Buffalo's Little Italy

Express, May 4, 1902                                                                                courtesy Buffalo & Erie County Public Library

       
         These young boys in Buffalo's Little Italy could very well have been among those who frequented Salvatore Rizzo's marionette theater. The brave marionettes in the performances who were always ready to do battle and fight for honor could surely have inspired these poses. Does anyone recognize any of the boys in this great photo?

          The Italian born population in Buffalo increased from 6,000 to 16,000 between 1900 and 1920. Italians represented 10% of Buffalo's foreign born population. They tended to settle near others from their village or town, thus there were four or five areas in Buffalo with heavily Italian populations. This blog is concerned with the Italians who settled in the waterfront area near Canal Street (later named Dante Place). Many of them were from the region around Palermo in Sicily. When people write of Buffalo's Little Italy, this is the area they are usually referring to.

          Family was of supreme importance here. Marriage was for life - so said the Catholic Church and so they believed. Family honor was taken seriously, and social life was intertwined with family life. Many of those who immigrated here were formerly agricultural workers in Sicily, most were illiterate, and usually they faced the challenge of a new language along with trying to find employment.

           St. Anthony of Padua Church played a large role in family and social life. It was the only Catholic church in the neighborhood until Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church was built in 1906. That church no longer exists; it was razed in the name of urban development in 1949. St. Anthony's is still here - it stands at 160 Court Street in downtown Buffalo.  Social clubs met at the church, along with labor unions when they came to exist. It was the place to celebrate births and marriages, and where funerals were held. There were parades and festivities to celebrate saint's days.

          Education was important to the newly arrived immigrants. I have read that it was the ambition of every family to have a doctor, a lawyer, and a priest. The public school in the neighborhood was School #2.

                                                                                                                            1910 Photo by Lewis Hines; Library of Congress

     How about it - are there any PS #2 alumni reading this?