History of the Italian Americans in Philadelphia

Philadelphia has a historical Italian American population.

During the 18th Century Colonial Era of the United States, Italian migrants to Philadelphia came from higher class backgrounds and were considered to be accomplished in business, art, and music. Many early Italian settlements appeared in South Philadelphia. The Italians from this period predominantly originated from towns within Genoa Province, Liguria, including Genoa and Chiavari, while only a small number came from Veneto. Donna J. Di Giacomo, author of Italians in Philadelphia, wrote that the first population was "in much smaller numbers" than the mass immigrant groups of the late 19th Century. At the time many Americans had a positive view of classical culture and their view of the Italian immigrants was more positive.

In 1819 Silvio Pellico wrote in "Breve soggiorno in Milano di Battistino Barometro" that Italian immigrants were going to Philadelphia. Charles L. Flynn, Jr. of Assumption College stated in his book review of Building Little Italy that the Philadelphia Italian "community" didn't actually form until the 1850s and 1860s, when it achieved enough size to do so. There were 117 Philadelphia residents known to have been born in Italy. By the 1870 census this increased to 517, with 82% of them living in South Philadelphia.

In the end of the 19th Century Italians immigrating to Philadelphia mainly came from peasant villages in the south of Italy and were from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. During that era most Italians came to the United States in order to make more money, but the vocational skills they had learned in Italy were not in high demand in the U.S. Immigrants in the later period originated from Abruzzo, Avellino and Salerno in Campania, and Messina in Sicily. The public had a more negative perception of the poorer Italians, especially as the media focused on crimes and bad behavior.

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