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Ella T. Grasso Schoalarship Essay
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singing along to the music of those
Italian-Americans who express their
heritage through song. While many
Italian artists are beloved by my family,
none receives more attention than
Sinatra. Each year at La Festa Italiana
in Scranton, my uncle, whose vocals
astonishingly emulate Sinatra’s,
performs a repertoire of his songs.
Through these concerts, my uncle introduced
me to a style of music that is
very important to Italian-Americans,
allowing me to create deeper connections
with my identity as one.
Perhaps the largest contributor
to my identity with my heritage is
Catholicism. Because of Catholicism,
I feel even more connected to my
heritage, for the center of the Catholic
universe lies within the heart of Italy.
Though the Vatican City is considered
a separate entity from Italy, it must
be influenced by the large, passionate
country surrounding it. Like many
Italian-Americans, my religion is at
the center of my life. Catholic values
have shaped my morals and decisions,
thus defining who I am as a person. I
have seen religion’s importance and
influence in the lives of my grandparents,
parents, and aunts and uncles.
Their piety and devotion, along with
their level of happiness, has encouraged
me to emulate them so that I, too,
might live in such a manner of peace
and happiness. Additionally, Catholicism’s
overarching message of loving
and helping others heavily influenced
my career decision of entering pharmacy,
through which I can combine
my desire to aid those in need, with
my interest in science and medicine.
The college I attend, Duquesne University,
is a Catholic institution which
encourages the highest level of education
while emphasizing the importance
of service and kindness to the
community. Because of this, Duquesne
appears to be the best place to help me
become a competent and compassionate
pharmacist.
College is not my first experience
of a Catholic education; I was
fortunate enough to attend Catholic
grade school and high school as
well. Throughout my time in Catholic
school, I have been surrounded by
people who are very similar to me,
while also being very different. For
while most of my classmates were
Catholics raised in similar family situations,
none grew up with any emphasis
upon Italian culture as I did. For
few of them were Italian, and those
who were did not have strong connections
to their heritage. Throughout
elementary school, I often felt separated
from my friends. None of them
emphasized their culture to the extent
my family did; none of them served
fish for Christmas Eve dinner. Whenever
I discussed my holiday plans
with my friends, they gave me strange
looks, crinkling their noses while asking
why we eat fish, of all things, on
Christmas. At times, I remember feeling
like Rudolph did, solitary and
misunderstood. I wished I could experience
a “normal” Christmas with
“normal” foods that were not fish. Yet
as I matured, I realized the importance
of this tradition, for I soon recognized
that it embodies everything held dear
to Italian-American culture, containing
traditional Italian food, family, music,
and religion. I recognized that Christmas
focused my sense of identity, for it
emphasized and strengthened all these
aspects which define my life. Yet I did
not need a Clarice to tell me that my
different “nose,” my heritage, made me
“grand”; this was something I realized
for myself. This sense of identity has
made me proud to be Italian. While
others may cringe at the notion of fish
on Christmas, I embrace it. For nothing
on earth will smell as comforting as
frying eel on a cold winter’s night in a
warm home where Sinatra’s carols are
background music to a loving family
arguing ceaselessly into the night, as
snow falls gently and peacefully on the
eve of Christ’s birth.
Ella T. Grasso
Literary Scholarship
Established 2012
“It is not enough to
profess faith in the
democratic process;
we must do something
about it.”
~Ella T. Grasso
Through her dedication and commitment
to service, Ella Grasso positively impacted
the lives of many Americans.
Born in Windsor Locks, Connecticut
on May 10, 1919, Ella was the only child of
Italian immigrants, James and Maria Oliva
Tambussi. Her parents highly valued education,
and instilled in their daughter the
love of learning. A gifted student, Ella won
a scholarship to the prestigious Chaffee
School. Upon graduation, she attended
Mount Holyoke College, on scholarship,
where she earned her BA, magna cum
laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1940; her MA
in 1942. Following graduation, Ella served
with the War Manpower Commission of
Connecticut as Assistant Director of Research.
She married Dr. Thomas Grasso;
they had two children, Susanne and Jim.
In 1970, Ella Grasso won election to
the Congress of the United States from
the Sixth Congressional District of Connecticut
by over 4,000 votes. Her outstanding
performance in Congress was
acknowledged; she was re-elected in
1972 with over 60% of votes cast.
One of the most significant pieces of
legislation Grasso supported and influenced
was the National Cooley’s Anemia
Control Act of 1972. This Act established
programs to assist patients dealing with
the serious blood disorder that primarily
affects people of Mediterranean descent.
Ella Tambussi Grasso was overwhelmingly
elected Governor of the state of Connecticut
in November 1974. Inaugurated in
January 1975, she became our nation’s first
woman to hold a state governorship in her
own right. She won re-election in 1978. Ill
health forced her resignation in December
1980. Ella Grasso succumbed to cancer the
following February.
UNICO National has established the
Ella T. Grasso Literary Scholarship to honor
the accomplishments of an extraordinary
Italian American. This scholarship will be
awarded to an undergraduate college student,
submitting an original short story or
essay celebrating their Italian heritage.
UNICO National September 2015 49