The Boston Italians by Steve Puleo

Author:Steve Puleo
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Beacon Press
Published: 2011-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Certificate of citizenship for the author’s paternal grandfather, Calogero Puleo. He became a citizen in 1931, twenty-five years after his arrival in the United States from Sciacca, Sicily. (Courtesy of the author)

Angela and Calogero Puleo and David Minichiello had cleared many other hurdles to make America their home: leaving their beloved small towns in Italy, enduring the misery of a transatlantic passage in steerage, suffering the pain of stereotyping and discrimination, engaging in backbreaking labor, carving out a life in an unfamiliar and crowded urban setting. Yet, they and thousands of other Boston Italians also experienced the contentment of sharing their new life with paesani, the warmth of the neighborhood enclave, the pride in saving money, starting a business, or buying a home.

America was hard, but she offered something Italy never could—the hope, perhaps even the promise, of a better future.

As 1931 drew to a close, the Puleos, the Minichiellos, and all Boston Italians would find their faith in that promise severely tested. If they believed they had survived all the hardships and cleared every hurdle America had placed in their path, they were mistaken.

With little warning or time for preparation, Boston Italians and Americans of all nationalities and geographic regions were about to come face to face with the Great Depression.

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