Making Their Mark: Italian Immigrant Contributions to the Cultural Fabric of Northeast Minnesota

Abstract

The voice of the Italian immigrant has been largely absent from Minnesota’s immigration history. Scholarship on the topic has tended to focus on the larger numbers of immigrants from Scandinavian countries who immigrated to the state. This study works to give voice to the underrepresented group of Italian immigrants who came to northeast Minnesota at the turn of the twentieth century seeking opportunities in the newly established iron ore mining industry. By putting the experiences of Minnesota’s Italian immigrants at the forefront of the writing, this study works to fill a gap in the historiography of the state’s immigration history. This study will argue that despite encountering prejudice and discrimination, Minnesota’s Italian immigrants made enduring contributions to the culture of northeast Minnesota. To provide evidence for this argument, the fundamental methodology of this study is the use of primary sources from the turn of the twentieth century. Oral histories are used to provide a first-person account of the immigrants who came to Minnesota during the era. Additionally, this study employs the extensive use of newspapers from the time period to illustrate how the media outlets of the region wrote about the immigrants within the context of northeast Minnesota at the time. Finally, this study utilizes scholarly monographs and journal articles to provide a framework in which to situate the original argument of the study.