Italian American – The West End Museum

A black and white photograph of a city block, lined with 4-5 story brick buildings, with crowds of people in the street.

Revisiting Joseph Caruso’s “The Priest” & the West End’s Sicilian Immigrant Community

Joseph Caruso’s novel The Priest (1956) vividly captures daily life for the West End’s Italian immigrant population in the mid-twentieth century, drawing on actual events, historical landmarks, cultural rituals, and economic challenges which shaped the West End community for generations.

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Immigrant Neighborhood Neighborhood Life

A sepia-toned photograph of a city street corner. People mill about in turn of the century clothing, and there is a pharmacy on the left.

My Grandfather: Memories of Daily Life in the West End

Below is a memory letter from the Museum’s archives, originally submitted by Joseph LoPiccolo to the West Ender Newsletter in 1988. In it, we follow Joseph and his grandfather (an Italian immigrant) through their daily lives in Boston’s West End, prior to its demolition.

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Revisiting Joseph Caruso’s “The Priest” & the West End’s Sicilian Immigrant Community

My Grandfather: Memories of Daily Life in the West End

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