Young paesani from the Marche region pose in Chicago Heights for this 1920s photograph. Photographs like this, implying success and contentment, were sent back to Italy and often sparked the desire of friends and family in Italy to move to America.

Migration

Five million Italian immigrants came to the United States before 1914. Some of them were birds of passage, here to work a season or two, and then return to Italy. Many started on railroad jobs and were drawn to settle in their railroad’s winter headquarters—Chicago. Others were attracted to Chicago by the favorable labor market in one of the fastest-growing industrial cities in the world. Chains of migration linked Chicago with towns in northern and southern Italy.

Learn More: Italians in Chicago by Dominic Candeloro

Some of the towns which contributed migrants to Chicago were the following: Alta Villa Milicia, Tesche Conca, Caccamo, Lucca, Ponte Buggianese, Pievepeligo, Sant’Ana Peligo, Mola di Bari, Amaseno, San Benedetto del Tronto, Castel di Sangro, Cosenza, Castel San Vincenzo, and scores of others. Though we often minimize the emotional cost of emigration when we recount three-generation success stories, separations caused by emigration hurt deeply. Even the considerable financial remittances sent back to Italy by the new immigrants could not erase that pain.

Related Reading: Italian-American Women of Chicagoland by the Italian-American Women’s Club

Family

For the early immigrants, family was everything. They left the family in Italy in order to save it. In Italian culture, the family is a social institution much stronger than the Church, the schools, or the government. They under consumed and saved up money in order to create chains of migration that brought brides, mothers, cousins, and all matter of kin to join them in America. Family solidarity was a key reason why Italian immigrants in Chicago were able to thrive.

Work

Buy the Book: Italians in Chicago by Dominic Candeloro

Italian immigrants came to America ready and willing to work. “Pane e lavoro” (bread and work) was their goal. In comparison with conditions in the Old Country, opportunities to work in Chicago were terrific. Though a large number of the immigrants were illiterate in their own language, they possessed agrarian, handyman, and household skills that served them well in their new country. The immigrants worked hard for themselves and their families. No job was too humble and no one ever refused overtime because it ultimately helped support the family. Working conditions were horrible and industrial accidents, frequent. Many in the first and second generations literally sacrificed themselves in backbreaking jobs on construction, in the factories, and at home so that their children could have a better life.

Balbo’s Flight

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The Chicago newspapers in the 1930s rarely had a good word to say about Italians until Italo Balbo came on the scene with his transatlantic squadron. The pioneer aviator guided his squadron of 24 seaplanes from Italy to Chicago in a grand gesture that captured the imagination of the American public. Tradition has it that every Italian in town who could possibly get away went down to the Century of Progress Fair to greet Balbo and celebrate.

Preserving the Culture

Historian Oscar Handlin has stressed that the migration process “uprooted” immigrants and robbed them of their culture. Since Columbus Day was made a national holiday (in large part, through the efforts of Chicago Congressman Frank Annunzio), it has become a focal point for the celebration of Italian-American culture. Enjoying less public notice than Columbus Day are the dozens of organizations like the Italian Cultural Center, Casa Italia, academic, folk, regional, educational, and artistic groups and individuals dedicating themselves, 100 years after migration, to the maintenance and promotion of Italian-American culture.

To learn more about the Italian community in Chicago, click here.

Assyrians are an ethnic group that comes from Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. Emigration to the United States was sparked by

Early Days

General immigration of Assyrians to the United States began at the end of the nineteenth and at the beginning of the twentieth century. Initially, they planned to find jobs just to earn some money and to help their families back home. Gradually, Chicago became the main center of Assyrian immigration in the United States.

Learn More: Assyrians in Chicago by Vasili Shoumanov

A Family History (the Nimrod family)

The Nimrod family, Anna and Joseph of Seeri Village, Iran, moved to America with their children Helen, Susan, and Joseph, at the beginning of the twentieth century. After some years of traveling through Iraq, Russia, Manchuria, India, and Italy, they settled in Chicago. When they reached America, another son, John, was born. Helen served for over 45 years on the Board of the Presbyterian Homes in Evanston. She also served as the member of the Board of the McCormick Theological Seminary.

