Commentaries

1954 Editorial Reminds North Enders “It’s Up to You, Mayor”

There’s nothing new under the sun. And in Boston and the North End, it’s parking. Just as there’s neighborhood opposition today to plans for a glass tower above the Dock Square parking garage, a tower that would shutter views of Custom House Tower, there was neighborhood opposition in 1954 to allowing parking on the roof of Read More…

Photos & Videos Sports

Neighborhood Throwback: Tony DeMarco & Rocky Marciano in the North End

Boxing champions Rocky Marciano and the North End’s own Tony DeMarco were good friends. This throwback photo appeared in the April 8, 1955 Italian News a few days after DeMarco won the Welterweight Boxing Championship of the World. The pre-fight printing of the win was a big scoop for the local newspaper. Tony DeMarco, the Read More…

Arts & Culture Government

Nothing New: Columbus Day Law Wasn’t Easy

Nothing New Under the Sun. Some legislation isn’t easy, on Beacon Hill or in Washington.  The Italian News reported on Feb. 17, 1956, that 118 legislators backed a bill  to make Columbus Day a legal holiday in Massachusetts, to be celebrated on October 12. Hearings on the bill, held by the Committee on Constitutional Law, Read More…

Nothing New, Immigration Too

Not only is nothing new under the North End sun, it can apply today to Washington. Despite tremendous demand from a long list of immigration reform organizations, anti-discrimination associations and “ethnic” groups, the U.S. House of Representatives in August 1956 took no action to amend the racist McCarran-Walter immigration law. This law established national immigration Read More…

Community Transportation

Nothing New Under the North End Sun

Traffic concerns are high on the list of issues regarding the ongoing redesign of North Square. (See Vision and Design for an Improved North Square). A favored proposal is to restrict traffic on one side of the square adjacent to Sacred Heart Church. As is often the case in Boston’s historic North End, no issue Read More…

Sports

Tony DeMarco Wins Title Bout; The 1955 Story Before it Happened

Editors at The Italian News were so confident that Tony DeMarco of the North End would win the 1955 title bout, they wrote the story before the fight. The article was distributed at Boston Garden ringside and well before it was reported in the papers and radio. North End reporter, Bob Skole, shares this clipping Read More…

People

North End Stories Features 1950s “Italian News” Reporter, Bob Skole

Bob Skole is featured in this video by North End Stories, a digital narrative project. Skole talks about the Italian News, an Italian-American newspaper published weekly throughout the 1950s in Boston. He discusses the various campaigns undertaken by the newspaper to lobby on behalf of the North End neighborhood and to dispel stereotypes of Italian-Americans. Read More…