Faculty
Contribute to Ethnic Book Series
Studying
Italian immigration to the Copper Country (see related story above)
is an easier task when someone else has laid much of the groundwork.
Cristina Menghini benefited from related research conducted by Russell
Magnaghi (History)
in 1982-83.
He
compiled more than 300 photographs, various artifacts, 250 oral
interviews, documents and other materials on Italians in the Upper
Peninsula . Magnaghi later expanded
his focus to Lower Michigan.
This led the editors of the ethnic book series, “Discovering the
Peoples of Michigan,” to tap his expertise. Magnaghi contributed
a volume titled, Italians in Michigan. It was released
in 2001.
He
has three more books in development for the series: Cornish
in Michigan, which should be available in 2004; Sammarinese
in Michigan, which explores immigrants from the Republic
of San
Marino, a 48-square-mile “nation”
in northeastern Italy;
and French in Michigan.
“The
latter will be one of the few works dealing with the French who
settled in Michigan,
as opposed to the French Canadians,” Magnaghi said. “It is unique
because the French are usually overlooked because so few came to
the United States
compared with other nationalities. I am having fun digging through
research on this topic. I hope to have it published at the centennial
of my grandparents’ arrival in the United
States from southern France
in 1903-04.”
Magnaghi
was named associate editor for the book series in February. Four
NMU colleagues have also been enlisted to help with the project.
Dennis Badaczewski’s (Education) Poles in Michigan
was released in 2002. Chet DeFonso (History)
will write about the English and Welsh, Howard Nicholson
(History) will focus on the Danes, and
Rebecca Mead (History) will contribute a book on
Swedish immigrants.
|