Becoming Italian American in the Nation's Heartland

The Mahoning Valley, popularly known as Ohio's Steel Valley, lies at the easternmost edge of the U.S. Midwest. Its residents are torn between multiple identities. Superficially, they perceive themselves as having more in common with places such as Buffalo, New York, or Pittsburgh than they do with the communities that occupy the western portions of their own state. Although those living east of the Appalachian Mountains imagine the Mahoning Valley as being littered with cornfields and dairy cows, the reality is fixed in industrialization and labor movements at the turn of the last century and its concurrent flood of immigration. The area, derisively referred to as belonging to the Rust Belt because of deindustrialization, appears to have greater parallels to Scranton and Bethlehem in Pennsylvania than to the more rural regions of southern and western Ohio. As for the residents of Steel Valley, they envision themselves as part of a region stretching from Chicago through western Pennsylvania and New York and into parts of West Virginia.1The first settlers were from New England, primarily Connecticut, and were mainly Protestants of Anglo-Saxon heritage. As the nation began to industrialize, the population grew more diverse. The Mahoning Valley saw a dramatic increase in iron production throughout the nineteenth century and was engaged heavily in steel manufacturing by the early twentieth century. Jobs provided by these industries drew diverse peoples—from Germany and Ireland by the mid-nineteenth century to southern and eastern Europe at the dawn of the twentieth century and then to African Americans, Appalachians, Latinos, and many others in succeeding years. These groups brought their distinctive cultures, religions, foodways, and other traditions to the Valley, adding to its richness and diversity. Italians and Italian Americans formed one of the largest and most visible ethnic communities in the Mahoning Valley. Their experiences create a distinctive lens through which to examine the creation of a uniquely midwestern identity in an immigrant population.Scholars have generally failed to identify the regionalism of areas like the Mahoning Valley within the larger Midwest. Daniel Nelson defines the Midwest as the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa. This region is diverse, but he contends that what holds it together is a “commonality of experience which overshadows geographic and other distinctions.”2 In Cities of the Heartland: The Rise and Fall of the Industrial Midwest, Jon Teaford describes “a region whose cities possessed certain social, political, economic, cultural, and ethnic characteristics that distinguished them as a class apart from the other metropolises in the nation . . . [which] made them some somewhat distinguishable from American metropolises to the east, west, and south.”3 The U.S. Census Bureau uses a definition that includes Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and North and South Dakota, which they divide further into regions: West North Central and East North Central.4 Neither scholars nor the U.S. government appear to have reached a consensus on a definition of the “Midwest.” This leaves us with two questions about the identity of the Midwest in general and the Mahoning Valley in particular: Who defines the Midwest, and what makes it unique?Where the Midwest begins may be in the eye of the beholder. From Philadelphia or New York City, places such as Pittsburgh and Buffalo may appear to be part of the Midwest. People residing in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, or Ithaca, New York, may perceive Cleveland, Ohio, as the Midwest. From the Mahoning Valley, the definitions may not be so clear. If allegiances to professional sports teams can be considered as indicators of regional identity, the residents of the Steel Valley are fairly evenly divided in their preferences between the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers.The answers to the second question are also a matter of perception. Previous works suggest that there may be several regional models for the Midwest. The most common focus is on large metropolitan areas such as Chicago, St. Louis, or Cincinnati. A second large body of scholarly works looks at the experiences of more rural regions. Hal Barron in Mixed Harvests: The Second Great Transformation in the Rural North, 1970–1930 suggests that smaller rural communities across America's heartland but at a and than large metropolitan regions. The of in that residents to greater the The is of more Italian to and through the The works of the or the and early with their on an American to of the immigrant from multiple and to their The by in The The of the Great that the American People to works in such as Italians in Chicago, and The Italian and in New York City, These to the of from of by such as From to The and From to and Italian suggest that Italian and in their they some of their and for such as of Italian and The of and in Italian the of experiences from the of on and in Chicago, the of on the Italian American the of and the of and and the in and between the and of to looks at the of on the and of rural regions by the of the nineteenth and early twentieth in and in the North American looks at communities in the rural of and labor and in and and in their in the Mahoning The of Italians examine the of the on Italian in the of Ohio. a of on places in the to to cities with diverse These communities a to what it to be of the Midwest and the in which such as the Mahoning Valley, in the last of the nineteenth century immigrant groups to and create communities that are of