Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Italians of Denver- In 1922, Italians were a QUARTER of the Total Population of Colorado

The ANNOTICO Report

 

Lured by the thought of wealth and opportunity, thousands of Italians came to Denver and settled near the South Platte. As the community grew  more influential, the further north they went until they settled in North Denver.

By 1922, Italians made up almost a quarter of the total population of Colorado.

There are two slide shows available on the 9News Site.

 

Italians of Denver

9NEWS.com - Denver,CO,USA

By Valentina Garcia Assignment Desk Editor  

November 13, 2007 

 

VIEW SLIDESHOW 1
VIEW SLIDESHOW 2

 


DENVER  Love, family, community, tradition and sacrifice. Those are the words Colorado History Museum Curator Alisa Zahller uses to describe the Italian immigrants who settled in Denver in the 1920's.

 

As seen on 9NEWS at 6 a.m., Kyle Dyer was live from Our Lady of Mount Carmel on 35th and Navajo, an area known for its Italian history.

Lured by the thought of wealth and opportunity, thousands of Italians came to Denver and settled near the South Platte. As the community grew more influential, the further north they went until they settled in North Denver.

By 1922, Italians made up almost a quarter of the total population of Colorado.

An exhibit chronicling the lives of the Italian immigrants, Italians of Denver, is on display at the Colorado History museum and curator Alisa Zahller said the project took nearly five years to research.

"We embarked on this project because the Colorado Historical Society had very little archival information about Colorado's Italian American community-where they came from, how they lived, what they did to survive," she said. "Families donated thousands of photographs and artifacts ove r the course of five years, all of which will help preserve the legacy of the state's Italian Americans for future generations to access and research."

Facts:

- 200,000 Italian Americans live in Colorado.
- First in Colorado: Mid 1800's
- In 1922 Italian Americans made up 22% of the population in Denver
- North Denver was known as, "little Italy."

 

The ANNOTICO Reports Can be Viewed (and are Archived) on:

Italia USA: http://www.ItaliaUSA.com [Formerly Italy at St Louis] (7 years)

Italia Mia: http://www.ItaliaMia.com (3 years)

Annotico Email: annotico@earthlink.net