Michael Immerso traces the history of the First Ward from the arrival of the first Italian in the 1870s until 1953 when the district was uprooted to make way for urban renewal. Richly illustrated with photographs culled from the albums and shoeboxes in the private collections of hundreds of former First Ward families from all across the United States, the book documents the evolution of the district from a small immigrant quarter into a complex Italian-American neighborhood that thrived during the first half of this century. Book jacket.
Italians first settled in the Newark area in the 1880s. Italian Americans of Newark, Nutley, and Belleville shows these immigrants and their families from 1900 to the 1950s. The street peddler, the barber, the baker, the undertaker, the macaroni maker, the concert musician, and more are portrayed here in the grace and dignity of their work. Outings to the shore or Branch Brook Park balanced hard work and long hours. Family gatherings, weddings, first communions, and processions for the feasts of St. Gerard, St. Rocco, and St. Bartholomew were all a part of the life of the family and the vibrant Italian neighborhoods. More than 200 vintage photographs from family albums tell these stories.
Leaving Little Italy explores the various forces that have shaped and continue to mold Italian American culture. Early chapters offer a historical survey of major developments in Italian American culture, from the early mass immigration period to the present day, situating these developments within the larger framework of American culture as a whole. Subsequent chapters examine particular works of Italian American literature and film from a variety of perspectives, including literary history, gender, social class, autobiography, and race. Paying particular attention to how the individual artist's personality has intersected with community in the shaping of Italian American culture, the book reveals how and why Italian America was invented and why Little Italys must ultimately disappear.
In the Godfather Garden is the true story of the life of Richie “the Boot” Boiardo, one of the most powerful and feared men in the New Jersey underworld. The Boot cut his teeth battling the Jewish gang lord Abner Longy Zwillman on the streets of Newark during Prohibition and endured to become one of the East Coast’s top mobsters, his reign lasting six decades. To the press and the police, this secretive Don insisted he was nothing more than a simple man who enjoyed puttering about in his beloved vegetable garden on his Livingston, New Jersey, estate. In reality, the Boot was a confidante and kingmaker of politicians, a friend of such celebrities as Joe DiMaggio and George Raft, an acquaintance of Joseph Valachi—who informed on the Boot in 1963—and a sworn enemy of J. Edgar Hoover. The Boot prospered for more than half a century, remaining an active boss until the day he died at the age of ninety-three. Although he operated in the shadow of bigger Mafia names across the Hudson River (think Charles "Lucky" Luciano and Louis “Lepke” Buchalter, a cofounder of the Mafia killer squad Murder Inc. with Jacob “Gurrah” Shapiro), the Boot was equally as brutal and efficient. In fact, there was a mysterious place in the gloomy woods behind his lovely garden—a furnace where many thought the Boot took certain people who were never seen again. Richard Linnett provides an intimate look inside the Boot’s once-powerful Mafia crew, based on the recollections of a grandson of the Boot himself and complemented by never-before-published family photos. Chronicled here are the Prohibition gang wars in New Jersey as well as the murder of Dutch Schultz, a Mafia conspiracy to assassinate Newark mayor Kenneth Gibson, and the mob connections to several prominent state politicians. Although the Boot never saw the 1972 release of The Godfather, he appreciated the similarities between the character of Vito Corleone and himself, so much so that he hung a sign in his beloved vegetable garden that read “The Godfather Garden.” There’s no doubt he would have relished David Chase’s admission that his muse in creating the HBO series The Sopranos was none other than “Newark’s erstwhile Boiardo crew.”
Newark has many histories including G. Antonio Basso who emigrated from Italy to Newark, NJ in 1900. Antonio Basso was my Grandfather who came to America at age 14. Newark has many artistic roots including Armenia, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, France which are featured in Newark, Italy + Me.Immigration is a ongoing event.The past is indeed prologue to our present and future. Welcome to my Newark, Nevarca and the new old sod in New Jersey. Daniel P Quinn also wrote: ""Exits + Entrances, 25 years off-Broadway, Opera and Beyond""; Short Plays to Long Remember (TNT) and ""organized labor"". These books are for sale at Lulu.com; B+N.org; Amazon Books or order at your independent book store or on the web.
Pippa is in Italy for the summer and, despite her parents' wishes, she has no intention of just studying the local art! She has a list of things of her own to do: from swimming in the Mediterranean Sea to getting a makeover – and falling for an Italian boy! As Pippa explores the dramatic ruins of Rome and Pompeii, she is swept into her own drama with two guys: an irresistible local she knows is nothing but trouble and a cute American archaeology student . . . Will she find her true love? The perfect reckless romance to enjoy whether you are home or abroad.
For the first time in forty years, the story of one of America's most maligned cities is told in all its grit and glory. With its open-armed embrace of manufacturing, Newark, New Jersey, rode the Industrial Revolution to great prominence and wealth that lasted well into the twentieth century. In the postwar years, however, Newark experienced a perfect storm of urban troublesùpolitical corruption, industrial abandonment, white flight, racial conflict, crime, poverty. Cities across the United States found themselves in similar predicaments, yet Newark stands out as an exceptional case. Its saga reflects the rollercoaster ride of Everycity U.S.A., only with a steeper rise, sharper turns, and a much more dramatic plunge. How Newark Became Newark is a fresh, unflinching popular history that spans the city's epic transformation from a tiny Puritan village into a manufacturing powerhouse, on to its desperate struggles in the twentieth century and beyond. After World War II, unrest mounted as the minority community was increasingly marginalized, leading to the wrenching civic disturbances of the 1960s. Though much of the city was crippled for years, How Newark Became Newark is also a story of survival and hope. Today, a real estate revival and growing population are signs that Newark is once again in ascendance.
A Kirkus Best Picture Book of 2020 "A beautiful, fully realized dreamscape." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Little Fox frolics with butterflies, scavenges for food, and searches for new friends—despite his father's warning that danger lurks all around. Then one day he takes a tumble, bumps his head, and starts dreaming of things that reflect both the beauty he's seen and the scary things he's heard. Marije Tolman's ingenious illustrations use a fresh technique that feels like a movie and a dream, starring the cheerful, bright orange Little Fox on grainy mixed media landscapes of blue and green. And when Little Fox wakes up, he's perhaps a little wiser, but still every bit as curious and full of life.
