Book

Building Little Italy: Philadelphia's Italians before mass migration

Pennsylvania State University PressUniversity ParkPublished In 1998 • Pages:

By: Juliani, Richard N..

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This study documents early Italian-American immigration and settlement in Philadelphia prior to the mass migration of the 1870s. Juliani examines the individuals, communities, and institutions that made up the early settlements. This investigation presents a different picture of immigration and immigrants. The early immigrants were solitary travelers. They were educated and skilled musicians, artisans, and philosophers, who were in general favorably regarded by Philadelphia's urbane citizens. This attitude would change along with changes that came with increased population growth, industrialization, and immigration in the 1830s and 40s. Juliani documents how an ethnic community emerged once a critical mass of Italian-speaking immigrants was obtained and was stabilized by successful businesses. The community became a beacon for the mass migration which followed. The immigrants' assumption of a general Italian-American identity was a consequence of common discrimination experienced by all Italian-speaking immigrants by the dominant English-speaking inhabitants.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
External migration
Cultural identity and pride
Settlement patterns
Labor supply and employment
Ethnic stratification
Inter-ethnic relations
Citizenship
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Italian Americans
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2000
RegionThe area the document pertains to
North America
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Regional, Ethnic and Diaspora Cultures
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
Book
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Sociologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
4: Excellent Secondary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Ian Skoggard ;1999
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
no date
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1750-1870
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Philadelphia, Pa., United States
NotesAdditional notes
Richard N. Juliani
Includes bibliographical references (p. 369-383) and index
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
97037369
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Italian Americans