Italian-American Heritage Month is under way

About Italian-American Heritage Month

Italian-American Heritage Month looks at the story of Italian immigration to the United States and at what Italian Americans have added to the country's food, music, film, art, science, business, labor movements and public life. It also recalls the discrimination many Italian immigrants faced after arriving, which President Barack Obama's 2010 proclamation described as racial, social and religious. October ties in with Columbus Day: President Jimmy Carter's 1980 proclamation of an Italian-American Heritage Week, requested by Congress for the week of October 12, called Columbus Day a symbol of the nation's debt to Italian Americans.

The month itself began with a joint resolution. In 1989 Congress passed House Joint Resolution 392, designating October 1989 as Italian-American Heritage and Culture Month and asking the president to issue a proclamation. President George H. W. Bush did so on October 12, 1989, and proclaimed the month again in 1990.

Unlike some heritage months, this one has not been proclaimed every year. Congress designated October 1994 through Public Law 103-309, and President Bill Clinton's proclamation that year noted that nearly four million people left Italy for America between 1880 and 1914. President Barack Obama proclaimed Italian American Heritage and Culture Month in October 2010. In other years, Italian American heritage has more often been recognized through Columbus Day proclamations and White House events, such as an Italian American Heritage Month reception hosted by First Lady Jill Biden in October 2023.

The month is a commemorative observance, not a holiday. Italian American organizations, cultural centers, parishes, universities and local communities use October for festivals, lectures, film series and food events.

Sources: American Presidency Project: Proclamation 6045, Italian-American Heritage and Culture Month, 1989, American Presidency Project: Proclamation 6723, Italian-American Heritage and Culture Month, 1994, American Presidency Project: Proclamation 8585, Italian American Heritage and Culture Month, 2010, American Presidency Project: Remarks by the First Lady at an Italian American Heritage Month Reception, 2023. How we check dates.

How to mark Italian-American Heritage Month

• Cook a regional Italian dish your family makes, or one from a region you don't know, and write down the recipe and its story for younger relatives.
• Look for an immigrant ancestor in passenger lists and naturalization records through the National Archives or a public library's genealogy databases.
• Visit an Italian American museum, historic neighborhood or cultural center, or attend a local October festival.
• Watch a film by an Italian American director or read a novel by an Italian American author and discuss it with friends.
• Learn a few phrases of Italian, or of a regional language your family spoke, through a free course or app.

Italian-American Heritage Month dates