| Italian Interest Group (IIG) NO DECEMBER MEETING |
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| Tanti auguri di buone feste! (Best wishes for happy holidays!) |
| Save the Date |
| DATE: TIME: January 17, 2026 1:30 PM (PT) |
| COUNTDOWN TO THE MEETING: |
 Days Hours Minutes Seconds Italian Interest Group (IIG) of the Eastside Genealogical Society P.O. Box 374 Bellevue, WA 98009-0374 |
| DATE: TIME: TOPIC: PRESENTER: November 15, 2025 1:30 PM (PST) How Italian Migration Laws Affected Our Ancestors Victoria Calabrese, PhD |
| Description: How easy was it to emigrate from Italy? What was the process like after one made the decision to leave? This presentation will discuss Italian emigration laws regarding migration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and how these laws influenced our ancestors’ lives. The talk will cover topics such as who could and could not emigrate (and why), what was needed to get a passport, how to buy tickets, and travelling to the port of departure. |
 Speaker Bio: Victoria Calabrese received her Ph.D. in modern European history from the Graduate Center at the City University of New York. Her research focuses on modern Italian history, gender, migration, and nation building. Her book, Italian Women in Basilicata: Staying Behind but Moving Forward during the Age of Mass Emigration, 1876–1914, was published by Lexington Books in 2022. The book examines women in the southern Italian region of Basilicata and the many ways their lives changed when their husbands emigrated. In addition to the women who remained behind, she has written articles on honor and infanticide, and on traveling child musicians. Victoria is an avid genealogist, focusing on southern Italian genealogy research. She is currently an adjunct professor at Lehman College, teaching courses in early modern and modern European history |
| COUNTDOWN TO THE MEETING: |
 Days Hours Minutes Seconds |
| Eastside Genealogical Society – Italian Interest Group P.O. Box 374 Bellevue, WA 98009-0374 |
| Italian Interest Group (IIG)October 2025 Meeting |
| You will get a reminder email with the same Zoom meeting link on October 10th and 17th. |
| Description: This presentation will cover the wealth of genealogical information available in Italian military records, which have existed since Italian unification in the 19th century and in some places as far back as 1792. The records discussed will include conscription lists (Liste di Leva) detailing biographical and physical information for all eligible males, and military service files (Fogli Matricolari) tracking a soldier’s service history, promotions, and assignments. Additionally, four other lesser-known Italian military records will be covered. Since these records are organized by military district and province rather than by town, they are especially useful for tracing ancestors whose specific hometown is unknown. The Presentation will guide researchers on accessing these records, whether by requesting them from a provincial State Archive (Archivio di Stato) in Italy, searching digitized records on sites like FamilySearch or Portale Antenati, or understanding the location of military archives based on the time period.” |
 Speaker Bio: Joel Cole was born and raised in Padova, Italy. He has been involved with Italian Family History for over 30 years. He accompanied his father Trafford for his first genealogical research in Maniago, Italy, when he was 15 and since then he has been fascinated by family history. He has worked as a researcher for over 25 years, visiting almost every State Archive in Italy and almost 1,000 parish archives. He is familiar with paleography having taken several classes in Italy, and with Latin documents, having studied it for over 10 years. Joel has presented in many international genealogical conferences about Italian Family History and has worked for years for private companies performing research in all of Italy, consulting Civil records, Parish and Diocesan Catholic records, Notary records and many more sources. In 2015 he moved to Utah covering several roles for FamilySearch. He is currently the content strategist for Southern Europe, including Italy. Joel’s research specialties are: Italy, Southern Switzerland and Istria-Croatia. Expert at deciphering ancient Italian and Latin documents. |
| COUNTDOWN TO THE MEETING: |
 Days Hours Minutes Seconds |
| Eastside Genealogical Society – Italian Interest Group P.O. Box 374 Bellevue, WA 98009-0374 |
 “On Food and Fascism” |
| Description: Karima Moyer-Nocchi will give a lecture based on her book: Chewing the Fat – An Oral History of Italian Foodways from Fascism to Dolce Vita. This highly engaging and visually driven presentation will examine the ways in which the politics of the fascist era (1922-1943) influenced the Italian culinary identity from a socio-cultural perspective and the role it played in the conceptual development of Italian cuisine as we know it today. The lecture will explore the tenets of Oral History in general and then looks specifically at how this method of data collection opens a unique window onto food history research. Moyer-Nocchi analyzes the notion of “authenticity” and reveals how some of the best-loved myths of Italian food are part of an invented set of traditions. That view is balanced through a closer look at how traditions, invented or otherwise, play an important part in societal healing and cultural progression in Italy. The presentation will conclude with a performance of selected excerpts from the book. |
