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Passage to Liberty: The Story of Italian Immigration and the Rebirth of America
Passage to Liberty recaptures the drama of the 19th and 20th century immigration to America through photos, letters, and other artifacts -- uniquely replicated in three-dimensional facsimile form. In the tradition of Lest We Forget, Chronicle's bestselling interactive tour through the African American experience, the text uses the stories of individuals and families -- from early explorers, through the wave of 19th century impoverished families, to contemporary figures -- to recapture the rich heritage the Italian people carried with them over the waves, and planted anew in the American soil. Among the topics covered here
- GenresNonfictionHistory
Hardcover
First published October 8, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 28, 2012
This book is excellent visually and for its somewhat interactive nature: its got removable italian passports, scribbled grocery lists, saints cards, a prison letter from bartolomeo vanzetti to his son, and so on. The visuals and layout are all really tightly and nicely done.
My grandmother gave me this book several years ago sparking an interest in where/what my family came from considering we're so assimilated and middle-class now. Since it was a gift from my grandma, I can't trash it too much.
However, one critique is that it follows the typical narrative of immigration and assimilation into what is portrayed as an inherently fair and free society and nation; Which is neither accurate then nor now. The experiences of recent immigrants to this country (from people much less likely to become white as italians have) and the oppressions they experience should alarm those of us looking back to our history. instead this book follows the dominant culture in the bootstraps narrative about how we overcame. It fails to connect the marginalization, prejudice and stereotyping of italian immigrants then to what's happening today and in particular how racism and xenephobia is perpetuated by italian-americans. it fails to address how the radical italian labor & feminist movements gave america the motivation to open up the concept of whiteness a little to let us in so that we could quiet down.
The violent and hateful reaction of predominantly italian-american residents and police in East Haven, CT to Latinos moving into the city largely from New Haven, where I live is a telling example that we're going to have to do a lot better at writing these histories outside of the cookie-cutter narratives and look at the costs of our assimilation and privilege.
Also, in the celebration of columbus, an italian, as an early pioneer of italians in the americas somehow forgets to mention his genocidal legacy. Columbus was not the first to discover or sail to the americas. He was not the first to believe and act upon the idea that the world was round. He didn't even know where he was when he landed, but when he got there he immediately made plans for enslavement, massacre and christianization for his own profit. This is not a legacy italians need to be celebrating.
My grandmother gave me this book several years ago sparking an interest in where/what my family came from considering we're so assimilated and middle-class now. Since it was a gift from my grandma, I can't trash it too much.
However, one critique is that it follows the typical narrative of immigration and assimilation into what is portrayed as an inherently fair and free society and nation; Which is neither accurate then nor now. The experiences of recent immigrants to this country (from people much less likely to become white as italians have) and the oppressions they experience should alarm those of us looking back to our history. instead this book follows the dominant culture in the bootstraps narrative about how we overcame. It fails to connect the marginalization, prejudice and stereotyping of italian immigrants then to what's happening today and in particular how racism and xenephobia is perpetuated by italian-americans. it fails to address how the radical italian labor & feminist movements gave america the motivation to open up the concept of whiteness a little to let us in so that we could quiet down.
The violent and hateful reaction of predominantly italian-american residents and police in East Haven, CT to Latinos moving into the city largely from New Haven, where I live is a telling example that we're going to have to do a lot better at writing these histories outside of the cookie-cutter narratives and look at the costs of our assimilation and privilege.
Also, in the celebration of columbus, an italian, as an early pioneer of italians in the americas somehow forgets to mention his genocidal legacy. Columbus was not the first to discover or sail to the americas. He was not the first to believe and act upon the idea that the world was round. He didn't even know where he was when he landed, but when he got there he immediately made plans for enslavement, massacre and christianization for his own profit. This is not a legacy italians need to be celebrating.
August 27, 2019
It's my family. And I love that it has all kinds of historical replicas in it.
January 14, 2025
I found this book very interesting. I gained new insight into my Italian family.
January 25, 2012
This book was different from any I have read about Italian immigration and Italian-Americans. It's not long, but it covers from early explorers to present, including a brief history of Italy and what led to the emigration flow. Each chapter is told like a personal story and each includes a copy of some sort of enclosure. Example: a copy of the letter Nicola Sacco wrote to his son while on death row.
It's a feel-good book for Italian-Americans, but it covers a lot of history in a small space and gives a good feel as to what it was like for the early immigrants here; the hardships, the prejudices. I thought the whole book was very well done.
It's a feel-good book for Italian-Americans, but it covers a lot of history in a small space and gives a good feel as to what it was like for the early immigrants here; the hardships, the prejudices. I thought the whole book was very well done.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
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