NEWS & FEATURES
TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2016
www.italoamericano.org
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a
focus for Italians with celebrity
visitors including operatic tenor
Enrico Caruso. They're most
famous, however, for carving the
150-ton statue of Abraham
Lincoln
that takes place at the
Washington Lincoln Memorial.
But the largest numbers of
Italians - over 2 million - arrived
in just 10 years from 1900 to
1910
as the Italian economy
slumped creating grinding pover-
ty for hundreds of thousands of
Italians, especially those from
rural southern backgrounds.
Today,
their second, third and
fourth generation descendants
make up over 20 million people
living in the United States and
over 6% of the population. And
Italo-Americans
are the fourth
largest group after Germans,
Irish and English with Italian cul-
ture woven throughout American
society.
Without
Italians, America
would be a very different place
with a very different name so it's
no wonder that everyone from
the President down celebrates
National Italian-American
Heritage month in October every
year. Festivities typically include
Columbus Day parades in many
large cities on the second
Monday of the month. Each com-
memorates the explorer's first
voyage in 1492 together with the
achievements of countless set-
tlers and their successors. And
many communities also organize
local cultural or culinary events
to add to the celebrations. It's a
chance to recognize the legacy
left by the first fearless explorers
and the millions of men, women
and children of Italian descent
who followed enriching the coun-
try every day. And it's definitely
one holiday celebration not to be
missed! Here's to Italo-
Americans everywhere!
Without Italians, America would be a very different place with a very different name so it's no wonder that everyone celebrates National Italian-
American Heritage month in October every year
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