Telling Stories: One Room at a Time

Italian Heritage Archive Group Study Room In Honor of John N. LaCorte

The Italian Heritage Archive Group Study Room, located on the third floor of the Leatherby Libraries in Room 308, is one of the Leatherby Libraries' oldest Story Rooms. When the Commendatore Frank DeSantis brought the idea for the Italian Heritage Archive to Leatherby Libraries administration, it came with some truly excellent long-lasting relationships in the Italian American community. From legendary quarterback Vince Ferragamo to John N. LaCorte, founder of the Italian Historical Society of America, Commendatore DeSantis had connections that we knew would lead to a truly wonderful archive and story room.
Luckily, library administration found support for the creation of the Italian Heritage Archive Group Study Room all over campus, from our then university president Dr. Jim Doti (who has Italian ancestry) to the Italian Studies program faculty, to the Leatherby Libraries staff, who happily joined in a fundraising bocce ball tournament to raise funds to name and create the room.

Thanks to the widespread support that the Italian Heritage Archive gained, the Leatherby Libraries received a fantastic number of archives, books, mementoes, and family and organizational records, along with all the funding needed to create the archive and the story room. Plaques, wall text, and display cases were all created with great care and thought to beautifully share the stories of all of those who contributed to the archive.
The Italian Heritage Archive Group Study Room continues to support students and faculty across the Chapman University campus, especially students and faculty in the Italian Studies program. Leatherby Libraries student employee Jimmy Elinski wrote a wonderful blog post about the room and how it helped him reckon with his own Italian heritage as a part of his "Exploring the Magic of the Leatherby Libraries" blog series.

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