Italian American Italoamericani
Notable Italian Americans: Rudy Giuliani · Nancy Pelosi · Fiorello La Guardia Frank Sinatra · Sylvester Stallone · Martin Scorsese Lee Iacocca · Samuel Alito
Total population
17,829,184 6. KBE Per, "Postnominal letters should be included when they are issued by a country or organization the subject has been closely associated with Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi (born March 26 1940 is the current Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. LaGuardia redirects here For the airport see LaGuardia Airport. Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra (December 12 1915 &ndash May 14 1998 was an American singer and actor Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone (born July 6 1946 is an American Actor, director, producer and Screenwriter. Lido Anthony "Lee" Iacocca (born October 15, 1924) is an American businessman most commonly known for his revival of the Samuel Anthony Alito Jr (born April 1, 1950) is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. 0% of the US population (2006)[1]
Regions with significant populations
Found in the Northeast, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and the West Coast Heavily concentrated in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Boston, south St. Louis, Chicago and Detroit
Languages
American English · Italian · Sicilian · Neapolitan, other (predominantly southern) Italian dialects and languages of Italian historical minorities
Religions
Roman Catholic (predominantly), Protestant, Jewish, Waldensians

An Italian American is an American of Italian descent and/or dual citizenship. The Northeast is a region of the United States. As defined by the U Florida ( is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the The State of Illinois ( roughly ill-i-NOY is a state of the United States of America, the 21st to be admitted to the Union. Michigan ( is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. Ohio ( is a Midwestern state of the United States. As part of the Great Lakes region, Ohio has long been a cultural and geographical crossroads The " West Coast " " Western Seaboard " or " Pacific Seaboard " are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the Western United States The City of New York Connecticut ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. Rhode Island ( officially named the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, is a state in the New England region of the United States New Jersey ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. Philadelphia (ˌfɪləˈdɛlfiə Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. Phonology North American English regional phonology In many ways compared to English English, North American English is conservative in its Phonology. Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. Sicilian (scn '''''lu sicilianu''''' lingua siciliana, also known as Siculu or Calabro-Sicilian) is a Romance language. Neapolitan (autonym napulitano; napoletano is the name given to the varied Italo-Western group of dialects of Southern Italy or more specifically the Geography Southern Italy forms the lower "boot" of the Italian peninsula containing the ankle (Abruzzo and Molise and southern Lazio the toe (Calabria and the heel The Italian people generally indicates as Italian dialects all Vernacular Idioms spoken in Italy other than Italian and other The official language of Italy is Standard Italian, a descendant of the Tuscan dialect and a direct descendant of Latin (some 75% of Italian words are of Latin origin Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. Judaism (from the Greek Ioudaïsmos, derived from the Hebrew יהודה Yehudah, " Judah " in Hebrew יַהֲדוּת Yahedut General description The earliest Waldensians believed in poverty and austerity promoting true poverty public preaching and the personal study of the scriptures The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The' Italian people' are a Southern European Ethnic group located primarily in Italy, Switzerland, France and by virtue of a wide-ranging The phrase refers to someone born in the United States or who has immigrated to the United States and is of Italian heritage.

History

The Italian Giovanni da Verrazzano was the first European explorer to pass New York Harbor. Giovanni da Verrazzano (c 1485 &ndash c 1528 was an Italian Explorer of North America, in the service of the French crown. New York Harbor, a geographic term refers collectively to the rivers bays and tidal estuaries near the mouth of the Hudson River in the vicinity of New York City Other Italians played an important role in early United States history, as Filippo Mazzei, an important Italian physician and a promoter of liberty, close friend of Thomas Jefferson. Philip Mazzei (pronounced maht-say' IPA mat-sei but sometimes erroneously cited with the name of Philip Mazzie) ( December 25, 1730 – Thomas Jefferson (April 13 1743 – July 4 1826 was the third President of the United States (1801–1809 the principal author of the Declaration of Independence He acted as an agent to purchase arms for Virginia during the American Revolutionary War. Throughout the 1800s, Italians arrived in the US in small numbers, though most immigration from Italy occurred in the 20th century between 1880 and 1960. Most Italian Americans came from Southern Italy, Naples at first, and Sicily, many as rural peasants with very little education. Geography Southern Italy forms the lower "boot" of the Italian peninsula containing the ankle (Abruzzo and Molise and southern Lazio the toe (Calabria and the heel Naples ( Napoli, Neapolitan: Nàpule) is a historic City in southern Italy, the Capital of the Sicily ( Italian and Sicilian: Sicilia) is an autonomous region of Italy. A peasant is an agricultural worker who subsists by working a small plot of ground Smaller but significant numbers came from the northern regions of Liguria and Veneto. Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions Veneto or Venetia ( Vèneto) is one of the 20 regions of Italy. From 1890 to 1900, 655,888 immigrants arrived in the United States, of which two-thirds were men. The main reasons for Italian immigration were the poor economic conditions in Italy during this period, particularly in the southern regions. In the United States, Italians settled in and dominated specific neighborhoods (often called "Little Italy") where they could interact with one another, establish a familiar cultural presence, and find favorite foods. Many Italian immigrants arrived with very little cash or cultural capital (that is, they were not educated or intellectually sophisticated) and generally performed manual labor. Their neighborhoods were typically slums with overcrowded tenements and poor sanitation. A slum, as defined by the United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security Sanitation is the hygienic means of preventing human contact from the hazards of wastes to promote health Tuberculosis was rampant. Tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB for tubercle bacillus or T u' b' erculosis Bacillus --> is a common Italian immigration peaked from 1900 until 1914, when World War I made such intercontinental movement impossible. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All In many cases, the Italian immigrants were subjected to severe anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant discrimination and even violence such as lynching. Lynching is an Extrajudicial punishment meted out by a mob Lynching an enumerated Felony in some states in the United States, is defined by some ^[2] By 1978, 5. 3 million Italians had immigrated to the United States; two million arrived between 1900 and 1914. About a third of these immigrants intended to stay only briefly, in order to make money and return to Italy, and were commonly referred to as "Birds of Passage. " While one in four did return home, the rest either decided to stay or were prevented from returning by the war.

