Il Progresso Italo-Americano
 | |
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Owner(s) | Carlo Barsotti Generoso Pope |
| Founded | 1880 |
| Ceased publication | 1988 |
| Headquarters | New York City, New York, United States |
Il Progresso Italo-Americano was an Italian-language daily newspaper in the United States, published in New York City from 1880 to 1988, when it was shut down due to a union dispute. In 1989, most journalists of Il Progresso reunited to create a new daily, America Oggi. In the early 20th century Il Progresso was the most popular of New York's Italian newspapers, selling anywhere from 90,000 to 100,000 copies every day.[1]
Founded in 1879 by Carlo Barsotti and Vincenzo Polidori, who were also the first editors, Il Progresso Italo-Americano which for over a century would remain the largest Italian-language newspaper in the United States. In the first years, the recently arrived Italian immigrant Adolfo Rossi was the main editor and the sole correspondent, learning the trade of the American style of journalism - concise writing, facts separated from opinions, objective narration, researching the event where it happens – which was uncommon in Italy. He would return to Italy in 1884, to become one of Italy's most renowned journalists.[2][3]
Il Progresso was a bully pulpit for raising funds for monuments by public subscription in the city of New York. From 1888 to 1921 it promoted monuments to Giuseppe Garibaldi, Christopher Columbus, Giuseppe Verdi, Giovanni da Verrazzano and Dante.
Generoso Pope assumed the direction of the newspaper in 1928, after buying it for $2,052,000. He doubled its circulation to 200,000 in New York City, making it the largest Italian-language daily in the country. The newspaper from 1889 to 1976 is now available on microfilm at the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute in NYC.
The newspaper published sympathetic coverage of Benito Mussolini and portrayed the Italian invasion of Ethiopia as a war between the civilised Italians and savage Ethiopians.[4][5]
In May 2022, New York–based North Sixth Group invested in the revival of Il Progresso Italo-Americano and integrated it into America Domani, or America Tomorrow, a digital media community for Italian Americans. Publishing industry veteran Al DiGuido was named Publisher & CEO.
See also
References
- ^ Guido Rossi, "Il progresso Italo-Americano and its portrayal of Italian-American Servicemen (1941-1945)." Nuova Rivista Storica (2023) 107#2 pp. 759-787.
- ^ Romanato 2015, p. 113-115.
- ^ Bonsaver 2024, pp. 60–67.
- ^ Guglielmo, Thomas A. (2004). White on Arrival Italians, Race, Color, and Power in Chicago, 1890-1945. Oxford University Press. p. 119.
- ^ Hull, Katy (2021). The Machine Has a Soul American Sympathy with Italian Fascism. Princeton University Press. p. 187.
Sources
- Bonsaver, Guido (2024). America in Italian Culture: The Rise of a New Model of Modernity, 1861-1943. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-884946-9.
- Romanato, Gianpaolo (2015). "Le molte vite di Adolfo Rossi: Emigrante, giornalista, ispettore, diplomático" [The Many Lives of Adolfo Rossi: Emigrant, Journalist, Inspector, Diplomat] (PDF). Zibaldone: Estudios italianos de La Torre del Virrey (in Italian). 3 (1): 111-121. ISSN 2255-3576. Retrieved August 15, 2025.
- Rossi, Guido. "Il progresso Italo-Americano and its portrayal of Italian-American Servicemen (1941-1945)." Nuova Rivista Storica (2023) 107#2 pp. 759-787