“The Educational Horizon”: The Editorials of Peter Sammartino in <i>Atlantica</i> (1933–1935)

In the 1920s, the Italian community in the US, then mostly in its second generation, was increasingly cognizant of its own strength and influence.1 However, the community still grappled with stereotypes and prejudices, which impeded the full acknowledgment of its role and impact. Recognizing this, influential figures within the community initiated a strategy aimed at fostering community awareness, gaining recognition, and ultimately achieving a “soft” integration without compromising identity. Central to this strategy was the promotion of Italian language and culture as a unifying force for the community's identity. Two key figures driving this approach were educators Angelo Patri and Leonard Covello.2 Patri, Covello, and their contemporaries recognized the potential of the Italian language as the instrument to construct an “imagined, unified, pan-Italian American community” (Carnevale 2009, 94). This vision sometimes aligned with and at other times diverged from that of the Italian government (Carnevale 2009, 93–95).3The Fascist state was acutely aware of the strength of the Italian American community in terms of electoral influence and promoted a form of soft integration leading to the attainment of citizenship, facilitating active participation in US life. Concurrently, there was an effort to strengthen ties with the “motherland” with the explicit goal of leveraging it to influence American policy favorably toward Italy. These two perspectives were complemented by those of Italian intellectuals, even when on opposing sides (like Giuseppe Prezzolini and Gaetano Salvemini), who nevertheless viewed the study of Italian language and culture as a crucial element in the education of every individual within Western culture (Prezzolini 1939). What united all three strategies was a shared objective: to advocate for the teaching of Italian language and culture, particularly in schools and colleges. This common goal propelled intense and concerted efforts across various avenues.The promotional and propaganda campaign extended across schools, institutes, associations, universities, and Italian circles, encompassing the entire community of Italian origin. The press also played a leading role: Often funded by the Fascist government, it functioned as a sounding board for all these activities and, by means of articles, columns, interviews, etc., helped not only in promoting but also in propagandizing Fascism (Luconi 2009; Pinna 2021).4 These collective efforts yielded concrete results: In the US between 1922 and 1939, the number of students of Italian grew from a few hundred to about forty-five thousand, between schools and colleges.5This article examines the contents of a column titled “The Educational Horizon,” published from June 1933 to September 1935 and dedicated to the promotion of the Italian language in the US. Authored by Peter Sammartino and Sylvia Scaramelli (later, Sylvia Sammartino), the column explored various issues, challenges, endeavors, and successes in the campaign to disseminate Italian in schools. The focus of the article is on the editorials written by Peter Sammartino that prove his commitment to and role in promoting Italian language teaching in the US in those years, columns where he articulated his pedagogical vision for teaching the Italian language and culture and education more broadly. The article also analyzes Sammartino's relations with other key players in the promotion of the Italian language in the US at that time, including Fascist entities.6The case study of the “Educational Horizon” column in the publication Atlantica offers valuable insights into the role of the press in promoting Italian-language instruction in public schools, revealing that the boundary between promotion and propaganda was not always as distinct as it may seem. The writings by Sammartino and other contributors reflect, on the one hand, alignment with the Fascist regime's propaganda efforts and, on the other, the Italian American community's independent desire to reinforce their identity through the study of Italian, irrespective of Fascism's objectives. In particular, an analysis of Sammartino's editorials reveals that his primary intent was to promote the teaching of Italian in schools rather than to express committed support for the propagandist aims of Fascism.In the campaign to promote the teaching of the Italian language in the US, publications targeting the Italian community emerged as formidable advocates. This issue, especially in the years 1930–1935, took center stage in the Italian American press; it was in this period that Atlantica established “The Educational Horizon” as a dedicated column. The genesis of the magazine Atlantica can be traced back to a time when it went by another name, Rivista d'America e d'Italia, originating in Rome in 1923. It wasn't until 1929, following its relocation to New York City, that it adopted the name Atlantica, a title it retained until it ceased publication in April 1940.7The magazine aimed to serve as a bridge connecting Italians in the homeland with those who had emigrated. From 1929 onward, the magazine focused on the Italian community in North America and New York in particular. Its explicit intention was to rekindle in the emigrants a sense of affection for Italy, fostering renewed respect and pride for their nation's achievements. The language employed was mainly English, with some articles or summaries presented in Italian.A well-known figure in the United States, Peter Sammartino is primarily recognized for having established Fairleigh Dickinson University in 1942 (Sammartino 1985; Marchione 1994). The foundational experience that shaped Sammartino's educational philosophy was his time as a teacher at New College, Teachers College, Columbia University.8 However, his exposure to the principles of progressivism and the philosophies of Dewey and Alexander wasn't derived solely from his time at New College. Even in the early stages of his training and as a teacher of and Italian, he the of teaching with to and in activities were a for and and, to own on in their (Sammartino at New to an educational in to the of the on his teaching approach New