Internment during World War II

Main article: Italian American internment

The internment of Italian Americans during World War II has often been overshadowed by the Japanese American experience. Italian American internment refers to the Internment of Italian Americans in the United States during World War II. are Americans of Japanese heritage Japanese Americans have historically been among the three largest Asian American communities but in recent decades have become the sixth largest group Recently, however, books such as Una storia segreta (ISBN 1-890771-40-6) by Lawrence DiStasi and Uncivil Liberties (ISBN 1-58112-754-5) by Stephen Fox have been published, and movies, such as Prisoners Among Us have been made. These efforts reveal that during World War II, roughly 600,000 Italians were required to carry identity cards that labeled them "resident aliens. " Some 10,000 people in war zones on the West Coast were required to move inland, while hundreds of others were held in military camps for up to two years. Lawrence DiStasi claims that these wartime restrictions and internments contributed more than anything else to the loss of spoken Italian in the United States. After Italy declared war on the U. S. , many Italian language papers and schools were forced, almost overnight, to close by the U. S. Government because of their past support for an enemy government.

Involvement in World War II

During World War II, many Italian Americans joined or were drafted into the U.S. armed forces to fight the Axis Powers; many women also enlisted. The United States Armed Forces are the overall unified military forces of the United States The Axis powers also known as the Axis alliance Axis nations Axis countries or sometimes just the Axis were those Countries An estimated 1. 2 million Italian Americans served in the armed forces during World War II; this represented 7. 5% of the 16 million total who served. Italian American service assistance was pivotal during the Allied invasion of Sicily, where United States government troops worked with locals, including Mafiosi, to secure and fortify the newly-acquired foothold in Europe. The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major World War II campaign in which the Allies took Sicily from the Axis The Mafia (also known as Cosa Nostra) is a Sicilian Criminal Secret society which is believed to have first developed in the mid-19th century Numerous texts document the delicate relations the United States government established with Italian American organized crime figures in the U. S. and the manner in which these were used to help ensure a successful landing. It is rumored that even Lucky Luciano helped smooth relations between the two communities during World War II. Charles "Lucky" Luciano (born Salvatore Lucania; November 24 1897 – January 26 1962 was a Sicilian Mobster.

Demographics

Numbers

In the 2000 U.S. Census, Italian Americans constituted the fifth largest ancestry group in America with about 15. The United States Census is a decennial Census mandated by the United States Constitution. The United States is a diverse country racially and ethnically. 6 million people (5. 6% of the total U. S. population). ^[3] Sicilian Americans are a subset of numerous Americans of regional Italian ancestries. Sicilian Americans are a subset of Italian Americans from Sicily or of Sicilian heritage As of 2006, the Italian-American population climbed to 17. 8 million persons constituting 6 percent of the population.

Politics

Logo of Sons of Italy, which is the largest Italian American fraternal organization in the United States. The Order Sons of Italy in America ( Italian: Ordine Figli d’Italia in America, OSIA is the largest and oldest Italian American fraternal organization

In the 1930s, Italian Americans voted heavily Democratic; since the 1960s, they have split about evenly between the Democratic and the Republican parties. The Democratic Party is one of two major Political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. The U.S. Congress includes Italian Americans who are regarded as leaders in both the Republican and Democratic parties. The United States Congress is the bicameral Legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses The highest ranking Italian American politician is currently Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) who became the first woman and Italian American Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, but former Republican New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani was a candidate for the U. Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi (born March 26 1940 is the current Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives is the presiding officer&mdashor speaker &mdashof the United States House of Representatives. The City of New York KBE Per, "Postnominal letters should be included when they are issued by a country or organization the subject has been closely associated with S. presidency in the 2008 election, as was Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo. The United States presidential election of 2008, scheduled for Tuesday November 4 2008 will be the 56th consecutive The State of Colorado ( or chiefly by nonresidents) is a state located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States of America. A Member of Congress is a Politician who is a member of a Congress. Thomas Gerard Tancredo (born December 20 1945) is a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Colorado

