About AIHA


Activities:

  • publishes a quarterly national newsletter (with conference notes, book reviews, research in progress, and other AIHA news);


  • includes active regional chapters--New York Metro, Long Island Chapter, and Western Region Chapter;


  • presents annual scholarships and conference subsidies to graduate students whose work focuses on the Italian experience;


  • maintains a website;


  • sponsors joint conferences and programs with such groups as the Center for Migration Studies (New York), the Balch Institute (Philadelphia), the American Jewish Historical Society, and the Canadian Italian Historical Association;


  • maintains an information network with speakers bureaus and directories of members' interests and activities;


  • publishes the proceedings of annual conferences;
               


  • maintains an AIHA Memorial Fund.
The Challenge: Since 1880 more than five million women, men, and children left their birthplace in Italy to make new lives for themselves in North America. As the generations pass, preservation of Italian American culture can only happen through the conscious efforts of groups like AIHA.

Too little is known about this folk migration and its impact on American society. The study of Italian experience is significant for Americans of Italian descent in understanding their own identity. It is important for all Americans as an integral part of the history of the United States and Canada.

Origins: In December 1966, a group of historians, educators, sociologists, and other interested persons met at the LaGuardia Memorial House in New York City and founded the American Italian Historical Association (AIHA). The Association is incorporated as a not-for-profit organization and is tax-exempt under state and federal laws.

History: "The American Italian Historical Association at the Millennium"
by Frank J Cavaioli.

Objectives: Our Association is devoted to the interdisciplinary study of the culture, history, literature, sociology, demography, folklore, and politics of Italians in America. Since its founding, AIHA has published over thirty volumes of the proceedings of its annual conference meetings. Among our 400 members are the most noted professional authorities as well as ethusiastic lay persons. The AIHA uses scientific and scholarly methods as it seeks to explore and disseminate authentic information and interpretation of the wide-ranging experiences of Italians in America.

AIHA seeks to create a true understanding of the American Italian experience. Its members encourage American Italian studies, and collect, preserve, study, and popularize materials that illuminate the American Italian experience in the United States and Canada.

www.aihaweb.org