The Italian-American vote in Providence, Rhode Island, 1916-1948

"Italian Americans made a significant contribution to Franklin D. Roosevelt's election to the White House in 1932 and to the victory of the Democratic Party in the four subsequent presidential contests. This volume offers a case study of their electoral behavior. Through a quantitative analysis of the Italian-American vote between 1916 and 1948, this study demonstrates that, contrary to conventional wisdom, the creation of a Democratic majority in Providence's "Little Italy" foreran both Alfred Smith's 1928 candidacy for the presidency and the Depression of the 1930s. It also shows that Italian Americans' Democratic allegiance survived World War II and underwent a revitalization in the postwar years."--BOOK JACKET.