On Saturday, Sept. 29, author and genealogist Angelo F. Coniglio will present a free lecture in Hamilton, Ontario, on how to effectively research genealogical information about immigrants from Hamilton’s sister city, Racalmuto, Sicily. The event, titled Children of the Rock – Tracing Your Italian or European Ancestry and sponsored by Niagara University, begins at 10 a.m. at the Fratellanza Racalmutese Italian Club, 72 Murray St. West.
Attendees can also learn about scholarship opportunities that Niagara University’s College of Education is offering students to study abroad in Italy.
Coniglio is the son of parents who emigrated from Sicily in 1913, eventually settling in Buffalo. He writes genealogy columns for two monthly magazines and is a volunteer librarian at the local Mormon Family History Center in suburban Buffalo. In his lecture, he will describe how to determine the four important keys in researching immigrant families: name, birth date, date of immigration, and town of birth. He will show how, once those key elements are determined, images of actual birth, marriage and death records from ancestral towns can be found.
The topics and techniques presented in his lecture are appropriate for research of any immigrants of Sicilian or Italian heritage, and can be applied to those from other European locations.
Following the lecture, a signing will be held for Coniglio’s book The Lady of the Wheel, a fictional historical novella set in Racalmuto in the late 1800s. The story tells of the tribulations faced and overcome by poor foundlings and sulfur mine workers.
Representatives from Niagara’s College of Education will also be on hand to discuss certification opportunities available in Spanish, French, Mandarin, Arabic and Italian. It’s the college’s belief that the best preparation to teach any language should include an understanding of the culture, and for this reason, students who study with them are encouraged to take part in one of many study abroad experiences. One such experience is an opportunity to study in Italy over the spring or summer break. As a means to assist them in building the number of qualified Italian educators, the college has procured, through the generosity of Angelo Di Ianni, 10 scholarship opportunities for students.
For more information, please contact Evan Pierce, director of graduate education, at 716.286.8327 or ude.aragainnull@ecreipe.
