A Brief Historical Background of Dante Alighieri Society of Massachusetts
At the turn of the century, following the founding of the Dante Alighieri Society in Italy in 1889, chapters of the society began springing up in various parts of the world where Italian communities appeared. There is evidence that the Massachusetts Chapter of the Dante Alighieri Society was active in Cambridge, Massachusetts as early as 1911 .
Records further show that the Dante Alighieri Society, under President Silvio Vitale, celebrated the Sesto Centenario Dantesco on September 14, 1921 commemorating the sixth centenary of Dante’s death in 1321. The society remained active till 1927, after which very little is known except that during the period 1930 to 1941 the society along with many other "foreign" organizations was labeled "un-American" and was forced to disband.
In 1961 the society was still listed as a subversive organization.
During a visit to Rome, Prof. Philip Cordaro was asked by the Dante Society Headquarters
to reorganize a Comitato Dante Alighieri in Boston. Through his contact with the Kennedy
family in the person of Ted Kennedy, Prof. Cordaro worked tirelessly to make this come to
fruition. Finally the name of the Dante Alighieri Society was removed from that list. Two
people who supported Prof. Cordaro were Dr. Anthony Abbruzzese and Sam Valenti.
Prof. Cordaro was the obvious choice as the new president and he served in that capacity
from 1962 to 1966. Ted Kennedy was also a member of the first Board of Directors.
The meetings of the society were held monthly at the Harvard Divinity School on
Francis Avenue. At the outset the idea to build a center for the society was very much
discussed, but the funds were lacking. But by 1966, when Cordaro left the presidency, the
funds raised reached tens of thousands of dollars.
From 1966 to 1988 Samuel Ussia was president of the society. During the latter part of this period the present cultural center was developed and built. Much credit goes to manny people who gave of their time and money and other resources. Dino Pasquale, later to become president, first suggested the location. Then Mayor Alfred Vellucci was instrumental in obtaining the site at the corner of Hampshire Street and Cardinal Madeiros Avenue, in Cambridge, in the vicinity of two great univerisities: MIT and Harvard. Ground breaking ceremony took place on December 10, 1980, and the Dante Alighieri Cultural Center was inaugurated on June 15, 1985.
Countless people helped in making the building a reality. Among the major contributors were Louis Di Giovanni who donated $250,000. Cambridge Mayor Al Vellucci organized a major fund raiser which brought in over $140,000. The Shelzi Brothers, through their company donated all the concrete. Other benefactors were Frank and Helen Massimilla, the Tosi family, Fusari Dean Cascieri. A fundraiser by the Mass Attorneys brought in $119,000. In attendance were Governors Foster Furcolo, John Volpe, Frank Sargent, and Senator Ted Kennedy. Sal Lombardo and Joe Sanchez raised $40,000.
The architect Pietro Belluschi, 1974 winner of the AIA Gold Medal, was the original consultant on the planning of the center. His sketches were directly translated into reality by the architectural firm of Jung/Brannen.
The statue of Dante Alighieri by
sculptor Richard Aliberti, in front of the Cultural Center, was donated by
Frank and Jean Privitera in 1997. There are two more sculptures of the "sommo
poeta" - in the lobby there is a large head in white marble donated by the city
of Florence, and in the main hall there is a bust in plaster - looks like a bronze cast -
created and donated by sculptor
Charles Stigliano of Malden, a member of the society..
Carl A. Pescosolido donated over $1,000,000 to the society. Co-author of "The Proud Italians", "Pesky" befriended the Dante Society, for he shared the cultural objectives of the organization. This generous gift enabled the society to retire the long standing mortgage. On September 27, 1998 the society renamed the center as the Dante Alighieri Cultural Center, Carl A. Pescosolido Building in his honor.