Tucked away in the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains, not too far from Little Rock, tradition is kept alive between the walls of the Little Italy Arkansas Heritage and Society museum. Little Italy, Arkansas, is a place five Italian families called home in 1915: the Busatos, Perrinis, Belottis, Granatos and Segallas.
Today, that history is kept alive at a local museum and through the voices of the families who still call Little Italy home. Vincent Chiaro is an 86-year-old American of Italian descent living in Little Italy. “All four of my grandparents came from Italy,” Chiaro said, “They settled into Ellis Island. Registered. And then went to Chicago. Heard about this land in Arkansas that was for sale for, I think it was $10 an acre, 40-acre lots.”