Culture

Many Italian Americans still retain aspects of their culture. Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate" generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic This includes Italian food, drink, art, Roman Catholicism, annual Italian American feasts and a strong commitment to extended family. Italian-American cuisine (more simply known as "Italian food" in the United States is the cuisine of Italian-American immigrants and their descendents Italian Americans influenced popular music in the 1940s and as recently in the 1970s, one of their major contributions to American culture. In movies that deal with cultural issues, Italian American words and lingo are sometimes spoken by the characters. Although most will not speak Italian fluently, a dialect of sorts has arisen among Italian Americans, particularly in the urban Northeast, often popularized in film and television. The Northeast is a region of the United States. As defined by the U

Among the most characteristic and popular of Italian American cultural contributions has been their feasts. Throughout the United States, wherever one may find an "Italian neighborhood" (often referred to as 'Little Italy'), one can find festive celebrations such as the well known Feast of San Gennaro in New York City, the unique Our Lady of Mount Carmel "Giglio" Feast in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York, the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary celebrated in Cleveland's Little Italy, the Ciciarata in Ambler, Pennsylvania or the lesser known Festa Italiana, in Seattle. The Feast of San Gennaro originally a one-day religious commemoration is now an 11-day Street fair beginning on the second Thursday in September in the Little Italy The City of New York Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordering Greenpoint, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and Bushwick Cleveland is a City in the US state of Ohio and the County seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state Ambler is a Borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, in the United States, approximately 16 miles (26 km northwest of Philadelphia Festál at Seattle Center is a program of annual ethnically -related festivals that take place on the grounds of Seattle Center in Seattle Washington In Jessup, Pennsylvania, there takes place a celebration known as La Festa dei Ceri (literally "the feast of candles") or The Race of The Saints, which was transplanted from Gubbio, Italy. Jessup is a borough in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. Gubbio is a town and Comune in the far northeastern part of the Italian Province of Perugia ( Umbria) It is located on the first slope of Mt It consists of teams "running" wooden statues through the streets in honor of the patron St. Ubaldo Baldassini. For the past 125 years, the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Festival has been celebrated annually in Hammonton, New Jersey. Hammonton, founded by Charles K Landis, is a town in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The Feast of St. Rocco has been celebrated in Denver, Colorado since 1892 & at Il Societa Nativi di Potenza, Basilcata (Potenza Lodge)since the 1930's. Our Lady of Mount Carmel hosts their bazaar every July in honor of the feast of Our Lady of Mt Carmel (Founded in North Denver 1894 by Father Mariano LePore) Italian feasts involve elaborate displays of devotion to God and patron saints. The patron saint of a particular group of people is a Saint who would protect and 'love' the group and its members Perhaps the most widely known is St. Joseph's feast day on March 19th. These feasts are much more than simply isolated events within the year. They express a "typically Italian" approach to life and are taken very seriously by the communities who prepare them. Feast (Festa in Italian) is an umbrella term for the various secular and religious, indoor and outdoor activities surrounding a religious holiday. Typically, Italian feasts consist of festive communal meals, religious services, games of chance and skill and elaborate outdoor processions consisting of statues resplendent in jewels and donations. This merriment usually takes place over the course of several days, and is communally prepared by a church community or a religious organization over the course of several months.

The First Lady Laura Bush meets the Secretary General of Italy-USA Foundation, Corrado Maria Daclon. Italy-USA Foundation ( Fondazione Italia-USA) was established on 4 July 2005 to promote the friendship

Currently, there are more than 300 Italian feasts celebrated throughout the United States. These feasts are visited each year by millions of Americans from various backgrounds who come together to enjoy Italian delicacies such as Zeppole and sausage sandwiches. Though in past, and still unto this day, much of Italian American culture is centered around music and food, in recent years, a large and growing group of Italian American authors are having success publishing and selling books in America.

Some of the authors who have written about everyday, hardworking Italians are Pietro DiDonato [1], Lawrence Ferlinghetti [2], Dana Gioia [3], Executive Director of the National Endowment for the Arts; Daniela Gioseffi [4], Winner of the John Ciardi Award for Lifetime Achievement in Poetry, and Helen Barolini, author of The Dream Book, a collection of Italian American women's writings. Helen Barolini (born 1925 is a notable American author born in Syracuse New York, she is a graduate of Syracuse University. Both women are American Book Award Winners [5] and pioneers of Italian American writing, as is poet, Maria Mazziotti Gillan [6]. These women have authored many books depicting Italian American women in a new light. They, along with several other poets and writers, can be found at Italian American Writers [7].

Among the scholars who have led the Renaissance in Italian American literature are professors Richard Gambino, Anthony Julian Tamburri, Paolo Giordano, and Fred Gardaphe. The later three founded Bordighera Press, Inc. and edited From the Margin, An Anthology of Italian American Writing, Purdue University Press. These men along with professors like novelist and accomplished critic, Dr. Josephine Gattuso-Hendin of New York University, have taught Italian American studies far and wide, at such institutions as The City University of New York, John D. Calandra Institute [8], Queens College, CUNY, and The State University of New York at Stonybrook, as well as Brooklyn College, where Dr. Robert Viscusi, founded the Italian American Writers Association [9], and is an author and American Book Award winner, himself.

