EXAMINING PATTERNS OF ITALIAN IMMIGRATION TO ...

Liguria, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna. These societies had in common a strong professional
cohesion, urban locations, and political neutrality, but these changed after 1861.
In 1862, according to a statistic of the Ministero dell’agricoltura, dell’industria e del
commercio, there were 443 societies concentrated in Piemonte, Liguria, Lombardia,
Toscana, Emilia-Romagna, and Umbria. Principles of solidarity and democracy inspired the
foundation of some of them; some others were closer to the moderate political positions of
the Italian nobility. This division was further stressed after the constitution of the First
International that stressed their different political perspectives. In fact the First International
was founded in London in 1864 as the International Workingmen's Association. Karl Marx
was a key figure in inspiring its creation and was later chosen as its leader. Its goal was to
unite all workers for the purpose of achieving political power along the lines set down by
Marx and Friedrich Engels in the Communist Manifesto of 1848.
Some other societies were inspired by Catholic principles. In 1854 the first Catholic
society was organized in Genova (Società operaia cattolica italiana) and its bylaws worked
as a model for the others. 56 The main difference between religious and secular societies was
the fact that the first ones lacked any interest in social and economic progress of the
members. The members of the societies, both religious and secular, were usually required to
pay a monthly fee in exchange for a daily allowance in case of illness or work accidents. In
the worst case, death, the family of the member received a larger amount of money to face
funeral expenses.
Every Italian community in Houghton County had at least a mutual beneficial and/or
help society. Often there were many more depending on how big the community was and on
other things such as the places of origin of the members, the gender of the members, their
civil status, and on the principal purposes of the society. Between the 1870s and the 1930s,
more than 40 societies were organized in Houghton County. Each society usually had a
group of officials: a president, one or more vice presidents, a secretary and a treasurer. In the
case of bigger societies, there were also a vice-secretary and a vice-treasurer, a group of
advisers, an executive committee, and an auditor. If one of the aims of the society was to
promote naturalization, there was also a secretary of naturalization. There was a committee
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