Category: Italian
Hello, hello, ladies and gents! To kick off our Italians in Bensonhurst section of this Peopling website, we’ve got a relevant poem for ya by Vincenzo Ancona: Immigrants,…
Looking at Bensonhurst now, it’s difficult to define it as predominantly Italian—because it no longer is. According to the 1980 census data regarding residents with Italian ancestry in…
Religion, an important component of traditional Italian culture, is another way to track the changing population in Bensonhurst. St. Athanasius Roman Catholic Church on Bay Parkway serves as…
The influx of Russian and Chinese immigrants became a growing concern for the Italians of Bensonhurst. Their reaction encompasses the fear of the loss of culture and tradition….
Belmonte wrote in his article that his grandmother taught him “that the human heart speaks a single language of desire and terror.” He articulates this recurring motif of…
We move to June of 1987. Jesus Rangel is writing an article called “School Relieves a Violent Past to Keep Peace,” and there is the beginning of a…
We’ll continue our story with the final wave of migration. Come 1970, it is only logical that we observe a thicket of articles discussing the vibrancy of the…
By Brooklyn’s “golden era,” 1920-1957, Italian stores were popping up everywhere, as were parishes named after Italian saints. The smell of fresh marinara lingered in streets like 18th…
Bensonhurst got its name from Arthur W. Benson, founder of the Brooklyn Gas Light Company, who, in 1835, began “to purchase land near the old family farm in…
When Italians first began to pour into New York late in the 19th century, a new era was underway—one of technological advances, divisive conflict over immigration, and, most…
