The Neighborhood House: The Americanization Forerunner of Madison's Italian Community, 1916-1927

Abstract

In a broad scope, the paper addresses Italian immigration to the United States and the socioeconomic problems Italians faced in the transition from Italian to American culture. More specifically, the content focuses on Italians in Madison, Wisconsin from approximately 1916 to 1927. Inspired by the research and thesis of University of Wisconsin graduate student Henry Barnbrock Jr., a settlement house known as Neighborhood House was founded in Madison's foreign colony to provide basic social services and English classes to Italian immigrants. Due to the duality of funding, the organization transformed into a movement with the chief goal of assimilating the foreigners to American culture via the sponsorship of the National Department of Vocational Education. The NDVE adopted the Americanization program of the Department of the Interior, and the program was implemented upon Madison's foreign community via Neighborhood House.