the about on their experiences in large smaller metropolises have This is because the of Italians in the Mahoning Valley that ethnic experiences do not into the that on larger In Italians and Italian Americans to be and at a than their in larger them uniquely are in the Midwest, and in the Mahoning Valley, Italian and their to communities and experiences between and the of the in and from southern and eastern Europe a of and the smaller of about of the focus of a of the larger with their of Italians and Italian Americans these at Mahoning on iron and steel and their industries makes to larger such as Cleveland, or St. In these the of the were The to the with steel and its that or were on the the of the in the steel were to or These not to those from southern and eastern were for engaged Their labor was to or the Valley, in steel or its industries that most not and to their at the with their This not that in the immigrant not their were generally or to their in a of in or from their This an into the of the such as at This was to the it was also that a for a on a a or the that in the Mahoning Valley like Italians to in American such as and the was that their in they were to in the in a more population than is with early Mahoning Valley was an iron manufacturing region from its in the The first of the Mountains in on the of of and and Daniel the and two more one in and the other in in what is the the iron in the Valley to the and of of iron and to those the Valley to iron and then The of steel manufacturing in the is to the of the in the first steel at Pennsylvania of in The Mahoning Valley, which a iron not its first steel From these the Valley grew into one of the largest steel manufacturing regions in the by the the of the Mahoning from in the east to in the and and and Steel the Valley. the that the and for the production of iron and steel and that made the that also These industries to the for and to the and and in with the of steel the Mahoning Valley a The of the region and the from and to and diverse population the largest in Mahoning from a population of in to in Although some of from of it from southern and eastern immigration. the population of the In the was at of its In the was The population of was in and in that reached of a population of the of the in the of to the region and the of Italians and Italians American a the population of to Italians and Italian Americans made or of the In that a population of were as of or as their of one or as Italian As a more than a of the population Italian the Italians and their a of the of and and they and in in at the of the as a most of the residents a common of it was more or a that was to The of of from and these in by he he brought the that he the with the and that they more to them their . . . and of it and he there and a with The of lies in the of the from through a of on to an the Italian and not brought of their to the area, but also and in was the most From he in through he was by and two and In he and an two of they to the the of the several by of several Italian the there for or more in steel but a of or those as Italian American the second largest ethnic in the Steel Valley of are the and are the most This large Italian Americans an suggests that Italian and the with multiple most Italian at or This was not the in the Steel Valley. in the Valley the first of the twentieth on the by the within the to the U.S. Census Bureau The of the an and on labor in the Mahoning Valley. to the of by iron and steel were of and they of The from the also suggest that the within the of to because of the for Italian the of it also more The from the that on Italians as the of Italians the was than and they more of the Italian into the of and their of the of the also a of with the of New or the the immigrant Italian for their in the these early of the and of the Although Italian their the nineteenth they reached by immigrant from for the the first of the The that in they of the and of the and in of the and of the many of the residents in one of the Mahoning steel several smaller like the many of its residents at the and a of and was on east within of the that at adding a from the at and that their at for their made steel that was a a of to in the This several from the a in as a on the as as and to the The on of the it and for a it with a Although most of these to more at the it was a for Italian Americans to their and a for the like their smaller generally more and and a more than the larger steel which of to the not Italian in the A of the possessed some of the most common being and and their of in the of in the region of southern for greater in the were in they and their not as they the with their at the were in a to more and their living and that of their is also that the from the at the their Italian The from that their Italian at the and were at grew in the of the that the at the were and not that it was and that of the that there and the was to the that such as with their through the labor of and the was but not to their This a from of in larger metropolitan areas in for these and of the of immigrant was the early in their the Mahoning Italian and a of were their in eastern communities such as Buffalo, Italian the . . . the of by or from an and then in turn to as many as they In . . . of Italian in or more on to that Italians and Italian Americans not in Buffalo in the their and In the Mahoning Valley, Italian American in the first two of the twentieth century. This is because the of Italians into the Valley not and it was a in the last two of the nineteenth century. The Mahoning Valley more the midwestern of heartland which Teaford as “a region of . . . living and