St. Helena Lodge #2077

Over 50 people attended the St. Helena Lodge’s February 7, 2024, meeting which featured a presentation by Christina Olivolo, who spoke about the experiences of Italian-Americans during WWII.  Christina has extensively researched this topic, including reviewing countless FBI files and newspaper articles from that period, conferring with other experts on this topic, and interviewing those who remember this dark chapter in the story of Italians in America.

Few of us know today that unnaturalized Italian immigrants – many of whom had resided in the United States for decades and considered themselves American – were subject to curfew rules, prohibitions on where they could live, and restrictions on what they could own simply because of their Italian heritage.  Even fewer know that violations of these wartime rules often resulted in arrest and confinement in internment and detention camps, one of which was located in Pacifica, California.  All who attended the meeting greatly appreciated Christina’s willingness to share this disturbing but important piece of history with our Lodge.

Of course, the St. Helena Lodge could not let our presenter and the attendees go hungry, so we served dinner starting with antipasto, followed by two hearty soups, garlic bread, salad and dessert.

Grazie mille to all who helped decorate the room, prepare the dinner, and who stayed to clean up afterwards!

Last but not least, our Lodge was greatly honored to have our State President Arlene Marucci Nunziati attend this meeting!  Arlene has many long-time friends who are members of the St. Helena Lodge, and we all enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with her.  As a small token of our appreciation and thank her for her presence, our Lodge presented Arlene with a gift basket.

Christina Olivolo would like to offer her presentation to other Lodges, so if you are interested in having her speak at one of your meetings, you can contact her at colivolo@ledonneditalia.com