The Italian Genealogical Group presents “As Long As You Speak My Name,” written narratives about Italian immigrants Saturday, Jan. 27 • 12:30 to 2 pm

The book will be sold at this event.

The non-profit Italian Genealogical Group started a project of collecting immigrant stories of our relatives, to keep the stories alive for future generations. The collection of stories in the book represents 13 of the 20 regions in Italy. The stories share the struggles of Italian immigrants when they reached America. Some are funny, some are sad, and some are unbelievable.

This engaging presentation will be led by group members Michael Genovese, Mario Toglia and Marilyn Verna.

Some reviews: 

So much life lived to the full, so many lives cut short. So much sorrow, so much joy, so much FOOD. … Read these stories together if you can. Don’t stop. They are like instrumental music. … Like the old neighborhoods, come back again. – Flavia Alaya, Ph.D., New Jersey Historic Sites Council

This book validates the importance of preserving oral family remembrances in written form. As Italian Americans, we need to link our history to that ancestral origin that typifies us and carry it on as our legacy for the generations yet to come. – Annalisa Sacca, Ph.D., St. John’s University

Organized by Italy’s regions, these small chapters are like tesserae in a mosaic. The editors have synthesized chronicles, genealogy, and local history into a narrative of immigration, assimilation, identity, and self-knowledge. – Stanislao Pugliese, Ph.D., Hofstra University