Captive Sites of Memory: Conflicting Italian Identities in the United States During World War II

Laura E. Ruberto, Berkeley City College

This talk considers the material legacies of surveillance, restrictions, and imprisonment of different groups of people on US soil in the years leading up and during World War II: Italian resident “enemy aliens,” Italian non-resident “enemy aliens,” and Italian POWs. The differing ways Italians and Italian Americans were treated were not only influenced by political concerns but also by practices of xenophobia and racism, a point made especially clear in comparison to the experiences of Japanese Americans. Considering artifacts and sites from across the country, as well as cultural representations and oral histories, this talk reflects on how political pressure, cultural visibility, and an emerging position of whiteness helped build public acceptance of Italian Americans while shaping a contemporary position of victimhood. 

In conjunction with the exhibition Creativity and World War II Italian POWs in the United States.