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By: Lindsey Hebell
This final project for Representing the Real was very unique in the fact that I felt like an actual historian. I not only gained a better understanding of my specific neighborhood, The North End, but also how it fits into the greater context of the city of Boston. The initial research I did before venturing out into my neighborhood was informative and interesting but rather routine. The real immersion and learning came when I went to the neighborhood and collected many primary sources myself. The common themes I found throughout my primary and secondary sources suggested that The North End has a rich history and that the neighborhood is forever changing. Many of the residents I interviewed suggested that less Italian families live there; instead young single people are replacing them. These findings have led me to the conclusion that the meaning and making of history is dependent on the demographics of a neighborhood.
The history of the North End is complex and ever changing. It is interesting to note that it is the oldest neighborhood in Boston. One reason why it’s history is so rich is due to the melting pot of cultures that immigrated to The North End from colonial times up until the early 20th century. The sudden influx of English, Polish, Russian, Jewish, Portuguese, Irish and Italian families made the neighborhood very ethnically diverse from the very beginning. In the early 1800s German, Russian and Polish families mostly dominated the neighborhood. Then, in the 1880s a sudden flood of Italian immigration occurred. From the 1880s onward, the Italians carved out their own community in The North End and have dominated the neighborhood.
When I went to visit the North End on Saturday, April 25th it was a beautiful ninety-degree day. A prime day for interviews because many people were out and about. My first stop was a drugstore Green Cross Pharmacy. I realized as soon as I walked in that I could probably get the point of view from an older resident since the store was quite dated. My assumption ended up being correct as I interviewed my first resident named Fred Giangregorio who was an older man probably in his late sixties or early seventies. He told me that he had lived in the neighborhood for 55 years and that he immigrated to the area because his mother was born here, moved back to Italy and then returned to Boston. When I asked him how the neighborhood has changed he commented on how the area use to have more Italian families and now instead there are a lot of young single people, as well as college students living in the area. He also noted how there use to be more schools and churches in the neighborhood when all the families lived there. The tourism from the 1970s he felt gained more visitors, especially tourists. When asked what his favorite places were in his neighborhood, Fred said that he mostly worked and did not go out much. However, when he does he enjoys the restaurants Lucia and Cantina Italiana. Fred’s picks for historic places to take visitors to included the Paul Revere House, Old North Church, St. Stephen’s Church and the new battery Warf at the end of Hanover Street.
The next interviewee was a man named Adam, most likely in his late twenties with his toddler son Riorden. It was interesting to get an account of a new resident versus Fred who had lived in the neighborhood his whole life. Adam, his wife and son have lived in Boston for four years. During those four years they initially moved to The North End, to Cambridge and then back to The North End. I found this interesting and asked him why they moved back. He said it was because in Cambridge they did not like how everything was so spread out and liked how The North End was very compact and walk-able, so they moved back. When I asked Adam about how the neighborhood has changed I was not expecting a profound answer since he was a relatively new resident. However, he did give an interesting answer stating how the rent had gone up every year since they had moved there. He said it was a result of corporate consolidation because one company was trying to buy up multiple apartment complexes and drive up the rent. Adam’s favorite places in the neighborhood were Polcari’s, and old coffee shop, and restaurants Dolce Vita and Mamma Maria’s. When asked what places he would take visitors to he reiterated by saying the coffee shop and two restaurants along with the shooting of cannons at the Charlestown Navy yard.
Adam and Fred’s accounts were interesting to document back to back since they were in such juxtaposition of one another. Fred’s main observation of how his neighborhood has changed was the absence of Italians and an influx of young people. Adam is the epitome of what Fred was noticing. As a new resident, lacking Italian heritage, Adam is forever changing the history of The North End whether he realizes it or not. The fact that more Italians are leaving and non-Italians are moving in will eventually change the entire culture of the neighborhood. Traditionally Italians will get together and form strong community bonds through holiday celebrations or morning brunch at the corner café. With the flood of new ethnicities replacing the Italians the neighborhood will become more fragmented and less of a close-knit community.
After speaking with Adam I came across a nice woman in her mid twenties named Melanie. Melanie has lived in the area for fourteen years and originally chose to live in The North End because she knew no one before moving to Boston and liked that it was known to be family oriented. She also said that it was known to be and still is one of Boston’s safest neighborhoods. When asked how the neighborhood had changed over the years, her reply was very similar to Fred’s, saying there are a lot more young people living in the area. She also said how older family owned coffee shops have gone away and more boutiques that are out of place have sprung up in their place. Her three favorite places in the neighborhood are Sulmona Meat Market because she believes that it personifies The North End, her front stoop because she “watches the world go by” and Galeria Umberto, which sells slices of pizza for 80 cents. Melanie said she would take visitors to Copps Hill Cemetery, The Old North Church and Prince Street where the great molasses flood of 1919 occurred.
