D
Dwyer
Guest
**The Italian Americans On PBS: 2/17/15 9:00-11:00PM ET
La Famiglia (1890-1910); Becoming Americans (1910-1930)**
La Famiglia (1890-1910); Becoming Americans (1910-1930)**
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Irishmom2
Guest
Thanks for posting this! I just set the reminder on my tv! 
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10gr8kids
Guest
My great-grandparents came from Italy, and I grew up in an Italian community founded in the late 1800’s with the help of Father Bandini. 
Thanks for the info, I bet it will be very interesting.
Thanks for the info, I bet it will be very interesting.
B
Beautiful
Guest
Italy - the birth place of all four of my grandparents!
Everything Italian tonight!
Everything Italian tonight!
B
Beautiful
Guest
This is a fascinating series.
My grandparents were poor rejected southerners who worked hard and instilled the value of God and family so strongly that it is still engrained today in various familial branches.
Any thoughts on how Italians and their statues were banished to church basements?
My feeling is that the establishment (Irish Catholics) weren’t enforcing their culture as much as conforming to protestant America.
My grandparents were poor rejected southerners who worked hard and instilled the value of God and family so strongly that it is still engrained today in various familial branches.
Any thoughts on how Italians and their statues were banished to church basements?
My feeling is that the establishment (Irish Catholics) weren’t enforcing their culture as much as conforming to protestant America.
Mary_Gail_36
New member
I enjoyed it and found it very informative.
Both my parents were born in Italy and didn’t emigrate to the US until the 1960’s.
My maternal grandmother was born in Chicago, about 100 years ago. My “great-nonna” had come to the US to accompany her widowed sister in law and borrowed the money from her parents. She never paid them back, because soon after she met my dashingly handsome “great-nonno”. He was from another Sicilian village, but his room-mate was from my great grandmother’s town. The roommate had intended on courting my nonna, but supposedly he was very shy, and my great grandparents fell in love at first site.
They had five children in Chicago, two of which passed away. Then they went back to Italy.
Supposedly their lives were harsh, but not anything as close as described in the documentary. I had never heard about any children being kidnapped or bombings that were happening in NY according to the documentary.
My great grandparent ran a boarding house for other Italian workers. My great grandfather worked on the railroad. He lived in Chicago for about 18 years.
My paternal grandmother was also in Chicago during this time period. She worked as a seamstress in a dress factory. She would tell me her boss was a man named Harry. He would bustle around the factory and scold the ladies if their hand stitching was too wide.
The ladies would mumble stuff under their breath like, “Ma casca morto!” (Drop dead) Or “Norba!” (Sicilian term for “You should go blind” not sure on the spelling) Or “Morbo” (Sicilian term for you should catch a fatal illness)
My grandmother spoke a bit of English.
Harry would frequently ask her, “Mary, what did she say?” My grandmother would smile sweetly and say, “You nicea man Harry!”
She would talk about going to the theater to see Vaudeville type Italian shows. She would remember one song.
“America e’ nu beddu paisi, tutti cretini parlanu inglisi, cu dici “right” cu dici “shoe” Son of a gun, a niente chiu”
(America is a nice country, even the idiots can speak in English, who can say “right”, Who can say, “shoe”, Son of a gun and that’s all)
She was adorably cute that when she would tell us this poem, she would ask “Is son of a gun a bad word?”
Both my parents were born in Italy and didn’t emigrate to the US until the 1960’s.
My maternal grandmother was born in Chicago, about 100 years ago. My “great-nonna” had come to the US to accompany her widowed sister in law and borrowed the money from her parents. She never paid them back, because soon after she met my dashingly handsome “great-nonno”. He was from another Sicilian village, but his room-mate was from my great grandmother’s town. The roommate had intended on courting my nonna, but supposedly he was very shy, and my great grandparents fell in love at first site.
They had five children in Chicago, two of which passed away. Then they went back to Italy.
Supposedly their lives were harsh, but not anything as close as described in the documentary. I had never heard about any children being kidnapped or bombings that were happening in NY according to the documentary.
My great grandparent ran a boarding house for other Italian workers. My great grandfather worked on the railroad. He lived in Chicago for about 18 years.
My paternal grandmother was also in Chicago during this time period. She worked as a seamstress in a dress factory. She would tell me her boss was a man named Harry. He would bustle around the factory and scold the ladies if their hand stitching was too wide.
The ladies would mumble stuff under their breath like, “Ma casca morto!” (Drop dead) Or “Norba!” (Sicilian term for “You should go blind” not sure on the spelling) Or “Morbo” (Sicilian term for you should catch a fatal illness)
My grandmother spoke a bit of English.
Harry would frequently ask her, “Mary, what did she say?” My grandmother would smile sweetly and say, “You nicea man Harry!”
She would talk about going to the theater to see Vaudeville type Italian shows. She would remember one song.
“America e’ nu beddu paisi, tutti cretini parlanu inglisi, cu dici “right” cu dici “shoe” Son of a gun, a niente chiu”
(America is a nice country, even the idiots can speak in English, who can say “right”, Who can say, “shoe”, Son of a gun and that’s all)
She was adorably cute that when she would tell us this poem, she would ask “Is son of a gun a bad word?”
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