ANTI - ITALIANISM

During

WORLD WAR TWO, USE OF ITALIAN LANGUAGES IN THE U.S. WAS DISCOURAGED. IN ADDITION, MANY ITALIAN AMERICANS WERE INTERNED, PROPERTY WAS CONFISCATED, AND ITALIAN-LANGUAGE PERIODICALS WERE CLOSED...

Francesco Dipinto Arrived On Ellis Island

FROM BISCEGLIE, ITALY IN 1912 WITH A SMALL BAG AND THE CLOTHES ON HIS BACK. IT WAS AT THE IMMIGRATION DEPOT WHERE HE MARRIED LUCIA CAPURSO, HIS LOVE FROM HIS HOMETOWN WITH WHOM THE MARRIAGE WAS FORBIDDEN, IN ORDER FOR LUCIA TO COME INTO THE COUNTRY. FRANCESCO, A FISHERMAN BY TRADE, AND HIS WIFE MOVED TO WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS WHICH THEY KNEW ABOUT THROUGH FAMILY CONNECTIONS. NEITHER COULD SPEAK ENGLISH, THOUGH THEY WERE BOTH LITERATE IN THEIR NATIVE DIALECT. ACCORDING TO THEIR IMMIGRATION PAPERS, THEIR REASON FOR IMMIGRATING WAS “POVERTY.”