About the Columbus Coalition

The Columbus Coalition

About Us

Expand the Teaching of the Italian Language

Focus on Younger Generation: Create Italian language courses for all ages groups from preschool, grammar school, high school, college, young professional, married and empty nester & retired.
Programs in the Schools: Whereever possible and feasible support the establishment of Italian language courses in the public schools from grammar school to high school and college. Local community groups will be encouraged to contact and lobby local leaders to fully establish this educational program in many communities throughout the United States.
Programs for Adults and Places to Go to Speak the Language: The creation of places for young professionals and adults can go to learn and practice their Italian language skills including courses for adults.

Expand the Italian Cultural Exposure in the United States

Italian Art Expands the appreciation of Italian Artists:
1. Literary achievements, such as the poetry of Petrarch, Tasso and Ariosto, and the prose of Boccaccio, Machiavelli and Castiglione, exerted a tremendous and lasting influence on the subsequent development of western civilization.
2. The paintings, sculpture and architecture contributed by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Botticelli, Fra Angelico and Michelangelo.
3. Music by Antonio Vivaldi and Giuseppe Verdi
Culture and Art in Today's Italy:

Expand the appreciation of Art in Italy through cultural programs and travel to Italy:
1. The Art in today's Florence.
2. The Art and ruins in today's Rome.
3. Greek Temples and architecture in Sicily.
4. Trips to Italy Support and Encourage programs to expand travel to Italy by members of the Columbus Coalition and expand the appreciation of the Italian American community through sponsorship of trips to Italy by community leaders.
5. Newspapers in Italy. Every member of the Columbus Coalition should set as a goal to be able to go to the internet, pull up a newspaper in Italy and be able to read it in Italian.
Italian Cooking Programs:
1. Creation of Italian Cooking classes
2. Groups devoted entirely to Italian cooking
3. Compilation of Columbus Coalition Cookbook

Expand the Teaching of the History of Italians

The History of Italy:
1. Europe's Renaissance period began in Italy during the 14th and 15th centuries. The commercial prosperity of northern and central Italian cities beginning in the 11th century
2. Unification of Italy In 1861, Victor Emmanuel II of the House of Savoy was proclaimed king of Italy. Rome was incorporated in 1870. From 1870 until 1922, Italy was a constitutional monarchy with a parliament elected under limited suffrage
3. The political landscape was changed by referenda in 1993 in which voters approved changes to the Italian political system. The reforms abolished some cabinet ministries used for patronage. In addition, the electoral system was changed from a more proportional system, which increases the number of small parties in parliament and makes coalition government more difficult, to a majority system that makes it more difficult for small parties to win seats.
4. New parties and movements. The "Partito Popolare Italiano," or Italian People's Party, and the "Centro Cristiano Democratico," or Christian Democratic Center, emerged to take the place of the Christian Democratic Party. While older parties tainted by the scandals lost support, new parties such as the right-wing "Forza Italia," which means Forward, Italy, gained substantial public support. The communists split into two parties and the far-right "Alleanza Nazionale," or National Alliance, broke from the neo-fascist "Movimento Sociale Italiano," or Italian Social Movement.
5. 2001 parliamentary elections and formation of a new Berlusconi government, present split of political parties in parliament and local governments.
The History of the Roman Empire:
1. The Rise of the Roman Empire - Greeks settled in the southern tip of the Italian peninsula in the 8th and 7th centuries B.C.E. Romans, Etruscans and others inhabited the central and northern mainland. The peninsula subsequently was unified under the Roman Republic.
2. Expansion of the Roman Empire - Neighboring islands also came under Roman control by the 3rd century B.C.E. By the 1st century C.E., the Roman Empire effectively dominated the Mediterranean world.
3. The history of the Roman Emperors.
4. The Fall of the Roman Empire
5. Influence of the Roman Empire on Today's World
The History of Italian Americans in the United States:
(This list is meant only as a quick overview of a complete curriculum with histories which has yet to be compiled.)
1. Christopher Columbus
2. Amerigo Vespucci
3. Constantino Brumidi painted the interior dome of the Capitol Building in Washington, DC
4. Attilio Piccirilli, a Neopolitan immigrant, and his five brothers carved the statue of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington from 28 blocks of marble
5. Filippo Mazzei, a Tuscan neighbor of Thomas Jefferson, is believed to have suggested the words "All men are created Equal" which was enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and fought for religious and political freedom during the Revolutionary War
6. Alphonse Tonty was the cofounder of Detroit, MI
7. 1500 men fought in three different Italian regiments to help America gain its independence in the Revolutionary War
8. William Paca signed the Declaration of Independence
9. Caesar Rodney signed the Declaration of Independence
10. Joe Dimaggio
11. Frank Sinatra
12. Fiorella La Guardia was the Mayor of New York City and a Congressman from New York
13. Anthony Celebrezze, the nation's first Italian American cabinet member, served in the Kennedy Administration
14. Antonin Scalia was the country's first Italian American Supreme Court Justice
15. Robert DeNiro won an Academy Award
16. Enrico Fermi won the 1938 Nobel Prize in Physics
The History of Italians in other nations, including Argentina