The
first-class Torre Fiore Hotel Masseria will be
used as the base. It was built in the 16th
century as a military outpost to guard against
Turkish invasions. Situated just outside of
Pisticci, it is minutes away from the Ionian Sea
and serves as an excellent spot to savor the
surrounding area and the wonderful food and
wines of Basilicata.
On Friday, April 29, the group will visit a
local winery for lunch before making an initial
visit to Craco to reconnect with our roots.
The next day, Saturday, April 30, exploring
Craco’s neighboring towns of Bernalda,
Ferrandina and Pisticci will fill the itinerary.
On Sunday, May 1, the highlight of the trip will
take place after lunch when the group joins the
Feast of the Madonna della Stella in Craco
Vecchio. Besides the processione, festa events
will include food displays and fireworks in the
evening.
On Monday, May 2, the group will be steeped in
regional history with visits to Metaponto and
Matera. At the Museum of Magna Grecia the group
will see the Greek influence on the region and
view relics from Craco that date to the
pre-Christian era. Departing from there for
lunch in Matera and touring the UNESCO World
Heritage site completes the day.
Tuesday, May 3, finds the group traveling to the
Amaro Lucano factory after lunch. Then they
head to another UNESCO World Heritage site at
Alberobello.
On Wednesday, May 4, they will be revisiting
Craco with stops in Craco Nuovo and Craco
Vecchio that will include a boxed lunch to enjoy
a meal in the fields as our ancestors did. The
afternoon finds them in Aliano visiting the Carl
Levi Museum to learn about the author and his
work about life in Basilicata.
So, if you haven’t made your trip plans yet
don’t delay—your heritage awaits! Call Marge
Folkes at (1-905-891-0111) to make your
arrangements.
Scenes from the Past
Recently, Joe Rinaldi of
Rhinebeck, New York received some interesting
old photographs of Craco from relatives.
One photograph is of a large
group that is labeled, “Corso Magistrale di Sala
Consiliera, Scuola all'aperto" (Masters Course
for the Council Chamber, Outdoor School). The
only individual known in the scene is Monsignor
Rinaldi (at the extreme right edge of the
photograph). Although there is no date on the
picture, Note Storiche sul Comune di Craco,
the history of Craco references Msgr. Rinaldi as
a young priest being involved in education in
town around the 1930’s.
Corso Magistrale di Sala
Consiliera, Scuola all'aperto (Masters Course
for the Council Chamber, Outdoor School)
The other unique photograph has a
notation on the back that reads, "School group
with teacher and in back is the Cammarota
Palace." Note Storiche sul Comune di Craco
references the Palazzo Cammarota as the location
of the town's school from the 1920's until the
1970's.
Undated
photograph of school in front of the Palazzo
Cammarota
With so little known about the
images, any information or the identity of the
individuals in the two photographs would be
valuable in understanding them. If you can
provide any information please send it to us at:
memberservices@thecracosociety.org
US Records for Craco Immigrants
For
those who are researching ancestors that came
from Craco to America before 1930 there are
several online tools, such as Ancestry.com,
Castle Garden, Ellis Island, and the Italian
Genealogy Group, that make getting information
accessible right from home.
Genealogy practice starts with
the current individual and works backwards as
far as possible to identify ancestors. With
these and other tools available to gather
information about family members beyond those
currently alive, the process of research has
become easier.
Each
of the sites listed above, along with other
sources of vital record information such as the
National Archives and New York City Municipal
Archives are well worth exploring to understand
the wide array of records and information
available. With such a rich set of sources
anyone can gather information about family
history.
Although access to these records
is easier there are also problems you should be
aware of when you use them. Probably the
greatest cause for concern that prevents the
easy location of a record is spelling. With
many hand-written records the digitizing process
caused difficulties in spelling creating
barriers to finding a name directly. This
frequently happens with ship manifest records.
Similar problems appear in early US vital
records when clerks were not familiar with
Italian misspelled names on vital records or
census documents. These errors are compounded
since they now appear in the digitized databases
that we use to search for records of our
ancestors.
In the case of lists on the
Society website, since they were direct extracts
from the database the spelling error appear and
are actually necessary to find the record. Only
by searching on the misspelled name that is
listed will you be able to get it from the
database source.
The Society constantly identifies
records that are in databases on these sites and
highlights records of individuals from Craco.
The newest addition to the
Society’s
Genealogy web
page identifies men who were
WWII draft registrants
from Craco. This unique list contains
men born between 1877 and 1897 and provides
information about them in 1942.
Other lists about Cracotans
arriving and living in America on the Society’s
website include:
Castle Garden Arrivals
from Craco,
Ellis Island Arrivals from
Craco,
1900 American Census -
Crachesi Immigrants on Baxter Street,
Craco Foglio di Famiglia.
The Society is always supportive
of requests for assistance. Help can be obtained
by contacting the Society through our email
address at:
memberservices@thecracosociety.org
Save the Dates—October 21-23,
2011
During that weekend we will be
holding the 5th Annual Crachesi del Nord America
Reunion and celebrating the 110th Anniversary of
the statue of San Vincenzo, Martire in New York
City.
Shown above is a photo of the
1937 celebration of the feast of San Vincenzo
outside of St. Joachim’s Church. The large
group in the photograph was actually only a
small portion of the turnout. Events sponsored
by the Società San Vincenzo Martire di Craco
regularly drew crowds of Cracotans that numbered
500! Although we are not living as closely
together any longer, hopefully you will be able
to take part in at least one of the events
planned during this special weekend.
Events this Month in Craco
Vecchio
Febbraio
In the
cycle of life in Craco Vecchio, February was a quiet month as
the earth
remained
silent and cold. Cracotans prepared for the Lenten season and
the fasting that accompanies Lent.
In the
fields, the grain and fave will be hoed with the zappa.
Carnevale continues until Mardi Gras when all cooking utensils
are washed in a pot of hot ashes to remove all traces of fat.
Ash Wednesday will start the Lenten season with fasting.
Click
here
to view
A Year in Craco. Events in
Craco for every month are listed. Thank you
to Joe Rinaldi in Canada for this
contribution.
