the immigrants with Emily Pianalto-Beshears (ep 2, 24).

This episode brings us to Tontitown, Arkansas—a community formed by Italian immigrants who carved out a place of belonging in the Ozarks through stone, song, and story. Our guest, Emily Pianalto-Beshears, Manager of the Tontitown Historical Museum and a descendant of the original settlers, invites us into her family’s deep-rooted history. Through Emily’s eyes, we see how traditions like the Tontitown Grape Festival and the building of St. Joseph’s Church were more than community rituals—they were acts of resistance against erasure, anchoring identity to land and labor.In a season exploring the story of Northwest Arkansas, this conversation reminds us that immigration is not a new chapter in the region's story, but a foundational one. Emily’s reflections expose how generational memory—passed down through music, oral history, and sacred space—preserves belonging in the face of forgetting. At a time when rapid growth threatens to smooth over local histories, Tontitown’s immigrant story challenges us to reckon with what is remembered, what is lost, and who gets to shape the story of this place.https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-italian-immigrants-tontitown-emily-pianalo-beshearsAbout the underview:The underview is an exploration of the development of our Communal Theology of Place viewed through the medium of bikes, land, and people to discover community wholeness.Send us a Voice Message at https://www.theunderview.com/Website: ⁠⁠theunderview.com⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠@underviewtheHost: @mikerusch