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In this episode of The Italian American Podcast, we visit the Italian American Museum in Little Italy, New York City.  Founder and Director Dr. Joseph V. Scelsa, Ph.D. talks about what Italian immigrants went through and how he is trying to recreate that experience so our generation can experience it.  Also, my grandmother will end the episode with a touching story of how her father got lost on his first day of a new job in New York.

Episode Guest:

Dr. Joseph Scelsa, Ph.D. is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Italian American Museum in the heart of New York City's historic Little Italy. Dr. Scelsa is a fountain of knowledge about Italian and Italian American history and a leader in sharing this knowledge with the world. However, his impressive academic background is not confined to the study of the Italian American experience.

Dr. Scelsa estimates that about as many non-Italian-Americans as Italian-Americans have come to the museum and enjoyed it immensely, which he thinks is wonderful. He explains, "People want to be able to be in touch with their past. And even if it's not their past, so many people are entering, learning about other people's past, seeing what America was like before. The more we understand ourselves, the more we understand each other."