As a result of the efforts of magazines like VIA: Voices in Italian Americana, and Italian Americana, and many authors old and young, too numerous to mention, as well as early immigrant, pioneer writers like poet, Emanuel Carnevali, "Furnished Rooms," and novelist, Pietro DiDonato, author of "Christ in Concrete " --Italian Americans are beginning to read more of their own writers. A growing number of books featuring ordinary, hardworking Italians--having nothing to do with criminality--are published yearly to confront the cruel television and Hollywood stereotyping of this ethnic group. (See "Stereotypes," below. ) Famed authors like Don DeLillo, Gilbert Sorrentino, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Tina DeRosa, Kim Addonizio, Daniela Gioseffi, Dana Gioia, to name a mere few who have broken through to main stream American literature and publishing, are changing the image of Italians in America with their books, stories, poems and essays far too numerous to site. Many of these authors' books and writings are easily found on the internet and on Italian American Writers [10] as well as in bibliographies online at Stonybrook University's Italian American Studies Dept. in New York [11] or at The Italian American Writers Association website [12]. The cultural face of Italian Americana is widening and changing daily to combat stereotyping by American movies and television.

Religion

Most immigrants had been Catholics in Italy. Observers have noted that they often became more devoutly Catholic in the United States, since their faith was a distinctive characteristic in the U. S. ; devout Italian Americans often identified themselves as "Catholics" when talking to coworkers or neighbors. In spite of the Catholic dominance among the immigrants, it can be noted that the Italian religious minorities such as Waldensians, Greek Catholics, Greek Orthodox and Italian Jews, also took part in the Italian immigration to America. General description The earliest Waldensians believed in poverty and austerity promoting true poverty public preaching and the personal study of the scriptures Greek Catholic Church is a term which refers to the Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine ( Constantinopolitan) liturgical tradition The Greek Orthodox Church ( Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία Hellēnorthódoxē Ekklēsía) is formed by several autocephalous churches Italian Jews can be used in a broad sense to mean all Jews living in Italy or in a narrower sense to mean the ancient community who use the Italian rite as distinct from newer

In some Italian American communities, Saint Joseph's Day (March 19) is marked by celebrations and parades. Saint Joseph's Day, 19 March, the Feast of St Joseph or Solemnity of Saint Joseph is in Western Christianity the principal feast day of Events 1279 - A Mongolian victory in the Battle of Yamen ends the Song Dynasty in China. Columbus Day is also widely celebrated, as are the feasts of some regional Italian patron saints, most notably St. Januarius (San Gennaro) (September 19) (especially by those claiming Neapolitan heritage), and Santa Rosalia (September 4) by immigrants from Sicily. Many countries in the New World and elsewhere celebrate the anniversary of Christopher Columbus 's arrival in the Americas, which occurred on October 12, The patron saint of a particular group of people is a Saint who would protect and 'love' the group and its members Saint Januarius, (San Gennaro Bishop of Naples, is a martyr Saint of both the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Churches He Events 335 - Dalmatius is raised to the rank of Caesar by his uncle Constantine I. Naples ( Napoli, Neapolitan: Nàpule) is a historic City in southern Italy, the Capital of the Saint Rosalia (also called La Santuzza or "The Little Saint") Events 476 - Romulus Augustus, last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, is deposed when Odoacer proclaims himself Sicily ( Italian and Sicilian: Sicilia) is an autonomous region of Italy. The immigrants from Potenza, Italy celebrate the Saint Rocco's day feast at the Potenza Lodge in Denver, Colorado. Potenza (poˈtentsa is a town and Comune in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata (former Lucania Saint Roch ( Latin: Rochus Catalan: Roc Italian: Rocco French: Roch Spanish and Portuguese: Roque German The City and County of Denver (pronounced /ˈdɛnvɚ/ is the Capital and the most populous city of Colorado, in the United States Rocco is the patron saint of Potenza. Potenza (poˈtentsa is a town and Comune in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata (former Lucania Many still celebrate the Christmas season with a Feast of the seven fishes. Southern Italians around the world celebrate Christmas Eve with a Feast of the Seven Fishes, also known as La Vigilia (Italian "the vigil" In Cleveland, Ohio, the Feast of Assumption is celebrated in Cleveland's Little Italy on August 15. Cleveland is a City in the US state of Ohio and the County seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state This article is about the theological concept For the works of art with this title see Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Art and Roman Catholic Marian art. Events 778 - The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, at which Roland is killed On this feast day, people will pin money on Blessed Virgin Mary statue as symbol of prosperity. This ecumenical article is about general Christian views on and veneration of the Virgin Mary The statue is paraded through Little Italy to Holy Rosary Parish. For almost 25 years,Cleveland Catholic Bishop Anthony Pilla would join in the parade and mass due to his Italian heritage. Pilla resigned in April 2006, but he still celebrates.

