Italian Diaspora in America: Italians as emigrants

Nowadays it is very common to define Italy as a country of immigration whilst in the past it was considered merely such as a country of emigration. During the unification of Italy in 1861, the rise of Fascism and the end of the World War II, there was a phenomenon known as the Italian Diaspora. At the beginning the so called “exodus” regarded only the Northern regions such as Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Lombardy and Piedmont. Afterwards, the phenomenon interested also the Southern Italian regions such as Calabria, Sicily and Campania. In particular Italians chose to move to America.

Italian emigration 1876-1900, 1901-1915

Countries chose for the Italian migration 1876-1976

[source]

What caused this dramatic surge in immigration?

The causes are complex, and each  individual or family had a peculiar and unique story. One of the main reasons for immigrating was poverty. However, the  political hardship and the dream to return to Italy with enough money to buy land were great motivators. By the late 19th century, the peninsula of Italy had finally been brought under one flag, but the land and the people were by no means unified. Decades of internal strife had left a legacy of violence, social chaos, and widespread poverty. The peasants, in the rural South of Italy and on the island of Sicily, had little hope of improving their lot. Diseases and natural disasters were diffused through the new nation, but its government was in no condition to bring aid to the people. As transatlantic transportation became more affordable, and as word of American prosperity came via returning immigrants and U.S. recruiters, Italians found it increasingly difficult to resist the call of “L’America”.

The idea of immigrating to America was attractive because of the higher wages American workers received. Many Italians wanted to acquire land in Italy. Therefore, they moved to America to work and earn money, then repatriated. Within five years, between 30 and 50 percent of this generation of immigrants would return home to Italy, where they were known as ritornati. Political hardship was also a factor in motivating immigration. Starting in the 1870s the government took measures to repress political views such as anarchy and socialism. In general, it can be affirmed that Italians came to the United States to escape political policies.   

Ellis Island

Ellis Island was the first step in order to start a new life in America. When the Italian immigrants arrived in the “new land”, they had to convince the inspectors that they were healthy and were worthy of being there. As the Italian American Social Club (source) reports, there were two different steps. The first one was a medical inspection. The doctors examined both the physical and mental conditions of the immigrants. Upon the conclusion of a full examination, three different doctors cosigned a medical certificate. 

Medical Inspection at Ellis Island

The second step was immigration inspection. Federal Law required the inspector to exclude anyone suffering for any contagious medical conditions or convicted criminals. The consequences of failing an eye exam, or of seeming inappropriate for manual labor, could be devastating; one member of a family could be sent back to Italy. Although less than 2 percent of Italians were turned away, fear of such a consequence led some immigrants to rename Ellis Island L’Isola delle Lagrime(the Island of Tears). As a final step,  each new arrival had to be entered by name in the island’s official registry book. Because of the unfamiliarity of many inspectors with European language, some immigrants found themselves leaving with new American  versions of their names.

Little Italy

Mulberry Street( Little Italy) 1900

The Italian immigrants who passed the test of Ellis Island started to live their life in America. Many previous immigrant groups, such as those from Germany and Scandinavia, had passed through New York City in the past, but most had regarded the city merely as a way station, and had settled elsewhere in the country. This generation of Italian immigrants, however, stopped and made their homes there. In particular they chose New York City as their house. They settled in Brooklyn, the Bronx, and nearby towns in New Jersey. Perhaps the greatest concentration of all was in Manhattan. The streets of Lower Manhattan, particularly parts of Mulberry Street, quickly became heavily Italian in character, with street vendors, store owners, residents and vagrants alike all speaking the same language or at least a dialect of it. This area was called Little Italy.

In part because of the social and political division of the Italian peninsula, southern Italian villages tended to be isolated and insular, and new immigrants tended to preserve this isolation in their new country. In 1899, one visitor observed:

"in the numbered streets of Little Italy uptown, almost every block has its own village of mountain or lowland, and with the village its patron saint, in whose worship or celebration,call it what you will,the particular camp makes reply to the question, “Who is my neighbor?”" (Jacob A.Riis, 1899:494) [source]

Many distinctive events and practices maintained the unity of the village: weddings, feasts, christenings, and funerals. One that often caught the attention of outsiders was the festa which was a parade celebrating the feast day of a particular village’s patron saint. Hundreds or thousands of residents would follow the image of the saint in a procession through the streets of the neighborhood. The description of one festa, which was seen by New York police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt, appeared in Jacob’s article:

“The Officials in Police Headquarters looked out of the windows and viewed the show differently. It was an every-day spectacle. This one had wandered around the block thrice that day. President Roosvelt(of the Police Board) who had come out to go to lunch was much interested. To him it was new. “Where do you suppose they are going?” he said, surveying the procession from the steps. He was told that some Italian village saint was having his day to celebrated around in Elizabeth street, and he expressed a desire to see how it was done”(1899:491)

Racial discrimination towards Italian

A political cartoon from “The Mascot” newspaper published on September 7, 1888 in New Orleans. The top part of the cartoon shows how Americas feel about the Italians, crowding the streets and apartments, and starting fights. The bottom of the cartoon gives ways eliminate the perceived problem of Italian immigrants.

