carnival held in or near Franklin Square in the early 1950s. Indiviglia, Salvatore J. 1952. Carnival. Watercolor on paper. Franklin Square Public Library, New York. (The Franklin Square Historical Society owns the copyright to this painting and has loaned it to the Franklin Square Public Library to display. Photo taken with permission from the Franklin Square Public Library by Emily Leo on September 15th, 2020).

World War II veterans are an ever-shrinking population. While most living veterans are well into their 90s, many of their stories have not been told. Salvatore J. Indiviglia was 99 when he passed on May 28, 2018. According to an article from the Pew Research Center, “The [Department of Veteran’s Affairs] projections show that between Sept. 30, 2019 and Sept. 30, 2020, 245 WWII veterans are expected to be lost each day” (Schaeffer 2020). Thus, it is more crucial than ever to record as many of their stories and experiences as possible before they are lost for good. However, sometimes their stories live on through the work they have done throughout their lives. I was able to find his story through the paintings he has left behind and the organizations he was a part of. Salvatore J. Indiviglia was a resident of Franklin Square, New York for 68 years, a veteran of World War II, and a prolific artist whose work is displayed in numerous places, most notably, in the Franklin Square Public Library (Newsday 2018).

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L’Archivio del Commissariato Generale dell’Emigrazione (Part II)

Authored by Michael Tomaselli

Figure 1 “Archive of the General Commission of Immigration (Part 2) and the General Directorate of Foreign Italians” – Finding Aid, Center of Migration Studies of New York, CMS.034

The Commissariato Generale dell’Emigratione (General Commission of Immigration) was founded on the 10th of January 1901(“Storiadigitale Zanichelli Percorso Site,” n.d.). The goal, in conjunction with the Direzione Generale degli Italiani all’Estero (General Directorate of Foreign Italians was to regulate the transmission of ideas into the country that might destabilize the regime and to protect citizens abroad. With Italian Unification ending in 1870, the Italian regime had to use every possible way to control its citizens in this nebulous time. Italy saw the world changing. Connections were being made faster than neurons firing. However, Italy saw the misfires as well. Karl Marx and Fredrich Engels wrote The Communist Manifesto in 1884, ending with the line, “Workers of the World, Unite,” while witnessing the wildfire of social revolutions and reforms take shape across Europe(Marx, Engels, and Toews 1999, 96). Regimes fell, splintered, and reformed; and Italy was determined not to succumb. In order to do this, the government tried to barricade against the rising tide of the social agenda. Continue reading →

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“Modern Community” in 1950

Authored by Kevin Quinn

Page 1 of the Modern Community syllabus at Farmingdale State College, circa 1948.

Farmingdale State College “Modern Community syllabus,” page 1, circa 1948.

“Modern Community in 1950”

As part of an Academic Service-Learning project, I was tasked with cataloging textbooks and notebooks donated by an alumnus of the 1950 class at Farmingdale State College. The donor of the material was Mr. Benjamin P. Vecchio, a graduate of the Building Construction (BC) program at LIATI. At LIATI, students were either part of the Agricultural College, or the Technical College. As a student in BC, Mr. Vecchio was a part of the Technical College that, according to a campus map[1], made its home on Conklin Street in Farmingdale, NY, away from the Main Campus.  The history of the Technical Campus is interesting because the ‘Central Hall’ building used to be known as the Nazareth Trade School, a home for Orphans between 1900 and 1940.[2] “It was held at the old tech area which was on Conklin Street. All the classes were there, none of them were here, except sports, sports were here, but the rest were over there.”[3] Continue reading →