Of the twelve million immigrants who arrived at Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954 four million were Italian and my grandmother, Colomba Cordani, was one of them. She left her small Northern Italian village of Ponte del Olio near Piacenza and arrived in New York on April 27, 1909 aboard the French Line steamship Chicago. Read More…
A month ago I wrote a brief essay about my visit to Mario Batali’s new Italian food emporium in the Prudential Center mall. That first visit was part of a press tour so we had Eataly all to ourselves and I was very impressed with the quality of the food and the overall ambiance. Molto Read More…
Two well-known New York celebrity chefs, Mario Batali & Joe Bastianich, decided to come to Boston and teach us provincials about Italian food. Their Italian food emporium, Eataly Boston, in the Prudential Center mall, is opening to the public later this week. I managed to get a press pass and here is a preview of Read More…
The old Italian laborers in the North End used to have a saying when they came home exhausted from ten hours of backbreaking work; “fatica poots” meaning work stinks, and for them it did, but finding a job was essential and the main reason they emigrated to America. Today, we’re going to look at how Read More…
The Boston Globe recently had a wonderful article about nuns, the Sisters of Saint Joseph, (www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2016/10/13). Reading this brought back so many memories of the parochial schools and parishes in the North End and throughout Boston that existed sixty five years ago. At that time Boston was a city of ethnic tribes, Italians in the Read More…
Photos by Tommy Colbert. Italians are a musical people. When you walk down the side streets and alleys of any Italian city or town you can hear music being sung and played in many of the apartments. Grand opera began in Italy and when Italians emigrated to this country they brought their musical heritage with Read More…
The North End has always had an uncomfortable yet symbiotic relationship with the police officers assigned to the district. With a badge and gun, police officers had tremendous authority and the power to selectively enforce all the incomprehensible rules and regulations that were on the books. They could literally make or break a small businessman. Read More…
Politics was, and still is, the lifeblood of the North End. Since election season is here, I thought this would be an opportune time to remember our rich and incredibly interesting North End political history. When the great wave of Italian immigrants began arriving at the end of the nineteenth century the Boston political establishment Read More…
In a few weeks the Society of the Madonna del Soccorso di Sciacca will host the annual Fisherman’s Feast. This will be the 106th year the feast will be held and I believe this is the oldest continuous feast in the North End. It’s also my favorite feast not only because I grew up practically Read More…
Two of our more forward thinking City Councilors, Sal LaMattina and Bill Linehan, recently proposed the idea of reviving ferry service between the various Boston waterfront neighborhoods, the North End, the Seaport, East Boston, South Boston and Charlestown. I think this is a terrific plan and I hope it comes to fruition. Those of us who Read More…
Now that summer is almost here the North End, the Mirabella pool is getting set to open for another season. What a great urban amenity this is for all North End children and families to enjoy. Before the swimming pool was built by the city back in the 1960’s we had a beach right where Read More…
We’ve all seen pictures of Paul Revere’s house and know how it evolved over the years from the patriot’s home to a tenement housing Italian immigrants and finally a museum and one of the main tourist attractions on the Freedom Trail. The postcard I’m sharing today is another picture of that familiar house probably taken soon Read More…