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A time capsule of a classic Italian American neighborhood, told in the voices of its inhabitants.
Stories, Streets, and Saints documents the history of an important Italian American neighborhood, Boston's North End, from the age of immigration at the turn of the twentieth century to the era of neighborhood upheaval in the "New Boston" of the 1980s. Drawing on years of fieldwork, on-site photography, and scholarly research, Anthony V. Riccio records, translates, and transcribes compelling oral histories of elderly Italian American storytellers who weave social history in their unique village idiom, providing an intimate look at daily life in an Italian American neighborhood. Testimonies of post-Unification southern Italy reconstruct the dire social and economic conditions that caused millions to pursue the promise of America. Rare firsthand stories of the Spanish Flu offer timely narratives in the wake of COVID-19, and eyewitness descriptions reconstruct the horrific Molasses Explosion of 1919. Riccio's own photographs from 1979 to 1983, along with images from old family albums, illustrate these oral histories, creating a lasting record of the experiences of Italian Americans, who, like many other ethnic groups, contributed mightily to the building of America.
"Although Anthony Riccio will be missed, his work will not, as it is timeless. He has documented in images and words better than most academics who have captured the more detailed facts of Italian America but who in the process have left out its more important soul. The lasting value of his work goes well beyond mere documentary scholarship. Loving a subject is different from knowing it. Those of us trained in the (pre-postmodern) social sciences were taught to differentiate, as did Max Weber, between two ways of knowing—kennen (conoscere) and wissen (sapere). Anthony Riccio knew his subjects intimately, and each of his books conveyed both knowledge and sentiment to their readers." — Italian American Review
"Anthony V. Riccio has a gift for preserving the quotidianità of the Italian immigrants' emotional attachment to their ethnic enclaves." — Italica
"Decades ago, Anthony Riccio worked with and lived among the Italian Americans of Boston's North End. He photographed its residents and their streets and listened to their stories. Now Riccio has lovingly shared those photos and interviews in this outstanding book. In bringing to life this classic American urban ethnic neighborhood, Stories, Streets, and Saints makes a significant contribution to our understanding of Italian American history." — Vincent J. Cannato, author of American Passage: The History of Ellis Island
"Anthony Riccio has the gift of empathy. You meet him and you know he is listening, really listening. This is why the speakers of this beautiful book generously gave him stories and insight. They offered him glimpses of their Italian past—from sulphur mines to town celebrations, from simple recipes to ancient prayers—and of their North End's small world. Both are now gone. They hand him small bites of wisdom honed by their old age. Riccio gathers them and keeps them safe for the future." — Ilaria Serra, author of The Value of Worthless Lives: Writing Italian American Immigrant Autobiographies
"Stories, Streets, and Saints is the culmination of years of documenting the ancient Italian oral tradition with community elders who weave an Italian American social history in the unique idioms of their villages. The book contributes an important tessera to the multiethnic American mosaic, offering an intimate account of everyday life in historic Italian American enclaves." — Marianna Gatto, Executive Director and Cofounder, Italian American Museum of Los Angeles
Acknowledgments
In Memory of My Friend, Anthony Riccio: 1952–2022
Tommy Damigella
Foreword
Nicholas Dello Russo
1. Life in Southern Italy at the Turn of the Century
2. Leaving Italy for the Promise of America
3. The Journey to Boston
4. A New Life in the North End
5. Becoming an American Citizen
6. The Italian Mother
7. The Italian Father
8. The Oral Tradition: Family Stories, Dialects, Folktales, and Prayers
9. Italy and the North End in World War I
10. Garlic Necklaces, Camphor Bags, and Shots of Anisette: The Spanish Flu Pandemic in the North End
11. The Molasses Explosion
12. Italian American Street Life
13. Going to School
14. Justice Denied: Sacco and Vanzetti
15. The Depression in the North End
16. Seamstresses and Factory Workers: Italian American Women at Work
17. Making It in the North End: Italian American Men at Work
18. Making Wine, Drinking Wine
19. Life in the Tenements
20. Sicilian Fishermen in the North End
21. Miracles, Societies, and Processions
22. Christmas in the North End
23. Irish and Italians
24. Refugees in the North End: West Enders Tell Their Stories
25. Local Politics
26. Gangsters and Racketeers
27. Life in a Cold-Water Flat
28. The Changing North End
29. The Old Waterfront and the New Boston
30. Poor Tenant, Poor Landlord
31. Meglio Pane e Cipolla, e Sola
Epilogue: Anthony's Gift to Us
James S. Pasto
Notes