Italian Americans

By Frank Salamone and John Beierle

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The Italian peninsula is the European homeland of Italian - Americans. The majority of Italian - Americans trace their ancestry to the southern regions of Italy although earliest migration came mainly from the northern areas of the Italian peninsula. From the 1880s onward about five million Italians migrated to America from the poor southern regions, including Sicily. Many of the immigrants had little sense of an "Italian" identity, finding their identity in their hometown or region.

Italian Americans have settled throughout the United States. Little Italies were found in New York, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, New Orleans, San Francisco, and New Orleans. But Italians also settled in many smaller areas throughout the United States and are found in every one of its geographic regions. At the height of their immigration, most were unskilled workers who worked on the railroads, in the clothing shops, and on various construction projects. In California, many worked in the shipyards or on fishing boats. Eventually, they were found in every imaginable occupation from Supreme Court Justice, Commissioner of Baseball, University Presidents, the classroom, the courtroom, as CEOs, to organized crime.

The 1980 census notes that there are 12 million Americans who identify themselves as Italian Americans. Six million of them claim descent from both parents of their Italian identity. The 1990 census lists about 15 million people who claim Italian ancestry. There has been a rapid assimilation of Italian Americans into American culture and intermarriage with members of other ethnic groups is a mark of that assimilation. The largest number of intermarriage occurs, however, with other members of the Catholic faith, mainly with Irish Americans. Italian Americans are found throughout the United States but still tend to cluster along the coasts in urban or suburban areas.

First generation Italian immigrants are usually fluent in either Standard Italian or one of its many "dialects." More recent immigrants have generally been schooled in Standard Italian. In the past, from the 1880s to 1920s most immigrants spoke the Italian of their native region. In America a common version of Italian mixed with a great deal of English served to ease communication among the new arrivals. Second and third generation Italian Americans have basically lost the language unless they take it up in school. Many of the fourth and later generations have done just that and sought an "Italian" ethnic identity to match those of Hispanics and African Americans.

Italians came to the New World four hundred years before there was an Italy. Beginning with Columbus and continuing with other early explorers, there were Italians coming to explore and later to settle the New World. Italians worked for Spain, England, France, Portugal, Germany, and the Netherlands and were found on ships from each of these countries. Italians also were found among the many missionaries who came to convert Native Americans in every region of North and South America. There were Italians who fought in the American Revolution. Many had come as artisans. About 150 Waldensians came to North America in 1657 to escape religious persecution. Other Waldensian Italians later joined these artisans in the eighteenth century. In 1621 a group of Venetian artisans settled in Jamestown. Other early Italian settlers went to Maryland, a haven for Catholics. These early settlers generally remained in the colonies and merged into the population. Nevertheless, by 1871 only 12, 000 Italians, mainly from the North, had come to America. After Italian independence about six million Italians came to the United States. There were many reasons for this immigration. Mainly, it was because people were dying of hunger. Many southern Italians had no love for the new state and had seen their standard of living drop drastically in the nineteenth century. America promised a better life. Although the major eastern urban centers attracted Italian settlement, Italians spread out to every region of the country and eventually into every industry. A more recent and neglected wave of immigration took place after World War II when the restrictions of the anti-immigrant laws of the 1920s were lifted for refugees. There is still a large movement of Italians to the United States, a movement that has been very poorly studied.

Many Italian immigrants settled in New York City in the area around Mulberry Street, the center of its Little Italy. Other eastern cities had their own famous Little Italies. Philadelphia had its South Side, Boston its North End, and so forth. Western states had their own Italian sections. New Orleans had its own famous Italian areas and its Italians made their contributions to jazz.

