By Peggy Sturdivant

Their parents didn’t immigrate to America. They are not first, second or third generation Italian-Americans. They work in research laboratories at UW, the Hutch, and Seattle Children’s Research Institute. They work at Microsoft and Boeing, Amazon and start-up companies. They are the new Italians living and working in Seattle, and they want to create an Italian Cultural Center.

When contacted by Dr. Valeria Vasta about the quest for a home for a library and cultural center, I was bemused. Could there possibly be a need? I’d never heard much about an Italian community in Seattle.

But as one who loves the sound of the language and Italian-American food, I was curious. We arranged to meet so that I could learn more. When I found Monday night parking on Ballard Avenue to meet at Caffe Umbria there were not one, but four women, all looking at me as if I could open a locked gate. I was immediately lost to their cause.

I knew that in Seattle’s history there had been Italian farmers, mostly in what’s now South Park and Rainier Valley. I’d heard of Rosellini’s (the restaurateur and the governor) and Ballard High School graduates John Boitano and Vic Salvino ‘51, who helped found a golf classic in Boitano’s honor. I knew the two Angelos from Angelos Hair Design, and like most of Sunset Hill, I knew Victor Manarolla, who died last December.

But mostly I was ignorant about the history of Italian immigrants in Seattle. Curious, I learned there’d been Italian language newspapers, including Grazzetta Italiana, through 1961. I learned about Joe Desimone’s role in what’s now Pike Place Market, and the Italian-American marriage that led to DeLaurentis’ founding in 1946. From my Ballard oral histories archive, I found my own interview with Ruth Ouillette Hughbanks reminiscing about her mother-in-law, neé Clorinda Buzone, who had a strawberry field on 8th NW. But those were the turn of the century immigrants, and their descendants.

The women I met on Ballard Avenue are a new first generation of Italians. They live in Ballard, Wallingford, Wedgewood…They come from cities that we know and ones we don’t. They have parents in Italy but careers, lives and families here. What they don’t have is a place to connect. No Swedish Club or Daughters of Norway, no Alliance Francaise. There is a local man, Franco Tesorieri, who serves as consul, but the closest Italian Consulate is in San Francisco.

Valeria Vasta’s mother is 90 years old and lives in Florence, although they had to flee from Tripoli in the 70s. When we met, Silvana Babuscio was just visiting from Taranto Puglia. Laura Pattaccini is from Reggio Emilia, north of Bologna. Daniela Giordano’s family was from Naples but moved to Ro’me. When her children were younger they spoke more Italian and Spanish (her husband’s native tongue) than English. It’s harder for them to stay tri-lingual now they’re in grade school.

Recruited to work here in Seattle they nonetheless want to be able to speak their language with others, introduce their children to their holidays and traditions, offer language classes and book discussions. They also have 900 Italian language books they want to be able to circulate again.

Inspired by a lending library when D'Ambrosio Gelatohad a location on Capitol Hill, a growing group of volunteers began envisioning a meeting point for all existing Italian organizations, schools and businesses. They would call it “Il Punto,” short for “il punto d’incontro” – the meeting point.

Officially founded in November 2014, il Punto members want to create an umbrella organization that connects the entire Italian community, and everyone in love with Italian culture. To that end they already have a website, an Italian language library, and the desire to create culinary events, promote Italian art, design and history through lectures and exhibits. They would like to share their holiday traditions and reconnect the threads of Italian-American history in the region. They also want to let everyone know there is so much more to Italy than just Florence and Rome.

The group pursues their vision after work and on weekends. They’ve applied for non-profit 501(3c) status. They’ve organized a dinner dance and auction for April 25 and hope to raise enough money to get a home for their lending library. In order to have a meeting point, they need a meeting place.

Many of the first Italian immigrants lost their farmlands and communities to pavement and industry in South Seattle and the Duwamish. Even Cabrini Hospital is no more. So all the more reason new arrivals should have their day, and their home. Perhaps space someplace like Good Shepherd or in an Italian business with same space for a weekly lending library, perhaps an office and meeting space, access to a kitchen…Il Punto is certain they could do a lot with very little, which makes me want to help them all the more, my new friends, the new Italians.

www.ilpuntoseattle.org