THE ITALIAN AMERICANS , award winning PBS Documentary series in 4 episodes, reveals the unique and distinctive qualities of one immigrant group’s experience, and how these qualities, over time, have shaped and challenged America. Unlike other immigrant groups, many Italians did not come to America to stay. At the turn of the 20th century, most came to work, earn money to support their families, and eventually return home. Nearly half of the first generation Italian immigrants did return to Italy.For those that made America home, their struggle to maintain a distinct Italian culture was guided by remarkably powerful ideals of family that had always been at the center of their lives. In the Italian family, the needs of the collective came before the individual — a value system often at odds with American ideals of freedom and personal choice. While the power of the Italian family became a source of strength, it also bred suspicion, popularized in popular media as a dark, criminal element.
This clash of culture echoed through generations of Italian Americans and, as they entered positions of political, social and cultural influence, it has left its mark on the American landscape.
54 min. episodes
Thursday
10/10 - 10 am - 1. La Famiglia
10/10 - 11 am - 2. Becoming Americans
Thursday
17/10 - 10 am - 3. Loyal Americans
17/10 - 11 am - 4. The American Dream
Tuesday
22/10, 10 am - Short Story Club
We will discuss Italian American Internment in the
US during World War II. Article
Smithsonian Magazine and an excerpt from Suspect
Love, novel by Lawrence DiStasi.