Many Italians moved to central and western New York to engage in the textile trade while others who worked in Sicily's sulfur mines went to the coal mines of Pennsylvania or West Virginia. Relatively few were able to do more than farm on weekends since the era of free and cheap land was gone. Nonetheless, Italians took advantage of the economic opportunities of the time and moved into various professions and industries. The earliest Italian settlers had been relatively skilled workers and professionals. Later immigrants, from about 1880 to the 1920s, tended to be blue collar workers or peasants who were not afraid to work for their bread while planning better lives for their children. Those children were pushed into becoming medical doctors, teachers, lawyers, and other professions that offered clean and steady work.

The earliest Italian immigrants tended to be skilled artisans or professionals. From about 1880 until the 1920s migration shifted from the north of Italy to the poorer MEZZOGIORNO region. These poorer migrants worked at anything they could get. The building trades ditch digging, factory work of all types, mining, and, for the lucky, shop keeping in Mom and Pop stores formed the bulk of their work.

There were always Italian American doctors, lawyers, and businessmen. It took some time for priests of Italian descent to be accepted. Some dioceses refused to allow Italians, especially those from the Southern regions, to be admitted to seminaries. By the 1920s and 1930s, however, Italian Americans were beginning to be assimilated into American life. World War II was a major turning point for the acceptance of Italian Americans in the mainstream of American society. There were, however, further battles to be fought and in common with other white ethnic groups Italian Americans continue their battles against ethnic slurs and stereotypes.

There have been Italians in trade since pre-colonial times. The Bank of America is one major Italian-founded business. Many Italians entered the San Francisco fishing trade. Others started restaurants, tailor shops, stores, and other small businesses that catered to those of any background who craved high quality service and excellent food.

Ostensibly in more traditional families, the male rules. However, the reality was more complex. Frequently, major domestic decisions were made by women and confirmed by men. Women had a great deal of behind the scenes power, especially those who had a son to aid their cause. As the marriage progressed, a woman gained power. Moreover, many women were able to find jobs more easily than men and in spite of the ideal norm prohibiting women from working outside the home, the fact is that many women in the early twentieth century found it necessary to work in order to help make ends meet. Italian American women worked outside the home whenever necessary and then returned home to do housework. Again, while the stated norm was for men not to work in the home, the reality was that many did so. As women became more Americanized, they took up many mainstream values and fought for education and equality.

Ownership of one's own property was an obsession with Italian immigrants. The period after World War II saw Italian Americans joining others in the move to the suburbs. Land ownership is a point of great pride among the group as is a high degree of personal freedom in one's occupation. The property is generally shared equally among the children after the death of both parents. This equal sharing of property is a point of pride and it is considered very bad form to argue over the shares. Of course, this norm is frequently violated in practice.

The Italian American community ties its members together with multiple ties. Descent is traced bilaterally and affinal ties further strengthen these bonds. It is not uncommon for an individual to be related to another person on both sides of the family. Which ties are chosen for emphasis at any given time depends on a number of factors -- affection, expediency, outside pressure, for example, all weigh in the equation. The co-parenthood relationship is also a quasi-kinship one and is extended to godparents at baptism and confirmation as well as best men and maids of honor at weddings. Italian Americans typically lived within easy commute from other relatives, forming family clusters that could provide emotional and material support in crisis situations.

Italian American kinship terminology is basically consonant with the wider North American mainstream. It is of the general Eskimo variety with the added feature of terms of address for fictive co-parents (COMARE and COMPADRE ). In Italian gender differences are found in terms that are otherwise similar for a given relationship. For "aunt" and "uncle," for example, the terms are "ZIA" and "ZIO."

In common with members of other ethnic groups, few immigrants planned to settle permanently in America. The first Italian immigrants from the 1880s forward were generally males who first established themselves and then sent for their families. If their wives did not come, they typically married another Italian in the United States. There was little intermarriage in the early days. Some unmarried men sent to Italy for brides whom they had never met. These immigrants established solid families, or so the myth has come to be handed down. In fact, there was a good deal of male desertion in the early 1900s as men found it difficult to support a family and combat discrimination.

