Home Is Where You Hang Your Hat: Finding Garibaldi on Staten Island

Year 2023, Issue: 60, 169 - 186, 31.12.2023

Christine Contrada

Abstract

Giuseppe Garibaldi’s stay on Staten Island, New York in
the humble home of Antonio Meucci is a little-known turning point
in Garibaldi’s life, which invites a reconsideration of the Italian
Risorgimento. The materiality of Meucci’s home and the objects
it houses form the basis for exploring Garibaldi’s connection to the
Italian American narrative. While historians lament that there is little
which is new to say about Garibaldi, this episode on the margins of
Garibaldi’s life, offers a richer portrait of a well-known figure during
one of the most difficult periods of his life. The relationship between
Garibaldi and Meucci remains a subject to investigate. When examining
Garibaldi’s experience on Staten Island he still appears heroic, but he
also emerges as being far more humanized.

Keywords

Antonio Meucci, Giuseppe Garibaldi, historical memory, Sons of Italy, Staten Island

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