Editing Italian Americans (section)

=== World War I and interwar period ===

[[File:Michael Valente US Army 1917.png|thumb|left|upright=1.50|[[Michael Valente]], recipient of the highest military decoration, the [[Medal of Honor]], for his actions during [[World War I]]]]
The United States entered [[World War I]] in 1917. The Italian American community wholeheartedly supported the war effort and its young men, both American born and Italian born, enlisted in large numbers in the American Army.<ref>Christopher M. Sterba, ''Good Americans: Italian and Jewish immigrants during the First World War'' (2003)</ref> It was estimated that during the two years of the war (1917–18) Italian American servicemen made up approximately 12 percent of the total American forces, a disproportionately high percentage of the total.<ref>Mangione, Jerre and Ben Morreale, "La Storia&nbsp;– Five Centuries of the Italian American Experience", pg. 340</ref> An Italian-born American infantryman, [[Michael Valente]], was awarded the [[Medal of Honor]] for his service. Another 103 Italian Americans (83 Italian born) were awarded the [[Distinguished Service Cross (United States)|Distinguished Service Cross]], the second highest decoration.<ref name=Ciment545560>James Ciment, ''The Home Front Encyclopedia: Vol.I'' (2007) p.341</ref> Italian Americans also accounted for more than 10 percent of war casualties World War I, despite making up less than 4 percent of the U.S. population.<ref name="Sowell">{{cite book |last=Sowell |first=Thomas |author-link=Thomas Sowell |title=Ethnic America: A History |date=1981 |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=0-465-02075-5 |location=New York |chapter=Chapter 5: The Italians}}</ref>

The war, together with the restrictive [[Emergency Quota Act]] of 1921 and [[Immigration Act of 1924]], heavily curtailed Italian immigration. Total annual immigration was capped at 357,000 in 1921 and lowered to 150,000 in 1924. Quotas were allotted on a national basis in proportion to a nationality's existing share of the population. The [[National Origins Formula]], which sought to preserve the existing demographic makeup of the United States and generally favored northwestern European immigration.  It assigned Italians, the fifth-largest in national origin of the U.S. population in 1920, only 3.87 percent of the annual immigrant quota.<ref name="ABA1924">{{cite journal|date=July 1924|journal=American Bar Association Journal|volume=10|publisher=American Bar Association|pages=490–492|last=Beaman|first=Middleton|issue=7|title=Current Legislation: The Immigration Act of 1924.|jstor=25709038}}</ref><ref name="statabstract1931">{{cite book |date=August 1931 |title=Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1931. |chapter=Immigration |url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/1931/compendia/statab/53ed/1931-03.pdf|location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce|pages=103–107|edition=53rd|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210329144712/https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/1931/compendia/statab/53ed/1931-03.pdf |archive-date=March 29, 2021 |access-date=October 23, 2021}}</ref> Despite implementation of the quota, the inflow of Italian immigrants remained between 6 or 7 percent of all immigrants.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~molna22a/classweb/politics/Italianhistory.html|title=History of Italian Immigration|website=Mtholyoke.edu|access-date=August 16, 2016|archive-date=October 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014060442/http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~molna22a/classweb/politics/Italianhistory.html}}</ref><ref>U.S. Department of Commerce, ''Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1930'' (1930) pp 99-100.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5078|title=Who Was Shut Out?: Immigration Quotas, 1925-1927|website=historymatters.gmu.edu|access-date=August 16, 2016}}</ref> And when the restrictive quota system was abolished by the [[Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965]], Italians had already grown to be the second largest immigrant group in America, with 5,067,717 immigrants from Italy admitted between 1820 and 1966—constituting 12 percent of all immigrants to the United States—more than from [[Great Britain]] (4,711,711) and from [[Ireland]] (4,706,854).<ref name="INS1966" />

[[File:Italian_WPA_workers_doing_roadwork_in_Dorchester_(Boston),_1930s.jpg|thumb|Italian American [[Works Progress Administration|WPA]] workers doing roadwork in [[Dorchester, Boston]], 1930s]]

