Order Sons of Italy in America, Illinois Grand Lodge records

The original arrangement of the files at the time of their transfer to the IHRC has been largely maintained. Series categories were artificially established in processing the material but drew upon pre-existing groupings within the OSIA collection.

The collection is organized as follows: 1) Historical; 2) National; 3) State; 4) Local; 5) Non-OSIA groups and activities; 6) Mortuary Fund death claims; 7) Miscellaneous. The collection spans the years 1928-1987, but most of the material dates from the 1950s to the 1980s. The majority of the material is in English, with a few items in Italian.

The collection includes lists of state officers from 1955 to 1987; state convention minutes (1979, 1981, 1983, 1985); Documentation concerning the activities of various committees dealing with a wide range of projects from charitable work and scholarships to immigration/refuee legislation; Correspondence from Franklin D. Roosevelt and Benito Mussolini; Photographs of local, state and national officers since the 1920s and of Grand Lodge events in the 1940s; Original applications for local charters.

The majority of the collection (6 of 10 boxes) are Mortuary Fund Death Claims. These records contain important demographic information on members, such as employment, family and medical histories, within such documents as death certificates, insurance applications and family correspondence.