Little Italy

The United States has served as a popular destination for immigrants from around the world since its inception. European immigrants were the dominant group immigrating west during the 19th and 20th centuries, with Italian immigrants composing a substantial portion. As a result, Italian communities dubbed “Little Italy” have popped up in various American cities throughout the last two hundred years. New York, New Haven, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles have served as home to some of the most popular Italian communities, and the influence of these neighborhoods has proven beneficial to both Italians and Americans alike.

[Page 412]The first Italian communities to surface in the United States were located on the East Coast in cities such as New York and New Haven, Connecticut. The influx of Italian immigrants led to the communal gathering of their dwellings and businesses. Many immigrants, on first arriving in America, often stayed with friends or relatives until enough money had been saved for them to lease a dwelling of their own. When this occurred, it was important for the family and friends to remain near to each other, to promote safety and assurance in their new surroundings. If it was not possible to stay with acquaintances or family, the immigrants looked for neighborhoods in which similar dialects of Italian were spoken. As the communities grew, the patterns of the neighborhoods tended to mirror those of old Italy. The same groceries and foods were sold, the same services were provided, and the same merchandise was peddled. In many cases, Little Italy became almost self-sufficient within the larger city that surrounded it. Everything from ice-houses to coal houses, from hospitals to bakeries was established in the community, and those businesses that were absent from the community were often communally bought and incorporated into the neighborhood.

There were two complications in these new Italian neighborhoods that created conflict: language and attitude among the Italians. The adaptation of English words to Italian, and vice versa, often occurred, creating a hybrid of the two languages. Also, immigrants who had arrived first in America often regarded the new arrivals from Italy with condescending attitudes and made them work to earn respect. Because of language barriers and poor economic status, new immigrants were forced to accept this treatment from their Italian neighbors and work their way up, as opposed to entering the confines of the host city. As a result, social classes formed in Little Italy as they had throughout the United States.

Even with this “earn your way” mentality, Italian neighborhoods remained tight-knit communities that supported each other and aided each other in times of need. The Order of the Sons of Italy was an organization that formed to help supply aid for their countrymen, find jobs for men, schools for children, and provide needed goods for women and their families in the absence of the head of the family. This organization also helped establish hospitals, orphanages, stores, and banks inside Little Italy to ease the transition from Italian life to American life.

The Little Italy communities that formed on the West Coast differed slightly from their Italian predecessors to the east. For instance, the beginning of heavy Italian immigration into San Francisco and Los Angeles did not occur until the 1910s and 1920s. By 1950, San Francisco had an Italian population of fifty thousand, most of which resided in the lower rent districts of North Beach, Mission, and Portola. There was also a large constituency that resided in the countryside and conducted life even more like that of life in Italy.

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