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In America the streets were paved with gold. That was the mistaken notion of many an immigrant to the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s. On Long Island, deluded sojourners from Italy were to find that in fact there were few streets and that they themselves were to be the ones to build them. Covering more than a century of history, Long Island Italians depicts the transition of urban Italians as they moved increasingly from the city to the suburbs in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. They were attracted to Long Island by economic opportunity, the availability of arable land, home ownership possibilities, and alternatives to harsh city life. There, they became the largest of all ethnic groups, with more Americans of Italian descent living in one concentrated area than anywhere besides Italy. The Italian American presence is a continuing phenomenon, today comprising about 25 percent of the total population of Long Island. Long Island Italians graphically illustrates that Italian labor was vital to the development of Long Island roads, agriculture, railroads, and industry. By the early twentieth century, Italians made up the bulk of the work force. The book goes beyond the laborers to show also the warmth of Italian family life, the strength of the social organizations, and the rise of the politicians.
For Italian immigrants and their descendants, moving from "the city" to Long Island was more than a change of address. Even though the move wasn't far geographically, the societal move was large--it signaled that the family had achieved the American Dream, and in turn, elements of Italian values and culture are visible all over the island. Italians helped to build Long Island, whether as laborers or as contractors, such as the Castagnas. They brought their culinary traditions and opened markets, such as the still family-owned Iavarone Brothers Foods and restaurants, including New Hyde Park's Umberto's. Italians' industrialism helped them thrive in fields as diverse as medicine, politics, theater, and winemaking (including the nationally recognized Banfi label). Join author Salvatore J. LaGumina to discover the remarkable contributions and vibrant culture of Italians and Italian-Americans on Long Island.
For Italian immigrants and their descendants, moving from "the city" to Long Island was more than a change of address. Even though the move wasn't far geographically, the societal move was large--it signaled that the family had achieved the American Dream, and in turn, elements of Italian values and culture are visible all over the island. Italians helped to build Long Island, whether as laborers or as contractors, such as the Castagnas. They brought their culinary traditions and opened markets, such as the still family-owned Iavarone Brothers Foods and restaurants, including New Hyde Park's Umberto's. Italians' industrialism helped them thrive in fields as diverse as medicine, politics, theater, and winemaking (including the nationally recognized Banfi label). Join author Salvatore J. LaGumina to discover the remarkable contributions and vibrant culture of Italians and Italian-Americans on Long Island.
Tony Trolio and sixty contributors recall their growing-up years
This collection of articles examines the complex nature of identity in the Italian-American community. Sorrentino and Krase have constructed a volume that covers topics of diverse interest, such as the development of Italian-American literary studies and the integration of a uniquely Italian-American sensibility into a larger and dominant idea of European American culture. As an erudite examination of contemporary studies being done on one of the largest ethnic groups in the United States, this work is an essential addition to the ongoing and contentious debates about the nature of ethnicity, identity, assimilation and acculturation in the United States.
First Published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
First Published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
“This immigration story is universal.” —School Library Journal, Starred Dan Yaccarino’s great-grandfather arrived at Ellis Island with a small shovel and his parents’ good advice: “Work hard, but remember to enjoy life, and never forget your family.” With simple text and warm, colorful illustrations, Yaccarino recounts how the little shovel was passed down through four generations of this Italian-American family—along with the good advice. It’s a story that will have kids asking their parents and grandparents: Where did we come from? How did our family make the journey all the way to America? “A shovel is just a shovel, but in Dan Yaccarino’s hands it becomes a way to dig deep into the past and honor all those who helped make us who we are.” —Eric Rohmann, winner of the Caldecott Medal for My Friend Rabbit “All the Way to America is a charmer. Yaccarino’s heartwarming story rings clearly with truth, good cheer, and love.” —Tomie dePaola, winner of a Caldecott Honor Award for Strega Nona
In the United States, African American and Italian cultures have been intertwined for more than a hundred years. From as early as nineteenth-century African American opera star Thomas Bowers—“The Colored Mario”—all the way to hip-hop entrepreneur Puff Daddy dubbing himself “the Black Sinatra,” the affinity between black and Italian cultures runs deep and wide. Once you start looking, you’ll find these connections everywhere. Sinatra croons bel canto over the limousine swing of the Count Basie band. Snoop Dogg deftly tosses off the line “I’m Lucky Luciano ’bout to sing soprano.” Like the Brooklyn pizzeria and candy store in Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing and Jungle Fever, or the basketball sidelines where Italian American coaches Rick Pitino and John Calipari mix it up with their African American players, black/Italian connections are a thing to behold—and to investigate. In Flavor and Soul, John Gennari spotlights this affinity, calling it “the edge”—now smooth, sometimes serrated—between Italian American and African American culture. He argues that the edge is a space of mutual emulation and suspicion, a joyous cultural meeting sometimes darkened by violent collision. Through studies of music and sound, film and media, sports and foodways, Gennari shows how an Afro-Italian sensibility has nourished and vitalized American culture writ large, even as Italian Americans and African Americans have fought each other for urban space, recognition of overlapping histories of suffering and exclusion, and political and personal rispetto. Thus, Flavor and Soul is a cultural contact zone—a piazza where people express deep feelings of joy and pleasure, wariness and distrust, amity and enmity. And it is only at such cultural edges, Gennari argues, that America can come to truly understand its racial and ethnic dynamics.
The Italian/American Experience represents a meaningful attempt to inform Italian Americans about their group's varied experiences in America. This collection of eleven works offers readers an in-depth view of Italian American culture and heritage.