Public Lecture: Italian-American History, Culture and the Immigrant Experience: The Monongah Mine Disaster of 1907

Joseph L. Tropea
(George Washington University)

Friday, March 13, 2015, 8.30-10 am
Palazzo Venturi, Via Verdi 15, Torino, ex sala lauree, ground level.

 


The greatest mine disaster in U.S. history, the accident that occurred in Monongah, WV, in 1907 killed 361 persons, including 170 Italian migrants. Prof. Tropea’s lecture illustrates his research, including findings which change the facts and interpretations of that disaster, especially for the Italian immigrants involved and their families. The lecture will reveal many bizarre but illustrative errors and myths that constitute too much Italian-American history and identity.

Joseph L. Tropea is former professor and chair in the Department of Sociology, George Washington University. His previous research projects in institutional history have been published in Social Science History, Criminal Justice History, Journal of Education Quarterly, Journal of Management History, International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, as well as in edited works in the U.S. and Europe. His recent research (his presentation’s focus) shifts to social history of Italian immigration to the US. Dr. Tropea’s grandparents migrated from four regions in Italy (Abruzzo, Lazio, Basilicata and Calabria) to settle in West Virginia, two of whom were present in Monongah at the time of the 1907 disaster. He was honored in Rome for his research and also as “Italian Man of the Year” in Clarksburg, West Virginia.

This lecture is hosted in Andrea Carosso's course "Cultures of the US West", and is open and free to all.


Dipartimento di Lingue e Letterature Straniere e Culture Moderne
Scuola di Dottorato in Digital Humanities, XXX ciclo

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