SLATE VALLEY MUSEUM PRESENTS FREE LECTURE ON
ITALIAN AMERICAN COMEDY: FROM THE IMMIGRANT ERA TO THE PRESENT

Granville, N.Y.—Italian immigration scholar Salvatore Primeggia returns to the Slate Valley Museum on Sun., Nov. 8, at 1:30 p.m., to present a free lecture on southern Italian American comedy from the immigrant era to the present. The program is sponsored by the New York Council for the Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The lecture is the sixth in a series of public programs offered by the museum in its 2009 season about the folk life and culture of the immigrant groups who came to the region to work in the slate industry. “At the turn of the 20th century, Italian immigration to America swelled as Italian families escaped the poverty of their home country,” says museum executive director Mary Lou Willits. “Many families from Southern Italy made their way to the Slate Valley seeking work as unskilled laborers in the slate industry.”

Primeggia’s lecture focuses on southern Italian American comedy from its roots in the Commedia Dell'Arte and southern Italian poverty through its progression in transplanted American generations. The lecture follows the development of Italian American humor as it responds to and mirrors the status of the Italian American community, from the immigrant era to the present. Skits, jokes, songs, and parodies from comedians of various eras and styles trace a legacy that ranges from immigrant coffee houses, to the ethnic stage, to radio and records, to television and film.

Salvatore Primeggia received his Ph.D. from the New School for Social Research and is currently Professor of Sociology at Adelphi University. Dr. Primeggia has served as a contributor and participant in PBS Channel 21's widely acclaimed videos, The Italian-Americans: Part 1, and Heaven Touches Brooklyn in July. Primeggia has been a co-editor of The Italian-American Experience: An Encyclopedia, Saints in the Lives of Italian-Americans, and Models and Images of Catholicism in Italian-Americana: Academy and Society.

Admission to the lecture and the museum is free, and doors open at 1:00 p.m. Seating capacity is limited to 85, so early arrival is recommended. A free reception for the speaker and self-guided tours of the museum will follow the lecture. For more information about current exhibits and public programs, call the museum at 518-642-1417 or visit the museum website at www.slatevalleymuseum.org.

Regular museum hours are Tuesday through Friday from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The museum is closed Sunday and Monday. Admission is $5 per person, and free for children 12 and under and for slate company employees and their families. No admission is charged for the gift shop. School and adult group programming is offered Tuesday through Saturday on a fee per group basis, and advanced reservations are required. For group reservations, contact Assistant Director and Educator, Sarah Benway by calling 518-642-1417 or e-mailing sab@slatevalleymuseum.org.