common in heartland cities than in the metropolises of the or and were than their southern to their In the Steel Valley, it was the of and for the class that for in was not the it in a and to the east of a the mid-nineteenth was the it was the that the as a for The was by some of the most the and the its to the and class and in the the of the were there were a multiple the of larger The were some were of most were The were two and two or of them and two with a The of a and in the and of a which many with The was of a The were about by and the Although these by most early considered them because of the and of these in the the of the the were like The were one the The that was that it was in the a and a but not have a was the of also that and many In these living with the with the with that in these communities the of was by and primarily the of a of from their in and like was common in American in the Midwest, suggest that between a and of in The by was by the that many of the were to or from the in the as their and were as In and at one a of the was that was to be the living was and the was a fairly which be a like a but that as and living that for and at one in a . . . and in one . . . in the living and the a in The U.S. these the in of and their and several the and residents a to their and their Although the were the made of the the As one a from the and and the of in their a in their that the to the and they and of of that from their a between the and an In to most also a that to and the with their of and about the of midwestern cities as being with by which in the metropolitan of the The by the of the their on the a that was more by midwestern than East The was of east or which from the at and across the to and through an to the east and several on The and those to were to those in with two or and two The of the many of these which were to at and to to such and in that the two for and a for made what was to be the the living The was in the that the was in a and two a a As from the the a larger and more in at the eastern of the as having on the and with a also with of the in the which the residents to the on the As be the and the because the were a large a or and and at the and it at one and have it the the be there because they it for a a at with a with also in an of them be to of the of the for some . . . two or were to that Italian to in also provided for the were in the by two first was their of and second was ethnic that they were as or they in a of they and for their and most they the or or a into a they and and from began to to the more general and they their These to an one that the of from but they to in the Mahoning Valley, like many other their and to and and As a part of that they that to their to a of their into a These from the and and other a the of within of to on Valley and grew on east also about a of they to they were that of the that was made in and their he a and he with to and or at of and to to the that they they to a and them for . . . them on the and they to to the and them and at at do that and that of to and from the by and for the at their on of these into larger in more diverse In to those in ethnic in the began to in an Italian of of there and and with in them to most of the were from in the they some of these more of the they the and the to other The be into an for as they or were to one such in part of in the like many the by in the that many in the and its in and was the many multiple was the and in the a with in it The in have the with These Italian and Italian American to their with their that Italians and their Italian American in the Mahoning Valley to to also them to their in and to as an This the of most Italian and Italian American communities in the the first of the twentieth century. of these Italian a and to an Italian they not their than they their as but they also a the Italian saw as or it with the in In and in generally saw their to as by the it was the than an the of Although were he and the that and that was a Although some of them to to and a of them he was on us the have to an . . . be in be to in the This appears to have by at the In a to the at the was primarily to and that be by in that a was he in the or This was the and not the From the to Italian in these communities that was and as the a of the of in and a and to in Cleveland, on a The residents of The or East that was one of the their have a at with was to East a and and to a and a experience which a and it made at a in the and to in there a of the production and made that it was the Great to East and in The from the most of to . . . in the and experience the two that and to in the to and then also to of from at is the of in first in the population of the As a not Italian their as a to early of appear in the from in and for several as a in a Although in at a in and from in at but because of was to a at the the the they to to but at that a not to the and first of were other indicators that the and of the Italian immigrant This is as Italians and Italian Americans their and southern Italian to their in the Mahoning Valley. As to because they are with of and also suggests that in the and most immigrant communities to the with the Italian to the Valley the they with was the they the of from or southern the of that in and to in the Steel Valley. of these traditions the of the and because they the of is an of such a to the of the from the These from the from the and the and being that be the first in the they their for their then they a and some in it and their in began as a of for in from their of by the the to a large for those in as a a to their and in their A of Italian and that as the Italian of for