John E. Rigali was an Italian-American from the Tuscan town of Barga. He was the President of the Daprato Statuary Company (Currently Daprato Rigali Studios) from 1890 until his death in 1936. [1]
John E. Rigali was an Italian-American from the Tuscan town of Barga. He was the President of the Daprato Statuary Company (Currently Daprato Rigali Studios) from 1890 until his death in 1936. [1]
John E. Rigali came to Chicago from Italy as a boy and at the age of 16 became an apprentice in the Daprato Statuary Studios, which at that time consisted of a small group of sculptors.
He worked his first year for room and board. He slept, ate, and worked in the studio's basement at Van Buren and Clark streets. By night he and the Daprato brothers fashioned the figurines. By day he sold them to the Chicago residents. Rigali suggested the business switch from making novelty statuettes to supplying churches with altars and statues. [2] In 1890 he became President of the firm and oversaw its growth into a worldwide [3] ecclesiastical art producer and distributor. [4] Rigali is also credited as the sole inventor of 'Rigalico', a resin-composite material that had the appearance of marble, although it was lighter and more easily crafted. [5]
Near retirement, Rigali was also involved in several Italian clubs and groups in Chicago. He was the President of the Italian Chamber of Commerce [6] and was the treasurer of the Italian Red Cross. The Italian government made him a Chevalier, later a Knight, and in 1930 a Commandatore in the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.
One of his sons, Joe Rigali, played football at the University of Notre Dame and won the 1924 National Championship playing alongside the "Four Horseman" and coached by Knute Rockne. [7] One of Joe Rigali's sons (John E. Rigali's Grandson) Robert Rigali Sr., played for the 1953 Notre Dame Team coached by Frank Leahy that went undefeated and was awarded the National Championship by 10 selectors. [8] Joe Rigali and Robert Rigali Sr. both went on to work at Daprato Rigali Studios. Several of John E. Rigali's great-grandchildren manage Daprato Rigali Studios today.
The Great Depression resulted in difficult times for the Daprato Statuary Company and John E. Rigali died on February 26, 1936. His son Joe Rigali took over the family company after his father's death in 1936.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the intercollegiate football team representing the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, north of the city of South Bend. The team plays its home games at the campus' Notre Dame Stadium, which has a capacity of 77,622. Notre Dame is one of seven schools that competes as an Independent at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level; however, they play five games a year against opponents from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), of which Notre Dame is a member in all other sports except ice hockey. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Notre Dame football competed as an ACC member for the 2020 FBS season. During the 2020 season, they went on to appear in the ACC Championship Game.
John Christopher Lujack is a former American football quarterback and 1947 Heisman Trophy winner; he is currently the oldest living recipient of the Heisman Trophy. Lujack played college football for the University of Notre Dame, and professionally for the Chicago Bears. He was the first of several successful quarterbacks who hailed from Western Pennsylvania. Others include Pro Football Hall of Fame members Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath, Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, Joe Montana and George Blanda.
Caspar Buberl was an American sculptor. He is best known for his Civil War monuments, for the terra cotta relief panels on the Garfield Memorial in Cleveland, Ohio, and for the 1,200-foot (370 m)-long frieze on the Pension Building in Washington, D.C.
The South Bend Tribune is a daily newspaper and news website based in South Bend, Indiana. It is distributed in South Bend, Mishawaka, north central Indiana and southwestern Michigan. It has three times been recognized by the Hoosier State Press Association as a "Blue Ribbon Newspaper". It is the third largest daily broadsheet newspaper in the State of Indiana by circulation.
The Cathedral of Christ the King in Atlanta, Georgia is the mother-church for the one million members of the Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta. The cathedral is located at what is popularly called "Jesus Junction" on Peachtree Road, between East Wesley Road and Peachtree Road, in Atlanta's uptown Buckhead district. At present, the parish is one of the ten largest congregations in the United States, with over 5,500 families. Christ the King School also occupies the property, with an enrollment of approximately 600 students.
Cartier Field was a stadium in Notre Dame, Indiana, first dedicated on May 11, 1900 as an arena for football, baseball, track and field, and bicycling. It hosted the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team from 1900 to 1928, and held nearly 30,000 people at its peak. The stands were torn down after the 1928 season to make room for Notre Dame Stadium, which opened in 1930. Notre Dame played its entire 1929 schedule away from campus, went undefeated (9–0) and won the National Championship. At Coach Knute Rockne's insistence, Cartier Field's grass was transplanted into Notre Dame Stadium.
