Case Valdesi The port of call

The photo exhibition is a shared gift

In 2013, a unique photographic exhibition was held at the Waldensian Foresteria in Florence. Why are we telling you about it today?

“The photographic exhibition began as a gift from the guesthouse to the Goulders of all times, their families, and the visitors and visitors to the guesthouse. In fact, it turned out to be also a nice gift to ourselves because the photographs created the occasion for many encounters and stimulated many good memories “.

With these words spoken by the Facility Manager of the Valdese Guesthouse of Florence, Anikò Sebestyen, concluded a pleasant talk ahead of the XXXI Convention of the Waldensian Diaconia, which will be held on March 12, 2022 at the Aula Magna of the Gould Institute in Palazzo Salviati, which is also the headquarters of the guesthouse. The event will be broadcast via a live Facebook feed on the official page of the Valdese Diaconia.

The annual convention of the Waldensian Diaconia

This year’s conference program, entitled. Diakonia, Childhood and Adolescence – Stages of a Long Journey., includes, in the second part dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Gould Institute in Florence, the presentation of the reprint of the booklet The Gould Institute 1871-1971 by Luigi Santini, Waldensian pastor and director of the institute for many years.

This moment will be preceded by a brief tour of the permanent photo exhibit entitled The Port of Landing (gouldini in the 1920s) set up in the French Room adjacent to the Great Hall.

The Gould Institute

TheEmily Gould Institute is a Work of the Waldensian Diaconia that supports minors in disadvantaged situations through programs that develop skills, talents and aspirations.

The Institute was founded in 1871 in Rome. It was transferred to Florence in 1922, after ups and downs intertwined with the history of Italy and the religious realities operating in our country – and thanks to the dedication of many lesser-known figures who helped keep alive the “non-sectarian” spirit instilled by the American foundress whose name it bears.

Insights Brief history of the Gould Institute e the Gould Institute today.

The photo exhibition

Years ago, in the course of tidying up the Gould’s historical archives, in addition to the old boys’ records, the institute’s first account books in Florence, and various albums with beautiful photos of the individual boys and girls who attended it up to the 1960s-70s, a photo album documenting life at the institute in the last decades of the 1920s was found.

These photographs, in particular, testify to the myriad activities of the gouldini who, in addition to studying and spending leisure time, were prepared for various trades or otherwise enabled to make themselves independent once they left the institution thanks to a wealth of shared experiences.

The exhibition and guests at the guesthouse

From 2013 to the present, many guests of the guesthouse from all over the world, passing through this room of the beautiful 17th-century palace that houses it, have paused in curiosity in front of the photos and listened with pleasure to the story behind those faces.

Some have discovered just at that juncture what the purpose of thenonprofit accommodation activity of the guesthouse aimed at supporting the educational services of the Waldensian Diaconia, and left with the knowledge that they had contributed concretely, through their stay for pleasure, study or work, to the realization of projects for minors.

You can book a visit to the exhibition, possibly combining it with a stay, by writing to info@firenzeforesteria.it. The guesthouse staff will tell you moving anecdotes because there has been no shortage of surprises over the years!