Researching Genealogy & Local History in the Bronx's "Little Italy": A
Guide
Books on Bronx History
History in Asphalt: The Origin of Bronx Street and Place Names by John
McNamara
| Call Number: 974.727 M169 |
ISBN: 0941980162 |
Publication Date: 1993 |
Belmont-Arthur Avenue: 'Little Italy of the Bronx'
| ISBN: 0965722139 |
Publication Date: 1993 |
Of the fifty distinct neighborhoods of The Bronx, the most populated and
close family-knit enclave was the 10-square-block area called Belmont &
Arthur Avenue, The Little Italy of The Bronx.
Books on Italian-Americans
The Italian American Table by Simone Cinotto
| ISBN: 9780252095016 |
Publication Date: 2013 |
Looking at the historic Italian American community of East Harlem in the
1920s and 30s, Simone Cinotto recreates the bustling world of Italian life
in New York City and demonstrates how food was at the center of the lives of
immigrants and their children.
The Italian American Experience by Louis J. Gesualdi
| ISBN: 9780761858607 |
Publication Date: 2012 |
"The Italian/American Experience: A Collection of Writings" represents a
meaningful attempt to inform Italian Americans about their group's varied
experiences in America.
New Italian Migrations to the United States by Laura E. Ruberto (Editor);
Joseph Sciorra (Editor)
| ISBN: 0252082451 |
Publication Date: 2017 |
Italian immigration from 1945 to the present. This collection focuses on
leading edge topics that range from politics of the McCarren-Walter Act and
its effects on women to the ways Italian Americans mobilized against
immigration restrictions.
Emigrant Nation by Mark I. Choate
| ISBN: 9780674027848 |
Publication Date: 2008 |
Between 1880 and 1915, thirteen million Italians left their homeland,
launching the largest emigration from any country in recorded world history.
As the young Italian state struggled to adapt to the exodus, it pioneered
the establishment of a "global nation," an Italy abroad cemented by ties of
culture, religion, ethnicity, and economics.
Databases
These databases are available through Pratt Institute
This historical newspaper provides genealogists, researchers and scholars
with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage
of the politics, society and events of the time. The Historical New York
Times with Index (1851-1993) provides search capability using subject terms
and topics for focused and targeted results in combination with searchable
full text, full page, and article-level images from the Historical New York
Times.
These historical newspapers provide genealogists, researchers and scholars
with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage
of the politics, society and events of the time.
This free database contains 70 publications that covered the Bronx. Click on
the "US Newspaper Directory, 1690 - Present" tab on the right. Select "New
York" in the state field and "Bronx" in the county field.
New York City Guidebooks
Available through Hathitrust, this book sponsored by the Guilds' Committee
for Federal Writers' Publications, Inc., is 680 pages long and features
information on different neighborhoods within the boroughs.
"The Italians of New York" is a survey prepared by workers of the Federal
Writers' Project, Works Progress Administration in the city of New York.
(1938) Fully searchable on Hathitrust.
Books on New York City History
"Gotham" by Edwin G. Burrows; Mike Wallace
| ISBN: 0195116348 |
Publication Date: 1998 |
Call Number:974.71 B972 c.2 |
In Gotham, Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace have produced a monumental work
of history, one that ranges from the Indian tribes that settled in and
around the island of Manna-hata, to the consolidation of the five boroughs
into Greater New York in 1898. It is an epic narrative, a story as vast and
as varied as the city it chronicles, and it underscores that the history of
New York is the story of our nation. Readers will relive the tumultuous
early years of New Amsterdam under the Dutch West India Company, Peter
Stuyvesant's despotic regime, Indian wars, slave resistance and revolt, the
Revolutionary War and the defeat of Washington's army on Brooklyn Heights,
the destructive seven years of British occupation, New York as the nation's
first capital, the duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, the Erie
Canal and the coming of the railroads, the growth of the city as a port and
financial center, the infamous draft riots of the Civil War, the great flood
of immigrants, the rise of mass entertainment such as vaudeville and Coney
Island, the building of the Brooklyn Bridge and the birth of the skyscraper.
"New York" by Paul Aresu (Photographer); Naomi Fertitta; NYC and Company
Foundation Staff
| ISBN: 0789318989 |
Publication Date: 2009 |
Both an official NYC guide and a celebration of the city, this book is the
ideal travel companion for both tourists and resident tourists. Complete
"how-to" information shows where to eat and shop, as well as how to get
there.
"The Encyclopedia of New York City" by Kenneth T. Jackson (Editor); Nancy
Flood (Editor); Lisa Keller (Editor)
| ISBN: 0300114656 |
Publication Date: 2010 |
Call Number: 974.71003 E561 |
Covering an exhaustive range of information about Manhattan, Brooklyn,
Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island, the first edition of The Encyclopedia
of New York City was a success by every measure, earning worldwide acclaim
and several awards for reference excellence.
Books on General Local History Research
"On Doing Local History" by Carol Kammen
| ISBN: 9780759123694 |
Publication Date: 2014 |
For over thirty years, Carol Kammen's On Doing Local History has been a
valuable guide to professional and "amateur" historians alike. First
published in 1986, revised in 2003, this book offers not only discussion of
practical matters, but also a deeper reflection on local, public history,
what it means, and why it is done. It is used in classrooms and found on the
shelves of local historians across the U.S.
"Why Old Places Matter" by National Trust for Historic Preservation
| ISBN: 9781538117682 |
Publication Date: 2018 |
Why Old Places Matter is the only book that explores the reasons that old
places matter to people. Although people often feel very deeply about the
old places of their lives, they don't have the words to express why. This
book brings these ideas together in evocative language and with illustrative
images for a broad audience. The book reveals the fundamentally important
yet under-recognized role old places play in our lives.
"Nearby History" by David E. Kyvig; Myron A. Marty
| ISBN: 9780759112490 |
Publication Date: 2010 |
A comprehensive handbook for those interested in investigating the history
of communities, families, local institutions, and cultural artifacts, Nearby
History helps its readers research the world near at hand. In this fully
updated third edition, the authors discuss a variety of research approaches
involving published literature, unpublished documents, oral histories,
visual and material sources, and landscapes; offer guidance in the uses of
technology, particularly digital photography and digital voice recording;
and suggest methods of historical presentation.
"Interpreting Local Culture and History" by J. Sanford Rikoon (Editor);
Judith Austin (Editor)
| ISBN: 0931406064 |
Publication Date: 1991 |
This title features a range of techniques to all those who accept the
challenge to interpret their own local culture and history with insight and
perspective.
Local History Journals and Databases
Family & Community History