Currently, the nuclear family is the major domestic unit of Italian American families. The extended family was a protection against hard times at least until World War II and even after the war's end it was not unusual for a married couple to live with a parent, usually the bride's, until saving enough money to set up its own household.

It is generally the practice for parents to leave equal shares of their possessions to all the children after both have died. Special gifts of keepsakes may be made either shortly before death or in a will.

The family is the primary unit of socialization among Italian Americans. Strong family loyalty is taught from the earliest years. Children are taught to excel in their endeavors. Success in school was seen as a key to future success. Generally, the professions were stressed over learning for its own sake. There were exceptions if a child could prove he could earn a living without schooling. Until fairly recently, education beyond high school was generally not deemed important for women.

The family, nuclear and extended, has been the most important unit in Italian American social organization. There have been numerous societies in Italian American life - burial societies, clubs from one's home region or town, social clubs of various sorts - as well. There has also been an allegiance to American patriotic societies to prove that one's allegiance is to the "new country." Thus, American Legion membership for veterans still plays a prominent role in the life of many older Italian Americans. Various Casa Italianas have flourished in larger cities. Political action has also played its part and Italian American Civic Leagues and business organizations have promoted the cause of advancement.

Political and economic organizations have gone hand in glove in Italian American society. Banned from other business groups, Italian American businessmen formed their own associations. Similarly, doctors and lawyers formed groups to advance Italian professionals. Political action in both major parties soon followed to help end discrimination and promote the interests of Italian Americans. Various political and civic groups followed throughout the United States such as the Sons of Italy, UNICO, and the Italian American Civil Rights League.

Peer pressure within the group plays a major role in social control. The family exerts strong pressure throughout a person's life as well. Ridicule threatening one's BELLA FIGURA (literally, beautiful figure or self-image) is a strong weapon of social control.

Italian Americans claim they are the last group whom it is safe to ridicule in the media. They have faced strong discrimination in employment and other spheres. The association with the "Mafia" has plagued many honest people. It has been difficult to present a united front since there are many Italian identities given the fragmented nature of Italy for many centuries.

The vast majority of Italian Americans are Roman Catholics. There are, however, also Jews and Protestants, including Waldensians, among the Italian American population. At first, the Irish and German controlled American clergy regarded the southern Italian immigrants as pagans. Eventually, Italian Americans took a prominent position in the American Catholic Church.

As noted above, the majority of Italian Americans are Roman Catholics. Thus, priest, nuns, brothers and other officials of that church form the vast majority of religious practitioners for the group. However, there are also local religious people who are healers or curers and others who have visions and can interpret dreams and tell the future. Moreover, there are Protestants and Jews among Italian Americans with their own religious specialists. Originally, church attendance was mainly a female sphere among Italian Americans. However, as time passed and the group became more "Americanized" more men began to attend church for other than baptisms, weddings, and funerals.

Italian Americans have made their mark in literature, music (popular and classical), the plastic and fine arts, and in other artistic fields.

There have been Italian physicians from before the days of the United States. There are many folk healers and folk remedies that have survived to the present.

The majority of Italian Americans follow the general Roman Catholic beliefs regarding heaven, hell, and purgatory. There are special prayers for the dead and funerals tend to be elaborate. There are also special shrines that people promise to visit upon the death of a family member.

Documents referred to in this section are included in the eHRAF collection and are referenced by author, date of publication, and eHRAF document number.

