Una Storia Segreta

WHEN ITALIAN AMERICANS WERE “ENEMY ALIENS”

20th Anniversary

On February 24, 1994, the exhibit Una Storia Segreta: When Italian Americans Were ‘Enemy Aliens’ opened at the Museo Italo Americano in San Francisco. The opening on February 24 memorialized the date in 1942 when enemy aliens of Italian descent living in recently-designated “prohibited zones” on the West Coast had to leave their homes and businesses in those zones and move elsewhere.

Introduction

By the 1930s, the Italian population was at its peak: Italian Americans comprised the largest immigrant group not only in San Francisco, but in the entire United States

PRELUDE TO WAR

Benito Mussolini came to power in 1922 with the now-famous march of his blackshirts to Rome. Although the American left opposed him from the beginning, he was widely touted in the popular press as a “black-shirted Garibaldi.”

Internment

Beginning on the night of December 7, 1941, Japanese, German and Italian aliens were arrested by the FBI. How could this happen? The U.S. had not declared war by that date.

Restrictions

In January of 1942, all enemy aliens were required to register at local post offices around the country. Although all resident aliens had already registered in 1940 under the terms of the Smith Act, now, those branded as ‘enemy’ aliens.

Evacuation

For enemy aliens, February was the “cruelest month.” Fears of a Japanese invasion of the West Coast ran wild. After a Japanese submarine apparently landed some torpedoes in Santa Barbara, the pressure to move the Japanese population soared.

Exclusion

The Western Defense Commander, Lt. General John L. DeWitt, wanted to remove not only aliens, but also naturalized citizens from the “sensitive” military zones along the Pacific Coast.

Aftermath

It is time America realized what is fundamental to its creed: to condemn one of us on the basis of our origins, national or otherwise, is to condemn us all.

Supplements

The photos and documents that appear in Una Storia Segreta were gathered when the exhibit was mounted in late 1993 and 1994. Since that time, additional information, materials, documents and photographs have been discovered through research and from informants.