Early Immigration
Starting in the late 1870s, and for the following hundred years, over 27 million people left Italy to settle across the oceans in other countries and continents. Between 1880 and 1924, more than four million Italians immigrated to the United States. The majority of the immigrants were escaping the poverty of Southern Italy and Sicily. The immigrants were trained laborers and craftsmen who worked as brick layers, masons, tailors, and barbers. Artisans also fled the dire conditions in Italy for opportunities in the United States. These brave people left behind family, friends and security for the promise of a better life with opportunities in America. They brought with them their love of family, culture and fine Italian food and wine. Many were devoted to the Catholic religion which they continued to practice in their new home. They shared a zest for life and, for many, a willingness to make America their permanent home. Roughly half of those who came to America did so with the hope of earning enough money to repatriate back to Italy and better provide for their families.
Tumultuous War Years
Wars throughout history have brought opportunities for valor and service to country. Immigrants transplanted in America shared mixed sentiments for the two lands; their native land and the new county that they cared enough to sacrifice their lives in battle to defend. Italians assisted in fighting for America’s freedom since its inception. This included over 1,000 men who fought in the Revolutionary War. Italians joined forces in both the North and the South during the Civil War. During World War II even an estimated 1.2 million Italian Americans served in the U.S. military. Meanwhile on the home front especially in the coastal cities many first-generation Italians were looked upon with suspicion and labeled as resident aliens; this was especially true in coastal cities of California. Stringent restrictions were placed on roughly 600,000 Italians who had not become citizens.
Propaganda posters, depicting the restrictions that were placed on speaking Japanese, German and Italian in public, were issued by the U.S. government during World War II and were displayed in post offices, and other public locations. These were the native languages of the Axis, or enemy, powers during World War II. Suspicion was cast upon speakers of these languages due to the belief that anti-American information or sentiment could easily be shared in a foreign language. Because of this belief, most Italian language schools were closed during the war years. Anti-Italian sentiment during this era prompted many Italians to assimilate to a more "American" way of life by shedding their native languages and any customs that seemed overtly ethnic.
Giuseppe DiMaggio, father of famous Yankees baseball player Joe DiMaggio, lived in San Francisco with his wife Rosalie and made his livelihood by fishing. During World War II, Giuseppe was a victim of the xenophobic sentiments that were rampant during the war. To protect Americans from foreign spies, many non-citizen fishermen had their fishing boats confiscated; DiMaggio was one of these fishermen. He was not able to earn money as a fisherman during the war because non-citizens were not allowed to go into international waters for fear that they would send secret messages to enemies of the United States. Giuseppe was also forbidden to attend his son’s baseball games because the San Francisco baseball park was located too close to the Pacific Ocean.
Executive Order 9066: Internment of Italian Americans
On February 19, 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 which authorized the Secretary of War to designate certain coastal areas of the United States as military zones. This cleared the way for the deportation of Japanese-Americans, Italian-Americans and German-Americans to internment camps. To further enforce this Executive Order, on March 9, 1942, Roosevelt signed Public Law 503 which provided for the enforcement of the Executive Order. People who violated this Order were subject to fines of up to $5,000 and one year in prison.
As a result of the legislation, approximately 120,000 men, women and children of Japanese ancestry were removed from their homes on the West Coast of the United States and held in internment camps across the country. Americans of Italian and German ancestry were also targeted by these restrictions to a lesser degree. This included the internment of 11,000 people of German ancestry, 3,000 people of Italian ancestry, and some Jewish refugees. While some of the internees of European descent were held only briefly, others were interred for several years, extending beyond the end of the war. Like the Japanese internees, these smaller groups included American-born citizens in their numbers, with a large portion of those being children. A World War II Internment camp at Ft. Missoula, Montana held over 1,600 Italians who were sent there for internment. Approximately 10,000 Italian-Americans were forced to leave their homes in the coastal cities of California and move inland. In addition, nearly 600,000 legal Italian immigrants had travel restrictions imposed on them. Curfew rules were executed and there were restrictions on Italian Americans owning cameras, short-wave radios and other devices that could potentially alert enemies to information about the United States.
Learn More About Researching Your Italian Immigrant Ancestors
Today, Italians compose the fifth largest ethnic population in America. Americans with Italian ancestry are are largely descended from the two million immigrants who arrived between 1880 and 1924, and who stayed and made America their permanent home. California is now home to over 1.4 million people with Italian ancestry. Other areas with large Italian populations include: New York, Chicago, Boston, New Orleans and Philadelphia. The suppression of the rich Italian cultural heritage that was present during the war years is no longer prevalent today, and proud descendants of these early Italian emigres are eager to learn more about their ancestry.
Click here to receive help from an expert with your World War II genealogy research or Italian genealogy research. You can also learn more about your Italian immigrant ancestors, including how to determine where in Italy they came from, with our highly-rated, self-paced learning course "A Complete Guide to United States Immigration & Naturalization."
