were buried. That turned into an epic hunt that consumed the rest of 2020, and, by the end of the year, we had self-published the book. And Enzo is one of the authors— not bad for an elementary school kid!”
Through their cemetery research, they discovered a troubling truth— many Negro League players lay in unmarked graves, their contributions to baseball history potentially lost. This led the family to partner with the Josh Gibson Foundation’ s Unmarked Graves Initiative— a project dedicated to providing proper headstones for these nearly forgotten legends.
“ I met Sean Gibson through Facebook, and we kicked around the idea of starting a project to get the players headstones,” Vince recalls.
“ Brendan Schuster joined the committee in March of 2023 along with Chris Cox of the Pittsburgh Opera Company, and Negro League historians Tom Kern and his sister Debra Pavlock. We also just added our newest member— Sabrina Cox, a Mt. Lebanon High School student— as our
assistant webmaster alongside her dad, Chris. It’ s been a real team effort, and I am so proud to be a part of it.
“ It’ s been a quest to get these men the recognition that they
Vincent and Enzo at Olive Thomas’ s unmarked grave in the Bronx. The crypt says“ Pickford,” which is the name of her husband, but he is buried in California.
deserve,” he continues.“ We all want to make sure their memory is preserved, and with the help of the Josh Gibson Foundation and everyone who’ s donated, that has come true. We’ re almost done— with just three more to go! If anyone from Bethel Park wants to help, please visit the Josh Gibson Foundation’ s Memorial Markers website and donate today.”
The Ciaramellas’ love for baseball history didn’ t stop there. Vince also wrote“ Never Heard of Him,” a collection of 12 unknown stories from Pittsburgh’ s baseball past, including the story of Andy Bruckmiller— Pittsburgh’ s own‘ Moonlight’ Graham.
“ If you’ ve ever seen‘ Field of Dreams’ you may have heard of Moonlight Graham, who played just one game and never got to bat,” explains Vince.“ Well, Bruckmiller played for exactly one inning, three days before Graham’ s appearance. I like to joke that if you got up to go to the bathroom or grab a drink, you missed his entire career.”
Vincent, Erika and Enzo at the dedication for the Josh Gibson Foundation Negro Leagues memorial marker for Ernest“ Pud” Gooden.
This book led to a collaboration with Schuster on“ Never Heard of Them Either,” and the duo hasn’ t ruled out a third installment.“ Working with Brendan was a blast,” Vince says.“ So stay tuned!”
Beyond baseball, the Ciaramellas have another historical passion: silent films. Their latest book,“ A Shooting Star Across the Silver Screen: Olive Thomas— A Biography,” chronicles the life of a forgotten silent film actress from southwestern Pennsylvania.
“ Just like‘ Greats in the Graveyard,’ our family started researching and visiting sites related to Olive Thomas,” Vince says.“ The journey ended in March 2024 with a visit to her grave in the Bronx and a show at the New Amsterdam Theater, where her ghost supposedly haunts to this day.”
The family has been sharing Olive’ s story through local historical societies, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.“ The crowds have been wonderful,” adds Erika.“ It’ s been amazing to see how many people are interested in learning about her life.”
For now, the Ciaramellas are taking a brief break from their research— but they know that could change at any moment.
“ As of this writing, we’ re not currently working on anything else,” says Vince.“ But you never know... tomorrow we might be off on another adventure that leads to another book.”
Through their passion and writings, the Ciaramella family is proving that history isn’ t just something to be remembered— it’ s something to be rediscovered and shared, not only with their local community, but the world. n
BETHEL PARK ❘ FALL 2025 15