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Salve a tutti! Welcome to our second Podcast episode: Viaggio nel North End Our first podcast focused on the history of the city of Boston. This time, we look at the historic neighborhood of the North End, where hundreds of thousands of Italians have gone through over the past century. After talking about the history and importance of the neighborhood, we spend some time with Jeanne Dasaro, creator of NorthEndStories.com, who explains how the stories she collects through her project help maintain the spirit of the North End. Enjoy the podcast. A presto!

I remember him as a handsome man in suite coat and tie. I remember him always smiling and always kind. I remember him as the man who saved my life. Many of you will remember him in your own way, but I’m sure the thoughts will just a special as mine are. I’m referring here to Mario Di Leo, a man who helped to make the North End the wonderful place that it was when I was growing up. I knew Mario from the Shaw House and the Summer Day Camp. I remembered him well from the latter because it ...

On a recent visit to the North End, I decided to explore the pride that is associated with Italians and sports. As a proud Italian-American, I already know that there is a special relationship that exists between Italians and their teams, but I wanted to see what else I could find. As I walked down Tony DeMarco way, it became apparent to me that there is a lot to explore. In my anthropological research, I learned that the question of ‘why’ is central to understanding any type of phenomenon. So, off I went to see how I could respond to ...

After his lifetime partner officially retired, North End barber Gino Colafella talks of his shop and the neighborhood that, over 40 years, has passed in front his eyes and reflected itself in his mirrors. “In a few months I lost both the mayor of Boston and the mayor of Hanover street,” says Gino Colafella, holding a black and white picture from twenty years ago of him and former business partner Johnny (“Shoes” – a nickname earned for being a shoemaker’s son) Cammarata giving a newly elected Thomas Menino his first haircut as a mayor of Boston. He laughs, but for ...

When: Saturday, April 20, 2013, 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Where: Caffé Vittoria — 290 Hanover Street, North End, Boston, MA “An Afternoon with the Champ,” Local book signing appearance by former undisputed Welterweight Champion, Tony DeMarco. Caffé Vittoria, ATS Communications and Legas Publishing are pleased to announce that Tony DeMarco will be available to personally sign copies of his best selling autobiography Nardo: Memoirs of a Boxing Champion on Saturday April 20 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Caffé Vittoria, 290 Hanover Street, Boston. Dubbed “The Flame and Fury of Fleet Street,” North End native, Tony DeMarco, is ...

Originally posted on NorthEndStories.com: On June 22, 2013 two ‘pop-up’ Italian-American Cultural Museums will take place, one at the gateway to the North End, on Cross Street between Hanover and Salem Streets (at 4:00 p.m.) and another in Uphams Corner on Dudley Street and Columbia Road (at 1:00 p.m.). Similar to an actual museum those in attendance will be able to engage in multi-media ‘exhibits’ to learn about the history of Italians in Boston’s North End. But unlike a typical museum, this exhibition is an interactive flash mob, made up of North End residents and supporters who are sharing stories, ...

Many of us have heard about the witchcraft craze in Salem of 1692. Less well known is a witchcraft incident in 1688, a crucial part of which took place in the North End, and involved Cotton Mather (1663-1728), leader of Boston’s 2nd Church in North Square. Mather recounts the incident in his work “Memorable Providences, Relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions,” published in 1689. Both this book and Mather would become crucial players in the events at Salem in 1692. The North End case began in the summer of 1688 at the home of the Goodwin family, John, Martha, and their ...

When: Friday, March 22, 2013 — 6 to 9 p.m. Where: Filippo Ristorante — 283 Causeway St., Boston MA [map] Since it was damaged by a major earthquake in April 2009, most of the medieval city center of L’Aquila in Italy has been off-limits to the public. British architect Barnaby Gunning has been working with hundreds of local volunteers and 3D modelers from around the globe to reveal this beautiful, historic city to the world. For information about this event please call Rosetta Romagnoli (617-924-7641) or Domenico Susi (617-605-5099).

Chef Lorena Autuori from Italian Cooking School “Percorsi con Gusto” is back in Boston! When: Sunday, March 31, 2013 at 1PM Where: Filippo’s Ristorante, 283 Causeway Street, Boston’s North End Following the successful events of last Christmas – including cooking lessons and a typical Umbrian dinner at Olive’s with Todd English – and after many request from the Boston community, Lorena is finally back in the city to share her magic in the kitchen. As Boston is home to many authentic Italian Chefs, it is only fitting that Chef Fillippo Frattaroli, owner of Filippo’s Ristorante in Boston’s North End, welcomes ...

On Jan. 8 of this year, Mario Di Leo and I visited the Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe College in Cambridge. The library is home to the archival records of the North Bennet Street Industrial School. The records run from 1880 to 1973, and include administrative, financial and personnel reports; information on the various school programs (such as Shaw House and Caddy Camp); studies of immigration and Americanization in the North End; letters, scrapbooks and photographs; and a lot more. Mario and I were looking for something in particular: folder IIAviii:39, titled “Correspondence re: “Street Corner Society,” 1944.” To explain why ...

When I was a teen into my early 20s I, debatably, made the best espresso in Boston behind the counter at the long-defunct Café Roma in the North End. I learned how to use just enough coffee to create the creamy top; the difference between lungo and corto, and I can still fashion a fantastic tiramisù because of my years on Hanover Street. Café Roma is long gone, now part of the structure that is the fabulous Bricco. But my favorite customers then are among those who have stayed and kept the Italian spirit in the North End alive. One ...

On February 4, 1895, the headline of the Boston Globe read as follows: Eleven Masquerading Italians. They Disturb the Sabbath Stillness of the North End by Celebrating a Carnival which Closes Feb 27.” The article went on to describe the event and its consequences. Out for “as good a time as could be had,” over 1,000 men, women, and children swung in line behind 11 costumed men “lead by a tall Neapolitan, who thrashed out national music. On they marched, returning the salutes of pretty Italian maidens who waved high-colored bandanas from the many windows of the big tenement houses. ...