This book examines the lives of immigrant women from Northern Italy leaving poverty and oppression in their native country. Most readers are unaware that Southern Italians dominate the literature on the Italian American experience. Although Northern Italians were the first to leave Italy around the time of unification, their food and culture is often overlooked. It is the tsunami of Southern Italians, fleeing miseria that portrayed a group of immigrants for the American people. Accounts of women's lives are based on oral histories and other research in both coal and coper mining camps. The reader will see the difficulties women faced and how they were the emotional heart of their families. Another aspect of the book is how labor unions were able to improve living for miners against the resistance of owners. Certainly, these early Italians were not greeted with open arms and had to survive prejudice and discrimination that they and their children faced. Phylis Cancilla Martinelli, PhD in sociology and now a Professor Emerita. She is a third generation native of San Francisco, California. Phylis retired from teaching sociology at St. Mary's College, Moraga California. Being the first in her family to go to college impacted Phylis and her career. Phylis's main focus currently is research on ethnic history. This interest grew out of her own background as the grandchild of immigrants from Italy. It wasn't until she was in graduate school she realized she knew nothing about the history of Italy, a nonindustrial nation according to Marx, where her family came from. Phylis' interest in the history of immigrant groups was heightened by a newly formed Italian American Historical Association. It was only when she moved to Arizona that she became interested in the mining experience of Italian Americans.

Contains histories of some of the minorities in Utah.

The booklet opens with the Delaware Indians prior to 1818. White Americans quickly replaced the natives. Germanic people arrived during the mid-nineteenth century. African American indentured servants and free blacks migrated to Indianapolis. After the Civil War, southern blacks poured into the city. Fleeing war and political unrest, thousands of eastern and southern Europeans came to Indianapolis. Anti-immigration laws slowed immigration until World War II. Afterward, the city welcomed students and professionals from Asia and the Middle East and refugees from war-torn countries such as Vietnam and poor countries such as Mexico. Today, immigrants make Indianapolis more diverse and culturally rich than ever before.

In this lively and engaging history, Stephen Puleo tells the story of the Boston Italians from their earliest years, when a largely illiterate and impoverished people in a strange land recreated the bonds of village and region in the cramped quarters of the North End. Focusing on this first and crucial Italian enclave in Boston, Puleo describes the experience of Italian immigrants as they battled poverty, illiteracy, and prejudice; explains their transformation into Italian Americans during the Depression and World War II; and chronicles their rich history in Boston up to the present day.

A journey through the history of African popular culture from the seventeenth century to the present day.

The Routledge History of Italian Americans weaves a narrative of the trials and triumphs of one of the nation’s largest ethnic groups. This history, comprising original essays by leading scholars and critics, addresses themes that include the Columbian legacy, immigration, the labor movement, discrimination, anarchism, Fascism, World War II patriotism, assimilation, gender identity and popular culture. This landmark volume offers a clear and accessible overview of work in the growing academic field of Italian American Studies. Rich illustrations bring the story to life, drawing out the aspects of Italian American history and culture that make this ethnic group essential to the American experience.