Click here to join Italian Genealogy Group on Facebook Originally, the city’s northeast shoreline extended only to what is today Taylor and Francisco streets. The area largely known today as North Beach was an actual beach, filled in with land fill around the late 19th century. Warehouses, fishing wharves, and docks were then built on the newly formed shoreline. Due to the proximity of the docks, the southern half of the neighborhood south of Broadway was home of the infamous Barbary Coast.[6] Following its reconstruction after the 1906 earthquake, a large number of Italian immigrants created the Italian character of the neighborhood that still exists. Prominent Italian Americans that came from the neighborhood include baseball legend Joe DiMaggio who grew up in the neighborhood and briefly returned to live there with his wife Marilyn Monroe during the 1950s, as well as former San Francisco mayor and politician Joseph Alioto plus others from the prominent Alioto family. During the 1950s, many of the neighborhood’s cafes and bars became the home and epicenter of the Beat Generation and gave rise to the San Francisco Renaissance. The term “beatnik” originated from the scene here and was coined in a derogatory fashion by famed San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen. Many of that generation’s most famous writers and personalities such as Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, Neal Cassady lived in the neighborhood. Another poet from this generation, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, founded the City Lights Bookstore that still exists today on the corner of Broadway and Columbus as an official historic landmark and serves as one of the main focal points of this generation. During the 1960s a notable night spot was The Committee, an improvisational theatre group founded by alumni of The Second City in Chicago. The Committee opened April 10, 1963 at 622 Broadway in a 300-seat cabaret theater. 19732012Carol Doda‘s Condor Club at Columbus and Broadway The Broadway area also created innovations for the strip club industry. The Condor Club, on the corner of Columbus and Broadway, was opened in 1964 as America’s first topless bar, which it is again today. The Lusty Lady was the first striptease club to be structured as a worker cooperative, which meant that it was managed by the dancers who worked at that peep-show establishment. Broadway strip clubs owe their legacy to the Barbary Coast, which was located just one block south on Pacific Street during the late 19th-century.[citation needed] In the 1970s and 1980s Broadway was the location of many live music clubs, like the Stone, and a punk rock club called the Mabuhay Gardens.[citation needed] Since the 1980s, and much like Manhattan’s Little Italy, due to a decrease in emigration from Italy and gentrification, the neighborhood has seen its native Italian American population rapidly shrink, while neighboring Chinatown has been rapidly expanding north into the neighborhood south of Broadway and along Stockton Street causing a major demographic shift to a mix of mostly Chinese and young professional population, although some, albeit very few, Italian Americans remain.[citation needed] Paul Kantner was living in North Beach in an apartment unit above Al’s Attire at the corner of Grant Avenue and Vallejo Street at the time of his death, and was often a patron of nearby Caffe Trieste.[7] North Beach was home to the first lesbian bar in San Francisco, Mona’s 440 Club. Mona Sargeant and her husband Jimmie opened Mona’s in 1936 in a North Beach basement as a small underground bar celebrating the end of Prohibition. Once Mona’s gained enough popularity between the gay community and tourists, the club moved to a much larger location at 440 Broadway Street. The club remained Mona’s 440 until the mid 1950s. Wikipedia Little Italy in New York goes back to the late 1800’s .  Rather than go into a all that history here, I will give you some links to articles and some books on the subject, written by people who write better than I.  Also, there are some great Youtube videos that you can watch. San Francisco’s Italians – SFGenealogy Where to Find Italy In America – Italy Magazine Italian Americans in California – Berkley   Some great videos of Little Italy in San Francisco 1970’s Molinari’s North Beach Gino and Carlo Things to do https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9TZFt4gA8khttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlDmz8QYoQ4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3o2onIxS-Mhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXXGkWpxQKUhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O_VgtrK8x8

Photo from northend.com Click here to join Italian Genealogy Group on Facebook I’ve been to Boston’s Little Italy or the North End many times.  Smaller than New York’s Little Italy, it still has some great Italian restaurants and bakeries.  The home of Prince Spaghetti and where Sacco and Vanzett were arrested. Little Italy in Boston goes back to the late 1800’s .  Rather than go into a all that history here, I will give you some links to articles and some books on the subject, written by people who write better than I.  Also, there are some great Youtube videos that you can watch. Short History of Boston’s North End – The North End How the North End Became Boston’s Little Italy – The Boston Globe North End Italians – North End Boston Mike’s Pastry.  Some of the best cannoli around.  And they deliver!

Have you ever wondered about your family roots? Are you ready to journey back in time, tracing your ancestry through the ages? Join us as we walk down memory lane with Pat Pizzatti, a phenomenal woman whose 30-year-long pursuit to understand her Italian lineage has led her on an incredible adventure. With grandparents who immigrated to Argentina, and a great-grandfather who toiled on the train rails, Pat’s family history is as riveting as it is diverse. While her quest for Italian citizenship had its fair share of highs and lows, Pat managed to weave a captivating story around her family’s history.  She takes us through the challenges of crafting clan names,  and the dramatic differences between the archives in the north and the south of Italy. To top it all, Pat also provides her Instagram account, for you to contact her to trace your roots. https://www.instagram.com/lagenealogistaitaliana/ Podcast Click here to join our group on Facebook Video

There are over 300,000 Italian surnames and the origins are really very interesting.  Have you ever thought about the origin of your Italian name?  If so, I’d like to recommend the book “Our Italian Surnames” by Joseph G. Fucilla.  While this book does not list all 300,000 Surnames, it does give us great insight into the evolution of both given names and surnames. Our Italian Surnames covers every fact of Italian names and naming practices. It is here we discover, for example, that Bussolari is Italian for compass, Orsini means bear, and Passalacqua stands for butterfly. Besides given names and the evolution of Italian surnames, the book contains chapters devoted to pet names, botanical names, geographical names, bird names, insect names, occupational names, and more. Written for a popular audience, each chapter of the book is a separate and informative unit in itself. Complete with a list of sources and an index of more than 7,500 names, Our Italian Surnames is a monument to the late Professor Fucilla’s lifelong interest in the language and names of Italia. Catch a quick idea about the book in the podcast below. Podcast Visit our recipe page here Click here Click here to join our group on Facebook

Please welcome the esteemed author and storyteller, Tony Ardizzone, who generously sheds light on his Italian-American heritage and how it has influenced his intriguing stories. Embark on a journey that traverses from Tony’s father’s Sicilian roots and tales of his childhood, to the colourful streets of Rome, where his recent book In Bruno’s Shadow unfolds. Uncover how Tony’s father’s admirable work ethic, his aunts’ memorable cooking, and his own experiences of Italian-American culture shaped his life. This episode also takes you on a visual tour through Rome’s art and culture, revealing fascinating stories such as Caravaggio’s artichoke fight and the tragic tale of Giordano Bruno, a Benedictine monk. See how these historical episodes have carved their way into Tony’s novel. He also shares his valuable insights on writing a family history, breathing life into his experiences and turning them into captivating narratives. In the final segment of this episode, prepare to soak up Tony’s unique perspective on overcoming perfectionism in writing. Tony also imparts his wisdom on writing fiction and character-building, offering incremental steps towards progress. This episode is brimming with Tony’s wisdom, rich storytelling, and invaluable insights into the art of writing, promising to inspire and captivate you. www.tonyardizzone.com Podcast Click here to join our group on Facebook Video