You May Also Like: Assyrian American Association of Chicago: 100 Years by Vasili Shoumanov

In the 1970s, she became a member of the Assyrian Universal Alliance Foundation and then became the president of the first Assyrian Service Agency to be open daily and staffed to serve the Assyrian community of Chicago. John served two terms as the state senator in the Fourth Legislative District and three terms as Republican Township Committeman. He was assistant to the chairman of the Illinois Industrial Commission, assistant director of the Illinois Department of Revenue, assistant to the president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, and past president of the Township Officials of Cook County.

Assyrians Today

From the 1970s to the 1990s, many Assyrians immigrated to Chicago from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey. Thousands of them flowed there after the Iran-Iraq and the Gulf Wars. Today, Assyrians live all over Chicago. The main population is concentrated in Rogers Park, Albany Park, Skokie, Lincolnwood, Morton Grove, and Des Plaines.

You may also like: Assaryian-American History from around the country

There are more than 20 Assyrian organizations and churches in the Chicago area. Among them are the Assyrian American Association of Chicago, established in 1917; the Assyrian Universal Alliance Foundation; the Assyrian National Council of Illinois; the Assyrian American Civic Club of Chicago; the Assyrian Social Club; the Assyrian Academic Society; the Mar Zaya Assyrian Organization; and many others.

To learn more about the Assyrian community in Chicago, click here.

Immigration and Early Years

In the early years of Greek immigration, many immigrants came to the United States with the belief that their stay was temporary. However, many Greeks came to stay and were directed by a daily work ethic that went beyond the 40-hour week. Greeks were capable of the backbreaking labor of the railroads and the long hours of the horse carts, grocery stores, and restaurants, but work served the purpose of achieving prosperity. Greeks would achieve in business, industry, and the arts, but achievement began in the humble beginnings of relatively few immigrants.

You May Also Like: Greek-American Pioneer Women of Illinois By Greek Women’s University Club, Edited by Elaine Thomopoulos

Family Life

The family provided a framework for success. Greek families centered children in myth, literature, philosophy, even sayings that teach children the pitfalls of pride. For many immigrants, though, family life was disrupted. Often children were sent to the United States unattended to meet brothers or family. Brothers often arrived in the country years before a relative.

Often a sister in Greece would need to be married, so a brother, established in the United States, provided the means to ensure a successful marriage. Men would arrive in the United States and send as much of their income to the homeland either for pryka (dowry) or to support a family.

Learn More: Greeks in Chicago by Michael George Davros, Ph.D.

Work, Faith, and Education

Of work, faith, and education, the driving force of accomplishments in the Greek community was work. The value placed on work led Greek Americans to deposit wealth not only into business institutions but also the churches and then into political arenas. Education turned toward preservation of the Greek language. The fear that the Greek language would disperse was accompanied by the fear that the core of Hellenic culture and ideals would disappear. Greek schools and language instruction today act in defense and preservation of Greek culture. The Greek Orthodox faith provided another sanctuary. As churches grew into magnificent and ornate structures, Greeks expended great wealth to establish thriving Greek Orthodox communities throughout Chicago.

Buy the Book: Greeks in Chicago by Michael George Davros, Ph.D.

Organizations, Arts, and Recreation

Women’s clubs transformed themselves into the Philoptochos (literally “friends of the poor”) to address growing problems of poverty both inside and outside the Greek community and the United States. In literature, painting, sculpture, the fabric arts and more, Greeks have lived up to the moral imperative of their heritage. While many modern Greeks may not readily identify the concept of arête, the strive toward excellence certainly manifests itself in cultural productions. In Chicago, Greeks produced operas at midcentury, some of them designed to assist in the war effort. More than a few Greeks opened movie theaters, conversions from vaudeville. Ever-increasing wealth brought about higher aspirations. Today, it is not unusual to see big-name Greek surnamed performers.

Preserving the Homeland

As many Greek Americans acquired wealth, they contributed money to Greeks in Europe. American Greeks have benefited their European counterparts by building roads, orphanages, hospitals, clinics, and other services. Recent efforts, like those of Andrew A. Athens to benefit people who identify themselves as Greeks in the former republics of the Soviet Union, have met with dramatic benefits for an oppressed people.

To learn more about the Greek community in Chicago, click here.