Family history in Italy
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As the United States has been observing American Heritage Month in October, and as Italy's year-long celebration of 150 years since that country's unification draws to a close, Joanne Milner reflected on the experience she and some traveling companions had June 3-5 in the city of Torino introducing many residents to the joys of family history research.
Sister Milner, a member of the Church, is the education partnership coordinator with the Salt Lake City mayor's office. It was in that capacity that Sister Milner, who is of Italian descent, became acquainted with Esperienza Italia 2011, the sesquicentennial anniversary of the unification of Italy.
Salt Lake City and Torino are sister cities. In July 2010, the mayor's office received an invitation from organizers to participate in the celebration. Knowing of Sister Milner's interest in her own Italian heritage, the mayor's assistant passed along the invitation to her.
Event organizers requested a proposal from the city on how it might be involved. Sister Milner reflected on what makes the relationship between the two cities unique. The thought occurred to her: "Some of the earliest Italian settlers into the state of Utah came from that area."
In a conversation with the Church News, she noted that apostle and future Church President Lorenzo Snow had gone from Nauvoo as a missionary to the Torino area, where he baptized some Waldensians, a group of Christians. The first Italian converts to the Church, they would later form the nucleus of the Italian immigrants to Utah.
Acquainted with some of the staff of the Church's Family History Library from a documentary she had produced, Sister Milner enlisted the help of FamilySearch officials in preparing a proposal. Supported by the Salt Lake Mayor Ralph Becker, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert and Italian consul officials, the group sent their proposal to Torino. They would prepare an exhibit on family history for the celebration's exposition.
In late May, a team left from Salt Lake City representing a partnership of the Utah Office of Tourism, the Governor's Office of Economic Development, Salt Lake City and the Salt Lake visitors bureau. Joining Sister Milner were Paul Nauta, public affairs manager for FamilySearch; Paula Manfredi, international research consultant at the Family History Library; and Ruth Lapioli-Merriman, manager of the International Floor at the Library. Sister Manfredi is Italian by birth and Sister Merriman has Italian heritage. All three served in Italy on their missions.
"Because of the lore of the American West, Italians are fascinated with cowboys, so we took with us the Hired Guns," Sister Milner said. They are a singing duo who present cowboy music and culture.
"Not only did we take cowboys, but Indians too," Sister Milner said, "Native American dancers Eva Bighorse and her cousin Brooke Canyon. Eva had performed with the Living Legends at BYU. These two girls did hoop dancing, jingle dance and shawl dance."
The performances were the drawing card for visitors to enter the exhibit area, where they could then be introduced to family history through computers and Internet connections set up for that purpose. Some memorable experiences resulted.
The Mayor's office in partnership with Visit Salt Lake and the Utah Office of Tourism promoted the natural beauties and scenic sites of the State of Utah, but also showcased Salt Lake City as the "Genealogy Capital of the World." Although a senior member of the mayor's staff, Sister Milner paid for all of her own expenses for the trip. No public monies were expended for the travel or exhibit on the FamilySearch portion of the Salt Lake City presentation.
Sister Merriman recounted that she was walking along the streets of Torino one morning when she saw a man being interviewed by a television crew. She recognized him as Sen. Lucio Malan of the Italian government. Sen. Malan had attended the groundbreaking for the Church's Rome Italy Temple, at which President Thomas S. Monson called upon him to be one of the first people to turn over a shovelful of dirt (as related in President Monson's April 2011 conference address).
Sister Merriman approached the senator and told him how much Church members appreciated his being at the groundbreaking. She informed him of the presence of the exhibit from Salt Lake City, and he went and saw it with is wife.
Sen. Malan had been instrumental in helping the Church gain legal recognition in Italy. Brother Naua recounted, "We thought, 'Here we are celebrating the unification of Italy, and he's a prominent leader in Italy. It would be a nice gesture to help him do his genealogy and show him firsthand the blessings of family history.' "
So he was presented with a copy of his family history research. "He was deeply moved," Brother Nauta said.
Sister Milner told of her experience with Raffaelle Scalisi, who had given permission for the team to make the presentation on family history at the event.
"I called her over to the computers and asked her if she had any family members who gone to the United States. At first she said she didn't know, but then she remembered that her grandfather's brother had emigrated."
Local Church members at the computers put her relative's name on the FamilySearch website and found a copy of a ship's manifest on which the ancestor was listed, along with his parents' names.
"I watched her literally kind of melt and become a different person," Sister Milner said. "Up to then, she had not known her great-grandmother's name."
On one of the days, Sister Milner said, a group of firefighters dressed in their uniforms came through the exhibit. A young firefighter was so enthralled that he returned in the evening, bringing his chief with him, to learn more about family history.
Brother Nauta said he and his two colleagues from the Family History Library, in connection with their visit, traveled around the country presenting talks about family history.
At the university in Naples, Sister Mafredi spoke to professors at the medical school about how the Church through genealogical records is aiding researchers in exploring the causes of Alzheimer's disease.
"After her presentation, the head of the neurological division came to me with two questions," Brother Nauta said. "The first: 'Why does FamilySearch and the Church do all of this?' "
He explained the belief that families are eternal, and the researching records of the dead helps solidify family links in the hereafter. The man responded, "I believe that."
His second question was, "Will you help me do my family history?"
"So I introduced him to the local family history center director in Naples," Brother Nauta said. "Hopefully, they will be following up there to give him the blessings of family history."
