June 30, 1921

Vassar students accompanied by Professor Bruno Roselli formed the largest component in a group of 120 American students who sailed for Italy aboard the Leopoldina to represent the Italian-America Society and the National Dante Committee at the commemoration of the 600th anniversary of the death of Dante. Arriving at Naples, the group was escorted to Rome where a reception committee headed by Princess Santa Borghese included the Lord Mayor of Rome and the students and faculty of the American Academy in Rome. Pope Benedict XV received students of the Christian faith.

The Lord Mayor of Florence welcomed the students to his city, and in Ravenna, augmented by the Harvard Glee Club, they laid an inscribed bronze wreath at the Italian master’s grave. The inscription read: “From the American Students of the Twentieth Century to Dante Alighieri, 1665-1321—Poet, Philosopher, Scholar.” A day in Bologna, three days in Venice and one each in Milan and Turin concluded the group’s visit.

—The New York Times