| ZOOM Meeting When: 20-Sep-2025, Saturday Time: 10:00 AM (PDT) ***** SPECIAL TIME ***** Presenter: Karima Moyer-Nocchi |
 Speaker Bio: Karima Moyer-Nocchi is a noted culinary historian specializing in Italian cuisine. In her work, she reconstructs histories through a culinary lens, with an eye on myth busting, evident in her acclaimed publications “Chewing the Fat – An Oral History of Italian Foodways from Fascism to Dolce Vita” and “The Eternal Table: A Cultural History of Food in Rome“. Her upcoming book is “An Epic History of Macaroni and Cheese from Ancient Rome to Modern America” for Columbia University Press for which she was an ICJS Fellow at the Jefferson Foundation in Monticello and a Smithsonian Fellow at the National Museum of American History. An advocate for experiential learning, she encourages “hands-on history” as reflected in her popular Instagram account: @historicalitalianfood and website: theeternaltable.com. Born and educated in the United States, Moyer-Nocchi has made Italy her home since 1990. She teaches in the Modern Languages department at the University of Siena and currently resides in Umbria. Link to “Chewing the Fat” book: the link. |
| If you aren’t a registered member, you must request meeting access. Below is the link to request a meeting invitation. Please send me an invitation |
| COUNTDOWN TO THE MEETING: |
 Days Hours Minutes Seconds |
| Eastside Genealogical Society – Italian Interest Group P.O. Box 374 Bellevue, WA 98009-0374 |
 “Italian Municipal and Tax Censuses” |
| Description: This lecture examines Italian municipal and tax censuses as valuable genealogical resources. It provides an overview of censuses over time, including the riveli and catasti, highlighting their insights into family structures, property ownership, and community history. Participants will learn how to locate and analyze these records to enhance their family research. |
| ZOOM Meeting When: 21-Jun-2025, Saturday Time: 1:30 PM (PDT) Presenter: Suzanne Russo Adams |
 Speaker Bio: Suzanne Russo Adams, MA, AG®, is an Associate Professor of family history and the Director of the Center for Family History and Genealogy at Brigham Young University. An Accredited Genealogist® specializing in Italian research, she holds degrees in Family History/Genealogy and Sociology, as well as a master’s degree in History. With over 25 years of experience in the genealogy field, Suzanne has worked extensively in record acquisition, strategy, and content digitization for Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org. She is the author of “Finding Your Italian Ancestors: A Beginner’s Guide”. |
| If you aren’t a registered member, you must request meeting access. Below is the link to request a meeting invitation. Please send me an invitation link |
| COUNTDOWN TO THE MEETING: |
 Days Hours Minutes Seconds |
| Eastside Genealogical Society – Italian Interest Group P.O. Box 374 Bellevue, WA 98009-0374 |
| “Italian Municipal and Tax Censuses” |
| Description: This lecture examines Italian municipal and tax censuses as valuable genealogical resources. It provides an overview of censuses over time, including the riveli and catasti, highlighting their insights into family structures, property ownership, and community history. Participants will learn how to locate and analyze these records to enhance their family research. |
| ZOOM Meeting When: 21-Jun-2025, Saturday Time: 1:30 PM (PDT) Presenter: Suzanne Russo Adams |
| Speaker Bio: Suzanne Russo Adams, MA, AG®, is an Associate Professor of family history and the Director of the Center for Family History and Genealogy at Brigham Young University. An Accredited Genealogist® specializing in Italian research, she holds degrees in Family History/Genealogy and Sociology, as well as a master’s degree in History. With over 25 years of experience in the genealogy field, Suzanne has worked extensively in record acquisition, strategy, and content digitization for Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org. She is the author of “Finding Your Italian Ancestors: A Beginner’s Guide”. |
| If you aren’t a registered member, you must request meeting access. Below is the link to request a meeting invitation. Please send me an invitation link |
| COUNTDOWN TO THE MEETING: |
| Days Hours Minutes Seconds |
| Eastside Genealogical Society – Italian Interest Group P.O. Box 374 Bellevue, WA 98009-0374 |
 Share Your Italian Family Artifact, Document or Photo |
