Gabriele Scardellato, a professor in the Department of Languages, Literatures & Linguistics in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies at York University, was recently awarded with the Cruikshank Medal from the Ontario Historical Society (OHS).
The award, presented on rare occasions to individuals who have performed with distinction on behalf of the OHS, was presented at the Society’s annual Honours and 
Awards Ceremony June 22 in Hagersville, Ont.
From left, Ian Radforth, chair, OHS Honours and Awards Committee; Professor Gabriele Scardellato; B. E. S. Rudachyk, OHS president; and Carolyn King, OHS director. Photo Andrea Izzo
“I am surprised but also deeply honoured to have received this recognition from the Ontario Historical Society,” said Scardellato, who also holds The Mariano A. Elia Chair in Italian-Canadian Studies at York.
“The Society performs a great service in promoting and defending the province’s heritage and I am happy to be able to contribute,” he added.
As a member, author, editor, workshop leader, volunteer and donor to the OHS for the past 25 years, the OHS called Scardellato an unfailing and hard-working ambassador for the society.
Over the years, he has actively supported the projects and programs of the OHS, not only benefitting the society’s member organizations and individuals, but the greater heritage community at large.
As a volunteer, Scardellato has performed many invaluable roles, including presenter of his oral history workshop, “Tell Us Your Story and In Your Own Words”, symposium lecturer on his “From Garden to Table: Italian Canadians as Urban Peasant Farmers”, and both editor and managing editor of the OHS’s scholarly journal Ontario History.
He has also served as editor and/or managing editor of several other journals, including Polyphony: The Bulletin of the Multicultural History Society of Ontario, Annali Accademici Canadesi, Italian Canadiana, Ontario History and most recently Quaderni d’Italianistica.