This photo is one of many featured in "Italians of Montclair," an oral history project created by Marisa Trubiano of Spanish and Italian on exhibit Nov. 6-Dec. 28 at the Crane House Museum in Montclair. The photo was contributed by Linda Tauriello Musolino whose grandfather, Ermino Guancione, is pictured with his daughters Louise, Angie, Josephine, Rose, and a cousin. The photo was taken in 1928 at his store on Orange Road in Montclair. Musolino recounts that her mother, Josephine, would steal a piece of candy from each tray, causing her father to think that a mouse was getting at the sweets.

"Montclair Memories: The Italians of Montclair," an oral history project preserving the traces of the Italian-American experience in Montclair throughout the community's history from the late 19th century to today, will be on exhibit at the Crane House Museum in Montclair Nov. 6 to Dec. 28.

The project was created by Marisa Trubiano of Spanish and Italian, along with community members Donato DiGeronimo and Ruth Kunstadter, and curated in collaboration with Laura Caparrotti, journalist for the Italian newspaper, America Oggi and president of Kairos Italy Theater in Manhattan.

"Tracing the history of the Italians of Montclair is only one component of an initiative that identifies and brings to light the stories of the various communities whose unique experiences, woven together, form the rich tapestry that is the multiethnic Montclair experience," said Trubiano. "What is particularly unique about this component of the project is that it constitutes the first concerted effort to formally document and commemorate the Italian-American presence in and contributions to this community. Who were, and are, the Italians of Montclair? What did they bring to the community, and what have they left behind? How do they practice their culture and how has their unique ethnic identity shaped their American experience?"

DiGeronimo and Kunstadter conducted more than 60 interviews with Italian-Americans in Montclair. The interviews have yielded a number of presentations, institutional collaborations and publications. The goal of the project is a permanent visual display commemorating the Italian-American Experience in Montclair, accompanied by displays focusing on other cultural and historical experiences.

The exhibit can be viewed as part of the regular guided tour of the Crane House, which is open Fridays and Saturdays 1-4 p.m. and Sundays 2-5 p.m. (except Dec. 24-26). Tours take place on the hour with the last tour given one hour before closing. Admission is $5 for adults, $2 for students (11-17) and free for children 10 and under. Half-price admission days are Monday, Dec. 27 and Tuesday, Dec. 28 with tours at 1, 2 and 3 p.m. For more information, contact the Montclair Historical Society at 973-744-1796, e-mail mail@montclairhistorical.org or visit www.montclairhistorical.org.

As part of the heritage documentation project under the auspices of the Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC), funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Montclair State University, Trubiano's Italian-American Experience course blossomed into the ongoing oral history project. It garnered two Cali Faculty Research Grants, a grant from the Coccia Institute for the Italian Experience in America and a Montclair State Faculty-Student Research Grant, as well as support from the Spanish and Italian Department and the Institute for Community Studies.