Italian Workers in the US: The American Accomplishment of a Transnational Diaspora

The Italian migrants who moved to the United States to improve their living conditions within a global diaspora from their motherland also helped the economic growth of their adoptive country. Their contribution began even before the establishment of the United States as a sovereign nation because glassworkers of Italian origin landed at colonial Jamestown in 1621. Small groups of other artisans and merchants followed these pioneer craftspeople until mass immigration tides from Italy started in the late nineteenth century. The latter newcomers worked mainly in construction jobs, coalmines, and textiles and clothing industries. They also fell victims to nativism among allegations that they provided unfair competition to native labourers. Italian-born workers and their children enthusiastically supported Washington during the Second World War as the conflict marked their promotion to skilled positions and women’s entry into factory jobs. Italians’ contribution to the U.S. economy continued in the post-war decades. Yet, the workers arriving with the brain drain were no longer unqualified labourers, but technicians, businesspeople, entrepreneurs, and researchers.