EXAMINING PATTERNS OF ITALIAN IMMIGRATION TO ...

It would have been interesting to determine the number of newcomers for each year
examined, but it has not been possible because of a major problem in interpreting the data.
The date of arrival in the US indicated in the censuses for each immigrant should refer to the
very first time the immigrant reached the United States. In many cases, however, because
many Italians were travelling back and forth between Italy and the United States, it refers to
the latest time the immigrant returned to the United States. 33
In interpreting these data we have to consider that censuses ‘describe’ the population
only every ten years. Nothing emerges of what is going on during the years in between. For
example, considering just the data from the census one would say that the Italian community
in Houghton County reached its peak in 1910. In fact, according to Attilio Castigliano it
reached it in 1906-1907, and after these years the number of Italian decreased
considerably. 34
Table VIII. Comparison of the Provenience of Italian Immigrants in 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910,
1920, and 1930 (Only the region with more immigrants are shown).
Piemonte Toscana Lombardia Veneto Total Italians
1870 9 (43%) 5 (24%) 0 0 21
1880 96 (44%) 60 (27%) 0 3 (1%) 220
1900 1,493 (53.54%) 440 (15.8%) 67 (2.41%) 62 (2.22%) 2,789
1910 2,207 (50.35%) 1,302 (23.55%) 134 (3.1%) 86 (1.96%) 4,384
1920 1,906 (43.52%) 1,287 (29.4%) 97 (2.22%) 81 (1.85%) 4,379
1930 1,249 (43.99%) 696 (24.52%) 86 (3%) 72 (2.54%) 2,839
The data from the employment cards of Calumet and Hecla also suggest big fluxes of
Italian immigrants in between the years of the censuses. Many of these cards, in fact, include
33 These data emerged when comparing the information of a single immigrant in the different years. Often the
date of arrival indicated in 1900 did not correspond to that indicated in 1910, or to that in 1920. A subsequent
look at the ships’ manifest confirmed that in many cases the immigrant indicated each time the date of his latest
return to the US.
34 Castigliano, Attilio. “Origine, sviluppo, importanza ed avvenire delle colonie italiane del Nord Michigan e
del Nord Minnesota”. In Bollettino dell’Emigrazione Vol. 7 (1913), p. 727.
32