In our ANNOTICO Report dated July 25, 2003, I noted that:

"CUNY Web Site, American Social History Project,<< http://www.ashp.cuny.edu >>
(apparently relying on the book 'Created Equal") infers that ONLY Japanese Americans suffered under Executive Order 9066, and gives 'short shrift' to the sufferings and indignities of the Italian and German Americans during WWII."

I went on to also note that:

"When I brought this to the attention of Larry DiStasi, Project Director 'Una Storia Segreta', and the President of the Western Chapter, American Italian Historical Association, he wrote to officials at CUNY..."

Mr. Robert A. Messa, National President, Order Sons of Italy in America, took notice of my complaint, and Larry DiStasi's well documented letter to CUNY, and wrote an effective letter to the Publisher of the Original materials, Pearson Publishing, who forwarded it to the Authors.

The Lead Author, Peter H. Wood, Professor of History, Duke University, after verifying the facts of the DiStasi and Messa letters, has now acknowledged the error.
[See Letter below]

In Wood's letter to Messa, he expresses wonderment at the failure of he and his four associates to be aware of this Italian American chapter of history. (Hmmm).

Wood's does assure that in future printings, they will make amends!

I am immensely appreciative and impressed with the Efforts of Larry DiStasi, and
the leadership of OSIA (Messa, Michael Paolucci, Philip Piccigallo, and Dona DeSanctis), in response to my appeal.

They and the other "unsung" heroes who wrote in to object, did themselves proud, and rendered the Italian American Community an inestimable service!!!!

Our Thanks!!!
==========================================================

Mr. Robert A. Messa
National President, Order Sons of Italy in America
219 E. Street, N.E.
Washington, D. C. 20002

Dear Mr. Mesa:

Speaking for the authors of Created Equal, the U.S. History text published recently by Longman/Pearson, all five of us wish to express appreciation for your recent
communication. Peter Jovanovich, CEO at Pearson, has forwarded your message to us, along with others from persons who share your concern.

First, we wish to acknowledge the error you have pointed out with regard to our
coverage of domestic internment policies during World War II. It is certainly not correct to say that "those of German or Italian ancestry were spared internment.

Because they were white, nobody claimed that the Germans or Italians belonged to an 'enemy race.' "While Japanese-Americans faced the largest internments, they were certainly not the only ones.

We can make amends in the next printing of Created Equal by correcting the
statement that no Italian-Americans were interned or discriminated against, in subsequent editions, we shall include greater coverage of the mistreatment of Italian Americans and German Americans in the next edition of Created Equal.

Secondly, we want to thank you, not only for pointing out this error, but also for
all that you and others have done to set the record straight. All five of us agree that we scarcely encountered this piece of the American puzzle in any meaningful way in our own instruction as history students.

We are eager to see to it that the next generation gets a fuller picture. Until recently, it has indeed been "una storia segreta," and we want to make sure it does not remain that way. I have already ordered a copy of your book by that title and have visited the websites you suggested. The exhibition you have organized sounds most helpful in this regard, and we certainly hope it is receiving wide attention.

We have each learned a great deal in writing this book-from each other, from the initial reviewers of the text, and now from various readers like yourself who share our
fascination with American history. In writing a more inclusive social and political
history of the United States, we have tried to go beyond the familiar central story and
shine a light in places that have not been well illuminated before.

We have succeeded in numerous ways, and we are pleased by the positive reception that our book has received.

But we are eager to make Created Equal even better, and to find one "storia segreta" after another We can only do it with the assistance of persons like yourself. Please accept our thanks and pass them along to other colleagues who share your interests and concerns.

Sincerely,
Peter H. Wood
Professor of History
 

Cc- Lawrence DiStasi, Newsletter Editor, American Italian Historical Association
Philip R Piccigallo, Ph.D., Executive Director, Order Sons of Italy in America
Michael Paolucci, National President, Sons of Italy Commission for Social Justice
Steven Dowling, Executive Vice President, Pearson Education
Will Ethridge, President, Pearson Education, Higher Education Division