January 13, 2001 Meeting Minutes
POINTers IN PERSON Minutes
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
George Koleas (#1527)
Pointers In Person, Chapter 22, met at the Italian Community Center, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Saturday, January 13, 2001. Present at the meeting were, Nancy and Dick Boudreau, Tina Favero (4452), Elsie Fucile, Mave Freyberg and guest Ann Vivian, George Koleas (1527), Pat Moon, Phyllis Pinter, Barbara Roberts (1202), Marie Roth (766), Vincent D’Orazio (3418), Jean and Steve Scalzo, Pat Therkelson, Joyce Weber and new members Jeanne Bieser, Nancy Bushman, Kris Bushman, Bonnie Dompke and Mamie Podewils.
We discussed whether money should be sent when requesting information from civil or church sources. The consensus was that a donation should be sent to churches, but no money should be sent to civil offices. You should include in your letter an offer to pay, if a fee is required. Vincent D’Orazio reported that some offices that he visited in person did require a fee. As for International Reply Coupons, most Italians have no idea what to do with them. They are often returned in the mail. Instead, it would be better to obtain Italian stamps and send them instead. Speaking of postage, Elsie Fucile mentioned that while first class postage increased by one cent, many other rates stayed the same or went down. She advises that you check with the post office for a new postage rates.
The difficulty of locating passenger records when the correct spelling is unknown was explored. There were many reasons for the use of variant spellings. A researcher must try all possible variants and even then rely on some luck. Checking census, city directories and naturalization records may give the clues needed to find the right record. Remember that Italian women often traveled using their maiden name. If the date of arrival is known, but the ship name is unknown, reviewing newspapers for the day of arrival may provide ship name.
Why don’t potential family members you write to in Italy write back? Some are afraid that you are going to make some kind of claim on their family estate. Some just can’t understand why we are interested in dead people. Nancy Boudreau told a story of having written to potential family members with no reply. When she visited Italy, she met the same people she wrote to. They remembered receiving the letters, but never thought to reply. They accepted Nancy and her husband with open arms as though they were always a part of the family. Remember to explain your intentions and to include questions about the living in your letters too.
Vincent D’Orazio reported on the P.O.I.N.T. annual conference. He spoke at the conference about his experiences while traveling in Italy. The conference proceedings were passed around the table. During his last trip to Italy, he was able to help Elsie Fucile by finding relatives from both sides of her husband’s family.
Mave Freyberg passed around a book entitled The Golden Milestone: Over 2500 Years of Contributions to Civilization. For more information, check the website www.nylearninglibrary.com .
We are discussing the possibility of returning to Festa Italiana, July 19-22, 2001. Tina Favero showed prototype cards that we could distribute at Festa with our website address and some of our other favorite sites.
George Koleas will make contact with Sons of Italy and National Italian American Foundation chapters that recently formed at the Italian Community Center to determine if there are opportunities for us to collaborate with these groups.
Emma Russo Cannata contacted us to make us aware of her services as a translator. She can be contacted at emmaruss@libero.it. If interested, please contact her to ask for her current rates. She has a website at http://members.fortunecity.com/italyweb .
We concluded
with a great lunch served by the Italian Community Center Staff and a lot of
lively discussion and sharing of research tips.
Nancy and Dick Boudreau and Joyce Pinter talked about their trips to
Italy. Elsie Fucile brought pictures that Vincent D’Orazio had taken for her
while he was in Italy.
Our next meetings during 2001 will be Saturday’s, April 21, and September 15, 2001 at the Italian Community Center. We will continue to meet at 11:00 a.m. and will meet until lunch. We will then order lunch and continue our discussions until 1:30 p.m. when we will adjourn.
