
Professor Philip J. DiNovo is the Founder and
President of the esteemed American Italian Heritage
Association and the American Italian Heritage Museum
in Albany, New York. He has also been knighted by
the Italian Government and is a respected figure in
America’s Italian community
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
May 2023
I have some
fantastic news to impart as well as my desire to
pose a serious challenge. First, it gives me great
pleasure to inform you that Mary F. Finley left in
her estate a very generous donation to our museum.
Mary was born in Amsterdam, New York on June 21,
1935 and was the daughter of the late Sofia and
Orizio Dinovellis. She was a long-time member and
loyal supporter of our organization. Mary moved to
the Villages, FL, from Albany, NY in 2010.
Unfortunately, she suffered from cancer and I kept
in touch with her as a friend. I sent her upbeat
messages and told her I was praying for her daily.
She passed into eternal rest on December 15, 2022.
Her donation will go into our Endowment Fund, a
designated room will be named for her and a plaque
in her honor will be placed outside of the room. I
am so grateful to Mary who while she lived made many
important contributions to the Italian American
community. Her extremely welcome donation will
benefit future generations because it will help the
museum to preserve the treasures which are held
within our walls. Mary left a legacy to be
remembered for generations.
The museum’s
elevator (outside) door became inoperable, so we
just wrote out a check for $5,976.00 for a new
replacement. Here’s an interesting fact: it would
take 239 paid-up memberships just to cover the
payment for replacing that door! Acknowledging that
we are not alone, inflation is hitting us hard and
the cost of maintaining three old buildings is
becoming increasingly expensive. I am getting on in
years as are a number of our outstanding volunteers.
Soon, we will have to pay for many services that are
currently being done by those aforementioned
members. As the Founder of the AIHA&M I have seen
the blood, sweat and tears that it has taken to get
to where we are today. Just think about how it took
us five years to remodel the museum building. Add to
that the years-long wait before we would be able to
effectively use the second floor of the museum
building. Over the years we have had to face so many
challenges and it is only by the grace of God that
we are even here today. It would be an
understatement to say that it has not been easy. We
have so many precious artifacts, photos, documents,
items, etc. We are grateful to the many people who
over the years have donated money, time and talent.
Will our museum be able to continue? That question
has to be addressed.
You must know that I
take no joy in talking about our serious challenges;
but, as Founder/President it is my duty to inform
you of what needs to be done in order to rectify the
situation. At one time our membership was comprised
of three thousand families, a stark contrast to the
present number which totals just 750 families. Since
we don’t have enough volunteers to help us out at
the museum, we have had to cut back on our hours of
operation. As always, more support is required for
our events. Mary’s wonderful donation and other
great donations that we have received are definitely
morale boosters. We are blessed to have such
generous donors and volunteers. It must also be
noted that our Thrift Shop is thriving and
continually does a tremendous job for us along with
providing a beneficial service to the community.
Now, here is the serious challenge I ask each of
you to consider because we can only remain vibrant
by joining forces in solving our challenges. Please
do some soul searching about how important it is to
you to preserve our Italian heritage. The future of
the museum also depends on a large Endowment to save
all that we have. What are you able & willing to do
to help us solve the challenges we face? With your
help I look forward to a bright future for our
museum. Together, we can do this!
Prof./Cav. Philip J. DiNovo
In honor of the Italian immigrants who came to the United States of America, we are committed to record and preserve the contributions of our Italian Heritage and culture to our society through our newsletter, cultural programs, activities, exhibits, and outreach programs.