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By the late 1800s, a powerful wave of change was sweeping across Italy. Economic hardship, political upheaval, and a lack of land pushed thousands to look toward America as a place of new beginnings. Between 1880 and 1893, over one million Italians made the journey across the Atlantic, setting in motion one of the largest migrations in American history.
Most came from southern Italy and Sicily, regions marked by deep poverty and limited opportunity after Italian unification. Farmers, craftsmen, and laborers boarded ships bound for New York, Philadelphia, and New Orleans, often traveling with little more than the clothes they wore and the hope of steady work.
Passenger and immigration lists from this period are vital resources for genealogists. They record the names, ages, occupations, hometowns, and destinations of those who arrived through America’s ports. Many of these records were first processed at Castle Garden, and later at Ellis Island after it opened in 1892. The “Italians to America” volumes, covering 1880 through 1893, compile these passenger lists into searchable collections that make it easier to trace early Italian immigrants.
Italian newcomers often settled in urban neighborhoods that grew into strong cultural communities known as “Little Italies.” They worked on railroads, in quarries, and in city construction, sending money home and slowly establishing roots in their adopted country. Their traditions—food, faith, music, and family ties—soon became woven into the larger fabric of American life.
These records not only preserve names and dates but also reflect courage and perseverance. For many families today, they mark the first written trace of their ancestors’ American story.