While most Italian-American families have a Catholic background, there are various groups of Italian-American Christians who have chosen to practice Protestant Christianity for various reasons. In many cases, families may have decided to regularly worship at a local non-Catholic parish with which they and their community identify, but keep with the Catholic tradition in schooling their children at Catholic parochial or private schools, as well as fully participating in Catholic worship when attending Catholic churches for whatever reason. In some cases, there are individuals and families who have become resentful or disenchanted with the Catholic religion, and completely leave the Church, no longer considering themselves as being a part of the Catholic traditions in any way. Many joined the Episcopal Church because of disagreement with local Catholic Church leadership. The Episcopal Church is the official name of the Province of the Anglican Communion in the United States. Many converted to Evangelical Christianity because they did not agree with the ritualistic nature of the Catholic religion, as well as their belief that Catholics have an incorrect interpretation of certain doctrines concerning the Magisterium, the Virgin Mary and the Saints, and the doctrine of Transubstantiation. Evangelicalism is a theological movement tradition and system of beliefs most closely associated with Protestant Christianity, which identifies with the Gospel There are many ex-Catholic Italian-American members of mainline Protestant churches, in particular the United Church of Christ, most of whom left the Catholic Church because they thought it to be too doctrinally conservative. The United Church of Christ ( UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination principally in the United States, There are also a significant number of ex-Catholic Italian-American converts to the Unitarian Universalist Church, which is not a Christian faith. [13]

For example, Fiorello La Guardia was an Episcopalian (on his father's side; his mother was from the small but significant community of Italian Jews). LaGuardia redirects here For the airport see LaGuardia Airport. Italian Jews can be used in a broad sense to mean all Jews living in Italy or in a narrower sense to mean the ancient community who use the Italian rite as distinct from newer Frank Santora is an ex-Catholic Italian-American pastor of Faith Church, a large Evangelical megachurch in New Milford, Connecticut. A megachurch is a church having around 2000 attendants for a typical weekly service New Milford (incorporated 1712 is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States north of Danbury, on the Housatonic ^[4] There is a small charismatic denomination, called the Christian Church of North America, which is rooted in the Italian Pentecostal Movement that came out of Chicago in the early 1900's. It should also be noted that the first group of Italian immigrants to Trenton converted to the Baptist denomination. Trenton is the Capital of the US state of New Jersey and the County seat of Mercer County. In the early 1900s, a number of Protestant denominations and missionaries worked in urban Italian American neighborhoods of the Northeast.

Education

According to 2000 Census data, Italian Americans have a greater high school graduation rate than the national average, and a greater than or equal rate of advanced degrees compared to the national average. Italian Americans throughout the United States are well represented in a wide variety of occupations and professions, from skilled trades, to the arts, to engineering, science, mathematics, law, and medicine, and include numerous Nobel prize winners. The Nobel Prize (Nobelpriset (Nobelprisen is a Swedish prize established in the 1895 will of Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel; it was first awarded in Peace, Literature This is a list of Nobel Prize Laureates awarded for their outstanding contributions to Humanitarian causes for Peace, work in Literature [14]

Italian language in the United States

Main article: Italian language in the United States

According to the Sons of Italy News BureauPDF (339 KiB) from 1998 to 2002, the enrollment in college Italian language courses grew by 30%, faster than the enrollment rates for French and German. The Italian language has been a widely spoken language in the United States of America for more than one hundred years due to large-scale immigration beginning in the late 19th century A kibibyte (a contraction of ki lo bi nary byte) is a unit of Information or Computer storage, established by the International Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. Italian is the fourth most commonly taught foreign language in U. S. colleges and universities behind Spanish, French, and German. According to the U. S. 2000 Census, Italian is the fifth (seventh overall) most spoken language in the United States (tied with Vietnamese) with over 1 million speakers. ^[5]

As a result of the large wave of Italian immigration to the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Italian language was once widely spoken in much of the U. S. , especially in northeastern and Great Lakes area cities like Rochester, Chicago, Cleveland, and Milwaukee, as well as San Francisco, Saint Louis and New Orleans. Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York State, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. Cleveland is a City in the US state of Ohio and the County seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city New Orleans (nʲuːˈɔrliənz nʲuːˈɔrlənz French: La Nouvelle-Orléans) is a major United States port city and the largest city in Louisiana Italian-language newspapers exist in many American cities, especially New York City, and Italian-language movie theatres existed in the U. The City of New York S. as late as the 1950s.

Today, Prizes like The Bordighera Annual Poetry Prize [15] founded by Daniela Gioseffi and Alfredo di Palchi with support from the Sonia Rraiziss-Giop Foundation, and Bordighera Press, [16] which publishes the winners in bilingual editions, have helped to encourage writers of the diaspora to write and read in Italian. Chelsea Books in New York City and Gradiva Press on Long Island have published many bilingual books also due to the efforts of bilingual writers of the diaspora like Paolo Valesio [17], Alfredo de Palchi [18], Luigi Fontanella. Dr. Luigi Bonaffini [19] of The City University of New York, publisher of The Journal of Italian Translation at Brooklyn College, has fostered Italian dialectic poetry throughout his homeland and the USA. Joseph Tusiani of New York and New York University [20], a highly distinguised linguist and prize winning poet born in Italy, paved the way for Italian works of literature in English and has published many bilingual books and Italian classics for the American audience, among them the first complete works of Michaelangelo's poems in English to be published in the United States. All of this literary endeavor has helped to foster the Italian language, along with the Italian opera, of course, in the United States. Many of these authors and their bilingual books are located throughout the internet.

This sign appeared in post offices and in government buildings during World War II. The sign designates Japanese, German, and Italian, the languages of the Axis powers, as enemy languages.

