More than 4,000,000 immigrants traveled from Italy to the United States between 1880 and 1924. Most were peasants, largely illiterate, and with no sense of an Italian identity as their ancestral home had only been lib...More than 4,000,000 immigrants traveled from Italy to the United States between 1880 and 1924. Most were peasants, largely illiterate, and with no sense of an Italian identity as their ancestral home had only been liberated from centuries of foreign rule in 1861. This study utilizes primary and secondary documents, as well as archival sources and interviews to determine the role of sport in the transition to an Italian identity, and then an American identity within the assimilation process. Second generation youth adopted American sport forms, and some became national heroes in contrast to the stereotype of Italian gangsters. By the 1950s Italians had become icons of popular culture, yet negative stereotypes persisted and assimilation remained fragmented.展开更多
文摘More than 4,000,000 immigrants traveled from Italy to the United States between 1880 and 1924. Most were peasants, largely illiterate, and with no sense of an Italian identity as their ancestral home had only been liberated from centuries of foreign rule in 1861. This study utilizes primary and secondary documents, as well as archival sources and interviews to determine the role of sport in the transition to an Italian identity, and then an American identity within the assimilation process. Second generation youth adopted American sport forms, and some became national heroes in contrast to the stereotype of Italian gangsters. By the 1950s Italians had become icons of popular culture, yet negative stereotypes persisted and assimilation remained fragmented.
