Past

“Birds of Passage”          

 Many of the Italians who emigrated to America did not intend to stay here, but rather they were following old European migrant labor customs by leaving their countries to look for work elsewhere. They found work as common laborers with picks and shovels, laboring for a few years at most. Once they saved up a nice sum of money, they returned to their families in Italy. When the jobs vanished, the immigrants left America just as quietly as they came here.¹

As for jobs, the Italians tended to do take any jobs that were available to them. Italians found jobs in street cleaning, public construction, restaurants, hotels, and the peddler business.² Many Italians worked in construction companies: establishing subway lines, digging tunnels, paving streets, and struggling in factories. Other Italians worked as tailors, hawkers, barbers, janitors, bricklayers and greengrocers. New York was a leading center in the clothing industry, so there was abundant tailoring work to be found here. Italians housewives usually worked at home, earning 5 cents per hour, as garment finishers.³

In addition to these blue-collar jobs, a small number of Italians worked in white-collar jobs as doctors, pharmacists, lawyers, and dentists.⁴

 

 

 

 

 

 

Renowned Businesses

            Little Italy is known for several food businesses that have been around since the late 1800s.

1. Pina Alleva set up the cheese shop that is at the corner of Grand and Mulberry Street, and it is New York’s oldest cheese shop that is still in business . It is still owned and operated by people in Mrs. Alleva’s lineage at 188 Grand St.⁵

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Giuseppe and Carmela Siano ran a clam and scungili cart, which became Vincent’s Clam Bar at 119 Mott Street in 1904 when it moved indoors. This restaurant is also still run by the family of the original owners.⁶

3. Lastly, another well-known place is Ferrara Bakery and Café, located at 195 Grand Street. Established in 1892 by Peter Lepore, Ferrara Bakery is actually America’s first espresso bar that continues to be a family-owned business.⁷

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction of Safety Measures

 

The most significant tragedy that resulted from the lack of safety measures was the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. Many Italian women worked at the factory in Greenwich Village. In March 1911, a fire broke out and spread quickly. The workers were stuck and could not escape due to the blocked stairway. Many of these workers resorted to jumping out of the windows, leaping to their deaths down below. In total, 146 people died that day in this fire. And it was due to this fire that the state legislature finally passed a number of laws related to the protection of workers.⁸

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although many Italians were successful in finding work, it is important to note that some Italians were unable to find steady jobs and went back to Italy, disappointed and without having earned any money. “Three hundred and fifty disappointed Italians who came to this country with the expectation of obtaining steady work at high wages, left for home. Tricked on both sides of the water, it does not take them long to find out that America is by no means the labor paradise they expected to find.”⁹

Effect of WWII

During WWII, more than a million Italian Americans served in the US Army. Most of them benefitted from the military training and the educational benefits of the GI Bill. The GI Bill provided the veterans of the war funds for education, government backing on loans, unemployment payments, and assistance in finding jobs. All of these provisions drew people away from the older “Little Italy” neighborhoods into the suburbs.¹⁰

Veterans who served for at least ninety days could be awarded up to $500 towards an education or training program. In 1947, the veterans accounted for about half of all college admissions and half of all the veterans participated in some kind of education or job training. The number of students graduating from college in 1950 increased by more than 300,000. This led to state universities increasing the size of their dorms and classroom buildings.¹¹

In the postwar years, home ownership grew due to the government banking on loans. If the recipient failed to pay for the loan, the government would pay 50% of the loan or $2,000. This program was popular, as the Veterans Administration guaranteed over 2 million loans by 1950.¹²

The GI Bill allowed for the Italian immigrants to be assimilated into American culture. The growth of the colleges led to a more educated workforce and an increase in home ownership. All of these factors led to major changes in society.

More people who came to America as immigrants working in blue-collar jobs moved up steadily to white-collar jobs. They moved to suburban neighborhoods and changed their standard of living. All of these changes helped the Italians to become the people they are today. Italians became fully assimilated when they were no longer under-represented in professional activities.