Many of us who have researched our Italian immigrant family history find it to be a very rewarding experience. We develop our family tree and may even find relatives we never knew existed. The research provides a sense of closure in knowing our roots, who we are and where we come from. 

Just as in any aspect of life today statistics and its data/numbers drive decision making.  So here you might ask, what does that have to do with our shared Italian American experience?  Combing through genealogy type records can yield data that may uncover a pattern of migration, specifically, early mass migration, the Great Arrival to America. 

For us, I and my cousin Erick it had a lot to do with researching our Italian immigrant family that were part of the Great Arrival. We are third and fourth generation direct descendants of Aniello and Elisa (Basile) Lucera who came to America in 1902 and 1910, respectively. Our grandparents came from Comune di Biccari (Puglia-Foggia) and settled in the Little Italy enclave of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (South Philly/Tacony). Their story is much the same as many other Italian immigrants who journeyed across the Atlantic. 

Our initial genealogy research had uncovered the typical findings; declaration of intent papers, naturalization/immigration records, ship manifests, marriage records, birth/death records, census records, old family photos, along with some digitized old newspaper clippings. Erick through his many trips to Italy (Biccari) had uncovered local town/church records, and more importantly had met relatives of ours who were the local town historians.  Our distant relatives Gennaro Lucera and Guiseppe Osvaldo Lucera of Comune di Biccari were the subject matter experts regarding the emigration that took villagers from Comune di Biccari to settle in the Italian enclave of Philadelphia. 

With Erick’s background in financial/data analysis, he took this collection of family records and was able to generate an interactive cluster diagram. Once again, what does that have to do with our Italian American experience?  A cluster diagram is a type of visual graphic that can show a series of plotted data points all “clustered” together.  

The cluster diagram shown here of the City of Philadelphia is a result of this genealogy research. The graphic depicts the location and concentration of where Italian immigrants (approximately 1,200) from Comune di Biccari settled in Philadelphia.

This genealogy research had uncovered what is commonly noted in many Italian American circles, that of a “paese”.  There are a variety of definitions that define a “paese” – for instance coming from the same local town/village/region or hometown/native country. Another often referenced word when discussing one’s place of origin is the concept of “campanilismo.” Derived from the word campanile (bell tower) and before Italy’s unification one's hometown would have been synonymous with one's native land.  This is closely related to "campanilismo," which held that once out of hearing of the local town bell tower (the highest structure in the town), you were in a "foreign" (outside of your respective town) land. 

Using most of the 1930 census for Philadelphia and other address type records, Erick was able to ascertain all immigrants who recorded their birthplace as Biccari/Foggia, Italy.  In doing so, this yielded a total of about 1,200 people who were from Biccari and were at that time residing in Philadelphia. Clearly this showed a cluster of immigrants from the same paese and no doubt “chain migration” was at work here.  

Surely, we’ve all read and personally know about our respective ancestors sharing the same region or town of origin; Lazio, Molise, Calabria, Abbuzzo, Puglia, Sicilia, Basilicata, Campania, etc. However, having a specific count of 1,200 immigrants coming from the same town may not be normally specified. 

Erick along with our relatives Gennaro and Guiseppe collaborated and wrote a bilingual book about this paese discovery.  The book titled; “Birth of New Biccari in Philadelphia” describes the genealogy research conducted that indicates a “New Biccari” had been established by the 1,200 immigrants from Comune di Biccari.  Pockets and sections of Philadelphia became home to these Biccarese townspeople, many of them our personal ancestors. This is the story of many who share in our Italian American experience…having Italian immigrant ancestors settling in large numbers in cities across America to form a paese – sharing the same town/region of Italy.

Many mutual aid societies and associations were formed by immigrants who shared the same village/town.

The next time you, your family or friends discuss the ancestral region/town of Italy you share; ask, “I wonder how many from our ancestral town settled here (Cleveland, Chicago, Pittsburgh, New York, New Orleans, St. Louis, Boston, Newark, etc.) to form our “New Paese” in America?