Domestic and global migration flows have always been a feature of human existence and data regarding these phenomena can help shed light on how different socio economic and political factors in countries of origin and destination may be related to flows. With regards to the United States and to Italian immigration, it is fair to argue that in the 1800s and early 1900s, poor economic conditions in the South of Italy – combined with what is known to be the human desire to improve one’s life and search for better opportunities – resulted in mass migration waves from the South of Italy to the United States.
Interestingly enough, the majority of the 5.5 million Italians who emigrated to the United States came from southern Italians regions such as Sicily, Calabria, Apulia, Molise, Basilicata, Campania and Abruzzo, whereas individuals from the North of Italy tended to emigrate to Latin America, mainly in countries like Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. According to the United Census Bureau there are almost 20 million Americans today with Italian ancestry. Perhaps one of the most striking features of Italian immigration is the way in which the United States was shaped by Italian culture and lifestyle, and how it gradually formed the backbone of today’s American society, reinforcing the notion that anyone could pursue a better life and fulfill the so-called “American dream”.
The 3000-mile journey from Italy to the United States took up to 3 months and the majority of immigrants travelled in steerage or third class. Most Italian immigrants took their first steps on U.S. soil on the legendary Ellis Island, New York. This is, in fact, the port of arrival you will see on many passenger lists. Between 1880 and 1921, Italian-Americans became one of the largest ethnic groups in the United States. For a long period, they faced discrimination however, second generation immigrants started writing books and making films that expressed a different perception of the Italian-American culture and identity. With regards to this, some academics argue that second generation immigrants were determined to establish a different type of relationship with their cultural heritage and American culture and lifestyle. They used art (cinema, literature and music) to create stories and images that were powerful instruments in order to represent their identity and values. In this sense, a major cultural shift occurred when Italian-Americans became an active part of the discourse on themselves; in other words, they became tellers of their own story instead of being mere objects of representation, or misrepresentation. Arguably, another factor that shaped Italian- American identity was the unprecedented economic growth in Italy that characterized the 1950s and 1960s; as a result of this, in fact, Italy started to be associated with culture, fashion and style, which in turn fueled a great sense of pride within the Italian- American community.
There are a number of documents that are available today to help us to understand those years of Italian mass immigration. These include passenger lists, censuses, naturalization records and other records which this article will analyze in detail. As mentioned above, most Italian immigrants arrived at Ellis Island, New York, where they needed to pass mental and physical examinations. Immigrants also needed to answer a number of questions to determine whether they could be admitted to the United States. Although less than 2% of Italians were turned away, some say that fear of such a separation led some immigrants to rename Ellis Island as “L’Isola delle Lagrime”, the Island of Tears. Ellis Island is indeed the port of arrival you will see on many passenger lists. These can be found on genealogy websites such as ancestry.com, familysearch.com or statueofliberty.org. Besides showing the port of departure and arrival, these records also show ship name, nationality, occupation, last residence overseas, but also people’s hometown and destination. Some of this information will also be shown on censuses which can be retrieved from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) which hold government and historical records. A census will also provide details regarding where a family lived, their names, age, level of education, year of marriage, profession, country of birth, date of emigration and citizenship status, which is divided as “na” (naturalized), “al” (alien), and “pa” (first papers), which means that the individual had filed his or her declaration of intention and was in the process of naturalizing but had not yet fully naturalized. As with passenger lists, censuses can be found on genealogy websites such as ancestry.com and familysearch.com.
With regards to naturalization, which implied renouncing Italian citizenship in favor of acquiring U.S. citizenship, it is worth pointing out that before 1906 immigrants could naturalize in any of the 5,000 federal, district, state or local courts which had the authority to grant citizenship. Therefore, if you need to locate your ancestor’s vital records you might need to search the court records of each place where your ancestor lived in order to locate them. On the other hand, after September 26, 1906, all county, state and federal courts were allowed to naturalize using specific forms that were created by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (or USCIS) which replaced what was previously known as the Bureau of Naturalization. In addition to the Declaration of Intention, by which an applicant formally expressed their desire to naturalize, the Petition for Naturalization and the Certificate of Naturalization, additional documents were created. Among these are the certificate of arrival which showed the immigrant’s place of entry, name of ship and date of arrival; the certificate of registry which was created to document immigrants who arrived in the United States prior to July 1, 1924, and visa files, which were compulsory beginning with the Immigration Act of 1924 and continuing until 1944. These files included birth information, parents’ names, children and previous residences. Finally, if the individual was not naturalized he or she might have held an alien registration file, which listed the immigrant’s name at the time of entry to the U.S., other names used, date of birth, citizenship/nationality, gender, marital status, race, height and weight, port, ship, date of first arrival in the U.S., occupation, date and number of Declaration of Intention and Petition for Naturalization (if filed), and city and state where filed.
Arguably, the year in which your ancestor was naturalized is one of the most discerning elements to be able to apply for Italian citizenship by descent. In fact, broadly speaking you can apply for Italian citizenship by descent if your ancestor who was born in Italy and through whom you are claiming Italian citizenship was naturalized after the birth of his child who was born abroad, thereby passing his citizenship to the next individual in line without breaking the chain. However, there are a number of caveats which are worth analyzing when considering applying for Italian citizenship jure sanguinis (by descent). In particular, you must meet the following conditions in order to apply:
- your ancestor who was born in Italy was alive at the time Italy was unified as a nation on March 17, 1861, or he/she was born after that date;
- your ancestor was never naturalized (or he/she became a U.S. citizen after the birth of the child who was born in the U.S. and after June 14, 1912);
- if there is a woman in your Italian lineage, she gave birth to her child on or after January 1, 1948;
- none of your ancestors in your direct line of descent ever renounced their Italian citizenship.
You can apply for Italian citizenship at an Italian consulate abroad – provided that you apply to the one that covers the jurisdiction where you reside – or to an Italian municipality. However, if you would like to claim citizenship through your female ancestor who was born in Italy and who gave birth to her child prior to January 1, 1948 you cannot apply for citizenship via a consulate or a municipality, but you might be able to apply via the court and file a 1948 case via a judicial proceeding. In essence, after January 1, 1948, which is when Italy’s constitution came into effect, men and women were granted equal rights and therefore women were able to transfer their Italian citizenship to their children. Today, the fact that women were unable to transfer their citizenship to their children prior to January 1, 1948 is seen to be unlawful and discriminatory towards them, and therefore you can claim citizenship retroactively via the Italian Court.
If you would like more detailed information about the application process and the documents which are required to apply for Italian citizenship, please click here.
We hope that this article has provided you with an overview of the most important features that characterized migration waves to the United States and the documents that are available today to help us to understand those years of Italian mass immigration and its legacy. If you would like a free assessment of your case and further information regarding applying for Italian citizenship, feel free to contact us at [email protected]. We will be happy to help you.