Author Lawrence Distasi [21] argues that the loss of spoken Italian among the Italian American population can be tied to U. S. government pressures during World War II. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including During World War II, in various parts of the country, the U. S. government displayed signs that read, Don't Speak the Enemy's Language. Such signs designated the languages of the Axis powers, German, Japanese, and Italian, as "enemy languages". The Axis powers also known as the Axis alliance Axis nations Axis countries or sometimes just the Axis were those Countries Shortly after the Axis powers declared war on the U. S. , many Italian, Japanese and German citizens were interned. Among the Italian Americans, those who spoke Italian, who had never taken out citizenship papers, and who belonged to groups that praised Benito Mussolini, were most likely to become candidates for internment. Distasi claims that many Italian language schools closed down in the San Francisco Bay Area within a week of the U. The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, or the Bay, is a geographically and ethnically diverse metropolitan region that surrounds the S. declaration of war on the Axis powers. Such closures were inevitable since most of the teachers in Italian languages were interned.

Despite the pressures of the US government during World War II, now more than ever, children of Italian heritage, especially paternal heritage, are given Italian names, and raised in traditional Italian ways. The Italian language is still spoken and studied by those of Italian American descent, and it can be heard in various American communities, especially among older Italian Americans. During the late 20th and early 21st centuries, interest in Italian language and culture has surged among Italian Americans. Today's Italian American youth no longer take for granted the impressive contributions Italians and Italian Americans have made to Western civilization, especially in the areas of fine art, music, science, philosophy, law, medicine, education, literature, architecture, and cuisine.

There is, however, a dilemma for Italian Americans who consider re-learning the language of their ancestors. The formal "Italian" that is taught in colleges and universities is generally not the "Italian" with which Italian Americans are acquainted. Eighty percent of Italian Americans are of Southern Italian origin; therefore, the languages spoken by their families who arrived between 1880-1920 were most likely variations of the Neapolitan and Sicilian dialects with perhaps some degree of influence from Standard Italian. Neapolitan (autonym napulitano; napoletano is the name given to the varied Italo-Western group of dialects of Southern Italy or more specifically the Sicilian (scn '''''lu sicilianu''''' lingua siciliana, also known as Siculu or Calabro-Sicilian) is a Romance language. Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. Because the Italian of Italian Americans comes from a time just after the unification of the state, their language is in many ways anachronistic and demonstrates what the dialects of Southern Italy used to be at the time. Geography Southern Italy forms the lower "boot" of the Italian peninsula containing the ankle (Abruzzo and Molise and southern Lazio the toe (Calabria and the heel Because of this, Italian Americans studying Italian are often learning a language that does not include all of the words and phrases they know, and which their ancestors would not have recognized well.

The situation is even more pronounced among Italian Americans whose ancestors came to the United States from Northern Italy. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Related categories Central Italy Southern Italy Insular Italy Northeast Italy Italian Americans variously of Emilia-Romagnan, Lombardian, Genoese, Marchigiano, Piedmontese, Venetian and other Northern Italian heritage are even further moved away, linguistically, from the languages of their ancestors through the contemporary standard Italian language. Emilia-Romagna is one of the 20 Regions of Italy. The capital is Bologna. Lombardy (Lombardia Latin: Langobardia, Western Lombard: Lumbardìa, Eastern Lombard: Lombardia) is one of the Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions The Marche (plural originally from le marche de Ancona, referring to the March of Ancona) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy. Piedmont ( Piemonte; Piedmontese and Occitan: Piemont; French: Piémont) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy. Veneto or Venetia ( Vèneto) is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy.

Stereotypes

History

In the 1890-1920 period Italian Americans were often stereotyped as being "violent" and "controlled by the Mafia". The Mafia (also known as Cosa Nostra) is a Sicilian Criminal Secret society which is believed to have first developed in the mid-19th century [22] In the 1920s, many Americans used the Sacco and Vanzetti trial, in which two Italian anarchists were wrongly sentenced to death, to denounce Italian immigrants as anarchists and criminals. Ferdinando Nicola Sacco (April 22 1891 – August 23 1927 and Bartolomeo Vanzetti (June 11 1888 – August 23 1927 were two Italian-born American laborers During the 1800s and early 20th century, Italian Americans were one of the most likely groups to be lynched. In 1891, eleven Italian immigrants in New Orleans were lynched due to their ethnicity and suspicion of being involved in the Mafia (see: David Hennessy). New Orleans (nʲuːˈɔrliənz nʲuːˈɔrlənz French: La Nouvelle-Orléans) is a major United States port city and the largest city in Louisiana Lynching is an Extrajudicial punishment meted out by a mob Lynching an enumerated Felony in some states in the United States, is defined by some David C Hennessy (1858 – 16 October 1890) was the Police chief of New Orleans Louisiana, from 1888 until his death This was the largest mass lynching in US history. Lynching in the United States is the practice in the 19th and 20th centuries of the humiliation and killing of people by mobs acting outside the law ^[6]

