Preserving Our History (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781479749973)

MARIO TOGLIA, the son of Calitriborn immigrants Ernest and Josephine (Codella) Toglia, grew up in Brooklyn, NY and attended local Catholic schools, including Fordham University School of Education. He taught Romance languages in the New York City public school system for some 33 years. Researching his family history was an avocation, done initially at a leisurely pace, but one that accelerated in the "Age of Computer Technology" once he retired. The collection of data expanded outward after he connected with fellow Calitrani descendents. Mr. Toglia acknowledged the ties that bound the Calitrani American community. "With all the material that I gathered," he said, "it became obvious that it was my generation's mission to honor and preserve the immigrant history and legacy of Calitri." The end product was his fi rst book, They Came By Ship: The Stories of the Calitrani Immigrants in America. Mr. Toglia is a member of the Calitri American Cultural Group, the Italian American Studies Association and the Italian Genealogical Group. He currently resides on Long Island.