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Italy Research Outline |
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Table of Contents
Introduction
Helps For Using This Research Outline
Italian Search Strategies
Records At The Family History Library
Archives And Libraries
Provincial Archives [Archivio Di Stato]
Local Civil Offices [Comune]
Church Archives
Church Parish
Other Libraries
Historical And Genealogical Societies
Inventories, Registers, Catalogs
Computer Networks And Bulletin Boards
Biography
Census
Understanding The Census
Availability Of Census Records
Church Directories
Church History
Roman Catholic
Waldensians
Eastern Or Greek Orthodox
Other Churches
Church Records
General Historical Background
Duplicate Church Records
Information Recorded In Church Registers
Finding Church Records
Search Strategies
Records Of Non-catholic Religions
Civil Registration
General Historical Background
Information Recorded In Civil Registers
Finding Civil Registration Records
Court Records
Directories
Emigration And Immigration
Finding The Emigrant’s Town Of Origin
Emigration From Italy
Records Of Italian Emigrants In Their Destination Countries
Immigration Into Italy
Gazetteers
Genealogy
Major Collections And Databases
Family Histories
Genealogical Collections
Heraldry
Historical Geography
History
Local Histories
Jewish History
Jewish Records
Language And Languages
Maps
Military Records
Historical Background
Military Records Of Genealogical Value
Finding Military Records
Minorities
Names, Personal
Surnames
Given Names
Nobility
Notarial Records
Periodicals
Probate Records
Schools
Social Life And Customs
Societies
Other Records Of Italy
For Further Reading
Comments And Suggestions
EMIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION Emigration and immigration sources list the names of people leaving (emigration) or coming into (immigration) Italy. These sources are usually found as passenger lists. The information in these records may include the names of the emigrants; their ages, occupations, and destinations; and often their places of origin or birthplaces.
Records were created when individuals emigrated from or immigrated into Italy. Separate records document an ancestor’s arrival in his destination country. This section discusses:
Unfortunately, few Italian emigration records exist. You can, however, find many records in the United States of Italians who moved there. Some South American countries also have records of Italian immigrants.
Once you have traced your family back to your immigrant ancestor, you must determine the city or town from which he or she came.
Several sources may give this information. You may be able to find it by talking to older family members or by searching documents, such as:
Although few emigration records exist for Italy, several other sources can help you track your immigrant ancestor’s place of origin. See the “Records of Italian Emigrants in their Destination Countries” in this section, below.
Additional information about finding the origins of immigrant ancestors is given in the Tracing Immigrant Origins (34111) research outline.
Italian emigration can be divided into two major periods, with about 10,000 emigrants leaving prior to the first period.
Most emigrants were from southern Italy and settled in New York, Chicago, and along the East Coast. Many emigrants from northern Italy settled in the coal and mineral mining towns across the United States. Other northerners later settled in northern California where a climate similar to their own existed.
Besides going to the United States, many Italian emigrants went to Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Australia, and Canada.
During the 1800s, most Italian emigrants left through the ports of Le Havre, Marseilles, and Nice in France, and Genova, Napoli, and Palermo in Italy. Although some of the records of departures from these Italian ports exist, they are usually shipping lists and do not list passengers. Each individual shipping company maintained its own lists, and most lists have been lost or destroyed. However, other sources of emigration information are described under “Records of Italian Emigrants in Their Destination Countries” and “Finding the Emigrant’s Town of Origin” in this section.
In 1869 the Italian government began requiring people to obtain passports to move within Italy. However, the United States and many other countries did not require passports, so many Italians left Italy without an official passport.
The Italian government used passports to make sure young Italian men did not emigrate to avoid the military draft. Consequently, police were responsible for passports. Passports are still issued today by the questura (head of the internal police) in each province. Although you may write to request passport information, the archives where these records are kept are not open to the public. You will generally find passports among the personal papers of the emigrant’s family in his or her destination country.
Because passport records can be hard to find and access, you may want to check with the anagrafe (registrar’s office) in each comune. This office keeps records of residency changes and emigration along with dates and probable destinations.
Sometimes the best sources for information about your emigrant ancestor are found in the country to which he or she emigrated. Emigrants from Italy in the earliest period of emigration settled in New Orleans, New York, and along the eastern seaboard. Later, emigrants settled in New York, Chicago, Pennsylvania, Colorado, California, and elsewhere.
Records in the places where emigrants settled sometimes provide the town of origin and other information. To learn about these records, use handbooks, manuals, and research outlines for those areas.
Many people moved to Italy during the following periods:
Unfortunately, very few immigration sources exist for Italy. Instead, look for emigration records of the country from which your ancestor moved.
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Finding the Emigrant’s Town of Origin
Emigration From Italy
Passenger Lists
Other Records of Departure
Records of Italian Emigrants in Their Destination Countries
United States
Italians to America, Lists of Passengers Arriving at U.S. Ports, 1880–1899. Wilmington, Delaware: Scholarly Resources, 1992–. (FHL book US/CANADA Ref 973 W2it v. 1–9; computer number 653664.) This work contains passenger lists for those ships with Italian passengers.
Immigration into Italy
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Version of Data: 6/8/2001]