Italian miners and their families are included in some of the
local histories produced by Alberta communities either before
the Province's 75th anniversary in 1980 or after.
The oral history interviews featured are part of two projects
undertaken in Edmontonthe first by the Dante Alighieri Society
and the second by the Italians Settle in Edmonton Society.
The Dante Alighieri Oral History Project was initiated in
1973 by Sabatino Roncucci, a founder of the Dante Alighieri
Society, for the purpose of documenting immigration history so
that it could be shared not only with the Italian community but
also the community at large.
The
Italians Settle in Edmonton Project in 1983 was a 25th anniversary project of the Santa Maria Goretti Parish. A Society was set up and a committee struck to
undertake the research. The President of the Society was Frank Sdao and the
research was led by Dr. Adriana Albi Davies. A
commemorative booklet was produced.
The interviews are interesting for the wealth of information
that they reveal about the individuals and their personal and
working lives. As well, the fact that the majority were
interviewed in Edmonton demonstrates that, when the mines closed
or miners retired, they frequently moved to larger centres with
established Italian communities.
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