College, Sammartino was teaching the of the the of the of this and were in the at New there was a shared to a more education that serve was a a an force to teaching adopted an approach focused on students with the to language students through activities and in a approach with and or and to an of and to all the of (Sammartino activities not be be be and The be always toward the and (Sammartino The principles serve as a for Fairleigh Dickinson for Atlantica in the of the in with the that Atlantica for in the of the second of the Italians who to America at the of the a the of the of the was of the second to those but the means or Atlantica the It the not the can an of the and of the Italians at and (Sammartino is times in the of the magazine titled “The Italians in the United This of Italian who in the American In to the that his and influence within the he articles to Educational Horizon” was a in June 1933 and in September The of the column is to Sylvia and Peter Sammartino as a from the 1933 to with their to and including the 1933 and from the issue, as Peter and Sylvia with the 1935 issue, the column was titled “Educational and Peter Sammartino it for that However, from the until the one in the column column a few within the a The an written by by a or article a to the were from the the The of the column was from the to advocate for the promotion of Italian-language instruction in American public schools. this Atlantica as a leveraging its and in the campaign initiated by the Italian American community and by the Italian Fascist The column as a to the of the strategy and a means to and the strategy the and promoting Italian-language instruction were in other of the the and of the strategy were for the the it to of The the community's the for language to this The second on to Italy, as an to with and as a means of the editorials into the of efforts to promote the teaching of Italian language and culture in schools. for Sammartino's educational philosophy his on teacher and the of their he presented for educational and a across various and is articulated in the from the Sammartino that Italian may to other In Sammartino's it was this that and in an effort to the the of this, he that the the of the of their The of across various from the to the pride and an the study of the Italian language and was to this aligned with and a in activities his which a on his and which the strength to those which Sammartino his with a that serve as the for all the or of Italian can this than an of Italian This instruction at the as in the 1933 titled “The New (Sammartino and Scaramelli more in the to the of the Sammartino New York to a in the an with a community of of Italian The he was the one that be and was the of Leonard In this the the pedagogical principles by Angelo Patri at in the and with the educational to be a The in Angelo (Sammartino and Sammartino It functioned as a a and “The and be but in sense it be a or These be rather than in of education in Italian language and culture was also in the titled The from an of to a to of Italian The a of the the language was an Italian (Sammartino and Sammartino to this was one of the these students in that and of which always is a those of of this to the education which was into he even that these were in their their sense of still education these is the of the teacher to these and to that is more teaching of the Italian but of Italian and culture, of the of Italy, of the were it not for the of the of shared this with all those for the Italian be of the the Fascist government, or its was aware that the of promoting Italian language in schools the collective effort of all community from to government efforts in some yielded community and the other and a or from toward the instruction of the Italian in the 1933 of “The Educational Horizon,” in a a of students to study Italian, that in New York City, still a of Italian who and of the the Italian American students the only for Italian (Sammartino and Scaramelli in his 1933 titled in one the Italian community was to a of Italian but not to Italian in public schools and this a Sammartino that teaching Italian not an of Italian identity American by a to its the time, the of the be with the of when to into the of American culture, the and the of Italian then the is in the valuable (Sammartino and Scaramelli 1935 the had not as Sammartino and Scaramelli in their “The of Italian in the of New York is still in of some of the efforts by and The number of students in the language is than of the in a where the Italian is of the and where the number of of Italian is than other is (Sammartino and Sammartino titled “The in the another It that the community at times not in a but rather adopted and of to Italian-language teaching in public schools, some established Italian-language schools. The the that In one an Italian as for not the language in public schools (Sammartino and Sammartino approach a a strategy for community in education was crucial for In his April titled in Sammartino as the of education “The of a educational policy only a or In the the of The of is and into not a focus of public until years when the to on the (Sammartino and Sammartino employed by Sammartino the by American of including it was the community to its the be all in educational activities he be the one to which the to the of Italians in America that not as a within a community but rather in this America of (Sammartino and Sammartino and Scaramelli to all those in this effort and to in the In one there is a to various the of teacher publication of and The is dedicated to the Italian its activities to promote the Italian language to of by in to (Sammartino and Sammartino the language of the the to the the of for study to and funded by the Fascist These educational and propaganda promoting Italian culture and language “The Educational Horizon” to Italy, to and with published and on the of time in not only as a for committed students but also as a of every In this in his 1933 titled Teachers to a rather of the Italian teacher in the US one were in on the other were from with but with the American educational leading to or there was the of of Italian in the of Italian language and culture but were and of their were their The study to were for