Editing Italian Americans (section)

===Integration into American society===

The Italian immigrants and their descendants were successful in numerous areas of endeavor including, but not limited to, those involving traditional Italian skills.   

A number of major business ventures were founded by Italian Americans. [[Amadeo Giannini]] originated the concept of branch banking to serve the Italian American community in [[San Francisco]]. He founded the [[Bank of Italy]], which later became the [[Bank of America]]. His bank financed the [[Golden Gate Bridge]] and also the first American animated film, the [[Walt Disney]] film ''[[Snow White]]'', which established [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]] as the capital of American film production.  Other companies founded by Italian Americans—such as [[Ghirardelli Chocolate Company]], [[Progresso]], [[Planters|Planters Peanuts]], [[Contadina]], [[Chef Boyardee]], and [[Jacuzzi]]—became nationally known brand names in time.

Italian conductors contributed to the early success of the [[Metropolitan Opera]] of New York (founded in 1880), but it was the arrival of impresario [[Giulio Gatti-Casazza]] in 1908, who brought with him conductor [[Arturo Toscanini]], that made the Met internationally known. Many Italian operatic singers and conductors were invited to perform for American audiences, most notably, tenor [[Enrico Caruso]]. The premiere of the opera [[La Fanciulla del West]] on December 10, 1910, with conductor Toscanini and tenor Caruso, was a major international success as well as an historic event for the entire Italian American community.<ref>[http://www.fanciulla100.org/fan_1910worldpremiere.html Giacomo Puccini's La Fanciulla del West. 100th Anniversary of World Premiere].</ref>

Italian Americans became involved in entertainment and sports. [[Rudolph Valentino]] was one of the first great film icons. [[Dixieland]] jazz music had a number of important Italian American innovators, the most famous being [[Nick LaRocca]] of [[New Orleans]], whose quintet made the first jazz recording in 1917. Italian Americans became increasingly involved in politics, government, and the labor movement. [[Andrew Longino]] was elected governor of Mississippi in 1900. [[Charles Joseph Bonaparte|Charles Bonaparte]] was secretary of the Navy and later attorney general in the [[Theodore Roosevelt]] administration, and he founded the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]].<ref>Eric Martone, ed. ''Italian Americans: the history and culture of a people'' (ABC-CLIO, 2016) pp 65–68.</ref>

[[File:Joe petrosino.jpg|thumb|[[Joe Petrosino]] in 1909]]

[[Joe Petrosino]] was a [[New York City Police Department]] (NYPD) officer who was a pioneer in the fight against [[organized crime]]. Crime-fighting techniques that Petrosino pioneered are still practiced by law enforcement agencies. [[Salvatore A. Cotillo]] was the first Italian American to serve in both houses of the New York State Legislature and the first who served as Justice of the New York State Supreme Court. [[Fiorello La Guardia]] was elected to Congress from New York in 1916. He served as mayor of New York City from 1934 to 1946 as a Republican.<ref>{{Cite book | last = Holli | first = Melvin G. | title = The American Mayor | publisher = PSU Press | year = 1999 | location = University Park | url = https://archive.org/details/americanmayorbes0000holl | isbn = 0-271-01876-3 }}</ref>

Numerous Italian Americans were at the forefront in fighting for worker's rights in industries such as the mining, textiles, and garment industries, the most notable among these being [[Arturo Giovannitti]], [[Carlo Tresca]], and [[Joseph Ettor]].<ref>Michael Miller Topp, "The Transnationalism of the Italian-American Left: The Lawrence Strike of 1912 and the Italian Chamber of Labor of New York City." ''Journal of American Ethnic History'' (1997): 39-63.</ref><ref>Philip V. Cannistraro,  and Gerald Meyer, eds. ''The lost world of Italian American radicalism: politics, labor, and culture'' (Greenwood, 2003).</ref>