The Importance Of Albanian Migration To America

Yana Krivoruk
GHS 240 OL
August 10th, 2014

Albanian Immigration in America

On the Eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea lies the 28,748 sq. km country of Albania. The country is slightly larger than the state of Maryland, with a population of approximately 3.162 million people. It is surrounded by Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia and Greece to the north and the south of it. The country is bordered by the Adriatic and Ionian sea. Currently there are approximately 201,118 people of Albanian decent living in the United States of America. According to U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the total population of the United States of America is 317 million people. When the number of Albanian Americans is compared to the total population, it is easy to see
that they make up a very small portion of the American population. Despite, the fact that Albanians only make up 0.1% of the U.S population, living in New York City, I have surprisingly stumbled into many individuals of Albanian decent. This sparked my curiosity in this particular ethnic group and the story of their immigration to the United States of America.
Before the 20th century, only a few Albanians had immigrated to America.
Albanians are one of the most recent group of European immigrants to come to America. The first reporting of an Albanian coming to America was in 1876. However it wasn’t until pre World War I, that the first substantial groups of Albanians came to the United States of America. The primary abundant number of Albanian people moved to America right before World War I for a few reasons. During that first migration, many of the immigrants were young men who came to the new country for economic gain. Many of them left Albania to escape the poor economic and political conditions. Many of them wanted to escape their military duty to the Turkish army. Most of these men came to America with the goal to make money, and then return home. These early groups of Albanian immigrants settled in Boston. Some others settled in other parts of Massachusetts, such as Worcester, South-bridge, Cambridge and Lowell. These were areas were unskilled factory work was available. This was essentially all the talent many of the first Albanians to settle in America had to offer because they had little education and did not know how to read or write. Around the time of 1907, Albanians were occupying jobs in mill factories, newfound factories, shoe factories, wood and leather factories, or in restaurants and hotels. From 1919-1925, some of these Albanian immigrants returned home. However, some of those who left America, soon returned
and became permanent citizens.
The next surge of Albanian immigration was in 1919. It was reported that approximately 30,000 Albanians immigrated. Yet again, a vast majority of those who migrated, were men. It was reported that about only 1,000 of them were women. Similarly, about 10,000 of those immigrants went back home. Finally between the time of WWI and WWII the new mass of Albanian immigrants came with the aim of settling down. After WWII, Albania was governed under really strict communist rule. It discouraged immigration. The Albanians who came during this time, came to escape such strict conditions. Up until this point, many of the first Albanian immigrants continued to settle in Boston.
Around the time of 1985, the government began to become more liberal. However, Albania remained poor. It remains poor up until today. In 1991, the fall of Communism triggered many Albanians to escape and emigrate to areas all over the world, one of them being America. At this time, approximately 7,000 Albanian immigrants came into the United States of America. This time around, they were not only illiterate and uneducated physical laborers looking to support their families back home. They were laborers, professionals, and scholars, in search of a new home.
In 1996, the newly “democratic” Albania entered an economic crisis. At the time, many of the Albanian people living at home had invested money into “pyramid schemes”. All their money was lost and as a result the country fell into a violent state. This period is recognized as a civil war, which started off with civilian protests against the government. Kleitia Zeqo discusses this chaotic period of time stating, “In January 1997, after awakening from the capitalist dream and having to face a reality that was not far from a nightmare, people of all ages, including children and elderly, started their peaceful protest in the city of Lushnja that quickly spread to Tirana. The government 's reaction was stiff and illogical, especially for a democracy: it did not grant the people the right to protest. Making a peaceful protest illegal is not only undemocratic but also resulted in a fundamental change in the attitude of the populace towards its government”, (The Pyramid Crisis in Albania). As described, the political, economic and social situations in Albania during this time were in turmoil and chaos. One of the peaceful protests where 9 students went on a hunger strike, resulted in them being killed. At this point, Albania was in a state of emergency. Many of Albanians came to America during this time period as refugees of war.
In 1998, more chaos took place in Albania. During this time, many Albanian speaking Muslims were living in the Yugoslavian land of Kosovo. The widespread killing of these Albanian muslims sent many Albanians seeking refuge in America. At this point, what was happening was alarming and soon became an international crisis. In 1999, The United States of America decided to step in and provide legal refuge visas for 20,000 people annually. These visas were given to those who already had family in the states and to those who were vulnerable in their own country. During this scary and chaotic period of time, many Albanians came to America in hopes of safety and an opportunity to live a better life.
“Aborted economic reforms, high inflation and soaring unemployment all contributed to convince Albania’s relatively young population to search for alternatives beyond the confine of their homeland”, The Albanian-American Community in the United States : A Diaspora Coming to Visibility writes, depicting one of the common reasons as to why Albanians immigrated to the United States.
They all came in search of a better life. Through examining the history of Albania, it is seen that Albania always been a politically and economically troubled country. This is in part due to the fact that the country has endured many foreign occupations. During ancient times, Albania was a part of Illyria. After that, it was ruled by the Byzantine Empire. Thereafter, Albania was under Ottoman rule. They initially attempted to resist the occupation, but were unsuccessful. Albania remained under Turkish Ottoman rule for more than 400 years. Finally, independence was proclaimed in 1912. While it may have been a reason to celebrate, the truth is that freedom was not exactly a guarantee for the people of the newly independent country. Albania was soon governed under strict communist policies for many years. This kept the country isolated, in addition, to impoverished. Throughout history, Albania has been ruled and conquered by many countries and/or political parties. The effects of these occupations are still present today. Albania is one of the most under developed countries in the world. It was and it still remains a very poor country today.
