THE “NEW” IMMIGRANTS

Southern & Eastern Europeans After 1882

The “New Immigrants”

Polish Immigrants

   Poland divided between German, Austrian & Russian empires In all 3 commercial agriculture, industrialization & population increase pushed surplus ag. labor off the land 3 phases of Polish immigration:    1870 – 93: German sector  Artisans, intellectuals, lower gentry & farmers  Ended by U.S. depression & improved conditions in Germany 1890 – 1914: Russian sector  Smallholders & ag. wage laborers; some small town folk  Ended by World War I 1880 – 1914: Austrian sector   Peasants, day laborers & servants Ended by World War I

Za Chlebem: For Bread

   Migrants moved in search of work, pulled by urbanization & industrialization  Left depressed rural areas for commercial & industrial ones  Went from rural to urban areas Seen as necessary sacrifice to preserve family  Viewed destination as God’s provision through Mary’s intervention on behalf of suffering Catholics  Not poorest of poor, but upwardly mobile peasants Gov’t attitudes & private opinions mixed  Germany tried to replace Poles with Germans  Russia & Austria tried to keep cheap labor supply

Polish Immigrants in America

 2.5 million Poles came to the U.S. in late 19 th century – early 20 th  Few had craft skills or factory experience – mostly farmers & day laborers  Vast majority became unskilled factory labor in U.S.

 Factory managers simultaneously reinforced & repressed ethnic identities  Ethnic segregation of dept.s used to impede unionization  Changed names, dress, language, etc. to achieve conformity

Polonias

   Polonias = attempt to recreate traditional Polish village    Failed due to increased social & geographic mobility Middle class fought with clergy for control of churches & communities Polish Catholic nationalism promoted as alternative to labor radicalism Rev. Francis Hodur founded Polish National Catholic Church in 1904  30 parishes & 30,000 members by 1916 ¾ of all immigrants belonged to nationalist fraternal organizations by 1910    Polish Roman Catholic Union (1873) Polish National Alliance (1880) Polish Falcons (1887) 1910 Polish Steelworker’s Home, Pittsburgh (recreated at John Heinz History Center)

Immaculate Heart of Mary Church Polish Hill, Pittsburgh

Italian Immigrants

  Divided into 2 phases:  Early immigration from the North (Venetia, Lombardy, Piedmont)  1890s-1910s immigration from the South (Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily) 1875-1915: 14 million left Italy – 9/10 to rest of Europe  2/3 left temporarily  2.1 million Italians arrived in U.S., 1901-1910, but only 1.3 million in 1910 census

Little Italy, New York City

Little Italy

     Naples was largest immigrant sending port by 1907 30%-50% return migration rate 97% of all Italians after 1880 entered through NYC  NYC had almost 400,000 Italians by 1920 (1/4 of all Italian Americans) Men outnumbered women 3:1   Mostly manual laborers Padroni (labor contractors) exploited them shamelessly Localist traditions (campanilismo) hampered formation of ethnic fraternal organizations