Utah Italians

Nobel Mario Capecchi

Utah Italians are the descendants of immigrants from Italy, along with recent immigrants from Italy, who live in the U.S. state of Utah.

History

Compared to the nations of northern Europe, Italy provided very few immigrants for the first “wave” of Mormon converts to Utah in the 1850-1880. Only a small group of about 50 Waldensians from an area near Turin came to the Salt Lake Valley during that early period. They had been converted by the missionary efforts of Joseph Toronto and Lorenzo Snow, who later became the President of the LDS Church. The name of those Waldensian families, such as Bertoche, Beus, Cardon, Chatelain, and Malan, today are of historical importance, because their descendants are very numerous, and are deeply intertwined with the development of Utah. The second wave of immigrants, from 1890 to 1920s, is the most important, because it involved thousands of people from every region of Italy, but especially from the southern regions of Calabria and Sicily, and the northern regions of Piedmont and Trentino. The new immigrants settled in the counties of Salt Lake, Carbon and Weber, where most of the railroad and mining jobs were available. A Little Italy soon spread in the west side of Salt Lake City around the Rio Grande station, with stores selling Italian food and merchandise. The Catholic parish where Italians met was St Patrick, located in their neighborhood. In the 1950s Little Italy was cut in the middle by the construction of the freeway, and from then on it decayed rapidly. Lately, a little revival is taking place in the area, after the opening of a cluster of stores dealing with Italian food, and a restaurant in the 1990s. For a few years, an Italian Center has organized lectures, classes of language, and other cultural events in a room provided by one of the stores. The Italian Festival Ferragosto is also held every August in that historic area. A very successful farmers' market, similar to the Italian ones, helps to create a Mediterranean environment.

Demographics

According to the 2000 census, 57,500 people in Utah claimed some Italian ancestry, with about 3,000 being recent immigrants. The percentage of Italian Americans in Utah is about 2.3 percent. Nationally, their percentage is calculated around 5.6 percent, with the majority living in the Northeast, in the Midwest, in California, and in Florida.

Notable Italians in Utah

Organizations

Past

The main goal of the early fraternal organizations were to provide funding for sick days to members, because at that time there was no coverage for workers. The most important were: Fratellanza Minatori, founded at Sunnyside in 1902. Italian Americanization Club, was based in Salt Lake City, starting from 1919. Società Cristoforo Colombo, operated in Salt Lake City, Ogden and Castle Gate for several years, starting in 1897.[2]

Present

The Italian American Civic League was founded in 1934 and it is still active today. It is the oldest remaining Italian club in Utah and is also a non-profit organization. The Friendly Club was founded in Ogden by a group of northern Italians from the region of Trentino (north of Venice) in 1937. Today it is called the Trentini Club. Italian American Lawyers Association was founded a few years ago. They have monthly meetings.

Education

As of today, Brigham Young University is the only educational institution in Utah that has a B.A. program in Italian Language and Culture. They also offer a program in Florence and Rome. The University of Utah offers a minor in Italian language, along with a program in Siena. Through OSHER, a beginning language course is also offered. East High School in Salt Lake City offers a short beginning course. Nationally, Italian is the fourth most taught language in schools and colleges, after Spanish, French, and German.[3]

Publications and Media

In the early years of Italian immigration, several newspapers appeared, such as Il Minatore, edited by Mose Paggi, La Gazzetta Italiana, by G. Milano, La Scintilla, by Alfonso Russo and G. Milano, and Il Corriere d'America, by Frank Niccoli and Alfonso Russo. Copies of these newspapers, as well as old pictures, and taped and transcribed interviews of prominent Italians are kept at the Special Collection of the J. Willard Marriott Library at the University of Utah. Recently, the In Piazza magazine was published from 1998 to 2004. As of today, there are no Italian paper periodicals published in Utah. Instead, there are a few websites listed below.[4] Concerning scholarly publications, Phil Notarianni has written several articles about the Italian immigrants in Utah. [5] Recently, Mike Homer has published a book on foreign visitors to Utah, and one of his chapters is dedicated to Italian travelers.[6]

Utah-Italy relations

Overview

Over the years Italy has provided Utah with thousands of people. Some came for religious motivations and most for better economic opportunities. Four thousand came as prisoners of war and a few remained in Utah after the World War II ended. Eight of them rest in a Salt Lake City cemetery after being killed by a camp sentinel. A few hundred Utah soldiers fought in Italy against the Germans and the Fascists and several died. Regarding the number of people, for many years the balance has been in favor of Italy. But starting from the late 1960s, many Mormon missionaries from Utah are active in the major Italian cities. During the past forty years, several thousand of them have spent up to two years in Italy. As a result of their efforts, about 20,000 Italians have converted to Mormonism. Some of them have married former Mormon missionaries. LDS chapels and congregations are present in most Italian cities.[7] The Genealogical Society of Utah has microfilmed a large percentage of Italy’s Catholic Church and Civil Records. This project is ongoing.

Trade and Tourism

Italy is one of the top 25 of Utah's trading partners. Gold is the major product exported to Italy, followed by computer electronics and software.[8] According to official data, Utah is visited every year by about 12,000 Italians.[9]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "Utah History to Go".
  2. ↑ Philip F. Notarianni, "Italian Fraternal Organizations in Utah, 1897-1934," Utah Historical Quarterly 43 (1975)
  3. ↑ "Languages Spoken and Learned in the United States".
  4. ↑ Philip F. Notarianni, "Italianità in Utah: The Immigrant Experience," in Helen Z. Papanikolas, ed., The Peoples of Utah (1976)
  5. ↑ "Bibliography".
  6. ↑ On the Way to Somewhere Else - European Sojourners in the Mormon West, 1834-1930, edited by Michael W. Homer
  7. ↑ "The Italy Rome LDS Mission Homepage".
  8. ↑ Utah Trade Statistics
  9. ↑ Utah Travel Agency

Further reading

External links

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