Lecture and Book Signing

Lawrence DiStasi?, editor of the recently published Una Storia Segreta: The Secret History of Italian American Evacuation and Internment During World War II (Heyday Books: 2001), will discuss the little-known experience of the 600,000 Italian enemy aliens nationwide who were variously restricted, interned, and evacuated during the wartime. His remarks will give special emphasis to the experience of Italian Americans in California, where government measures against Italian enemy aliens were most severe. A discussion to follow will offer a forum to examine both similarities and differences in the experiences of the Italian and Japanese communities respectively, and will address comparisons with similar measures being taken today in response to the events of September 11, 2001.