those in their Italian American the the and which is to what Italians and their also to and from their region of such is the or as it is known in their the The was an of with and a as a for The of appears for the a of The is the The for or the it is a made in the by from a as a than as a of that is known as of the of the Italian and is a of the that them to their to This its in two southern Italian or with and which as The first is a primarily of a with The second more of the and a of its to a or of and a or The in many and they are as as the regions from which the are about one of the with a with the generally a of and and to the the is a to the the it in Italian American and at and and within the Mahoning Italian communities a These were to in their and to with their and was also an of to the most such and In Italian is generally a which is The of the is the Italian American to to the of the and to at the and to together and on the As the are the focus of the These in and in a and that in was a those more for those that the a the of the was by they from and then and was to in and in some of the most it was not the to early that most to the and of the the that was to the were with then a the and then by a with in the that the in the the in that the and in to to the for the and the and to the . . . for the and and to the that were for the some into the Mahoning that the its in a and a of This is in Italian and of Italian to their and were in the of the southern Italian and were for the In the Mahoning Valley, and themselves with for the first in their The that made for a and for their to at them to their in such as the of for that was a and a in that at in the and of by of the the by and to be to because the of their a If from them at a As a to many in because was were to and for their others with larger Italian American to the was not as a The of that to the Valley between and not to the and but also a in the of a As Nelson of the was not to the Although the of the was at in in of the what they saw as a from southern and eastern the of were or The was in the Midwest. The Mahoning Valley, with its larger immigrant a of in the Italians and Italian Americans in the Valley were of the ethnic in their communities the of was of with a with on being by as a of to at that with the and the region but was generally or the of the the in the Steel Valley in and and with to the In saw ethnic communities with their to as and they not was a and from their than being to and the their in and from other throughout the in the of a from a that and were divided by more in in the of the to the was that it is not or that is is the of the to of their as an This also that many in the Italian American The an which its of their as with the of and of to to the of in of to the and for those of for and and for to the of not with but by it with the the Italians and Italian Americans in the Valley a identity and the to that of with its in were in from in the of the and to of the of their he that they on and they were the . . . were the on . . . to the of the that of the and was by and Italian those with in a on and the the of on a in to through or not the but the to them was The was that the as part of the to the at the two St. and of and to the of the of were at St. The was and to the in that a the and to and in their or to the at the that and also to the and and they to them and with one of the and it was the that to they and that the and they was they that was and that the together and they that they be to but they they them Their was part of the of a to the and to the of the that the of of of . . . at it can that than at the . . . were than the the were from they the that were a in their their to the of the it is that Italians and Italian Americans the of them being than Americans because of their ethnic and heritage. Nelson that to the them . . . to their in an of This of the as a of and their in the of and the Mahoning Valley on the between the of the east and the Midwest, it many that can be considered uniquely The Valley was by one then most of its The was at the of what Nelson and Teaford the This region was by iron or is not to the Midwest, but it is one of the for its in the nineteenth century. Nelson that the of labor from to common to New . . . and the not in the Midwest the which in midwestern labor in places like Europe of the the American This is of the Mahoning Valley, in the first of the twentieth the Italians and Italian as other on a there was labor and the of the on the to a living in more were and and brought in to for and This also to in with many and some The of in the Midwest for more and than in the for immigrant is to the Italian in the Valley is that many of them with some of in manufacturing and the Italian Americans to in the Their of the of midwestern of and larger the Mahoning Valley not have with the The multiple were or not more than several This may be to the that the large of to the in the first of the twentieth there was for within the of and This that was not have the population of larger metropolises in the The to own to their to in and to do to Italians to their and to the Mahoning Valley, Italian for that a of Italian Americans in the to the of From the from the Italian and also to and and an In Italians and Italian Americans a uniquely from or into a part of America's and the of they with into the two in the and for their the in the first in an to the Italian many made that their not but to their large of the the identity of the region is also to its Italian The of Italian in the Valley. Italian or Italian American and the and Americans do not the

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