Present

To this day, Italian Americans are frequently and unfairly associated with organized crime, and New York in the minds of many Americans, largely due to pervasive media stereotyping, a number of popular gangster movies (such as The Godfather and Goodfellas) and television series such as The Sopranos. "Crime syndicate" redirects here For the DC Comics group of villains see Crime Syndicate. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous A crime film, in the most general sense is a Film that involves various aspects Crime and the Criminal justice system The Godfather is a 1972 Crime drama film based on the 1969 novel of the same name by Mario Puzo and directed Goodfellas (also spelled GoodFellas) is an Academy Award winning 1990 Crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese The Sopranos is an American Television drama series created by David Chase. A Zogby International survey revealed that 78 percent of teenagers 13 to 18 associated Italian Americans with either criminal activity or blue-collar work. John Zogby (born 1948) is an American political pollster and first senior fellow at The Catholic University of America 's Life Cycle Institute A survey by the Response Analysis Corp. reported that 74 percent of adult Americans believe most Italian Americans have "some connection" to organized crime. "Crime syndicate" redirects here For the DC Comics group of villains see Crime Syndicate. [23]PDF (90. 1 KiB) Italian Americans still report some workplace discrimination and harassment. A kibibyte (a contraction of ki lo bi nary byte) is a unit of Information or Computer storage, established by the International Unlike most discrimination policies discrimination between, which is the discernment of qualities and recognition of the differences focused here discrimination against is (see Anti-Italianism)

However, the National Italian American Foundation, the National American Italian Association and other Italian American organizations have asserted that the Mafia in the United States have never numbered more than a few thousand individuals, and that it is unfair to associate such a small minority with the general population of Italian Americans. Anti-Italianism is a hostility toward Italian people and Italian culture. The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF is an Advocacy organization for Italian Americans the second or third largest Ethnic group in the United The Mafia (also known as Cosa Nostra) is a Sicilian Criminal Secret society which is believed to have first developed in the mid-19th century Further, a majority of Italian Americans hold white collar jobs, including many distinguished positions in business, academia, the arts, medicine, and public service, as well as possessing advanced degrees. White-collar worker refers to a salaried professional or an educated Worker who performs semi-professional office administrative and sales coordination tasks as opposed to A business (also called firm or an enterprise) is a legally recognized organizational entity designed to provide goods and/or services to The arts is a broad subdivision of Culture, composed of many expressive disciplines. Medicine is the art and science of healing It encompasses a range of Health care practices evolved to maintain and restore Human Health by the

Communities

Main article: List of Italian-American Neighborhoods

States known for their high concentrations of Italian Americans include New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Michigan, Maryland, Illinois, California, Ohio and Florida. Italian-Americans in the United States can be found in large numbers and densities in states such as New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous New Jersey ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. Connecticut ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ( often colloquially referred to as PA (its abbreviation by natives and Northeasterners is a state located in the Northeastern Rhode Island ( officially named the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, is a state in the New England region of the United States The Commonwealth of Massachusetts ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States. Michigan ( is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. The State of Illinois ( roughly ill-i-NOY is a state of the United States of America, the 21st to be admitted to the Union. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. Ohio ( is a Midwestern state of the United States. As part of the Great Lakes region, Ohio has long been a cultural and geographical crossroads Florida ( is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the Among major cities across the country: Boston, Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia and Miami have America's five largest Italian communities. Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. The City of New York Philadelphia (ˌfɪləˈdɛlfiə An influx of elderly Italian Americans relocated to the American Southwest for retirement in the states of Arizona and Nevada (the Las Vegas area). The Southwestern area of the United States could be defined as the states west of the Mississippi River, with the qualification of a certain northern limit such as the 37 The State of Arizona ( is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. Nevada ( is a state located in the western region of the United States of America.

State totals

Distribution of Italian Americans according to the 2000 census

Numbers

1. The ancestry of the people of the United States is widely varied and includes descendants of Populations from around the World, some presumably extinct New York 3,254,298
2. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous New Jersey 1,590,225
3. New Jersey ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. Pennsylvania 1,547,470
4. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ( often colloquially referred to as PA (its abbreviation by natives and Northeasterners is a state located in the Northeastern California 1,149,351
5. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. Florida 1,147,946
6. Florida ( is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the Massachusetts 918,838
7. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States. Illinois 739,284
8. The State of Illinois ( roughly ill-i-NOY is a state of the United States of America, the 21st to be admitted to the Union. Ohio 720,847
9. Ohio ( is a Midwestern state of the United States. As part of the Great Lakes region, Ohio has long been a cultural and geographical crossroads Connecticut 652,016
10. Connecticut ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. Michigan 484,486
11. Michigan ( is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. Texas approx. Texas ( is a state geographically located in the South Central United States and is also known as the Lone Star State. 363,354
12. Louisiana approx. The State of Louisiana ( or, État de Louisiane, pronounced) is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America 195,561

Percentage

1. Rhode Island 19. Rhode Island ( officially named the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, is a state in the New England region of the United States 7%
2. Connecticut 18. Connecticut ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. 6%
3. New Jersey 16. New Jersey ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. 8%
4. New York 16. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous 4%
5. Massachusetts 14. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States. 5%
6. Pennsylvania 13%