The first few small groups of Albanians that migrated to the states generally settled in Boston. However the newer populations that migrated spread out in different areas. The 1990 census reported that the largest number of Albanians lived in New York City, with many of them residing in the Bronx. Other Albanian communities exist in Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Illinois, California, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. These communities of Albanians can still be found today.
Initially, the Albanians were known to resist assimilation. However with time they have assimilated while still preserving their traditions and values. The fact that Albanians had ties with the Italians throughout history enabled them to integrate with them in the new land. Nadège Ragaru and Amilda Dymi write, “The “Yugoslavians and the Albanians”, he writes, “had little difficulty integrating into the Italian-American dominated neighborhood. Many of the Albanians speak Italian and both groups are viewed as White and consequently are more like one’s parenti or paesani”. While Albanians found it easier to integrate with familiar cultures, it did not mean that they resisted integrating with unfamiliar cultures in the United States. Everyculture.com, in their piece about Albanian Americans reports, “In 1935, a newspaper reported that the Albanians were "not a clannish people . . . [they] associate freely with other nationalities, do business with them, partake of their common culture, and participate in a typically middle class way to the general life of the city”. While succeeding at integration, they have also managed to maintain a communal identity, and preserve their values and traditions, while also honoring those that are American.
While the Albanian ethnicity has been heavily influenced by other cultures throughout history, they still have their very distinct culture and identity which is visible in Albanian American communities today. Albanians speak Albanian, or as they call it, “shqip”. The language is of Illyrian Eastern Indo European influence. It is a descendent of Dacian, which is an ancient language. The many foreign invasions that Albania has endured has left a slight influence on the language. However the unique Albanian language is still preserved. Albanians teach their American born children the native language. They also attempt to preserve the language in America by it being “taught at such universities as the University of California-San Diego, University of Chicago, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and Cleveland State University. Libraries with Albanian language collections include the Library of Congress, Chicago Public Library, Boston Public Library, New York Public Library (Donnel Library Center), and Queens Borough Public Library”, (www.everyculture.com).
Foreign invasions have also influenced other aspects of Albanian culture.
While these influences are visible, they culture still remains distinct. Albanian cuisine has been greatly influenced by Turkey, Greece, Armenia and Syria. “Albanians enjoy a variety of appetizers, soups, casseroles, pilaf, pies, stews, and desserts”, (www.everyculture.com). In many Albanian-American communities you can stumble across small shops which for instance will serve an Albanian style pie known as burek. These pies can be filled with meat, chicken, cheeses, milk, eggs, vegetables, etc. You can also find many small Albanian coffee shops. In these coffee shops you are guaranteed to find Turkish coffee, which the Albanians greatly enjoy. You may also stumble across “a variety of candies, cookies, custards, sweet breads, and preserves. They include halva , a confection made with sugar, flour, butter, maple syrup, water, oil, and nuts; te matur, a pastry filled with butter and syrup; baklava, a filo pastry made with nuts, sugar, and cinnamon; kadaif, a pastry made with shredded dough, butter, and walnuts; and lokume, a Turkish paste. Popular cookies include kurabie, a butter cookie made without liquid; finique , a filled cookie with many variations; and kuluraqka-kulure, Albanian "tea cookies.” While at these places you may hear the sound of music playing. It may sound quite similar to the sounds of Greek music. However when you listen closer, the music has a very unique sense of style, including
the usage of “traditional instruments such as the two stringed cifteli , a lute instrument, and a lahuta , a one-stringed violin”, (www.everyculture.com).
The religious aspects of Albanian culture have been heavily influenced through foreign occupation. Albanians are either Roman Catholic, Orthodox, or Muslim. A large part of the Albanian population converted to Islam as a result of the four centuries of Turkish Ottoman rule. As a result, about 70% of the Albanian population identifies as Muslim. Many Albanian church and mosque establishments can be found within Albanian communities in the U.S.
In addition to celebrating religious holidays, Albanian Americans also observe November 28th as their independence day. Albanian hosted events, honoring such observances can be found in many cities in America.
While the Albanian’s have preserved their backgrounds, they have also integrated with American culture. Albanians have also integrated with different cultures within the United States. They have generally opened their arms to the people in America, and America has done the same in return. They came to the United States of America in search of a stable home and a better life. That is exactly what many have accomplished by emigrating to the United States of America. Albanian Americans have secured great lives, for themselves and their families and future families in America. In return, they have made many contributions to this country in areas of politics, government, academia, business, entertainment, journalism, medicine, music, politics, sports, writing and media. The Albanian immigrants are a small but important part of a nation which built from a history of immigration. What makes America such a powerful nation is the diversity. America is truly a melting pot. It is the different people, different cultures, different beliefs, different hopes and different dreams that make up the beauty of America. These differences are all due in part to the immigration of ethnicities from all over the world, one of them being the Albanians.

Bibliography
Jurgens, Jane. "Countries and Their Cultures." Albanian Americans. Advameg Inc., n.d. Web. 12 Aug. 2014.

Ragaru, Nadege, and Amilda Dymi. "The Albanian-American Community in the United States : A Diaspora Coming to Visibility." The Albanian-American Community in the United States : A Diaspora Coming to Visibility1 (n.d.): 1-45. Web. 12 Aug. 14.

Zeqo, Kleitia. "Albania." The Pyramid Crisis in. Theculturetrip.com, n.d. Web. 12 Aug. 2014.