Carmine Giovinazzo joins the campaign to save a part of his own family history.

"My grandfather spoke Italian," Giovinazzo said when he shared his story with We Are Ellis Island. "He came over from Naples. The boat that he took left Naples [in] 1923. He arrived here in May, just two years after my grandfather from Oslo, Norway arrived here in May of 1921." Giovinazzo's grandmother also came through Ellis Island when she was only seven years old.

Giovinazzo is proud of his heritage. "To be only second-generation American is pretty amazing," he said, "and when you think about what they did, it makes you realize how good we have it." Visiting Ellis Island for the first time was "really emotional" for Giovinazzo, who said that family history is very important to his mother. Walking through the buildings on the island, Giovinazzo said that "[y]ou really feel the spirit of it."

Between 1892 and 1954, more than 12 million people from all over the world entered the United States through Ellis Island. Nearly 40% of the population today can trace their roots to men, women and children that came to America this way. The island was closed in 1954, but the buildings were not protected from decay. The main building was renovated in the 1990s and opened as a museum, but the non-profit Save Ellis Island organization hopes to restore more of the buildings and preserve them for future generations of Americans to visit.

The Arrow division of the Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation is working with Save Ellis Island to create a national campaign to increase awareness and raise funds to be used to restore Ellis Island for beneficial reuse. Giovinazzo is one of many celebrities who are doing their part to educate the public about preserving this piece of national history. The actor spoke about how America is a melting-pot of people from around the world, saying that "[w]e're all a part of Ellis Island."

You can visit the official site for We Are Ellis Island or Save Ellis Island to learn more. Carmine Giovinazzo's video can be watched here; however, if you don't have Quicktime 7, you can see the video on YouTube (thanks to spriteandcola). Thanks to Lysette for sharing this news item with us.

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