their and (Sammartino and Scaramelli the crucial for and for of their and for and from and New columns from who had in Italy, the and and and of Italy. In the 1933 issue, for a on the and of Italian universities, which were by strength (Sammartino and Scaramelli However, the ultimately at a had was a from the American a for culture and a for which not always to as a and for a of this experience in the and of “The Educational Horizon,” where he also a by to Italian including and and the of the Italian students (Sammartino and Sammartino The experience had a on the students that he to it in a which he published (Sammartino Sammartino aimed to his as a for all study to Italy, the as a valuable It offers insights into this experience and his educational by a of and can only through and and integration in and of and may of but of and the 1933 in Atlantica titled “The American in a students to to American their in including Italy. Sammartino that students this experience without the for it as an to their with the and without to with the culture, it to the American one (Sammartino and Scaramelli editorials in “The Educational Horizon” focus on the and principles that Sammartino's language In “The in published in Sammartino his on the between the in education and the The not of the as a who three be a of and a (Sammartino and Sammartino the a which the of his Sammartino for can be a approach to the goal of and the of the rather than the is the who is at the time a in some that this approach was particularly to the teaching of Italian, and he that Leonard shared a pedagogical Covello, for in his of students and of the on one the on the other hand, the is to be a (Sammartino and Sammartino this approach to Angelo Patri and his that the of students in not only not but a of in the which in its in the of for an This and into the and articulated this in the editorials (Sammartino and Scaramelli and New and where he the to at the of the by and and (Sammartino and Sammartino the pedagogical principles to in Italy. It the of study with which and the from that to be the of a without can be a in the of a can be at the of educational only to the or the for The through and may be in their and, with may (Sammartino and Sammartino to into the educational is the of this all and a few other in their their was in the and as as to their was when to in and had to three for an had a but of the American policy on was a of and a when had to figure in the on the of columns, on the second and at the had all but when to and the and the the to (Sammartino and Sammartino be to their educational it be a can with and is to be to is a to a an and pedagogical vision was also in an article in the 1933 of the titled to Sammartino and the that language is only in early the at the time to this these to their and with their educational and the this article a of the second who not the Italian it is to on the to a (Sammartino and Scaramelli his Sammartino also about the of having teaching and for teaching Italian, which from 1935 to be in the for Italian by the New York of where he to the of the In the 1935 Sammartino to the and it as and the in the of language teaching in (Sammartino and Sammartino Its in the that “The be It for goal as the or for It be and and participation as the foundational of the The on the their individual and which is to the also another be the be on and not on the that a is the of the of a (Sammartino and Sammartino and which be in The more to the a more and a more of than a of (Sammartino and Sammartino Sammartino recognized that a However, he was that it was and in to the and the and in and the United the of the time is when all can the language that is for The that the in in an culture, and with the of their The was to to these that were from language or to a of activities in which It is to the training and were in Sammartino's it was for to as he in (Sammartino and Sammartino where he the of in schools. The had to and schools were this to for one of a to be to a teacher at this Sammartino this to the of of the who also to be the and of these that there of in that who study Italian not to their also that of a that and all (Sammartino and Sammartino of Sammartino the of two by New York that in education was crucial for the the in New York to the all the the full of the in also to the that the (Sammartino and Sammartino in the that Fascism every to promote the within American within the community Fascism were from to and even a within the community viewed Fascism as a of Italian a that the for propaganda (Luconi can be to or were of the that Fascism or toward the to and their own objectives. Fascism's influence on the which the to its including in the of education and it that was not only Italian but also until From that until the of publications in the its to and to a more and was common in of the press aimed at the community of of Italian but it was to various that were more and than Often in of was by of 2009, In the of from were by the and the of press was the Italian government on to only the press (Luconi 2009, of Peter Sammartino's ties with the of Atlantica, and potential alignment with is not insights into this In the of Atlantica, Sammartino that he and various and in the of Fascist Gaetano Sammartino the Fascist well-known or Peter had for other the New York However, all these not his toward Fascism or his with at from from his to the in more one the editorials the successes and of the Fascist government in promoting Italian language and culture, the of Fascist propaganda is The “Educational Horizon” column a the and with Fascist the article on Italian New York that in “The Educational Horizon” in with the one written by for the “The Educational Horizon” the as a “The of the was to study the American educational and to the of the in of the activities in other as as public and all public which with by all of educational (Sammartino and Sammartino is is one of the that to be of and of his of for and of the of on which the of is written in of Fascist those of Italian to to to a into a and with the and of their The by the aimed to the their were to on the and These in the “Educational Horizon” as propaganda to promote were on the with that students and community were and students their and that