Labor shortages drew Italian immigrants to Birmingham's coal and steel industries. These new Americans quickly became farmers, grocers and merchants, and the next generation became doctors, bankers and lawyers. Their collective history helped shape the culture of the growing city, which was enriched by their contributions to religion, sports, art, commerce and politics.

Italian immigration into the Birmingham area was widespread during the late 19th and early 20th century as rural depression in southern Italy coincided with the availability of trans-Atlantic passage for immigrant laborers and industrial expansion in Alabama. Though many had arrived in the city's early days, the heaviest waves of Italian immigration occurred after 1890, coinciding with major migrations of rural whites into the district. By 1910 the Italian community was the city's largest single ethnic group, surpassing German and Irish populations which dominated the earliest influx.

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Fonte: Jovina Cooks Italian