Articles Written by our Members and Colleagues
Poggioreale in America has many talented friends who have written about their Poggioreale roots, feelings, or family. As we collect them, we will share their inspired works on this page. Do you have one to share that you wrote, or something that a friend or family member has written? Contact us so that we can publish here and share with your kindred spirits!
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Sarah Campise Hallier
"Hidden in the Rubble, Finding our Past in Poggioreale, Sicily" by Sarah Campise Hallier
This article appeared in the We the Italians magazine on
December 9, 2019. It recounts her feelings and experiences after traveling with an exclusive tour group on the Poggioreale in America's First Sicily Trip in October 2019.
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CLICK HERE to read article in English:
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CLICK HERE to read article in Italian:
Charles Campise
PIA member, Charles Campise, has written many short stories about his upbringing and life as a Poggiorealese in Texas. Click above to go to his collection. We are in the process of adding stories each day.
Gino Corte
Gino Corte was born in Poggioreale but left for America in 1961 when his dad sent for him, his mom, and his younger brother to live in Kansas City, Missouri. Gino remembers life as it was in Poggioreale when he was a boy. The photo on the left is of Gino (far left) with his mother Nunzia Falsone Corte, and younger brother Pietro. It was taken during the period when Gino's father, Giuseppe Corte, was working in America to provide for his family. This is the timeframe that young Gino helped his mother run the grocery store in his father's absence. Read as he describes Corso Umberto Primo, the busy main street of Poggioreale, his parents' grocery store, horse races, the peddlers that came to Poggioreale from near-by towns, and so much more. You will enjoy getting a glimpse into what our ancestral town was like in the mid 1900s. AND! Gino is now offering YouTube cooking classes for those who are hungry for
Sicilian cooking! Look for them by searching Gino Corte in YouTube.
Gino's granddaughter, Stella, interviewed her Nonno and created this great YouTube video recounting some of Gino's personal history. A special feature is Gino's tutorial for "Cooking Carduna". a delicious Sicilian vegetable speciality.
Kenneth Scambray
Ken’s grandmother, Maria Campisi, was born in Poggioreale. In 1883 Maria and her family immigrated to Bryan, Texas, and settled in the Poggioreale community. She married Vincenzo Schembri (the original derivation of the Scambray family name) who had immigrated from Bivona a few years earlier. Maria gave birth to a large family of two daughters and five sons. His 2013 article entitled "Sicilian ruins: Resurrecting Poggioreale" was published in Accenti Magazine. The piece describes his visit to Poggioreale. Click on the right to read the article.
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Kenneth Scambray is Professor Emeritus at the University of La Verne in California. His works include A Varied Harvest: The Life and Works of Henry Blake Fuller (Univ. of Pittsburgh Press, 1987), The North American Italian Renaissance: Italian Writing in America and Canada (Guernica Editions, 2000), Surface Roots: Short Stories (Guernica Editions, 2004), Queen Calafia’s Paradise: California and the Italian American Novel (Fairleigh Dickinson Univ. Press, 2007), and Italian Immigration in the American West: 1870-1940 (Univ. of Nevada Press, 2021). For over thirty-five years he has served as writer for the magazine, L’Italo-Americano, where he has contributed hundreds of book and film reviews and travel essays.
BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT!
Professor Kenneth Scambray's new book, Italian Immigration in the American West, 1870-1940, has been published in early 2022. Please read the comprehensive review of the book by L'Italo Americano, an online magazine, dated March 22, 2022. We are proud of his accomplishment and recommend his book.