the to with the when the that be by (Sammartino and Sammartino not of the with (Sammartino and Sammartino with Italian were always the was by of the who and helped to the in their (Sammartino and Scaramelli is from his of the to for Sammartino these an The of Sammartino's in the is particularly It into a by American students is were of Italian a of Italian students New York for in by the Fascist government for propaganda at The a between of Italian and American a and a focus on the educational of other Sammartino the by American that when he a of American students to Italy, from a that not the principles of government as Italy. their were of the that their were were of and went there as and extended to all the of It is that the of not to the Italian students who to American (Sammartino and Sammartino in Fascist as a where is to their Sammartino to or the of that the Italian students had to the US with a desire to America and to rather than with a that these students of English, to is a to to the (Sammartino and Sammartino the students not had the of the had Sammartino also to the of of of Italian these a It a between the students and the who in the of but to to America of their from the of their This with a of the community and with the regime's strategy of and that in this, Sammartino from propagandizing Fascism and a more the of education that and in his in the he a on even when those not to the (Sammartino and Sammartino employed education as a for This more by Fascism and its propaganda policy through the promotion of the Italian language he is within Atlantica, for his to policy in his the and the government, a having with the which is by the American and even to a which for (Sammartino and Scaramelli It is to a about Sammartino's toward Fascism on the from public to toward full it to be by an with the homeland of and a that the efforts and by the Fascist government in promoting the Italian language and culture be for the community's This with the primary of figures and Patri and those of other or of the Italian American it was not to be active within the Italian American community without with In an as as Sammartino's not to the of in the not to a for more when Fascism emerged as a of the United States, Sammartino and to had with the This is in their where these it is that in his Sammartino only his commitment to promoting the Italian language in the and his role within the community for this he also his with Atlantica and about his with the Italian American community in the (Sammartino in his The the of his with of the Fascist government in the US and to his with the at Columbia The the of Giuseppe had of Fascist by Prezzolini toward to this and it September 1935 the of Peter Sammartino and Sylvia in the column. to this, the column a name to “Educational and to on from the 1935 the of the in Atlantica, the of a figure of Sammartino's the and impact. It for one more in to a until its with the In the column an of the state of Italian-language education in New York schools and the efforts to promote The number of Italian-language students still those and even Sammartino with a years and the still to be This the by the campaign to promote the successes there was a sense of in that the primary to the of the Italian language was the of of Italian in the article in Italian a The instruction of Italian in the United from the to the However, the of Italian-language of its potential and Italian American in having their study Italian, and this of was even more without Italian of language as a common is recognized as for fostering and community and However, this is to within Italian in Italian, adopted a language for the language of their their to it a of the and a few Italian all Italian the in the Italian language to construct an identity through the Italian language ultimately of as the between language and identity within the Italian American community and the Western The promotion of Italian as a language strength to particularly for the of shared this even within the Italian American that strategy for promoting Italian in public schools to the of as their Italian identity. schools, by Fascist were as Italian identity from public schools. However, this analysis may not the as in Italian-language even in or schools, about identity to this which can be not as a but rather as a and these within two and These in of in in the in Atlantica from to be that the community other to as as and that with an article written by published in as “The Italian in the United and that until the of the these This article the the of of by the Italian American The articles the or to the and their of education a in the title of one article by Giuseppe or to the and their of the Italian language as in the title of by Sammartino a of these in his the Italian in his and as the of and a between Italian and the Italian Italian American The that the the of in the especially the and stereotypes from the and American Sammartino this it in his in the from titled in the to that Italian American Italian culture solely through and other rather than through the language and, even through other of this, Italian were to their Sammartino be the for an in Italian the of Italian culture and However, the he to that was the as a to the potential by the of the of and the community's sense of identity. to the and of the Italian language and culture (Sammartino and Sammartino and publications in for the teaching of Italian in schools, a promotional and propaganda The analysis focused on the “Educational Horizon” column by Peter Sammartino and Sylvia Scaramelli Sammartino's from June 1933 to September Sammartino only a to this in his but it a stage in his and it was for he In particular, his editorials in “The Educational Horizon” the genesis and of his pedagogical philosophy and educational principles that he in and Fairleigh Dickinson also to his figure and in the American of those years and in his role within the community of Italian Sammartino's alignment with figures Angelo Patri and Leonard is to his commitment to a sense of identity and pride to the second of Italian In this period at Atlantica valuable insights into the years of Sammartino's educational philosophy and his to the Italian American community in the United