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To read Steve's thoughts about the book, visit Food For Thought.
This story of the Boston Italians begins with their earliest
years, when a largely illiterate and impoverished people
in a strange land recreated the bonds of village and region
in the cramped quarters of the North End. Focusing on this
first and crucial Italian enclave, The Boston Italians describes
the experience of Boston’s Italian immigrants as they
battled poverty, illiteracy, and prejudice (Italians were
lynched more often than members of any other ethnic group
except African Americans); explains their transformation
into Italian Americans during the Depression and World War
II; and chronicles their rich history in Boston up to the
present day. Much of the story is told from the perspective
of the Italian leaders who guided and fought for their people’s
progress, reacquainting readers with pivotal historical figures
like James V. Donnaruma, founder of the key North End newspaper La
Gazzetta del Massachusetts, now the English-language Post
Gazette, and politician George A. Scigliano. The book’s
final section is devoted to interviews with today’s
influential Boston Italian Americans, including Thomas M.
Menino, the city’s first Italian American mayor. The
story of the Boston Italians is among America’s most
important, vibrant, and colorful sagas, and necessary reading
for anyone seeking to understand the heritage of this ethnic
group.
www.JDRF.org.
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