From an old scrapbook, notes and photos emerge some black and white shots. A stone farmhouse, profiles of Apennine reliefs, leafy trees and a group of happy people smiling at the photographer’s lens. There is a date, 1953, but there are no precise references to the places, probably taken for granted by those who made that album. It is from this small treasure trove of memories that Michelle Hevron’s exciting “journey of roots” in the land of Piacenza starts.

 

Michelle lives in Richmond, Virginia, where she works as a research specialist at the Margaret R. and Robert M. Freeman Library of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. All her grandparents are of Italian origin, but it is in particular her maternal grandfather, Sante, who introduced her to and appreciated the culture, language and cuisine, but also the warmth of her homeland. Sante, born in 1919, was one of four children of Esterina, called Estella, Nicolini and Francesco Pisani. Michelle’s great-grandparents, originally from Piozzano, a small town in the Piacenza area located in Val Luretta, had emigrated to America in 1912. The family had settled in Hoboken, in Hudson County (New Jersey) where an extensive and cohesive Italian community had long since formed (Frank Sinatra was born in Hoboken in 1915). Francesco and Estella always maintained a close bond with their family and with their country of origin. In particular, Estella and her sister Palmira have maintained a correspondence throughout their lives, with exchanges of photos and news that, for decades, have crossed the Atlantic.

In 1930, shortly after becoming a U.S. citizen, Estella returned for a short stay, bringing with her her youngest son, Lorenzo, who, having embarked on a promising career as an opera singer, would often stay in Italy. It was Lorenzo, in 1953, together with his sister Mary, who made a new and long journey to Val Luretta. Lorenzo probably had a camera with him and took several black and white photos, then collected in a precious “travel album”. This collection of documents, which bears the date but not the indication of the place, ends up, some time later, in the hands of Michelle, who warns that, precisely among these notes and images, the origins of her family are contained.

 

Thethus began a long journey, also archival, of genealogical research and rediscovery of roots. During a first trip, made in 2023, Michelle, accompanied by her husband James, has the opportunity to see the church of San Nazzaro and Celso, in the small hamlet of San Nazzaro di Pavarano, where her great-grandparents had married before leaving for America. He shows the inhabitants photos from 1953. 70 years have passed since Lorenzo’s shots and no one can recognize people and locate the farmhouse. But Michelle does not give up. Then in 2024, thanks to a contact with Daniela Morsia of the Piacenza Municipal Library, a tam tam of requests and comparisons was triggered. Thanks to the important help of Giacomo Nicelli, journalist of the newspaper “Libertà”, the photos reach Anna Ghlefi, 89 years old, historical memory of San Nazzaro. It is she who not only recognizes Cascina Poggio (in dialect at the Pos), long owned by a noble family, but also one of the people portrayed, Giuseppe Nicolini, known as Pipon who lived there at the time. So in May 2024 Michelle and her family (this time there are also daughters Lauren and Isabelle), make a new journey to Italy that takes them directly to their places of origin. They embrace Anna Ghelfi who has her son Ermanno Buzzi and daughter-in-law Luciana Soprani by her side. The tour includes of course a stop at Cascina Poggio, where Michelle finds a changed structure, yes, but with the unmistakable signs of the landscape of the black and white photos. There is also time for a visit to the Pisani house, in Roccapulzana di Pianello, most likely the place of origin of great-grandfather Francesco. Michelle’s purpose is now to complete the research and soon return to embrace the people who made her roots journey a truly memorable experience.

Material provided by Daniela Morsia – Conservator of the Ancient Funds