The history of Los Angeles interweaves with the history of the Italians much more than most of us can imagine.
And if we Italians had the chance to learn about our immigration to the U.S., or we heard stories about who we were and how we got here, Americans seem to be less aware of our common past. Historian Marianna Gatto gave a little insight on the Los Angeles (hidden) Italian roots, with a lecture hosted by the Los Feliz Library. As part of the series “Architecture and Beyond”, the talk brought to light places that were in the past populated by immigrants and that have now disappeared or have completely changed, leaving only ghosts of the Italian presence.
The history of Italians in L.A. is actually unique: despite the strong presence of Italian immigrants that still leave in the area, and the important contribution they gave to the making of California, the city of angels is the only one amongst the biggest American metropolis that doesn’t have an Italian neighborhood. Los Angeles Little Italy no longer exists. Part of the area of Downtown that is now known as Chinatown was once the center of the Italian life, where our ancestors would settle once arrived in town, and where they would start a new life –very often not an easy plan.
While making their way to a new start, they kept and spread their language and traditions, participating to the making of an international and multicultural California. Two important landmarks have been accompanying them for over 100 years: one is the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles (IAMLA), guided by Marianna Gatto, its executive Director. The other one is the newspaper you are reading right now, L’Italo-Americano, which was founded in 1908 and which has been contributing to keeping the community informed and aware of its strong presence in California throughout the years.
Sadly, as many of you know, L’Italo-Americano archives were destroyed by a fire many years ago; with it, an important witness to the history of Italian immigrants, with their battles and their achievements, has gone. “We still dream of finding some day copies of all those newspapers in some old garage…” said Gatto.
Although there is no exact reason why Los Angeles Little Italy hasn’t survived the passage of time, “it was primarily because of the incredible amount of space that the city had to offer” explains Gatto, and because of the desire of the Italian immigrants to settle in better areas, far from the ghetto. Those who had the chance, started to relocate all over the city area and even further, so that now Los Angeles no longer has a Little Italy, but an Italian community that is numerous and spread all over the territory.
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