Order Sons of Italy in America

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Logo of Sons of Italy, which is the largest Italian American fraternal organization in the United States.

The Order Sons of Italy in America (OSIA) is the largest and oldest Italian American fraternal organization in the United States.

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 New York in recognition of his social and medical achievements.

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.

The Order Sons of Italy contains 2 subsidiaries:

The Sons of Italy Foundation (SIF)- The charitable arm of the Sons of Italy which has given more than $93 million to medical research, disaster relief and scholarships since 1959.
The Commission for Social Justice (CSJ)- Founded in 1979 to fight the stereotyping of Italian Americans by the entertainment, advertising and news industries.see anti-Italianism.

The CSJ is famous for protesting negative stereotypes of Italian Americans in the media and the entertainment industry. For example, Sons of Italy Commission for Social Justice has led campaigns to get The Sopranos taken off of the air, and they objected to actor Robert De Niro receiving honorary Italian citizenship (believing his roles to be negative stereotypes).

Nowadays the Order accepts female members and supports a number of charities as well as ties to the Italian homeland.