| Description: At our May meeting we invite you to share something related to your Italian family history or research. Perhaps you have an interesting family artifact or a photo from long ago. Or you may have found documents relating to your family’s past in Italy. Even if you don’t have keepsakes from your ancestors, you may wish to show us their Ellis Island passenger manifest or a photo of the Italian town where they lived. Feel free to be creative. We will all learn from this experience. Please share your item and tell us a little about the person it relates to, or how you discovered it, and what it means to your Italian family history. |
| ZOOM Meeting When: 17-May-2025, Saturday Time: 1:30 PM (PDT) |
| If you aren’t a registered member, you must request meeting access. Below is the button to request a meeting invitation. |
| COUNTDOWN TO THE MEETING: |
 Days Hours Minutes Seconds |
| Eastside Genealogical Society – Italian Interest Group P.O. Box 374 Bellevue, WA 98009-0374 |
 Italian Civil Registration – Other Documents: Diversi, Parte Due/Seconda & Cittadinanza |
| Description: Italian civil records provide great information – names, dates, parents, grandparents, and sometimes even addresses. But – have you ever ventured into those handwritten scary looking records at the end of the book? Parte 2, Diversi, and the Cittadinanza records offer up additional information – and sometimes quite colorful information. They are a window into the past. We will delve into each of these record types and discover some amazing stories and see the potential for help these records can provide when you find your ancestors within the pages. |
| ZOOM Meeting When: 19-Apr-2025, Saturday Time: 1:30 PM (PDT) Presenter: Ruth Merriman |
 Speaker Bio: Ruth Lapioli Merriman retired seven years ago after 35 years of working for FamilySearch. She worked cataloging Italian records and managing the International floor of the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City. She has lectured at national and international venues, at RootsTech and at various genealogical societies. She loves genealogy and all things Italian. She is a wife, a mother of four sons, and a grandmother of 6 of the best grandchildren ever. |
| If you aren’t a registered member, you must request meeting access. Below is the link to request a meeting invitation. Please send me an invitation link |
| COUNTDOWN TO THE MEETING: |
 Days Hours Minutes Seconds |
| Eastside Genealogical Society – Italian Interest Group P.O. Box 374 Bellevue, WA 98009-0374 |
 Bridging the Divide: Italian Catholic Parish Records as a Cardinal Resource for Historical Demography and Genealogy |
| Description: Italian Catholic Parish Records serve as foundational archives for historical demographics and genealogy in Italy. In this presentation, the speaker will highlight their significance by outlining the data contained in the records — baptismal, marriage, and burial registers from the 16th to 19th centuries. No other records in Italy contain as much of the day-to-day history of everyday people during that time period. Attendees will learn about parish record collections available to research, efforts to digitize more records, and resources and researchers who can assist. In addition, the speaker will discuss the accessibility of the records and the impact on contemporary research. |
| ZOOM Meeting When: 15-Mar-2025, Saturday Time: 1:30 PM (PST) / 4:30 PM (EST) Presenter: Suzanne Greco |
 Bio: Suzanne Greco is the Founder & Director of Italian Parish Records, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and making accessible the Italian Catholic Parish Records. She is a current Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Edinburgh Divinity School in Ethical & Practical Theology, recently having graduated from Harvard Divinity School. Suzanne has researched Italian family lines and indexed civil and parish records for 27 years. |
| If you aren’t a registered member, you must request meeting access. Below is the link to request a meeting invitation. Please send me an invitation link |
| COUNTDOWN TO THE MEETING: |
 Days Hours Minutes Seconds |
| Eastside Genealogical Society – Italian Interest Group P.O. Box 374 Bellevue, WA 98009-0374 |
 Welcome to Italian Genealogy Let’s explore the world of Italian genealogy together, one person at a time. |
35th Anniversary Of The Italian Interest Group! Celebrate the Italian Interest Group’s 35th anniversary! No-host dinner Saturday, 3/15/2025 at 5:00 PM (time may vary based on restaurant availability) Location: Ristorante Paradiso https://ristoranteparadiso.com/home 120 A Park Lane, Kirkland 425-889-8601 |
| We normally celebrate the IIG anniversary with a group dinner at Ristorante Paradiso in Kirkland. We need a head count to make a reservation. Please RSVP by March 1, 2025, Saturday using the hyperlink below. You can use the hyperlink below to change the number of attendees, just revise the ‘Number Attending’ in the form. Mille Grazie, Stephen |
| https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/530446/146725466087098231/share |
| COUNTDOWN TO THE DINNER RESERVATION DEADLINE: |
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| Eastside Genealogy Group – Italian Interest Group 2410 East Helen Street, Seattle WA, United States of America |