In the interwar period, jobs as policemen, firemen, and civil servants became increasingly available to Italian Americans. Others found employment as plumbers, electricians, mechanics, and carpenters. By 1920, numerous Little Italys had stabilized and grown considerably more prosperous as workers were able to obtain higher-paying jobs, often in skilled trades. Women found jobs as civil servants, secretaries, dressmakers, and clerks. With better-paying jobs, Italian Americans moved to more affluent neighborhoods outside of the Italian enclaves. The [[Great Depression]] (1929–1939) had a major impact on the Italian American community and temporarily reversed some of the earlier gains made. Many unemployed men and some women found jobs on President Franklin Roosevelt's [[New Deal]] work programs, such as the [[Works Progress Administration]] and the [[Civilian Conservation Corp]].

In politics, [[Al Smith]] (Anglicized form of the Italian surname Ferraro) became the first governor of New York of Italian ancestry—although the media characterized him as an Irish. He was the first Catholic to receive a major party presidential nomination, as Democratic candidate for president in 1928. He lost Protestant strongholds in the South but energized the Democratic vote in immigrant centers across the entire North. [[Angelo Joseph Rossi|Angelo Rossi]] was mayor of San Francisco from 1931 to 1944. In 1933–34, [[Ferdinand Pecora]] led a Senate investigation of the [[Wall Street Crash of 1929]], which exposed major financial abuses, and spurred Congress to rein in the banking industry.<ref>Michael Perino, ''The Hellhound of Wall Street: How Ferdinand Pecora's Investigation of the Great Crash Forever Changed American Finance'' (Penguin Press, 2010).</ref>

The [[Metropolitan Opera]] continued to flourish under the leadership of [[Giulio Gatti-Casazza]], whose tenure continued until 1935. [[Rosa Ponselle]] and [[Dusolina Giannini]], daughters of Italian immigrants, performed regularly at the Metropolitan Opera and became internationally known. [[Arturo Toscanini]] returned in the United States as the main conductor of the [[New York Philharmonic Orchestra]] (1926–1936) and introduced many Americans to classical music through his [[NBC Symphony Orchestra]] radio broadcasts (1937–1954). Popular singers of the period included [[Russ Columbo]], who established a new singing style that influenced [[Frank Sinatra]] and other singers that followed. On Broadway, [[Harry Warren]] (Salvatore Guaragna) wrote the music for ''42nd Street'', and received three [[Academy Award]]s for his compositions. Other Italian American musicians and performers, such as [[Jimmy Durante]], who later achieved fame in movies and television, were active in [[vaudeville]]. [[Guy Lombardo]] formed a popular dance band, which played annually on [[New Year's Eve]] in New York City's [[Times Square]].

The film industry of this era included [[Frank Capra]], who received three [[Academy Awards]] for directing and [[Frank Borzage]], who received two Academy Awards for directing.  Italian American cartoonists were responsible for some of the most popular animated characters: [[Donald Duck]] was created by [[Al Taliaferro]], [[Woody Woodpecker]] was a creation of [[Walter Lantz]] (Lanza), [[Casper the Friendly Ghost]] was co-created by [[Joseph Oriolo]], and [[Tom and Jerry]] were co-created by [[Joseph Barbera]].
[[File:EisenhowerRockyJoe.jpg|thumb|[[Joe DiMaggio]] and [[Rocky Marciano]] with president [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] in 1953, two of the most famous Italian American athletes of that era]]
In sports, [[Gene Sarazen]] (Eugenio Saraceni) won both the [[Professional Golfers' Association of America|Professional Golf Association]] and [[U.S. Open (golf)|U.S. Open Tournaments]] in 1922. [[Pete DePaolo]] won the Indianapolis 500 in 1925. [[Tony Canzoneri]] won the lightweight boxing championship in 1930, and [[Rocky Marciano]] is the only undefeated heavyweight champion in history. [[Joe DiMaggio]], who was destined to become one of the most famous players in baseball history, began playing for the New York Yankees in 1936. [[Louis Zamperini]], the American [[distance runner]], competed in the [[1936 Summer Olympics|1936 Olympics]] and later became the subject of the bestselling book ''[[Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption|Unbroken]]'' by [[Laura Hillenbrand]], published in 2010 and a 2014 movie of the same title.

