Beyond Cannery Row : Sicilian women, immigration, and community in Monterey, California, 1915-99 / Carol Lynn McKibben.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McKibben, Carol Lynn, 1955-

Series:

Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Centennial series

Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island centennial series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Italian American women--California--Monterey--Social conditions--20th century.

Italian American women.

Women immigrants--California--Monterey--Social conditions--20th century.

Women immigrants.

Community life.

History.

Fish canneries.

Fishers.

Italian American families.

Social conditions.

Sicily (Italy)--Emigration and immigration--History--20th century.

Sicily (Italy).

Monterey (Calif.)--Emigration and immigration--History--20th century.

Monterey (Calif.).

Italian American families--California--Monterey--History--20th century.

Fishers--California--Monterey--History--20th century.

Fish canneries--California--Monterey--History--20th century.

Community life--California--Monterey--History--20th century.

Monterey (Calif.)--Social conditions--20th century.

Monterey (Calif.)--Social life and customs--20th century.

California--Monterey.

Physical Description:

x, 159 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, map ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Urbana : University of Illinois Press, [2006]

Summary:

Presenting a nuanced story of women, migration, community, industry, and civic life at the turn of the twentieth century, Carol Lynn McKibben's Beyond Cannery Row analyzes the processes of migration and settlement of Sicilian fisherpeople from three villages in western Sicily to Monterey, California-and sometimes back again.

McKibben's study of gender and gender roles shows that it was the women in this community who had the insight, the power, and the purpose to respond and even prosper amid changing economic conditions. Vividly evoking the immigrants' everyday experiences through first-person accounts and detailed description, McKibben demonstrates that the cannery work done by Sicilian immigrant women was crucial in terms of identity formation and community development. These strengths allowed their families to survive the challenges of political conflicts over citizenship in World War II and intermarriage with outsiders throughout the migration experience. The women established voluntary associations and celebrated festas that effectively linked them with each other and with their home villages in Sicily. Continual migration created a strong sense of transnationalism among Sicilians in Monterey, which has enabled them to continue as a viable ethnic community today.

Contents:

1 Sicilian Women, Fishing Lives, and Migration Strategies 13

2 Work and Identity 35

3 Family, Conflict, Community 57

4 Good Americans 75

5 Women on Parade: The Political Meaning of the Festa 98.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [139]-151) and index.

ISBN:

0252030583

0252073002

OCLC:

60500719

Publisher Number:

9780252030581

9780252073007