The Italian American Museum In Manhattan Provides Updates On What They’ve Been Up To In 2025
Editor’s note: John Moyer, the researcher and diver who is mentioned below, was also hosted at Staten Island’s Snug Harbor Cultural Center’s Noble Maritime Museum for a discussion on the crash and heroic rescue of the Andrea Doria. This crash was a rare moment in history, where 1,660 passengers were rescued after the impact, while the ship was floating before it finally sank.
Greetings and a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
As 2025 comes to a close, it gives us an opportunity to reflect on all our accomplishments, and to share news about our plans and goals for the new year.
I am elated with the overall progress of the Museum, and during the past year, we enjoyed an increase in visitors, especially among school groups. We featured a number of exhibitions and events which not only provided us with more patrons, but solidified the Museum as a center for learning and discussion for relevant scholars and authors. Among the latter was author Suzanne Cope and her book, “Women of War: The Italian Assassins, Spies, and Couriers Who Fought the Nazis.”
We received widespread news media coverage for our exhibit on the SS Andrea Doria, which commemorated the 69th anniversary of the majestic ship’s untimely demise. We hosted about a dozen survivors, including [as covered in the NY Post, Sofia Sena, Delfina Cadoria who was traveling with her 6 month old baby (who also survived), and Pierette Dominica Simpson, who was 9 at the time and is now a historian]
We hosted a St. Joseph’s Day celebration with Governor Kathy Hochul in March. [We covered a similar meeting with additional politicians in 2024]
We were honored to host acclaimed actor Armand Assante for a screening of his new film, “Don Q,” as well as “My Name is Petrosino,” the first episode in a series of productions by award-winning filmmaker Anthony Giacchino about the life of the legendary NYPD detective.
Our exhibit of historic Manteo Sicilian puppets continues to draw interest from the public and the news media. And we ended the year with a most heartwarming event when Father Louis Scurti, a retired priest, donated his lifelong collection of hand-crafted Nativity figurines to the Museum. It will be on display until January 6.
Looking forward, we expect the installation of our permanent collection, which will be the Museum’s cornerstone exhibition, to be concluded during the first quarter of 2026. This will be our pièce de resistance which will chronicle the entire history of Italians in the New World, dating to Pietro Cesare Alberti in the 17th century. We will determine a date for the Museum’s on-site Grand Gala Opening sometime soon.
Buon Capodanno,
Dr. Joseph V. Scelsa
Below are a few photos of the donated nativity scene, known as the “Fontanini” Presepio:
Fr. Scurti’s donated Presepio. Image Credit – IAM
Fr. Scurti’s donated Presepio. Image Credit – IAM
Fr. Scurti’s donated Presepio. Image Credit – IAM
The Italian American Museum honored a select group of outstanding Italian American leaders and their Italian American organizations with the Ambasciatore Award on Sunday, November 9, 2025 at Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury, NY.
Below are a few photos from the event, provided by the Italian American Museum via Flickr:
Ambasciatore Awards dinner. Image Credit – IAM
Ambasciatore Awards dinner. Image Credit – IAM
Ambasciatore Awards dinner. Image Credit – IAM
Banner Image: Fr. Scurti’s donated Presepio. Image Credit – IAM
Italian American Museum
Logo A NEW HOME IN THE HEART OF LITTLE ITALY New Exterior The new Italian American Museum (IAM) will serve as a cultural hub and community nexus for Italian Americans and the Little Italy neighborhood. Through permanent and temporary exhibits, robust educational and cultural programming, and collaborations with the community, the IAM will become the preeminent center for learning about and engaging with Italian as a platform for sharing Italian American voices and celebrating Italian American achievements, the IAM will be interesting to both Italian Americans and non-Italian Americans, bringing Italian American culture and heritage to younger generations and a wide range of new audiences. The Italian American Museum preserves, promotes, and celebrates the culture and history of Italian Americans, serving as living record of their contributions to America and a bridge between the remarkable past and the evolving future of the community. By allowing Italian Americans to share their story in their voice, the Italian American Museum will encourage a full appreciation of what it means to be Italian American. News Progress Photos Building Update / Annual Appeal Dear friends, We are pleased to report that we have topped off our new building and the new brick facade is being applied. Below please find pictures of the new building and the brick facade. Topping off the building Close up of the new brick facade View of the brick facade on our building Due to COVID-19 we have postponed all of our fundraising activities for the year including our annual Golf Classic and Ambasciatore Awards dinner. However, we ask that you be as generous as possible during this time of our Annual Appeal since it will be our sole fundraiser for 2021. Please know that we sincerely appreciate your contributions and that funds raised will be used to support the construction for the new building. We do so look forward to seeing you again at the reopening of the “New” Italian American Museum in Fall 2022. We will be bigger and better than ever before. Thank you for your continued support of our Italian American Museum. Andrà tutto bene! Respectfully, Uff. Prof. Joseph V. Scelsa Italian American Museum 19th Annual Golf Classic to be held on Monday, June 6th at North Hills Country Club. North Hills Country Club Exhibitions The New Italian American Museum: Architectural renderings and model for the forthcoming newly designed museum. OUR STORY FROM COLUMBUS TO CUOMO From our beginnings in Little Italy The IAM is located on Mulberry Street in the heart of what was once the largest Italian community in the United States in the first quarter of the 20th century. We became aware of the need for our own Museum in 1999, with the launch of the first major exhibition on Italians in America at the New York Historical Society, “The Italians of New York: Five Centuries of Struggle and Achievement”. The exhibit was a great success and we realized that in order to be part of the cultural dialogue in America, we needed our own Museum. So in 2001, we were chartered in New York State as the first Italian Museum in America. In our Museum, we seek to tell our whole story from Columbus to Cuomo and everything in between, our struggles and our accomplishments through hard work, ingenuity and perseverance. It has not always been easy but we have much to be proud of, for our contributions to American society are enormous. Now we will have a secular cathedral for all to see, experience and appreciate where we came from and what we have achieved.