Description

The earthquake that struck the Messina Straits on December 28, 1908, was Europe’s most powerful catastrophe in modern times. It claimed the lives of approximately 200,000 people, including some American diplomats and tourists.

This book provides important insight into many aspects of the calamity and its subsequent impact. It also lends us some perspective on more recent natural disasters, such as the Indonesian tsunami of 2004 and Hurricane Katrina of 2005.

In The Great Earthquake: America Comes to Messina’s Rescue, historian Salvatore LaGumina describes the remarkable responses of various nations and people that was an impressive display of cooperation and brotherhood among competing nations. Huge natural disasters frequently result in instances where assistance is rendered by nations that have extremely hostile relations, for example, the aid offered by the United States to Iran in 2003. LaGumina details how such kinship of nations and the brotherhood of mankind were convincingly and practically demonstrated.

This book also illustrates a valuable example of the use of military might that saw navy fighting vessels converted into instruments of compassion––the equivalent of the biblical expression, “turning swords into plowshares.” (Micah 4:3) It constituted a unique instance of employing instruments of war not as means of destruction but as creative tools for mankind.

This volume shows that Italian American response to the Italian ordeal was unparalleled in that notwithstanding traditional regional provincialism, as well as disparate political and social class views, this disaster witnessed an early if infrequent example of cohesion––a rare instance in which Italian immigrants coalesced and worked together to alleviate the pain and distress in the Italian homeland. In doing so, they were able to influence American political and business leadership to play a large and meaningful role in assisting Italy. Banding together for the purpose of aiding fellow Italians against the horrendous natural disaster constituted one of the first effective instances of moving outside of their traditional, provincial circles for a universal goal.

The religious dimension of the Messina earthquake is also examined. In Italy where the Catholic Church represented the overwhelming portion of the population, the Church’s response was particularly noteworthy. The institutional Church, although battered, placed all of its resources at the disposal of the sufferers, providing hospitalization, shelter, and encouragement through prayer. Religious organizations in America from Christian to Jewish responded generously to appeals for aid.

The humanitarian role played by the United States in aiding Italy during this crisis deserves to be better known, one which LaGumina has documented well in this book. The United States Navy, in particular, is to be credited for providing large quantities of desperately needed food, medical personnel, cots, and blankets. It was soon realized that recovery from the horrific devastation would require much more assistance, and thus began a little-known but important chapter in Italian/American relations in the form of extensive house-building projects that were critically needed. American naval personnel became vigorously engaged in erecting the homes that became known as “the American village.” The operation that lasted for weeks elicited genuine appreciation from Italian officials. It also required a delicate temporary relinquishment of national sovereignty by the Italian government to an American camp within Italy.

This study constitutes the first comprehensive volume that specifically explores the extensive and admirable role played by the United States in aiding Italy in the wake of the distressful time. It is an important book that should be of interest to the general public and to people in many fields, including philanthropy, Italian American studies, military/naval history, Italian history, disaster studies, gilded age history, twentieth-century America.