The Amity Club of New Haven

08/20/2026

08/17/2026

✍️ Almost every family tells some version of the same story. An inspector at Ellis Island could not spell the name, so he shortened it right there on the spot. It is a good story. It is also not what happened.

Inspectors at Ellis Island did not write names down at all. They worked from the ship's manifest, and that manifest was filled out back in Europe when the ticket was sold. What actually changed our names was everything that came afterward. A foreman who did not feel like saying four syllables. A census taker writing by ear. A teacher, a parish clerk, a naturalization form. And eventually the family itself deciding that life would simply be easier this way.

So the name was not taken from us at the door. In most cases it was traded, deliberately, for a little more room to work. Do you know when and where your family's spelling changed? 👇

08/05/2026

Italy is a world leader in Blue Flag Beaches!

Italy just earned "Bandiera Blu" status for 525 beaches across 257 municipalities in 2026, its highest total yet and a jump of 38 beaches from last year. Liguria leads the country with 35 award-winning locations, followed by Puglia and Calabria with 27 each. The Blue Flag, awarded by the Foundation for Environmental Education, recognizes water quality, safety, accessibility and environmental management.

From the Ligurian coastline to the shores of Sardinia and Sicily, this year's list is a reminder of how much of Italy's beauty lives along its coasts.

07/11/2026

One Italian who helped found the nation was Filippo Mazzei from whom Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, derived “all men are created equal” from a 1774 essay penned by Mazzei in the Virginia Gazette.

The essay contained the phrase, “Tutti gli uomini sono per matura equalimente liberi e independenti.” (All men are by nature equally free and independent.”)

Learn more about our history at California's Italian Cultural Society: https://italiancenter.net

Italian Sons and Daughters of America (ISDA) and the Italian Cultural Society proud members of the Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations.

COPOMIAO, a national coalition of 77 cultural, educational, fraternal and anti-defamation groups, seeks to preserve and celebrate our history and traditions for today’s generations, and tomorrow’s.

Want to elevate your group to the national level? Apply to COPOMIAO here: https://bit.ly/4vhM0Dx

07/04/2026

Celebrate 250 years of America with the Italians who discovered it.

Cristoforo Colombo was born in Genoa in 1451. His 1492 voyage across the Atlantic opened sustained contact between Europe and the Americas and changed the course of human history forever.

Giovanni Caboto called Venice home. Sailing under the English flag in 1497, he reached the shores of North America and laid the groundwork for English colonization of the continent we now call home.

Amerigo Vespucci was born in Florence in 1454. His voyages to the New World made him the first to recognize that the lands Columbus had reached were not Asia but an entirely new continent. The world named it after him.

Giovanni da Verrazzano was born in Tuscany around 1485. In 1524 he mapped the Atlantic coastline of North America and sailed into the harbor that would one day become New York, the gateway to the American dream for millions.

NIAF is a proud Supporting Partner of America250, honoring the Italian explorers whose curiosity, courage, and vision made the American story possible.

07/04/2026

The Italian Hand in America's Founding 🇺🇸🇮🇹

Before America had a Constitution, it needed words, ideas, and a vision of what a republic could look like. These Italians gave it all three.

Filippo Mazzei lived next door to Thomas Jefferson in Virginia, and the two men spent years exchanging ideas about liberty and government. Mazzei's own writing, "all men are by nature equally free and independent," is widely credited as the inspiration behind Jefferson's "all men are created equal" in the Declaration of Independence.

While Mazzei gave the founders their words, Gaetano Filangieri gave them a framework. His major work, "The Science of Legislation," reached Benjamin Franklin directly, and his ideas on law and government shaped political thought during the founding era.

Andrea Palladio never set foot in America. He lived two centuries before the Revolution. But his classical architectural style became the visual language of the young republic. Jefferson studied his work closely, and that influence can still be seen in Monticello, the University of Virginia, and the federal buildings that define American government today.

Words, ideas, and vision. Italians and Italian Americans helped shape this nation from its very first chapter.

NIAF is a proud Supporting Partner of America250 honoring the generations of Italians and Italian Americans who have shaped our nation.

06/17/2026

Final meeting of the club year.

06/12/2026

Happy 70th Birthday to the Italian American former NFL superstar Quarterback Joe Montana! 🎂 🇮🇹 🇺🇸 🏈

Born to a proud Italian American family with roots stretching from Sicily to Northern Italy, Joe "Cool" Montana brought that classic Italian work ethic, fiery passion, and ice-cold resilience to the football field. He showed everyone what true Italian grit and determination looked like. Buon Compleanno, Joe! 🇮🇹❤️🇺🇸

06/12/2026

🏇 Congratulations to former NIAF Board Member Vincent “Vinnie” Viola — Golden Tempo has done it again!

In a race that proved patience and conviction pay off, Golden Tempo rallied from last to win the 158th Belmont Stakes at Saratoga — completing a stunning Derby-Belmont double after bypassing the Preakness. The same last-to-first surge. The same result.

Vinnie’s track record — from entrepreneur to two-time Stanley Cup champion owner to now a two-race Triple Crown hero — reflects the very spirit NIAF was built to celebrate: the relentless pursuit of excellence.

Bravo, Vinnie! 🇮🇹🏆🥂

06/12/2026

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/how-italian-immigrant-rolled-radio-flyer-wagon-out-across-america-180959298/

Three generations and more than 100 years later, the company is still flying high