The Order Sons of Italy in America (Sons of Italy or OSIA for short) is the largest and oldest national organization for men and women of Italian heritage in the United States. A similar organization exists in Canada. History: It was founded on June 22, 1905 by Dr. Vincenzo Sellaro to help assimilate Italians into American society during the immigration boom of the early 20th century. In 1928 Dr.
Sellaro was given the key to the City of New York in recognition of his social and medical achievements. After World War II, the organization faced criticism for the "heavy involvement by the OSIA in Mussolini's Fascist propaganda campaign in the 1920s and 1930s".During its history, OSIA has been involved in promoting immigration legislation, assisting in the assimilation process, supporting cooperation, trade, and diplomatic relations between the United States and Italy, initiating social and fraternal events, encouraging educational achievement through scholarships, serving local communities through a variety of cultural events and raising funds for local charities, and providing low-cost group financial investments and insurance. Mission: As an Italian American organization its current missions include encouraging the study of Italian language and culture in American schools and universities, preserving Italian American traditions, culture, history and heritage, and promoting closer cultural relations between the United States and Italy. The Order Sons of Italy contains two subsidiaries: The Sons of Italy Foundation (SIF), is a private, philanthropic institution established by OSIA in 1959. To date, the SIF has given nearly $163 million to scholarships, medical research, cultural preservation, disaster relief, and other causes. The Commission for Social Justice (CSJ), founded in 1979 to protest the stereotyping of Italian Americans by entertainment, advertising and news industries. In 2009, the CSJ successfully worked to remove from the air 3 offensive, derogatory national advertising campaigns by major U.S. Today OSIA has more than 600,000 members and supporters and a network of more than 650 chapters coast to coast, making it the leading service and advocacy organization for the nation's estimated 26 million people of Italian descent.
