Memorial Bricks. Watch Live. Prayer Requests. The history of the Italian immigration to Rockford goes back more than years. In a certain sense, it is still a history being made. However, it is easy to identify in this brief article two great phases. The first, in which the Italian migratory current was a small stream, began in with the Maffioli family.
The second, in which the stream becomes a surging wave, began later and continued into the 's when millions of Italians, principally from Central and Southern Italy, moved abroad.
Immediately after the first World War, there would have been anther wave of immigration if it had not been stopped by restrictive legislation passed by Congress which set the Italian quota at 5, immigrants per year quota system.
The law of Immigration Reform Act abandoned the quota system, an injustice against which the Order Sons of Italy in America fought for many years. Since then more than 20, Italians have entered the United States yearly. According to government statistics, almost 10, Rockford households are of Italian origin. The immigrants settled in two areas Madison street and South Rockford.
This permitted them to defend themselves against the prejudice of the native Americans and to preserve the customs and habits which they brought from their place of origin. This also made them feel less isolated in a world so different in language, religion and traditions.
