Over a century
ago, L'Unione
Italiana was founded by a
small visionary group who realized that by
uniting together, the Italian community of Tampa
could overcome many of the social and economic
challenges that confronted those
"turn-of-the-century" immigrants from Italy.
The mission of L'Unione Italiana is to preserve and honor the culture, traditions and heritage of the Italian Community and to maintain the historical facility as a functioning memorial to the working class immigrants.
Since reaching our
100 year anniversary of this venerable
organization, we now become the
"turn-of-the-century Italians." Because of the
courage, imagination, resiliency and pride
that our ancestors brought to this country and
instilled in us, we find ourselves, at the end
of this century, so much better off socially,
economically and educationally than our
immigrant ancestors were. The image of the
gaunt, threadbare, and downtrodden immigrants
carrying suitcases has been replaced by the
appearance of thriving, frequently
fashionable, and confident entrepreneurs,
educators and professionals carrying
briefcases.
The significant transformation in both the status and the stature of Tampa's Italian-American community, now well into its fourth generation, has provided us with new challenges, evolving needs, and concerns much different than those which faced our predecessors. As a result, the formulas by which L'Unione Italiana has operated for over a century no longer effectively served the needs of modern Italians. Since L'Unione Italiana does, indeed, aspire to serve the modern Italians as effectively as it served those early immigrants, we must re-direct our goals to reflect more accurately the interests, identities and profiles of today's Italian-American population. The challenge is to modernize our focus, without abandoning or disregarding the rich heritage that has contributed to what we are today. (Dennis Diecidue, President 1991)