It was the Friday of Fourth of July weekend, the day before America’s semiquincentennial, and I was at the Italian American Club in Kenosha for a fish fry (2217 52nd St.; 262-658-4881). Outside, an American flag flew above an Italian flag. Inside, in the empty ballroom, an American flag hung next to an Italian flag. Down the stairs and in the restaurant, American flags flew on the screens of the three televisions hanging along the wall between the glass brick windows.
America is the story of immigrants, of assimilation and ethnic pride, of mass culture and folk culture. It’s the story of living up to ideals and of contradicting them, of successes and failures, of moving forward and backsliding and moving forward again. It’s the story of social clubs, fraternal organizations, and mutual aid societies and their buildings, some having faded away, some having stood for a century or more.
