Genealogy is not just about names and dates: it is about stories and memories weaving together our lives

LIFELINE : the multi-media exhibit that celebrates Italian immigration to America

Family History Archive by Pier Felice degli Uberti, founder of the only School of Genealogy in Italy

my Italian Family protects your privacy

Have you ever asked yourself why you are doing Italian Genealogy?

"I am doing Italian Genealogy because it brings me closer to my Dad, who died suddenly in 1981 and was Second Generation. I always felt that I had lost out on the culture that was part of who he was. About 6 years ago, I decided to go on the search. I have been to Italy now twice, have made contacts there with distant cousins, and have seen the wonderful part of Dad, that I never knew, when he was living." (Deirdre Fescina Griffith)

my Italian Family is your gateway to Italian genealogy. Here you will find help and advice on how to research your family, no matter how experienced you are.
How?

? A network of genealogists covering most of the Italian regions will research your family even back to 1600 and reconnect you back to the country of origin.
If you don't have the information necessary to conduct the research in Italy, North American genealogists will help you researching local sources.

? In case you want to conduct the research on your own and you need help in contacting Italian sources, our team will help you in finding the missing information in your country and in conducting a more effective research in Italy. You will be able to order a record online and we will forward your request to the appropriate source.
Information sessions conducted by expert genealogists will also give you extra guidance and advice.

? Understanding that the language is a true obstacle to discover your family tree, we offer translation services and guide you back to Italy in Italian.

From 1880 onwards, 25 million Italians have migrated from their homeland to the New Worlds struggling to achieve a better future, if not for them, at least for their children and grand-children. Most of them have never come back.

Today the new generations know very little about their ancestors who abandoned the OLD WAY to follow a dream. Migrating abroad was the alternative to poverty, the way out to a dilemma: either "brigante" (villain) or "emigrante" (emigrant). The price they paid to survive in a foreign country was to forget the old one. First-hand memories have been substituted by second, third, even fourth-hand memories, where images of Italy are more of Italy as it used to be rather than Italy as it is today.

"To anyone with Italian roots who grew up in an environment such as mine, and has moved away from it, try to recall your childhood and the memories, some happy also some sad. Here are some of mine: I live in a town with very few Italians. I miss my old neighborhood: the Italians, shouting out the windows, the food odors, the grapevines, the gardens, the bocce games. My Avellinese grandfather was a barber and fond memories include getting Sunday morning haircuts in his kitchen amid odors of gravy cooking and meatballs frying which we looked forward to having before they were put in the gravy. After the haircuts we would sit and listen to the Italian radio program. I can still smell the odor of his Parodi stogies." (Richard Conte)

If genealogy is the history of real people, those who have had the most effect on our lives, my Italian Family wants to give a voice to your family tree through the invaluable contribution of Italian writers. With them, you will be able to learn about the your ancestors' life and about your Italian region, with its people, colours and traditions.

"?My children seem to be getting more interested in their Italian heritage and are looking forward to the completion of my family history book. Hopefully, all of this information will be passed down to future generations? "(Carole Weston)

Requesting a record is no more difficult, sending a letter to a relative can be fun, discovering your family can become true.

Acknowledgements

my Italian Family would like to acknowledge the support and guidance of all the genealogists, in particular the founder of Abruzzo2000 sas, Giulio Salemme, June DeLalio, Emilio Terrazzino, and Trafford R. Cole who have kindly shared their knowledge and experience and made them available to you, through this web site.

A special thanks goes to Alexander Robinson, the graphic-design student, creator of my Italian Family logo, and to his school, CentroStudiComunicazione Cogno & Associati in Rome, for their invaluable help and assistance.

?and to all the people who in the last months have embraced this idea, offered their precious advice, and followed its development with warmth and enthusiasm.

Grazie, Bianca Ottone

my Italian Family LLC is a privately held US company.

My name is Bianca Ottone and I am the founder of my Italian Family , the company specialized in Italian Genealogy.

At 34 years old I came out of business school (London Business School, London, UK) with a Masters? degree in Management and an idea for a new venture:

Reconnecting all people with an Italian Heritage back to their country.

With a background in financial services, genealogy was an entirely new field for me. But I was not discouraged because I had experienced the same about 10 years before when I entered Citibank NA with an undergraduate degree in Foreign Languages and Literatures.