 |
| Italian soccer jersey with Italian players' autographs (found on the wall of a cafe in Little Italy) |
Italians began to come to Chicago in small numbers from the 1850s working as merchants or other low paid jobs. By 1880, there were about 1400 Italians in the city. But as time went by they got better jobs and started opening restaurants and buying real estate which resulted in them getting wealthy. In the late nineteenth century the immigration rate increased to a great extent about 70 thousnad. These mass population was again given low paid jobs in construction sites but soon they got better jobs and even the women started working in garments factories. Slowly they established themselves as a community and started living in Chicago permanently.
There has been a lot of change since the beginning of the settlement of the Italian immigrants till the present time. As the people coming from Italy didn't have much to offer they were given low paid jobs and they had to live in slummy places. The roads and the houses were not very developed at that time.
But as the time progressed things got better and the housing, roads started to improve. Due to the demographic shifts as more people started to live in the city area rather than the rural parts of the city the roads and housing got better. Also economic change is another cause of this change, as thee Italians got better jobs and started to earn more they could afford better housing. The houses which are seen today are a lot developed than the previous ones.
Little Italy is famous for its Italian restaurants. Although the early restaurants are not still there but their heritage continues as there are still many Italian restaurants in the area.
 |
| Italian food |
Besides food there are some other landmarks which are famous in Little Italy. The National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame is one of them. The Roman Catholic church is also a very famous landmark.
 |
| National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame |
There are some very famous statues which are a symbol of Little Italy. Christopher Columbus statue and Joe DiMaggio statue are probably the most famous ones. Joe DiMaggio was a famous American Major League Baseball player. He was an Italian descendant. He was an outstanding player winning 3 MVP awards and an all star in each of his 13 seasons with the New York Yankees. At the time of his retirement he ranked 5th in all time home runs. He was included in the baseball hall of fames in 1955 and was voted the sport's greatest living player in the year 1969. So he is a very famous Italian descendant and that is why there is a statue of him in Little Italy.
 |
| http://images.chicagotraveler.com/images/general-chicago/18-1-chris.jpg Joseph Paul DiMaggio Statue |
The most famous of the places is probably the Hull House Museum. It was a settlement house founded in 1889. It opened doors for the European immigrants and by 1911 it expanded to about 13 buildings. In 1912 The Hull House Complex was completed with the addition of a summer camp. From then on it had been continuously changing according to the demand of the situation and it was the pioneer for the other settlement houses built all over the country for immigrants. In 1965 it was designated as a National Historic Landmark and in 1974 it was designated as a Chicago Landmark. The Hull House operations ceased in 2012 but it remains as a museum now.
Jane Addams was a sociologist, social worker and worked for world's peace as she tried her heart and soul to remove the sufferings of women. She became a pioneer of social works and fought for women's rights which made her a role model for the middle class women. Her unending efforts earned her the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931 as she became the first American woman to win thee prize. In 1889 Addams and her friend founded the Hull House, a settlement house which became a very important part of the neighborhood as it was the center of all social, cultural and other managements.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hull_House
http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/658.html
http://www.chicagotraveler.com/neighborhoods/little-italy-feature.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment