On June 29, 2000, a ceremony was held at the United States Department of Justice to honor the contributions of Charles J. Bonaparte, founder of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and 46th Attorney General of the United States.

The commemoration of Bonaparte was sponsored by the Italian Historical Society of America in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Justice.  The commemoration has been an annual event  for the past forty years.  This year's event was coordinated by Francesco Isgro, Senior Litigation Counsel, and the Washington representative of the Italian Historical Society. 

Welcoming this year's attendees was Kevin Di Gregory, the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division.  Mr. Di Gregory is responsible, among other matters, for supervising the office  responsible for prosecuting computer crimes.

The keynote speaker was Edward D. Re, Chief Judge emeritus on the U.S. Court of International trade and a distinguished professor of law at St. John's University.  Judge Re spoke about not only Bonaparte's contributions but also of other Italian-Americans who have made contributions in al fields to the Untied States.

In addition to his role in founding the FBI, Bonaparte is remembered for his leadership role in a variety of reform movements around the turn of the century.  Bonaparte was a close friend and associate of Theodore Roosevelt, who regularly sought his counsel.  He implemented the Roosevelt Administration's trust-busting policies, initiating 20 antitrust suits and securing eight trust dissolutions.  While pursuing the big trusts, Bonaparte realized that a special appropriation was needed for the creation and maintenance of a "mall permanent detective force" under the purview of the Department of Justice.  On July 26, 1908, the FBI was created under presidential orders.

Charles Bonaparte's Home Page