And They Came to Chicago: The Italian American Legacy

Narrated by Tony Award-winner Joe Mantegna, And They Came To Chicago: The Italian American Legacy traces an extraordinary chapter of the Italian-American experience in the United States. It begins in Chicago in the 1850's, when Italian entrepreneurs first built thriving businesses around today's Loop. The Midwest's manufacturing and railroad center soon became a primary destination for scores of others following the tumultuous aftermath of Italian unification. The saga unfolds from there: the struggle to gain acceptance on the factory floor, the establishment of Italian parishes, the anti-immigrant backlash and Prohibition, aviator Italo Balbo's headline-grabbing flight from Rome to Chicago during the 1933 Century of Progress Exposition, and the heroism of Italian Americans servicemen and women during World War Two even as their families' loyalty was being questioned on the homefront. And finally, the post-war era, a study in contrasts between the increasing presence of professional Italian Americans in the mainstream and urban renewal's devastating impact on key Italian enclaves. Through rare archival photographs and footage, interviews with historians and Chicago Italian Americans of many generations, And They Came To Chicago: The Italian American Legacy is a universal tale of adversity and triumph, fierce individualism and the strong bonds of community, an American story celebrating italianità and the courage of ancestors who first made the journey.