Italian American Museum
The Italian American Museum preserves, promotes, and celebrates the culture and history of Italian Americans, serving as living record of their contributions to America and a bridge between the remarkable past and the evolving future of the community.
A New Home in the Heart of Little Italy
The new Italian American Museum (IAM) will serve as a cultural hub and community nexus for Italian Americans and the Little Italy neighborhood. Through permanent and temporary exhibits, robust educational and cultural programming, and collaborations with the community, the IAM will become the preeminent center for learning about and engaging with Italian as a platform for sharing Italian American voices and celebrating Italian American achievements, the IAM will be interesting to both Italian Americans and non-Italian Americans, bringing Italian American culture and heritage to younger generations and a wide range of new audiences.
By allowing Italian Americans to share their story in their voice, the Italian American Museum will encourage a full appreciation of what it means to be Italian American.
The IAM is located on Mulberry Street in the heart of what was once the largest Italian community in the United States in the first quarter of the 20th century.
We became aware of the need for our own museum in 1999, with the launch of the 1st major exhibition on Italians in America at the New York Historical Society, “The Italians of New York: 5 Centuries of Struggle & Achievement”. The exhibit was a great success & we realized that in order to be part of the cultural dialogue in America, we needed our own museum. So in 2001, we were chartered in NY State as the 1st Italian Museum in America. In our museum, we seek to tell our whole story from Columbus to Cuomo & everything in between, our struggles & our accomplishments through hard work, ingenuity & perseverance. It has not always been easy but we have much to be proud of, for our contributions to American society are enormous. Now we will have a secular cathedral for all to see, experience & appreciate where we came from & what we’ve achieved.
Dr. Joseph V. Scelsa
Founder and President
Italian American Museum
151 Mulberry Street, New York City
(212) 965-9000
Museum Hours: Thursday – Saturday 12:00 – 5:00 pm
