Immigrants in Wooster Square blended new with old

The immigrants who came to Wooster Square had to create lives that were modifications of the lives they had lived in Italy. They left behind a 2,000-year cultural tradition filled with ritual and a lifestyle that reflected a sun-drenched environment and a more rural landscape. Wooster Square presented them with challenges that encompassed a more hostile climate, a language barrier, a lack of skills for the employment opportunities that were available, and a measure of of intolerance from those who had preceded them.

In spite of all those obstacles, most were able to adjust and adapt, and even thrive — a testament to their willingness to face numerous forms of deprivation in order to become part of the increasingly diverse fabric of America in the 20th century.

But the challenge was always to balance the need to engage in the American way of life while maintaining some connection to everything that was dear to them. In Wooster Square, that balance was perfected through the creation of an neighborhood that offered familiar life options, while also participating in the mainstream life of the rest of the city that bordered the square just over the Chapel Street railroad bridge at the corner of State Street.

That bridge, in some ways, both actually and figuratively, was the gateway to the world of diversity that opened the doors of the new America to the Wooster Square residents. Along the two blocks of State Street east of Chapel, large markets and clothing stores offered the shopper a more eclectic blend of foods and other goods that drew people there from other neighborhoods. Mohegan Market, Rosner’s, Moquet Market and the unique Growers Outlet, which was a coop enterprise — they all offered foods and groceries that were more appealing to a larger shopping public. United Bake Shop, which specialized in pies, introduced us all to the American-style pie; filled with fruit and double crusted, something relatively unknown in Italy. This is where newly arrived residents to our neighborhood were able to interact with others who had come here to find that same place of opportunity and potential. Grand Avenue was an extension of that multicultural community, with shops and stores operated by other immigrant groups.

But, for some, the shopping was local to the neighborhood and the foods were only those that were familiar and tasted of Italy. In October, for instance, burlap sacks of shiny, dark chestnuts would appear, imported from Italy, ready to be split across the top and roasted on top of the stove in a metal pie plate, to be enjoyed after the Sunday pranzo. Nuts, too, in sacks, weighed into paper bags, were also enjoyed after the meal. They were a reminder of the Italian affinity for nuts, especially the nocciole, or filbert, which was sometimes slightly roasted to enhance the flavor. Cucuzza, or Zucca, large, orange-fleshed squash, were sometimes sold in wedges to be sautéed with beans for a savory dish, and finocchio or fresh fennel, tied into small bundles with the delicate fronds still attached, were enjoyed as a digestivo after the meal.

Our neighbors from Marchi, living in the Hill, would dry the stems and use them to flavor the traditional porchetta, a highly spiced pork roast, which we all enjoy today. Many of the immigrants were introduced to the bountiful varieties of the American apple, a fruit not as widely used in Italy. The apple became the single most transposed food item in every household, and was eaten as a snack and a source of nourishment throughout the winter.

The churches and schools continued to play a central role in the creation and development of a neighborhood entity that served as an introduction to the cultural and social customs of the new homeland. Children and adults, as well, needed to be assimilated into a world that held many challenges but which also held promise and opportunity. Language acquisition, both spoken and written, were important tools for entry into the mainstream outside of Wooster Square. If sometimes teachers seemed intolerant of the foreign-looking children in their care, they ultimately provided important access to the pathway into the outside world. The good sisters at St. Michael’s, most of whom were first generation children of immigrants themselves, perhaps better understood the nuances of gaining acceptance within the larger community. As missionary sisters, committed to serving the newly arrived, they were often viewed even within the larger religious community as less qualified to teach to American standards. But in spite of those challenges, the children were able to move forward with successful academic, professional, business and industrial careers.

The churches — St. Michael, St. Patrick and even St. Louis, which was a French National church — became important links between the standards of the secular world that needed to be adopted and the old-world traditions that were considered important connections to be maintained. St Louis had a school which underscored the French heritage of many of the children enrolled there, and St. Michael became a bridge between the old and the new. It was through the religious observances and traditions that the community was able to continue an emotional connection, while being introduced to the ways if the new world.

The sisters of St. Michael maintained a day care or nursery, first at the convent on Green Street and later connected to the school, and the French sisters operated a guest house for unmarried women also on Green Street, adjacent to their convent. The churches understood that they needed to become a first resource for the social needs of the community as many of the residents were disinclined to seek assistance from the existing agencies that were not viewed as welcoming or that were considered too difficult to maneuver.

It was a “we take care of our own” attitude that prevailed until the residents felt comfortable enough and competent enough in the ways of the systems in place to reach out for or even accept assistance.

Wooster Square was, in so many ways and for so many people, a trusted and safe place to live and grow in the ways of the new world out there just beyond our borders.