History of Italians in Texas

Italians in Texas Before the 20th Century

by Allison Frank

When did the first Italians arrive in Texas? Earlier than you might think! Acting as explorers, missionaries, and even one ship-builder, a small but notable number of Italians were involved in the Spanish colonial period in the region, all the way back in the 16th century. 

Hundreds of years later, there were Italians fighting for both the Mexican government and for Texan Independence. In 1836, the Italian-born General Vicente Filisola led the Mexican Army as second-in-command, while Prospero Bernardi earned a first class grant for his service to the Texan Army at the Battle of San Jacinto. You can see a statue of Bernardi today at the State Fair Park in Dallas, created by Italian Texan sculptor Pompeo Coppini. 

In the Republic of Texas era (1836-1846) and in the years leading up to the Civil War, Texas saw a small number of Italian immigrants. Despite there being fewer than 100 Italian immigrants living in the state in 1860, they worked an astonishing variety of jobs, from clerk, barkeeper, hotel operator, merchant, craftsman, and rancher. 

These early Italian immigrants largely came from the north of Italy– often Lombardy and Piedmont– usually migrating independently and integrating into broader Texan society. This early migration differs from post-Civil War waves of Italians in Texas, who settled in tighter-knit communities.

After the Civil War, larger groups of Italian immigrants would become the founders of these Italian enclaves, in cities like Bryan, Galveston, Dickinson and San Antonio. Another such enclave was the coal mining town of Thurber that prospered in the 1880s, west of Fort Worth. There were the many immigrants with Sicilian origins in Bryan, and the largely Piedmontese Italians who formed a community in Montague County, north of Dallas. 

Many Italian immigrants from the 1870s to 1900 were recruited in Europe or at American ports, like Galveston and New Orleans, to work in Texan coal mines, on the railroads, and for the cotton industry in Brazos County. Many other Italians came to Texas to start their own agricultural endeavors, supported by the Italian consulate purchasing land in the region around Dickinson that Italian immigrants could lease and eventually own. Other Italians in Texas showcased their entrepreneurial spirit with the founding of companies like Lucchese Bootmaker in San Antonio in 1883.

Italians have participated in the history of Texas since the colonial era. Though in small numbers at first, the variance of their contributions reflects a steady contribution to Texan communities that changed in scope in the years following the Civil War. Italian migrants founded communities that have persisted to the modern day and contributed to the economic and cultural development of Texas.

 

Sicilians in Bryan, Texas

by Simone Mericle

The Brazos Valley is an unsuspecting area in central Texas, currently home to small towns and Texas A&M University. Though to some, it is unknown that it once held the largest population of Italian farmers in the United States. Post-unification conditions of Italy and post-Civil War emancipation in the United States, along with racial turmoil in the South, created a perfect storm for Sicilian immigration into Brazos County.

To understand the immigration of Sicilians into Texas, more specifically Brazos County, we must understand the history of Italians in Louisiana. After the Civil War, there was a labor shortage in Louisiana, and eager businessmen in the South sent ads in European newspapers in hopes of finding cheap labor. The impoverished southern Italian farmers answered their calls and moved to New Orleans with almost nothing. Life in Louisiana wasn’t all the dream these immigrants had imagined. While they formed a community and found work, they also faced heavy prejudice and racial discrimination from the white community. After disease, exploitation, and lynchings hit the Italian community hard, they found refuge in Brazos County.

The hot central Texas sun and arid land create an environment very similar to the harsh lands in southern Italy that these farmers were used to tending. Texas, also facing a lack of labor after the emancipation of slaves, sought out cheap immigrant and Italian labor. Many Italians who were recruited to build railroads found their way to rural Texas towns like Bryan to work in agriculture once the railroads were finished. Businessmen found the Sicilians to be extremely hard workers. Landowners who had purchased land wanted the immigrants to develop a farming economy to increase the value of their land. The Società di Collezzazione Italiana del Texas purchased thousands of acres of land for Italian immigrants. In the early 1900s, the population of Bryan was 5,000 citizens, of which 60 percent were Sicilian.

Most of the Sicilian immigrants came from Poggioreale, Corleone, Salaparuta, and Bivona, Sicily. The interactions between all of these people of different Sicilian backgrounds were extremely foreign to them, something they wouldn’t have been able to have in Sicily. St. Anthony’s church was a center for community for not only the Italian immigrants, but also Mexican Americans and Mexican immigrants. The similar cultures created a companionship, another example of cross-culturalization in Bryan. Along with the Mexican community, the African American community worked and lived closely with the Sicilians because of farm labor and segregation. Sicilian children and African Americans often went to the same segregated schools together.

Despite the xenophobia they faced in the 20th century, the Sicilians stayed true to their culture and traditions. St.Anthony’s church still stands, as does the Varisco building in downtown Bryan, a few of the many symbols of the region's past. While the Italian population in Bryan is a small fraction of what it once was, the community still gathers to keep their heritage alive. A newer festival, Festa Italiana, is held in September; it is a modern example of community and unification in Bryan through the ever-present Italian heritage.

 

Gender and Family

by Ilaria Cielo 

When the majority of Italian immigrants arrived in Texas throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, their family lives carried over many normalities that shaped gender roles in more traditional ways. Earliest generations of immigrants were patriarchal, where the father or oldest male was almost always the primary decision maker. These figures would typically handle the finances, business, and external community relations. On the other hand, mothers and women were focused on more of a domestic role, which included raising children, managing the household, cooking, and maintaining cultural traditions. From young ages, children (often girls) would oftentimes assist in household chores. Grandparents, older aunts and uncles, and extended family commonly lived within the household or nearby, strengthening the tradition of multi-generational households. 

Another gendered aspect of Italian households was the transmission of language and culture. Women, particularly mothers and grandmothers, typically held most of the responsibility for teaching the next generation the Italian language. Culture was passed down through recipes, stories, and religious traditions. In many cases, the eldest generation fulfilled the role of being keepers of memory through domestic rituals or oral traditions. Fathers were more likely to interact with others in business settings, although they could also play roles in the ethnic and religious communities. 

After the second and third generations of Italian immigrants had passed, the gendered dynamic started shifting. Younger women started to have more opportunities for social mobility, education, and employment outside of the home. Gender expectations loosened as the pressure of acculturation, such as learning English and engaging with American culture, increased. It became more common for women to join the workforce, pursue higher education, and adopt more “American” norms of both childrearing and the division of labor within the home. Sometimes, this could create intergenerational tensions between the younger and the older generations, often when elders insisted on adhering to traditional Italian customs.

Italians that settled in locations that were rural or agricultural, such as Montague County and Brazos Valley, had family units that depended on shared labor. Regardless of gender, women, men, and children participated in the joint efforts to maintain their home and lands. Younger women helped work the gardens, food preservation, acted as farm hands, and assisted in family business. Both men and boys did the heavier field and construction work. Within the context, the lines were often blurred regarding the domestic and economic work that needed to be completed. Gendered expectations of leadership and public roles were held, but the rigidity in which they were maintained faded over time. 

Overall, the Italian-Texan family dynamic over the generations tells a story of tradition, adaptation, and the change of gendered expectations. Over time, the strict gender roles that were aligned with traditional Italian culture have slowly changed due to the influence of American culture, education, and evolving economic demands. Traces of these past expectations persist, fundamentally shaping the complex and unique cultural synthesis that defines the Italian-Texan experience.