References and notes

• Baily, Samuel L. A kibibyte (a contraction of ki lo bi nary byte) is a unit of Information or Computer storage, established by the International Immigrants in the Lands of Promise : Italians in Buenos Aires and New York City, 1870-1914 (1999) Online in ACLA History E-book Project
• Bona, Mary Jo. Claiming a Tradition: Italian American Women Writers (1999)
• Diggins, John P. Mussolini and Fascism: The View from America (1972)
• D'Agostino, Peter R. Rome in America: Transnational Catholic Ideology from the Risorgimento to Fascism (2004).
• Delicato, Armando, Italians in Detroit, ARCADIA PUB (SC), 2005, ISBN 0738539856
• Gans, Herbert J. Urban Villagers (1982)
• Guglielmo, Thomas A. White on Arrival: Italians, Race, Color, and Power in Chicago, 1890-1945 (2003)
• Gardaphe, Fred L. Italian Signs, American Streets: The Evolution of Italian American Narrative (1996)
• Giordano, Paolo A. and Anthony Julian Tamburri, eds. Beyond the Margin: Essays on Italian Americana (1998).
• Hobbie, Margaret. Italian American Material Culture: A Directory of Collections, Sites, and Festivals in the United States and Canada (1992)
• Juliani, Richard N. The Social Organization of Immigration: The Italians in Philadelphia (1980)[24]
• Juliani, Richard N. Building Little Italy: Philadelphia's Italians before Mass Migration (1998)[25]
• Juliani, Richard N. Priest, Parish, and People: Saving the Faith in Philadelphia's Little Italy (2007) [26]
• Lagumina, Salvatore J. et al eds. The Italian American Experience: An Encyclopedia (2000)
• Stefano Luconi. The Italian-American Vote in Providence, R. I. , 1916-1948 2005
• Nelli, Humbert S. The Business of Crime: Italians and Syndicate Crime in the United States (1981)
• Nelli, Humbert S. Italians in Chicago, 1880-1930: A Study in Ethnic Mobility (2005).
• Prendergast, William B. The Catholic Voter in American Politics: The Passing of the Democratic Monolith (1999)
• Smith, Tom. The Crescent City Lynchings: The Murder of Chief Hennessy, the New Orleans "Mafia" Trials, and the Parish Prison Mob (2007) [27]
• Sterba, Christopher M. Good Americans: Italian and Jewish Immigrants During the First World (2003)
• Tamburri, Anthony Julian. A Semiotic of Ethnicity: In (Re)cognition of the Italian/American Writer (1998).
• Tamburri, Anthony Julian, Paolo A. Giordano, Fred L. Gardaphé, eds. From the Margin: Writings in Italian Americana (2000, 2nd ed. )
• Whyte, William Foote. Street Corner Society: The Social Structure of an Italian Slum (1993).
• "Italians in the United States". Catholic Encyclopedia. The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to today as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language Encyclopedia published by The Encyclopedia (1913). New York: Robert Appleton Company.  
• Fox, Stephen, The unknown internment: an oral history of the relocation of Italian Americans during World War II, (Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1990). ISBN 0-8057-9108-6.

See also

• Barbagallo, Tricia (June 01, 2005). Events 193 - Roman Emperor Didius Julianus is Assassinated 987 - Hugh Capet is elected Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Black Beach: The Mucklands of Canastota, New York. Retrieved on 2008-06-04. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 781 BC - The first historic Solar eclipse is recorded in China.
• Italy-USA Foundation
• Immigration to the United States
• List of Italian Americans
• National Italian American Foundation
• Order Sons of Italy in America
• Sicilian-American
• Utah Italians
• Italian-American cuisine
• Italian diaspora

External links

• (English) H-ItAm daily discussion email group moderated by scholars
• (English) National Italian American Foundation
• (English) National Organization of Italian American Women
• (English) Sons of Italy in America
• (English) Italian American Writers: A Growing Online Archive
• (English) Towards a New Italian American Identity
• (English) ItalianAmericanTalk.com
• (English)(Italian) Italy-USA Foundation
• (English) Italian Heritage & Culture Month Committee of New York
• (English)(Italian) Italian American Committee on Education
• Italy Revisited (photo archives)

Useful links for Italians in USA

• (English) Italian American History
• (English) Ministry for Foreign Affairs
• (Italian) How to vote AbroadPDF (1. Italy-USA Foundation ( Fondazione Italia-USA) was established on 4 July 2005 to promote the friendship American immigration ( emigration to the United States of America) refers to the movement of non-residents to the United States. The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF is an Advocacy organization for Italian Americans the second or third largest Ethnic group in the United The Order Sons of Italy in America ( Italian: Ordine Figli d’Italia in America, OSIA is the largest and oldest Italian American fraternal organization Sicilian Americans are a subset of Italian Americans from Sicily or of Sicilian heritage Utah Italians include the descendants of immigrants from Italy, and a small number of recent immigrants from Italy Italian-American cuisine (more simply known as "Italian food" in the United States is the cuisine of Italian-American immigrants and their descendents The term Italian Diaspora refers to the large-scale migration of Italians away from Italy in the period roughly between the unification of Italy in 1861 and the beginning of 24 MiB)
• (Italian) How to vote Abroad FAQsPDF (26. A mebibyte (a contraction of me ga bi nary byte) is a unit of Information or Computer storage, abbreviated MiB. 1 KiB)
• (English) Italian American Writers: A Growing Online Archive
• (English) The Italian American Press
• (Italian) America Oggi, an Italian-language daily published in the US
• (Italian)(English) L'Idea MagazineA Magazine for the Italians in USA
• (Italian)(English) Italian Americana: The voice of leading cultural, intellectual and literary Italian Americans