Order of Sons of Italy in America

 


The Order of the Sons of Italy in America was founded in 1905 in New York City as an ethnic fraternal society for American men and women of Italian descent. The order publishes OSIA News monthly; State Newspapers monthly; a national directory; Italian-American Characters in Television and Entertainment; and a Survey of Italian-American Representation. There were 500,000 members in 1995.
The Sons of Italy was founded at the time of many other ethnic fraternal organizations, but instead of evolving into an insurance society, it remained more involved with cultural, educational, and charitable work, as well as establishing a Commission for Social Justice, the anti-defamation arm of the organization. The Sons also fund scholarships; civic programs; its own Garibaldi-Meucci Museum; and general charities such as the March of Dimes. Many of its members are apparently not Italian-Americans, but people of other ancestry who support the goals and works of the Sons of Italy.
The ritual is of peripheral interest only, but the Sons do don uniforms for parades. The structure is the familiar three-level arrangement of Lodge, State Lodge (formerly Grand Lodge) and Supreme Lodge (national).

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