The Monumental Bronze Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut was a monumental mason firm specializing in the production of white bronze (zinc) monumental masonry, active between 1875 and 1912 with subsidiaries throughout the United States, and Canada.
James Eugene Duffy was an American football player and lawyer. He played halfback for the University of Michigan football team for seven years from 1885 to 1891 and was captain of the 1888 team. In 1886, he set the world record by drop kicking a football 168 feet, 7½ inches. After graduating from Michigan, he was an attorney in Bay City, Michigan and a long-time member of the University of Michigan Board in Control of Athletics.
The 1920 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team was an American football team that represented the University of Notre Dame as an independent during the 1920 college football season. In their third year under head coach Knute Rockne, the team compiled a perfect 9–0 record and outscored opponents by a total of 251 to 44.
The 1929 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team was an American football team that represented the University of Notre Dame as an independent during the 1929 college football season. In their 12th year under head coach Knute Rockne, the Irish compiled a perfect 9–0 record and outscored opponents by a total of 145 to 38, with four shutouts.
The 1930 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team was an American football team that represented the University of Notre Dame as an independent during the 1930 college football season. In their 13th and final season under head coach Knute Rockne, the Fighting Irish compiled a perfect 10–0 record and outscored their opponents by a total of 256 to 74 with three shutouts.
The 1941 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team was an American football team that represented the University of Notre Dame as an independent during the 1941 college football season. In its first season under head coach Frank Leahy, Notre Dame compiled an 8–0–1 record, outscored opponents by a total of 189 to 64, and was ranked No. 3 in the final AP Poll.
Eldorado Amusement Park was a 25-acre amusement park that opened in 1891 in the Highwood Park section of Weehawken, New Jersey. It operated as an amusement grounds through 1894, after which time the main building, the Casino, was used to host boxing matches and other athletic events and vaudeville performances. A massive fire in the early morning of November 4, 1898, destroyed the building.
The 1925 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team was an American football team that represented the University of Notre Dame as an independent during the 1925 college football season. In its eighth season under head coach Knute Rockne, the team compiled a 7–2–1 record and outscored opponents by a total of 200 to 64.
The Court Square Fountain, in the Court Square-Dexter Avenue Historic District of Montgomery, Alabama, was established in 1885 on top of an artesian well, which native Alabamians used long before the area was settled. The fountain contains statues based on Greek mythology. The surrounding area, once the location for Montgomery's bustling slave trade, has seen most of its historical buildings torn down; the fountain's statues were replaced with aluminum ones in the 1980s.
The campus of the University of Notre Dame is located in Notre Dame, Indiana, and spans 1,250 acres comprising around 170 buildings. The campus is consistently ranked and admired as one of the most beautiful university campuses in the United States and around the world, particularly noted for the Golden Dome, the Basilica and its stained glass windows, the quads and the greenery, the Grotto, Touchdown Jesus, its collegiate gothic architecture, and its statues and museums. Notre Dame is a major tourist attraction in northern Indiana; in the 2015–2016 academic year, more than 1.8 million visitors, almost half of whom were from outside of St. Joseph County, visited the campus.
Amazone zu Pferde is an 1841 bronze equestrian statue by August Kiss, installed outside the Altes Museum in Berlin, Germany. It was based on a smaller clay model which August Kiss first built in 1839. Amazone zu Pferde stands opposite its companion statue, Löwenkämpfer.
Daprato Rigali Studios is a nationally-recognized interior restoration and renovation company in Chicago. It was founded in 1860 by the Daprato brothers, Italian immigrants from the town of Barga. The company specializes in interior renovations and restorations of historic and iconic buildings such as churches, theaters, hotels, banks, courthouses and commercial building lobbies. They specialize in project management and include decorative painting, stained glass and marble fabrication departments.
Chaplain Corby of Gettysburg is an outdoor sculpture by American artist Samuel Murray (1869–1941). It is located on the University of Notre Dame campus, and is owned by the University. The sculpture, made of bronze and limestone, depicts Father William Corby giving absolution to soldiers at the Battle of Gettysburg.
Michael Richard Koken was an American football player and coach. He played at the quarterback and halfback positions for Notre Dame from 1929 to 1932 and in the National Football League (NFL) for the Chicago Cardinals in 1933. He also coached football at John Caroll University and North Carolina State University and participated in the D-Day landings as a member of the United States Army.