Newspapers, magazines, and journals designed to appeal to the Italian community in America, often published in Italian, provided new immigrants and succeeding generations important information about both the United States and Italy, helping immigrants acclimate to their new homeland while remaining in touch with their roots.
News vehicles for Italian immigrants in America were available as early as 1836, when El Correro Atlantico appeared in
Because Italian immigrants generally clustered together in neighborhoods that were dubbed
The explosion of Italian immigration to America after 1880 saw a concurrent rise in Italian American news publications. New York City alone had dozens of small Italian papers, and cities such as Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco also had multiple news organs. Many of these publications competed with one another for the same readers, however, and fierce competition ensured that many would be short-lived. Most readers were working-class men and women to whom the papers delivered a great deal of news and opinions on labor issues. The better-financed papers tended to promote conservative interests. For example,
Editor of an Italian-language newspaper in New York correcting proofs in 1943.
At
The
Support for Mussolini was not universal, however. In Detroit, La Voce de Popolo editor Monsignor
By the end of World War II in 1945, many Italian Americans had begun to assimilate into the mainstream culture. Dwindling populations in
Diggins, John N. Mussolini and Fascism: The View from America. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1972. Discusses the fascination of Italian Americans with Mussolini, explains the role of the mainstream Italian American press in promoting a favorable view of him, and describes efforts of anti-Fascist publications to counter positive Fascist images. Mangione, Jerre, and Ben Morreale. La Storia: Five Centuries of the Italian-American Experience. New York: HarperCollins, 1992. Extensive history of Italian immigration to America, outlining contributions of Italian Americans to the United States. Includes a brief commentary on the role of the Italian American press. Moreno, Barry. Italian Americans. Hauppauge, N.Y.: Barron’s Educational Series, 2003. Describes the history and customs of Italian immigrants; briefly sketches the role of the Italian American press within these communities. Park, Robert E. The Immigrant Press and Its Control. New York: Harper, Collins, 1922. Provides a sense of the concerns mainstream America had with ethnic newspapers, including those published by Italian Americans, which were perceived as potentially subversive to American values. Pericone, Nunzio. Carlo Tresca: Portrait of a Rebel. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. Biography of the activist and newspaper editor influential in promoting the cause of labor and combating favorable views of fascism within the Italian American community.
Ethnic enclaves
German American press
Immigration waves
Italian immigrants
Labor unions
Little Italies
Spanish-language press