St. Leonard’s School, Boston, 1914

The above photo shows students from St. Leonard’s School in Boston’s North End in 1914. Founded by the Franciscans in 1873 to meet the needs of a growing Italian population, St. Leonard’s was the first Italian parish in New England. (The first Italian parish in the United States was St. Mary Magdalen da Pazzi in Philadelphia. New York got its first in 1866, St. Anthony of Padua in Manhattan.) Italian immigration began to escalate in the 1880’s and continued into the 1920’s. Altogether about four million people emigrated to America during that time. Most of them settled in the big cities, forming communities that came to be known as “little Italies.” They both transformed America and were transformed by America. And they made an impact on the Church in America through religious orders like the Scalabrinians and the Salesians; through the leadership of people such as Mother Cabrini, Cardinal Bernardin and Monsignor Geno Baroni; and through the parishes, schools, and hospitals they founded.