Walking a little further down the block I stepped into a corner shop where I interviewed a man named Angelo who was probably in his early forties. He had lived in the area for 22 years but moved to Jamaica Plain after he got married. Even though he currently lives in JP, he continues to work in The North End. Similar to what Fred and Melanie said Angelo stated that the neighborhood has changed because many families have moved out and young people have moved in. Starting in the 1970s he says is when the slow increase of young people started. Also in the 1970s he said there was a bigger problem with crime and “punks versus punks” that caused trouble. When asked where he would take visitors Angelo said the area playgrounds and Bova’s Bakery that is open 24 hours. As for historic sights Angelo would show visitors the Old North Church, the Paul Revere House, Copps Hill Cemetery and the waterfront.
Reflecting on Melanie and Angelo’s responses it was interesting to see how everyone’s responses to my questions were interconnected. Relating back to the changing of culture that I encountered with Fred and Adam, Melanie mentioned how there use to be more Italian owned cafes and now instead there are clothing and accessory boutiques’ that are out of place. Angelo also reiterated the common theme of changing culture when he mentioned diminishing Italian families. Both Melanie and Angelo changed the culture of the neighborhood in their own way. Melanie although a resident for 14 years is not Italian and moved to the area from the Midwest. Her lack of Italian heritage is obviously diluting the presence of Italy in Boston’s North End. Angelo, although Italian, is also changing the equilibrium of The North End by making his former home a place he visits for work. This also greatly affects the area’s populations because in the past people worked, shopped and lived all within one area. Today is the age of the commute and Angelo is a prime example of this. Without Italian families living their entire lives in the area, significant changes are occurring from storefronts to the population.
The last person I interview was by far the best and the most knowledgeable about the neighborhood’s history. In order to further investigate Melanie’s mention of the happenings at Prince Street I decided to ask a couple of men standing outside of a café if they could direct me to where the Great Molasses Flood occurred. They stared at me blankly and just when I thought I was out of luck a passerby said, “he does,” gesturing to her husband. I quickly became acquainted with David who agreed to show me exactly where the disaster took place. He has lived in The North End for about 35 years and settled in the area after he finished school at Boston Architectural College. He said he specifically chose to live in the North end because it was close to downtown and he is able to walk to work. When asked how the area had changed he said how it use to be about 85-90% Italian and now it was only about 30% Italian. He also talked about how gentrification and the influence of many surrounding neighborhoods have changed the demographics to what they are today: less Italians and more affluent white people. When I asked him what his favorite place in the neighborhood was he said at the baseball diamond down by the river where he use to play baseball. When I asked him where he would take visitors he said the Waterfront, Old North Church, Paul Revere’s House and Copps Hill Cemetery.
After the initial interview of the few short questions David was cordial enough to walk around with me for about 45 minutes telling me a lot of good rich details about the neighborhood. While walking by a playground on our way to Prince Street he pointed out how the entire area use to be a gas tank and then was later torn down and turned into a park. He also mentioned that the parking garage that was right next to the playground was the sight of the Brink’s Robbery in the 1950s, which when it happened was the biggest bank robbery to date. We then reached Prince Street where he gave me a little information about the 1919 tragedy. He told me how the molasses holding tank near the harbor was used to pick up molasses and then export it to Canada because at the time we were still neutral in WWI. It caused a lot of damage including bending the steel of the railroad tracks on the street that once ran between North and South Stations. After seeing Prince Street we walked past what he called the “spite house”. The spite house is the skinniest house in Boston and was built to block the view of the apartment building behind the house.
David was a great source to end my day of interviews with because I felt like he took all of my findings from the beginning of the day and tied them together. David was creating his own history through his own neighborhood while still staying connected to the greater history of Boston. His knowledge on the Great Molasses Flood of 1919 was extensive. The cliff notes narrative he told of the tanks eruption and the damage during and after the tragedy helped show that history’s events that affected the entire city was also a big presence in the history of The North End. Also, his mention of the gentrification of Boston also helped tie all of my information together. Gentrification could have caused these Italian minorities to move out and be replaced by more affluent white young people that have more money and are the cause for the current situation for The North End. This explains how surrounding neighborhoods and the city as a whole is affecting every aspect of The North End. In summary, the newcomer’s imposing affluence causes rent to be raised, more boutiques to be opened, the loss of traditional family owned cafes and restaurants and causes the loss of Italian families and diminishes the presence of the Italian culture.
Although we did not read anything in class this semester that specifically had to do with Italian culture I found many connections in Paul Revere's Ride by David Hackett Fischer and A Midwife’s Tale by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich to my research in The North End. First of all, Fischer’s story is very much rooted in The North End because Paul Revere lived in the area. Although Revere’s era was before Italian immigration occurred his legacy stays strong in the area as noted by almost everyone I spoke to in The North End that mentioned the Paul Revere house as a historical site. One thing that Paul Revere’s people and the Italians had in common was their sense of community and banding together like a family. Fischer explains this when he says, “…the sacred covenant and the rule of law, self-government and majority vote, fundamental rights and free association, private responsibility and public duty, the gospel service and the ethic of work, and a powerful idea of community.” This perfectly draws a parallel between the Italians and the colonial period. The Italians also believed in a strong sense of community, service to God (as seen by the multiple churches in the North End), as well as a strong belief in hard work. Corresponding consistencies between the Italian Immigrants and colonial America can also be drawn from Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s A Midwife’s Tale. The theme of community is again found between these two different times. The first man I interviewed, Fred Giangregorio, is similar to Martha Ballard in that he has lived in the same neighborhood his entire life. Fred seemed to be a strong believer in his Italian community and therefore seemed disappointed that young affluent people are taking over his neighborhood. Ulrich’s observation that, “Spinning, like nursing, was a universal female occupation, a 'domestic' duty, integrated into a complex system of neighborly exchange." Likewise, Fred is integrated into his community by proving the vital service of a pharmacy on main street in the heart of the North End. Although he is not physically healing people, running the pharmacy is Fred’s way of “nursing” his community.
