Immigrant NYC, Episode 5: Becoming Italian-American (1880-1945)
Channel: Samuel Finesurrey, Ph.D.
Date: 2020-04-16

Episode 5 details the emergence of the Italian-American community in NYC. After exploring the motivations for leaving Italy, largely economic and political desperation, this episode dives into the xenophobia faced by Southern Italians arriving in the U.S. between 1880 and 1924. It traces how the Italian immigration pattern was unique due to the fact that many of these immigrants would frequently return home to Italy, where they hoped to one day remain permanently. It shows the ways Italians helped develop the infrastructure of New York City, overcoming anti-Italian sentiment from protestant and even earlier arriving Irish Catholics. Finally, the episode illuminates the ways Italian-Americans organized to change the structures that oppressed them before they were eventually accepted by mainstream U.S. society.

For more on this topic I highly recommend The Italian Americans, a four part series available on YouTube.