The Italian Colony in Chicago
Hull-House maps and papers, a presentation of nationalities and wages in a congested district of Chicago, together with comments and essays on problems growing out of the social conditions ([1895])
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The entire text can be viewed at the Internet Archive
This is a fascinating read. Written in 1895, with a forward by Jane Addams, it is a study of the social phenomena resulting from the wave of immigration and settlement to Chicago's near-west side, with its center the Hull House, the first settlement house in the United States.
From page 130:
"Italians do not come to America to find a home, as do the British, Teutons, Slavs, and Scandinavians, but to repair the exhausted financial conditions in which they were living in Italy, or to make more money if they were well-to-do. They leave the mother-country with the firm
intention of going back to it as soon as their scarsellas [sic] shall sound with plenty of quihus [sic]. And if they remain here, they do so as a result of unforeseen circumstances which surprise even themselves, and which they finally accept.
At their embarkation for America they might be classified as temporary immigrants; but when they are here, in the majority of cases they become permanent ones. The sons of Italy in migrating do not sell the home, but mortgage it for money to pay for the passage, because they dream of a return home with plenty of money. They plan the improvements they will make, and that they will spend the remainder of the happy life there."
View searchable PDF
The entire text can be viewed at the Internet Archive
This is a fascinating read. Written in 1895, with a forward by Jane Addams, it is a study of the social phenomena resulting from the wave of immigration and settlement to Chicago's near-west side, with its center the Hull House, the first settlement house in the United States.
From page 130:
"Italians do not come to America to find a home, as do the British, Teutons, Slavs, and Scandinavians, but to repair the exhausted financial conditions in which they were living in Italy, or to make more money if they were well-to-do. They leave the mother-country with the firm
intention of going back to it as soon as their scarsellas [sic] shall sound with plenty of quihus [sic]. And if they remain here, they do so as a result of unforeseen circumstances which surprise even themselves, and which they finally accept.
At their embarkation for America they might be classified as temporary immigrants; but when they are here, in the majority of cases they become permanent ones. The sons of Italy in migrating do not sell the home, but mortgage it for money to pay for the passage, because they dream of a return home with plenty of money. They plan the improvements they will make, and that they will spend the remainder of the happy life there."
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