Introduction
According to the 1990 U.S. Census, 15 million Americans identified themselves as descendants of Italians. However, demographers estimate that the actual number, after taking into account the mixing of Italians with those of other ethnic and national groups, at over 26 million. Many communities across the nation, including six in California, will be in some way celebrating their Italian heritage.
NIAF is also the voice for Italian Americans in Washington, DC and works closely with the Italian American Congressional Delegation and the White House. NIAF’s mission includes advancing US – Italy business, political, and cultural relations and has a business council that promotes networking with corporate leaders.
The NIAF was founded in 1975 as a non-profit organization in Washington, DC. It is entirely non-partisan.
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To promote and enhance the Image of Italian Americans; for members to be of service to the community; to promote Italian heritage and culture; to promote, support and assist charitable, scientific, cultural, educational, and literary projects; to promote members' interest in public welfare; and, to cooperate with others in civic, social and cultural development.
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The peoples of Latin languages, though with very different backgrounds, share a linguistic heritage and the same system of historical references, legal and cultural. It is therefore natural that this family, though dispersed and very diverse, has endowed an institution dedicated to promoting and disseminating a common heritage and identities of the Latin world. This action is even more needed today when the preservation of cultural diversity is one of the major concerns of the contemporary world.
The Latin Union fully aware of their responsibilities, to meet current targets set by the 1954 Agreement . Thus, their action tends mainly to give a visible expression and substance to the solidarity that must unite the Latino family members together and trade with other states.
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According to the 1990 U.S. Census, 15 million Americans identified themselves as descendants of Italians. However, demographers estimate that the actual number, after taking into account the mixing of Italians with those of other ethnic and national groups, at over 26 million. Many communities across the nation, including six in California, will be in some way celebrating their Italian heritage.
Like many other ethnic groups, Italians were instrumental in the cultural development of America. Our art, food, fashion and other facets of our culture are greatly appreciated, and some are even now considered part and partial of the American experience as a whole. Where would American college students be today without pizza?
There were northern Italians in America long before the Revolutionary War, prominent among them being two of the original signers of the Declaration of Independence, William Paca and Caesar Rodney, and Filippo Mazzei, a friend of Thomas Jefferson who inspired the phrase: "All men are created equal" when he wrote "All men are by nature equally free and independent." However, the majority were of southern Italian and Sicilian descent and came between the 1880s and 1920s. The experience of these “new immigrants” was very complex and varied, dependent on specific times and places. In some parts of the country and in some times, they were welcomed with open arms; in other parts of the country and in other times, they fought rampant and oppressive prejudice. Most of these newcomers to the American scene were also poor and many settled down in urban slums, while still others found the countryside and eventually started farms and vineyards, particularly here in California.
Over time, these immigrants, and particularly their America-born offspring, assimilated into the American mainstream, some at a high and unfair price of totally losing their rich cultural heritage, while others were able to hold onto the best parts of it while becoming loyal and patriotic Americans. From Rudolph Giuliani and Sam Alito, to Tommy LaSorda and Francis Ford Coppola; the Italian contribution to American politics and culture, including sports and entertainment, is way too vast to enumerate here. And while Italian-Americans are very loyal to this great nation and are very patriotic, with 1.5 million of them serving during WWII alone, a full 10 percent of the military at that time, many today who may have lost their roots are rediscovering their great heritage knowing that part of what makes America so great, along with her freedoms, are her cultural diversity, under the cloak and protection of her national unity.
Without the Italians, America would be a very different place today, indeed, because so many of her discoverers, explorers, and colonizers were of Italian descent, one might even conclude that without us Italians, America may not even exist.You can learn more about them and get involved in the Italian-American community and causes through the links below.
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- National Italian American Foundation
NIAF is also the voice for Italian Americans in Washington, DC and works closely with the Italian American Congressional Delegation and the White House. NIAF’s mission includes advancing US – Italy business, political, and cultural relations and has a business council that promotes networking with corporate leaders.
The NIAF was founded in 1975 as a non-profit organization in Washington, DC. It is entirely non-partisan.
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Who We Are
We are a national organization of men and women who represent the estimated 26 million Americans of Italian heritage, dedicated to promoting our culture, our traditions, our language, the legacy of our ancestors, and our contributions to the U.S. and the world. We are sons and daughters, grandmothers and grandfathers. We are corporate executives and we are union members...young students and retirees...teachers and attorneys...doctors and firefighters...bakers and Wall Street brokers...and everything in between. We are philanthropists and we are model global citizens with purpose beyond ourselves. And we are proud and patriotic Americans of Italian heritage. We exemplify the very best of what it is to be Italian American.
- The Order Sons of Italy in America® (OSIA) is the largest and oldest national organization for men and women of Italian heritage in the United States.
- Founded in 1905 as a mutual aid society for the early Italian immigrants, today OSIA has more than 600,000 members and supporters and a network of more than 650 chapters coast to coast, making it the leading service and advocacy organization for the nation's estimated 26 million people of Italian descent.
- Its missions include encouraging the study of Italian language and culture in American schools and universities; preserving Italian American traditions, culture, history and heritage; and promoting closer cultural relations between the United States and Italy.
- Women have always shared equal rights with men in OSIA, and women make up about 50% of OSIA membership. Women have held leadership positions at all levels, including state president, national trustee, national vice president and national president.
- OSIA is for people of any gender, age, religion and profession. You don't even have to be Italian to join! Whether you are of Italian heritage or simply have a love for things Italian, OSIA welcomes you as a member.
- OSIA's national headquarters is in Washington, D.C., near Capitol Hill.
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To promote and enhance the Image of Italian Americans; for members to be of service to the community; to promote Italian heritage and culture; to promote, support and assist charitable, scientific, cultural, educational, and literary projects; to promote members' interest in public welfare; and, to cooperate with others in civic, social and cultural development._______________________________________________
The peoples of Latin languages, though with very different backgrounds, share a linguistic heritage and the same system of historical references, legal and cultural. It is therefore natural that this family, though dispersed and very diverse, has endowed an institution dedicated to promoting and disseminating a common heritage and identities of the Latin world. This action is even more needed today when the preservation of cultural diversity is one of the major concerns of the contemporary world.
The Latin Union fully aware of their responsibilities, to meet current targets set by the 1954 Agreement . Thus, their action tends mainly to give a visible expression and substance to the solidarity that must unite the Latino family members together and trade with other states.
In that spirit, prepares the Latin Union, through a permanent dialogue with Member States and intergovernmental bodies, essentially regional programs based on the principles of complementarity and subsidiarity, designed to train specialists, to encourage the creation and promotion of languages and industries cultural rights. By its action, the Latin Union pursues the enhancement of the common heritage of their people in the service of a vision full of confidence in the role that it should take to the Latino community in the world today...read more..
A video about the Latin Union (Interview with Daniel Prado, Director of The Latin Union): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPQ3ELmWkDg
A video about the Latin Union (Interview with Daniel Prado, Director of The Latin Union): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPQ3ELmWkDg
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