Otherness and the Italian immigrant experience Dr. Jessica Greenfield jessica.t.greenfield@vanderbilt.edu 615-875-8461
Italian immigration to america Old vs New immigration– 3rd largest wave of european immigration to america (germans, british, irish vs slavs, jews, italians) > Poverty, overpopulation, natural disaster South america, australia, united states Turn of the century – nearly 2 million immigrants coming through ellis island (compared to 300,000 – 600,000 in the previous decades) > 1913 record high By 1920, more than 4 million italians create about 10% of foreign population in america, the largest subset Repatriation rate ~50% (up to 73%!!) > padroni (no farming, city work)
1860s – Italian unification movement (Risorgimento)
resources Internet sites books https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~molna22a/c lassweb/politics/Italianhistory.html PBS: The Italian Americans documentary: http://www.pbs.org/the-italian- americans/home/ http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/voices/it alian_immigration.cfm Mario Puzo: the fortuante pilgrim Pietro di Donato: christ in concrete Meliania Mazzucco: vita