About Us

Welcome to the Filippo Mazzei, Greater Milwaukee Lodge 2763 of the Order Sons and Daughters of Italy in America! Our lodge is a community of individuals dedicated to celebrating Italian heritage and culture, while also making a positive impact in our local community here in Milwaukee. We are a diverse group, united by our shared love of Italian traditions, language, and values, and we warmly welcome people from all walks of life who share our vision.

We pride ourselves on being a place of fellowship and service. In our community, we strive to uplift and support each other through meaningful activities, volunteer work, and simply spending time together. Our members enjoy a rich variety of experiences, from learning about Italian cooking and genealogy to volunteering at local charities and organizing community events. We also host educational programs, sponsor cultural workshops, and promote the understanding of Italian-American contributions to society.

Meetings are an opportunity for us to gather and connect, blending both formality and fun. We share updates, plan upcoming events, and always make room for socializing with friends old and new. Our events range from traditional Italian dinners and bocce tournaments to community service projects and cultural festivals. These gatherings are a true reflection of who we are—a supportive community that cares deeply about each other and the world around us.

We invite you to join us in celebrating the Italian way of life. Whether you’re looking to meet others, give back, or explore your roots, the Filippo Mazzei Lodge has something for everyone. Come by and experience the sense of belonging that has been at the core of our lodge for decades.

Columbus Day arrived as a benign celebration of exploration, but its origin in the USA is more fraught.

In 1891, a mob in New Orleans brutally lynched 11 Italian immigrants in one of the largest mass lynchings in U.S. history, fueled by xenophobia and anti-Italian sentiment. The backlash from Italian-American communities and diplomatic outrage with Italy put pressure on US politicians.

In 1892, President Benjamin Harrison proclaimed a national celebration marking the 400th anniversary of Columbus’s voyage, in part to placate Italian-Americans and rehabilitate their image amid9 widespread prejudice. Over time, that celebration evolved into Columbus Day as a federal observance.

The holiday’s origin was never truly about honoring Columbus. It was about protecting Italian immigrants from violence and prejudice, offering them a sense of dignity in a hostile America. The irony, of course, is that the man chosen to symbolize safety from violence was himself a figure marked by conquest, enslavement, and dispossession of Indigenous peoples. In trying to defend one community from hatred, America enshrined another man’s cruelty.

So if we want to celebrate Italian-American heritage, we can choose many more fitting heroes than Columbus. Figures from science, literature, civil rights, politics, and local community leadership offer richer and more just legacies.

One especially interesting Italian figure in America’s founding era is Filippo Mazzei, a Tuscan physician, wine grower, diplomat, and close friend of Thomas Jefferson. Mazzei was a vocal proponent of liberty, equality, and republican government. Some historians (and even a 1994 U.S. congressional joint resolution) credit Mazzei with influencing Jefferson’s phrase “all men are created equal.”

In 1773, Mazzei landed in Virginia with olive trees, grapevines, and Enlightenment ideals in tow. He settled near Monticello, where he quickly befriended Thomas Jefferson. The two became intellectual companions, discussing liberty, natural rights, and the moral equality of all human beings over candlelit dinners in Jefferson’s study.

Mazzei wrote passionately that, “Tutti gli uomini sono per natura egualmente liberi e indipendenti.”

Those words appeared in his 1774 essay on human liberty, and many historians believe they helped shape Jefferson’s immortal phrase in the Declaration of Independence:

“All men are created equal.” But Mazzei didn’t stop at philosophy. During the American Revolution, he returned to Europe as a secret agent and fundraiser for Virginia, working to secure loans, weapons, and diplomatic support from France and Italy. He even corresponded with Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, spreading revolutionary ideas across the courts of Europe. While Mazzei did not write the Declaration of Independence, his ideas fed into the intellectual ecosystem from which Jefferson drew.

If we’re going to honor Italian-American heritage, let’s raise a glass not to Columbus, but to Filippo Mazzei, the Italian who helped America find its founding ideals.