Loading Events

« All Events

  • This event has passed.

IC Speaker Series
“Becoming Sicilian: Finding Roots in the Cloud”
Lisa Sciandra
Lunch@noon
Zoom@1pm

October 14, 2021 @ 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM

What started as a short essay about her family’s history turned into a life-changing journey of self-discovery for this third-generation Sicilian American. Along the way, Lisa uncovered family secrets, learned the truth behind old family rumors, and found cousins in Italy that her family had lost touch with 50 years ago. The technology of the present turned out to be her key to the past. In this presentation, Lisa will discuss some highlights of her discoveries and will show how she has used “the cloud”—i.e., internet and social media tools like Ancestry.com and Facebook—to find significant information, documents, and people. A list of useful online tools will be provided.

Cenacolista Lisa Sciandra’s love of family history and genealogy began at the age of ten. Growing up, she was the kind of kid who always asked her elders for family stories and photos. Over the years she wrote it all down, saved every photo, and collected clues to the mystery of her Sicilian family’s past. These eventually became a personal family archive that continues to grow. Currently, Lisa is in the process of discovering the path of her ancestors’ lives from Sicily’s hinterland and coastal mountain regions to mining coal in Pennsylvania to achieving their American dreams in Los Angeles. By piecing together clues from the past, she is crafting narratives of her ancestors’ lives that she plans to make into a full-length book. By day Lisa works as an attorney. She is also a mom and a writer, and she is learning to speak Italian with help from her cousins in Italy. Interviews Lisa conducted and recorded with her grandparents at age 16 were recently accepted for inclusion in the collection of the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles (IAMLA).

*Note about this photo: The photo is one I took of a map my grandpa bought on a trip to Italy. This is an Italian map published in 1959 by the Esso oil company.

Follow-up: click here for a list of Lisa’s Genealogical Resources

Details

Date:
October 14, 2021
Time:
12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Event Categories:
, ,

Venue

Lunch, Noon @ SFIAC / ZOOM presentation 1PM
1630 Stockton Street
San Francisco, CA 94133 United States

Organizer

Il Cenacolo
Email
speakers@ilcenacolosf.org