With all of this helpful information from the residents I encountered I decided to dig deeper into some of the information that they glossed over for me. David, the last resident I interviewed, actually suggested a book to me called Dark Tide by Stephen Puleo. The book is fascinating because it includes many specific details about the Great Molasses Flood in 1919 that occurred on Prince Street in The North End. The story actually spans an entire decade beginning with the molasses tank’s construction in 1915 to the conclusion of the great civil lawsuit in 1925. The flood itself however is not widely known about, considered to be more a part of folklore than history. The fleeting attempts to mention the flood are the small plaque placed at the site by the Bostonian Society in the mid 1990s as well as the themed duck tour vehicle named “Molly Molasses”. Even after these fleeting references many people assume that the tragedy was an isolated incident that had no ties to the greater history of Boston. On the contrary, this incident was a very significant part of Boston history. It was considered a tragedy with twenty-one killed and 150 injured. The tank that was hastily built in 1915 is thought to be the cause of the flood although the exact cause is still unknown (Puleo).
An interesting bit of North End history that has been publicized recently by the Boston Globe, relating to the Old North Church. The church is a common historic site for tourists, however the hidden crypts below the church tell a much different story. Tourists have never seen this site and little is still known about the crypts. An archeologist named Jane Lynden Rousseau from Harvard’s Peabody Museum is working to tell the story of the long forgotten tomb. According to the Boston Globe the crypt was first constructed in 1792 and contains about 37 tombs. The most interesting part about this crypt is the presence of the “strangers”. Usually during the colonial era you could only be buried in the church’s crypt or cemetery if you were a church member. However, this particular tomb seems to hold a variety of people from different religions, dead incurred by the Revolution and even African Americas. The Globe states that, “anyone, regardless of social status, could be interred through the intercession of a benefactor. More than 1,100 bodies of Bostonians, residents who walked the same streets that surround the church today, are believed to have been brought to the crypt. The church’s clientele run the gamut from “strangers” to leaders of the American Revolution. The presence of strangers in the Old North tombs suggests how much emphasis the church put on money. Rousseau has discovered through her research that some of the older tombs were emptied and moved to one large pit to make room for more paying parishioners. This shows that even the area that is sometimes referred to as the “cradle of the Revolution” can sometimes hide history. Obviously we do not have the entire book of history written and we are still defining, writing and re-writing history, sometimes with discoveries in our own neighborhood.
Along with the Great Molasses Flood I was interested in the ever-changing demographics of the area since almost every single person I interviewed mentioned the subject in one way or another. A book called The Boston Italians also by Stephen Puleo gave me a better understanding of the population of The North End historically and presently. Through the book I found evidence for what Fred had told me. According to The Boston Italians, the Italian immigrants were “birds of passage” that wanted to come over temporarily and then return home. This could be what happened to Fred’s family with his mother born here, return to Italy and then eventual return to Boston. Throughout the neighborhood there were many subcultures of Italy where people from certain regions of Italy would cluster in specific areas of The North End (Puleo).
When I had finished collecting information from my primary and secondary sources, it made me realize that history is never finished and that documenting it can sometimes be a daunting task. The historical fallacy that I encountered the most throughout my research was presentism. With the present day accounts I collected from everyone it was hard to connect them to the past and present state of the neighborhood without keeping them too much in the terms of the present. Also, the telescopic fallacy had to be avoided since I was dealing with so many historical events and keeping them in perspective of one another without making these longer historical stories seem too short.
With the difficulties in mind, the process and culmination of my research was still possible and very eye opening. To go out into a community that I really had no idea about other than a glossed over tourists understanding was very gratifying. The knowledge I gained from residents was much more concrete and deep than if I had asked tourists and visitors to the area. The meaning and making of history is dependent on the demographics of a neighborhood. In talking to these residents and through the understanding of the literature we have studied I have come to realize that history is very much rooted in the people.
Fischer, David H. Paul Revere's Ride. Oxford UP, 1995.
MacQuarrie, Brian. "Resurrecting a storied past." 6 Apr. 2009. The Boston Globe. 4 May 2009
Puleo, Stephen. Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919. Boston, MA: Beacon P, 2004.
Puleo, Stephen. The Boston Italians: a story of pride, perseverance, and paesani, from the years of the great immigration to the present day. Boston, MA: Beacon P, 2007.
3 May 2009
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