PUEBLO — An old dresser has lead a Los Angeles woman with roots in Pueblo back to the neighborhood where her father grew up.
Marianna Gatto is an accomplished author and the co-founder of the Italian American Museum of Las Angeles - An LA native who was raised visiting Pueblo.
“We would usually come here and visit a few of the family members who remained, but most of our time was spent in Goat Hill which is a little neighborhood where my dad grew up!“
Gatto's grandparents were Italian immigrants who came to Pueblo, chasing the American dream. Now, she is living just down the street from the exact home where her father grew up.
"There was something that was just kind of pulling me here, so I decided I was going to buy a house in the neighborhood where my father grew up...and I did! And here I am!“
In June 2021, Gatto published an article about an antique dresser that survived the flood in Pueblo back in 1921.
“If Pueblo wants to kind of fulfill its potential… It needs to kind of counter some of the negative that is often the first thing you encounter when you do a search of Pueblo“
Community members filled a room on Wednesday evening in the speakeasy at the Senate Bar and Grill to listen to Gatto speak, and the fourth lecture of a fifteen-part series.
"She was knighted by like, Italy right? And her family is from Pueblo and I had never even heard that before… So just telling these stories is really good for our community,“ said one young audience member.
The lecture series known as "The Dig" happens every Wednesday evening. Tickets can be purchased here.
