Binder an Reimers: Jews and Italians in Greater New York City, 1880 to World War I: Part ii- Italian Immigrants summary
While the Italians were the second largest group of immigrants at the time that came to New York City, there were many differences between them and their Jewish counterparts. The mainly Sicilian and South Italian immigrants were mostly illiterate members of the working class. These Italian immigrants can better be compared to the Irish immigrants of before when considering their skills, lifestyles, and the problems they faced.
At first, Italian immigrants were mainly young men who were struggling with poverty and had hopes of making enough to return. In the 1850s there were less than one thousand Italians in New York but by the 1900 that number grew to over 250 times its size. In 1920, Italian immigrants (and family members) numbered over 800,000. Italians settled in an estimated 25 communities, including in Manhattan’s Fourteenth Ward, Greenwich Village, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Italian Harlem. These immigrants preferred to live near their places of work and with those who originated from the same region. Those who called themselves Genoese lived together, Calabrian, Neapolitan, Sicilian, etc. Settled Italian immigrants welcomed more newcomers with open arms. A group of labor contractors, known as the padroni, would abuse the influx of Italian immigrants by promising jobs and housing for a share of the worker’s wages. Laws were passed against their actions but the practice didn’t stop until 1910.
The housing that immigrants found was usually crowded, cramped, odorous, and unhealthy. Poverty-stricken, they could only afford the tenements that were previously occupied by the Irish. They lived in cellars, on the streets, and with boarders. Crime was commonplace and Sicilian criminals, who were thought to be part of the Mafia, demanded payment for business protection in written threats known as “Black Hand” letters. This caused the city to create a separate police force that dealt with Italian crime. This built up an anti- immigration mentality.
Most of the jobs the Italians found were poor, but those who were on the municipal payroll did well. Italians found jobs in the sanitation department, police force, and strikebreaking business. Other occupations included barbers, shoemakers, bartenders, masons, waiters, street merchants, etc. Italians didn’t have much interest in unions (considering many thought they would return to Italy eventually) which is why they were often used as strikebreakers and replacement workers.
Female Italian immigrants were thought to be only wives, daughters, or sisters. They rarely lived alone or were unmarried. They were expected to care for the family and not take jobs, but considering the low pay of most jobs women needed to find alternative income. This caused the New York City Italian immigrant family income to be the lowest. Eventually, one fourth of South Italian families took in boarders for added income. When the New York garment industry grew, women began working in shops and by 1905, 85% of single Italian women were working. Over time, Italian immigrants became upwardly mobile. Their jobs became more specialized by World War I.
Some children of immigrants were actually able to find white collar work. Italians feared public education, believing it was trying to control their children. Second generation immigrants were often removed from school, preventing the from getting even better jobs, in order to join the workforce and start providing for the family. Laborers began joining unions and by World War I an Italian American middle class emerged. It included bankers, real estate promoters, editors, publishers, business owners, performers, doctors, lawyers, and other white collar workers. Eventually, like the Irish, the Italians were able to find better housing.
At first, Italian immigrants remained separate from politics. Tammany Hall ignored them and, considering many thought they would return to Italy, they were uninvolved. Some Italians joined the Jewish- dominated socialist party, or joined the anti- Irish Republican party. After 1900, a few Italian American politicians were appointed. However, it wasn’t until Fiorello La Guardia that a truly successful Italian politician emerged.
Regarding religion, there were tensions between Irish and Italian Catholics. In New York City, the Catholic church was dominated by the Irish. Contrasting views on the importance of some things and the power of magic increased these disputes. The Irish believed the Italian priests were not trained well, while the Italians couldn’t respect the Irish dominated church. To counteract this, by 1911 there were eighty Italian priests serving in fifty Italian Catholic churches. Italian churches had many extravagant religious celebrations for their saints that sometimes lasted days (festa).
Over the decades, Italian immigrants were able to pull themselves up from their poverty- stricken past. They achieved better jobs, moved to better housing, established their own communities, got involved politically, established their own churches, and succeeded in adapting to the widely different environment of urban New York City. They became Italian Americans.