The Italian American file consists of 65 English language documents representing a wide range of ethnographic topics covering both the general Italian American population in the United States and more specific immigrant settlements in urban areas. These settlements form the basis of a number of community studies which comprise a large portion of this file. These studies, which range in time from the mid nineteenth century to the 1990s, include information on the history of the community, immigration patterns, acculturation and assimilation, socio-political organization, social change, concepts of ethnicity, religion, and settlement patterns. For a broad coverage of general Italian American ethnography, the reader is advised to consult: Nelli, 1983, no. 8, Iorizzo and Monbello, 1980, no. 16, Johnson, 1985, no. 3, and Alba, 1985, no. 37. Other studies in the file cover a wide range of ethnographic topics from foods (Magliocco, 1993, no. 71) to street corner society ((Whyte, 1993, no. 55), to fine arts (Mathas, 1988, no. 63; Gardaphe, 1987, no. 68), and many other miscellaneous subjects. Given particular attention in the file is the status and role of women in Italian American society (Orsi, 1985, no. 2, D'Andrea, 1983, no. 12, Egelman, 1987, no. 18, Ware, 1958, no. 27, DeSena, 1987, no. 28, Furio, 1980, no. 30, Capozzoli, 1987, no. 79, Danzi, 1990, no. 84, and Krase, 1991, no. 91).

In general, the wide selection of literature on Italian immigrants in the United States in this file stresses their adjustments to new economic and social circumstances and the life and culture of later generations of Italian Americans.

For more detailed information on the content of the individual works in this file, see the abstracts in the citations preceding each document.

The Italian American culture summary was written by Frank Salamone in December 1998. Frank Salamone also provided many of the bibliographical suggestions used in compiling this file. The synopsis and indexing notes were written by John Beierle in November 1999.

• American Committee on Italian Migration (ACIM) -- categories 167, 664

• American Italian Historical Association (AIHA) -- category 814

• boarding houses -- category 485

• building and loan associations -- categories 452, 453

• CAMPANILISMO -- the concept of regionalism -- category 186

• Casa Italiana Educational Bureau -- category 741 (sometimes 814)

• Cleveland Club -- category 665

• communion, religious -- category 788

• community brokers -- category 554

• consuls (of the Italian government) -- category 648

• DOMUS (OSTAL) -- the unifying principle that links man and his possessions; the basis of the understanding of the good and the basis of moral judgement; also the family (household), and the physical home itself -- categories 577, 592 (sometimes with 181)

• ex-COMBATTENTI -- a federated, nationwide organization of Italian ex-servicemen -- category 729

• fascism -- category 668

• FESTA -- category 796

• Fisherman's Protective Association -- categories 228, 185

• humanistic societies -- Italian American society, IL Cenacolo, Leonardo da Vinci Society

• Italian American Agricultural Association -- category 741

• Italian Federation of California -- category 575

• ITALIANITA, concepts of -- category 186

• Italian-Swiss Agricultural Association -- categories 473, 245

• MAFIA (black hand) -- category 548

• MAGO (STREGA) -- mysterious and powerful magicians -- category 791

• mutual benefit societies -- category 456

• "New Deal" -- category 185

• New Orleans lynching incident of 1891 -- categories 177, 579

• nursing homes -- category 734

• organ grinders -- category 533

• PADRONI system -- payoffs to a "boss" in order to obtain employment -- category 466

• political party clubs -- category 665

• private welfare agencies -- Society for Italian Immigrants, Italian Mutual Benevolent Association, Italian Welfare Agency, Italian Home, Italian Gens -- category 747

• "Problem Center", the -- category 575

• rag pickers / scavengers -- category 364

• RISPETTO -- respect -- category 577

• scapulars -- objects given out at the altar to provide protection -- categories 778, 789

• SCUOLA D'INDUSTRIE ITALIANE -- category 874

• settlement houses (Haarlem House, Hull House, Chicago common) -- category 747

• SOCIETA POLITICA OPERAIA ITALO-AMERICANA -- categories 464, 467

• Un-American Activities Committee -- category 647

• VERGOGNA -- shame -- categories 152, 626

Alba, Richard. Italian Americans into the Twilight of Ethnicity. Englewood: Prentice-Hall, 1985.

Juliani, Richard, ed. The Family and Community Life of Italian Americans. Staten Island, N.Y: The American Italian Historical Association, 1983.

Mangione, Jerre, and Ben Morreale. La Storia: Five Centuries of the Italian American Experience. New York: Harper Collins, 1992.