Introduction

The majority of Americans of Italian descent are very proud to be Americans and consider all of our fellow citizens of the USA as members of our national family, regardless of skin color, ethnicity, race, or national origin. Yes, we are Americans. So why do we have our own museums? Why not just demand inclusion into museums already established? Why be separate? Is this volunteer segregation? Segregating ourselves from the rest of American society by our ethnicity?

The answer is complex and I'm sure each person will have their own opinion, however one that I believe is a good explanation is this: practicality. No matter your budget or space, the history and culture of the thousands of different ethnic and cultural groups that immigrated to and developed this country simply can't be told in their entirety in one museum. So many minute yet important aspects of that history and culture will be overlooked in order to keep space for others. Yes, we are happy that Italian immigrants and their descendants, our history and culture, are indeed represented in museums that attempt to tell the overall history of a certain place or of the country itself, along with other ethnic peoples that call themselves Americans. However, those museums, as great as they may be, simply cannot include all the exhibits, issues, events, history, and so on of any one immigrant group like Italians. In our own museums you will learn something you couldn't anywhere else, you will see an exhibit that is not found in the general history museum of any particular City or State.

Far from being separate or giving in to volunteer segregation, we, like other ethnic groups in this country, are proud to be Americans and have our own museums in order to be able to tell you all of our story with as much detail and as many exhibits as possible and from our own ethnic perspective.

So I hope you visit and support the Italian American museums and cultural centers listed below, as I hope you support those of all the great different ethnic and cultural groups who now call this great country home and support them.

Grazie! Auguri!

-Christopher Forte