Italian Americans employed traditional Italian skills in growing and selling fresh fruits and vegetables, which were cultivated on small tracts of land in the suburban parts of many cities.<ref>Mangione, Jerre and Ben Morreale, "La Storia&nbsp;– Five Centuries of the Italian American Experience", pg. 176–177</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1910/12/04/105102571.pdf |work=The New York Times |title=Making American Farmers of Italian Immigrants: Successful Experiments in Building Up Colonies to Till the Soil, Though States Give Insufficient Encouragement |date=December 4, 1910}}</ref> In California, the [[DiGiorgio Corporation]] was founded, which grew to become a national supplier of fresh produce in the United States. Italian Americans in California were leading growers of grapes and producers of wine. Many well known wine brands, such as [[Robert Mondavi|Mondavi]], [[Carlo Rossi (wine)|Carlo Rossi]], Petri, Sebastiani, and [[E & J Gallo Winery|Gallo]] emerged from these early enterprises. Italian American companies were major importers of Italian wines, processed foods, textiles, marble, and manufactured goods.<ref>[[Donna Gabaccia|Donna R. Gabaccia]], "Ethnicity in the Business World: Italians in American Food Industries," ''The Italian American Review'' 6#2 (1997/1998): 1–19.</ref> Italian Americans continued their significant involvement in the labor movement during this period. Well-known labor organizers included [[Carlo Tresca]], [[Luigi Antonini]], [[James Petrillo]], and [[Angela Bambace]].<ref>Salvatore J. LaGumina, "Reflections of an Italian-American Worker." ''Journal of Ethnic Studies'' 3.2 (1975): 65-77 [https://www.proquest.com/docview/1300553397?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true&imgSeq=1 online].</ref>

[[Benito Mussolini|Benito Mussolini's]] [[Italian fascism|Fascist regime in Italy]] sought to build a base of popular support in the United States, focusing on the Italian community. His supporters far outnumbered his opponents, both inside the Italian American community and among all Catholics, as well as among the wider American leadership.<ref>John Patrick Diggins, ''Mussolini and Fascism: The View From America'' (Princeton UP, 1972) pp. 58-60, 66, 68, 143.</ref><ref>Peter R. D'Agostino, ''Rome in America: Transnational Catholic Ideology from the Risorgimento to Fascism'' (U. of North Carolina Press, 2004) pp. 256–258.</ref>) According to Stefano Luconi, in the 1920s and 1930s "numerous Italian Americans became US citizens, registered for the vote, and cast their ballots in order to lobby Congress and the Presidency on behalf of fascism and to support Mussolini's goals in foreign policy."<ref>Stefano Luconi, "Fascism and Italian-American Identity Politics." ''Italian Americana'' 33#1(2015), pp. 6–24. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/43926785 online], quoting p. 7</ref> According to Fraser Ottanelli, Rome also worked to enhance Italy's reputation through a series of highly visible moves. They included participating in the [[Century of Progress]] (1933–1934) world fair in Chicago; supporting [[Italo Balbo|Italo Balbo's]] dramatic transatlantic flights; and donating a statue to Chicago. A minority of Italian Americans who fervently opposed fascism did not support Rome's moves. They promoted an unsuccessful measure in Congress that condemned Italy's meddling in U.S. internal affairs and called for the revocation of U.S. citizenship from people who swore allegiance to Mussolini. [[Alberto Tarchiani]], Italy's first ambassador to the United States after [[World War II]], requested the removal of any displays that honored the fascist regime, but with little success. Many memorials remain in the 21st century.<ref>Fraser M. Ottanelli, " 'Mussolini's Column': Fascist Memorials and the Politics of Italian American Identity in Chicago." ''Italian American Review'' 12.1 (2022): 86-107.</ref>