Buffalo's Italian Cultural Center building at 2351 Delaware Avenue at Hertel contains several gems, with a spot to sit and have a cappuccino, a gift shop laden with old-country items, and a gathering room for special cultural events. The lower level includes an auditorium for films and lectures and a world-class Italian kitchen with space for cooking classes.  Admission to the building is free for CCI members, $7 for non-members.

Next to the kitchen is the Claire E. Martoche Learning Center, where Western New Yorkers may recount their Italian immigrant ancestors' histories.  The room is named in honor of the late daughter of the Honorable Judge Sal Martoche and his wife Mary Dee. With these recent additions to its function, the room is now known as the Claire Martoche Learning Center and Genealogy Station.

At the CCI GENEALOGY STATION , our expert genealogists help patrons trace their Sicilian and Italian immigrant roots back to their earliest origins in 'the old country', in a variety of ways: 
 
  • deciphering 'Americanized' given names and surnames to determine how ancestors' names were originally recorded;
  • locating U. S. and state censuses that give information on immigrants and their children's birth years, residences, occupations and immigration and naturalization status;
  • finding naturalization ('citizenship') papers;
  • locating ships manifests that identify ancestors' ancestral villages;
  • locating, reproducing, translating and interpreting civil and church records of birth, baptism, marriage and death for the immigrants families, working back successive generations to 'build' a pedigree (family tree), possibly reaching back as early as the 16th century.

The Genealogy Station Director Emeritus is Angelo Felice Coniglio.   He is the youngest son of parents who emigrated from Serradifalco, Sicily in 1913 and 1914.  He has developed extensive experience in the genealogy of Sicilian immigrants, writing genealogy columns in print and digital media and lecturing internationally. He is expert in the 'genealogy of foundlings', interpreting the life stories of Sicilian and Italian abandoned children, and has been a technical consultant for the PBS TV show 'Finding Your Roots'.  He has written a novella, 'The Lady of the Wheel', about a Sicilian foundling and her family in the 1800's. He is also a volunteer librarian at the Williamsville LDS Church’s Family History Center.

In 2020, Coniglio lobbied the CCI Board regarding two causes dear to his heart: the teaching of the Sicilian Language, recognizing that the predominance of 'Italian Americans' in Western New York are descendants of Sicilian immigrants; and the establishment of a CCI Genealogy Station to provide genealogic research to the descendants of emigrants to the region.

He was successful in both efforts, including having the Genealogy Station designated an official Affiliate Library in the FamilySearch system of the Church of Latter Day Saints, world leaders in genealogical research.

As of Spring 2024, Coniglio can no longer have face-to-face research sessions with patrons, but he is available to provide extensive help by email if contacted at AFConiglio@aol.com
 .
Current Director Sandi Russo conducts person-to-person sessions in the CCI's Claire Martoche Learning Center; see her availability below.
Coniglio has numerous genealogy-related web pages that may be viewed free
at >> Sicilian Links

The CCI GENEALOGY STATION is a FamilySearch Affiliate Library. 

This status allows patrons to view and download Sicilian and Italian
civil records from 1820 and earlier, records not viewable elsewhere.

Genealogy Station staff use the latest on-line repositories of Sicilian and Italian records.
Patrons will learn how to access them on line at the Station, as well as how to access many records at home.

Our genealogy services are free. 
 

Genealogy Station Director Sandi Russo is the granddaughter of Sicilian immigrants who arrived in the U. S. through Ellis Island in 1906, settling in Buffalo at the waterfront tenements on Dante Place.  Her father was born there in 1912.  She has been researching her family history since 1985.  Sandi is the President of the Italian Genealogical Society of Western New York. Members have regularly manned the Genealogy Table at Buffalo's Italian Heritage Festival, and will do so again for the 2022 festival, back on Hertel Avenue.  Sandi is also the registrar for the Western New York Genealogical Society (WNYGS) and has taught Genealogy in the Grand Island Central School adult education program.
 
Sandi is  available by appointment only, during the following times, for one-hour sessions.
 
Wednesdays 10 AM - 1 PM
Saturdays 10 AM - 1 PM

To schedule an appointment, call or text her at 716-536-8830 or email her at smrusso@hotmail.com
To see a log of some of the genealogy research
activity at CCIB, click here =>		     

LECTURE: "How the CCI GENEALOGY STATION Can Help You Discover Your Sicilian/Italian Ancestors"

 Was presented on Saturday, 15 January 2022

To see the lecture slides on youtube click here>> bit.ly/GenealogyStationCCILecture1

See our page about the proposed CCI Story Booth, where you will be able to have your immigrant ancestors' history archived:  www.bit.ly/storyboothcci

CLICK HERE FOR HELPFUL GENEALOGY LINKS

ITALIAN CONSULATE ASSISTANCE NOW AVAILABLE AT CCI!!!
The CCI Genealogy Station is pleased to announce that Signora Lucia Caracci Ederer, Buffalo's Honorary Vice Consul for Italy, is available for consultation with Western New Yorkers at the Claire Martoche Learning Center. She can advise on matters concerning Italian property, inheritance, translation of letters and documents from Italian to English and from English to Italian, and other Italo-American concerns.

To reserve a meeting with Signora Caracci, contact her directly by telephone at

716-856-3626 or

716-698-3578, or by email at viceconsolatobuffalo@gmail.com

 

PRESS RELEASE, MAY 1, 2022

Italian Cultural Center Launches FamilySearch Affiliate Library

BUFFALO—If you want to be part of the popular ancestry search trend, you may not need to look any further than the local Italian Cultural Center, the Centro Culturale Italiano di Buffalo (CCI). The Genealogy Station at the Center is now a FamilySearch Affiliate Library, which means it has access to more genealogy resources, to help you make more family discoveries. FamilySearch is a world leader in family history.

There are only a few hundred affiliate libraries in the country. The designation means local Center patrons will now have greater and more convenient access to the wealth of genealogical resources available through FamilySearch. The popular web service has over 6 billion searchable names and 2 billion images of historical genealogical records—and you get the helpful assistance of library staff.

FamilySearch adds over 300 million free genealogical records and images online yearly from all over the world and manages the famous Family History Library in Salt Lake City. It has amassed billions of birth, marriage, death, census, land and court records from more than 130 countries to help you discover and make family connections.

“Cultural centers are wonderful local gathering places for learning. We are excited to have the CCI Genealogy Station as our newest FamilySearch Affiliate Library.  It will help FamilySearch expand opportunities for fun, personal discoveries and family connections to the local community,” said Paul Nauta, FamilySearch Public Relations Manager.

About FamilySearch

FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources for free at FamilySearch.org or through more than 5,000 family history centers in 129 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

CCI’s FamilySearch Affiliate Library is located in the Genealogy Station, in the Claire Martoche Learning Center at the CCI building at 2351 Delaware Avenue at Hertel.  The Center is in the newly renovated former North Park Public Library building.  The Genealogy Station’s director is volunteer Angelo F. Coniglio, a local author and expert in Sicilian and Italian genealogy, a technical advisor to the PBS series ‘Finding Your Roots’ who also teaches the Sicilian language at CCI.  His staff includes Sandi Russo, also a volunteer, President of the Italian Genealogical Society of Western New York.  The services of the Genealogy Station are available for patrons of any ethnicity, not restricted to Sicilian and Italian.   Details are available on the Station’s website at www.bit.ly/GenealogyStationCCI


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 










































Hit Counter