This is a limited free preview of this book. Please buy full access.
Preface
This book is an autobiographical study of Italian Americans in East Harlem, New York in the twentieth century. It emphasizes the Sicilian experience in upper Manhattan.
Italian East Harlem had a brief existence much like boom and bust towns of the Old West. When residents of Italian East Harlem became successful financially, they left the community. Italian East Harlem suffered from a “brain drain” throughout its short history in contrast to Black Harlem, a more stable community. It was challenging for children especially to be growing up in a dying community, one in which families were eager to leave rather than to enter. Ironically, as a child I had the opportunity to leave East Harlem but elected to stay. I am a Sicilian American historian. I tell the story of my Sicilian people and their culture in upper Manhattan as a personal experience. I integrate their story with the stories of other groups and individuals living in East Harlem when it was called Italian East Harlem. Brooklyn and Rochester, New York are a part of my story and they are represented in this book.