When Italians moved to America, they were met with racial prejudice connected with the fact that they were physically darker than most of the arriving immigrants from Europe at the time and were treated harshly. In the late 19th century Italian immigrants were described as a sub-human race.

Italian anarchists Ferdinando Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were tried and executed in 1927 in what is a prime example of anti-Italianism. Due to the radical political views of these two Italian immigrants, they were put to death for a crime neither committed, despite the existence of alibis and evidences. The trial is still studied today as a case study in civil liberties, as it seems obvious that there were anti-Italian feelings among both the jury and judge (More Information).

The racial discrimination was not only linked to the color of the skin. The Italians were treated so badly because they were seen as unintelligent, menial laborers. They were willing to work in deplorable conditions, especially on first arrival.. The determination of these first immigrants to support their families was apparently misunderstood as a slave or servant mentality. It is a theme that is still current today in America: the native residents accuse the immigrants of taking their jobs, underselling them by working longer hours for much lower wages. And apparently Italians have forgotten their history because this is also their attitude towards foreigners workers in Italy.

Alexandra Molnar pointed how that:

“Employees often preferred Slovaks and Poles to Italians; railroad superintendents “ranked Southern Italians last because of their small stature and lack of strength” (Vecoli 262). In the mining industry especially there was an ethnic hierarchy: English-speaking workers held the skilled and supervisory positions while the Italians were hired as laborers, loaders, and pick miners. Even educated and skilled immigrants could not obtain other jobs besides labor. It was not until the 1920s that Italians became more integrated into the American working class. More immigrants started to work semi-skilled jobs in factories as well as skilled positions. However, one-third of the population remained unskilled.”(2010, source)

Italians became part of America

As the 20th century moved forward, Italian immigrants were a massive presence in the U.S. society. By the 1920s and 30s, the immigrant generation had begun to see their children grow up as Americans, a process that many immigrants viewed with some ambivalence. Over time, Italian Americans achieved advances in the U.S. workforce. The major labor unions soon opened their doors to immigrant workers. As they gained more experience, Italian Americans were able to move into a wider range of careers, and became business owners and managers in greater numbers. Works by Italian-American authors began appearing in bookstores, and the Neapolitan tenor Enrico Caruso was considered as a great artist among Italians and non-Italians. The World War II saw Italian Americans step permanently into the center of U.S. cultural life. Nearly one million Italian Americans served in the armed forces, about 5 percent of the Italian-American population, and millions more worked in war industries. As with many other immigrant groups, national service brought Italian Americans even greater social mobility, more access to education, and a higher profile in the nation’s popular imagination. From the 1940s on, the children of Italian immigrants could be found in all regions of the U.S. and in almost every career. This was especially true in New York City, where Italian American culture soon became a major component of the city’s personality. For many Americans, the city’s mayor Fiorello La Guardia, served as an erudite ambassador both for his city and for his national heritage. Every aspect of show business, politics, science, and art seemed to have a prominent Italian American member. Marlon Brando became the face of a new school of naturalistic acting. Rocky Marciano revolutionized the sport of boxing. Enrico Fermi continued his work on the mysteries of the atom, becoming arguably the greatest physicist alive. Joe Di Maggio, the son of a San Francisco fisherman, led the New York Yankees to success. And Frank Sinatra was, for a time, the most popular entertainer in the United States.

Today, Italian Americans are represented throughout U.S. society, from the Supreme Court to the National Academy of Sciences to the National Basketball Association. More than one hundred years after the great era of Italian immigration began, the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of the original immigrants continue to celebrate the heritage that their ancestors brought to their new home. 

Michela Pezzini

                                                         

For more information, please visit these websites:

-L'Italia paese di emigrazione e paese di immigrazione

-Italian Americans

-L'emigrazione verso l'America nell'Ottocento
-Feasts day in Little Italy
-History of Italian immigration

-Italian immigrations: Why so many Italians Live Ouside Italy
-European immigration: Italy 
-Racism, Xenophobia and Misogyny in America since 1865 
-Sacco-Vanzetti case 
-Italian immigration at Ellis Island

Or read these books and files:

-Ciongoli K and Parini J.(2002) “Passage to Liberty: The story of Italian immigration and the Rebirth of America”, Regan books.

-Favero, L and Tassello G (1978).” Cent'anni di emigrazione italiana (1876-1976)”. Rome: Cser

-Gabaccia D(2000), “Italy’s Many Diasporas”, London: Routledge

-McLaughling V(1982) “Familiy and community: Italian Immigrants in Buffalo,1880-1930”, University of Illinois Press.

-Rosoli G.,(1992) “Un quadro globale della diaspora italiana nelle Americhe”, Centro studi emigrazione Roma