San Jose
Why is San Jose’s Little Italy in particular so overlooked? Although Gianfranco Norelli’s documentary Finding the Mother Lode: Italian Americans in California does briefly highlight the Italian Jesuits in San Jose and Santa Clara when stating “In 1851, Italian Jesuits establish Santa Clara College, the first institution of higher learning in California.” (Norelli 37:12), the film does not discuss it in further detail even though it does mention the area. In reality, this Little Italy in particular has less popularity among visitors compared to other more prominent Little Italies for many reasons, such as its small size and lack of preserved landmarks. Little Italy San Jose is located between the River Street area that borders the SAP Center and San Pedro Square (L’Italo Americano). Unlike those within nearby cities such as San Francisco, the one in San Jose is considered to be the “Littlest Little Italy” (Zavoral).
When the post-World War II era began, the whole population in San Jose boomed well into the sixties after following the trend of suburbanization that was caused by new programs financed by the federal government. This sparked the urbanization of the neighborhoods including where the Italian immigrants resided and forced them to move out, causing the loss of unpreserved Italian American History within the West-of-Market neighborhood. The urbanization also led to the rise in tech industries that led San Jose to become the center of Silicon Valley today. Additionally, the two World Wars led to an increase in security that would severely affect the entry of new immigrants and deem immigrants currently in America as enemy aliens, who were faced with many restrictions while living in America during that time. This was seen prominently after the bombing of Pearl Harbor after President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Proclamation 2527 to impose these restrictions (Laurino 185). As a result, Italian Americans throughout the twentieth century struggled to preserve their culture in San Jose.
With the increased security put in place by the United States government after World War II, Italian Americans could not migrate easily to the United States as the new restrictions formed from Proclamation 2527 were made to be very limited. The limitations ended up holding back the American economy and caused more discrimination towards the Italian Americans. Fortunately, notable Italians such as Monsignor Luigi Ligutti, who was born in Italy and immigrated to Des Moines, Iowa to work for a rural diocese, recognized how important it was for the Italians to migrate to America so they could work and send the money they earned in America and send it back to their families in Italy (CMS Archives). Doing this both helped the American economy and helped the American effort to rebuild the war-torn regions of Italy after World War II. Once the Immigration Act was passed in 1965, Italian immigrants migrated to a small selection of American cities including back to San Jose (Velikonja).
Despite the community’s long history of having Italian settlements, San Jose’s Little Italy is not very recognizable. This is mostly because of local urbanization of San Jose that displaced most of the original Italian community. Due to the Little Italy’s small size, lack of landmarks, and blending into its surroundings, the Little Italy neighborhood is often overlooked and unrecognized. One of the reasons why San Jose’s Little Italy is overlooked today is because it is much smaller compared to the rest of the city and other Little Italies. After many years of local urbanization in San Jose and tight federal immigration laws, lots of the original Italian culture in the form of buildings was lost. The current site of Little Italy San Jose consists of just under fifteen houses and a few restaurants that are being preserved by the Italian Community. Additionally, the community was relocated northwest of the original Italian neighborhood boundaries of West-of-Market on the other side of the freeway viaduct.
Another possible reason San Jose’s Little Italy is overlooked is because it is hard to find and does not stand out within its city as much as in other cities. Since it is primarily along a short narrow street and consists of a bunch of small houses, it only stands out as a tiny suburb surrounded by an urban city. This ordinary appearance makes the area look less attractive than a typical Little Italy, which usually has more streets lined with restaurants and other businesses that express their culture which stick out from the ordinary urban environment. Additionally, despite there being an archway with a sign that reads “Little Italy” over the street to indicate the primary gateway, it does not have many signs on the roads leading to it directing drivers on how to get there. San Jose’s Little Italy is adjacent to other areas that look just like it. If one is driving through Little Italy in San Jose, it is tough to tell if you are in a different part of town versus a specific part of town which is Little Italy.