After the Jews, Italians were the second largest immigrant population to arrive in New York City before World War I. Italians immigrated to the United States for a better life, but unlike the Jews, a majority of the Italians that arrived were illiterate and laborers. Both the Italian and the Jewish people had to face prejudice, below average housing conditions, and poverty.
Prior to the mass Italian immigration, the Italian population in New York City was almost nonexistent. In 1850, there were only 853 Italian New Yorkers, but by 1920, there were over 800,000 Italian American people living in New York. Originally, Italian immigration consisted of young men who came to America to make money which would be used to purchase land back in Italy. Unlike the Jews, most Italians returned to Europe, but these men would later return to America with their wives and children. Unmarried Italian men would return to Italy, marry, and then, return to New York.
To make a living, most Italians provided manual labor for the city. One of the main forms of manual labor for the Italians was helping construct subway routes in the outer boroughs. Italians chose to stay close to their workplaces, which led to the development of Italian communities and neighborhoods in Harlem and the Bronx. Besides choosing to live by their work, Italians preferred to live with people from their village or region.
Upon their arrival, Italians lived in tenements that were abandoned by the Irish and Germans, which tended to be overcrowded, dark, and damp. The size of the tenements forced some children to live on the streets, whereas some families had to take in lodgers in order to maintain financial stability. Besides terrible living conditions, Italian neighborhoods experienced crime. The press of the time gave Italian immigrants a reputation of being criminal, and some prominent forms of crime included the Mafia and “Black Hand” letters. This reputation helped promote anti-immigration which resulted in Congress imposing immigration restrictions during the 1920s.
Besides manual labor jobs, Italian men found jobs as bartenders or barbers, while some opened up their own small shops or became street merchants. Soon, Italians began to enter the garment business. The few women that came to the United States during this time tended to work in the garment business. Up to 85% of the young and unmarried Italian women were found working in the garment industry, and even married women were often found in garment sweatshops until they birthed children. To make ends meet, young girls were often taught how to take care of the household at a young age and then, were sent to work.
Italians did not enforce education as much as the Jews. Italians distrusted the public school system since they believed that it was meant to compete with parents for the control of their children. Besides this distrust, low-income families needed their children to work to help keep the family financially stable. As a result, most children were taken out of school before the age of 14 in order to begin working. At this age, boys would sell newspapers until they were old enough to work laborious jobs, whereas girls would sell flowers and finish making clothes in tenements.
Like the Jews, Italians tended to side with the Republicans. However, some Italians did not side with either the Republicans or the Democrats, so instead, they joined the Jewish-dominated Socialist party. Besides deciding political parties, Italian American politics also involved creating Italian organizations to help the incoming immigrants, such as the Society for the Protection of Italian Immigrants.
In addition to politics, Italian Americans came from a predominantly Catholic country, and to keep their religion alive, Italian priests serviced in church annexes, which were usually found in basements of churches. However, like with public education, Italian immigrants did not trust the church since they viewed it as an organization that did not care for the people’s needs. Also, Italian male immigrants believed that attending church was a women’s job, and as a result, they only attended church on major Catholic holidays. Soon, Italian annexes developed into Italian churches, and by 1911, there were 50 Italian Catholic churches in New York City. One of the main festivities for Catholic Italians was the festa, which was a procession that honored a saint through food, fireworks, and music.
As the years went on, Italian immigrants moved up on the social ladder, while also maintaining strong ties between other Italians. The immigration restrictions of the 1920s pushed European immigrants into assimilating leading New York City to become a melting pot rather than a salad bowl. However, the assimilation process was slow, which allowed for ethnic ties to maintain their strengthen for future years.
