Italians in Chicago Project. Interviews, 1979-1981 | Illinois History and Lincoln Collections

This collection consists of transcribed interviews from the Italians in Chicago Project.

The Italians in Chicago Project was a two-year, multi-faceted program undertaken by the Department of History at the University of Illinois, Chicago from 1979-1981 under the supervision of Professor Dominic Candeloro. The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) provided the funding for the purpose of documenting the Italian-American experience in Chicago. The project included oral history interviews, a symposia series, and an exhibition at the Chicago Public Library Cultural Center.

For the oral history component of the project, 114 Italian-Americans across multiple generations were interviewed. These taped interviews were then transcribed and assembled into booklets. This collection is comprised of copies of these transcripts.

The neighborhoods in this collection are as follows: Austin, Belmont, Belmont/Cragin, Bridgeport, Brookfield, Burnside, California/Polk, Chicago Heights, Chicago/Pulaski, Chicago/Western, Chinatown, Franklin Park, Grand Avenue, Grand/Western, Highland Park, Highwood, LaGrange, Lake View, Melrose Park, Near North Side, Near West Side, River Grove/Near North, Roseland, South Lawndale, Terra Cotta, Westside, and 24^th & Oakley.

Professor Dominic Candeloro, executive director of the project, donated this collection to the Illinois Historical Survey, the predecessor to the Illinois History and Lincoln Collections Unit, in 1989.