NEHS is very excited about the September launch of the fundraising for the interactive art project by world renowned sculptor, Nancy Schon (“Make Way for Ducklings” in Boston Public Garden) to be installed at St. Leonard’s Church's Peace Garden in the North End. It is to honor our ancestors who crossed the Atlantic from Italy and other parts of Europe from 1850’s-1920’s to create a better life for themselves and future generations. We hope you will participate in this effort.
For More questions or if you wish to participate in the project: Contact NEHS Director Anthony Cortese, adcortese@gmail.com.
If you wish to make the Donation in memory of an ancestral loved one, please indicate it with your donation.
Please attach a photo of that person so we can celebrate your ancestors in some appropriate way.
We thank the 85 people who have generously donated to date. We are well on our mid-way goal of raising $50,000 by March 1st! With your help we can succeed!
Sincerely,
Tom Damigella,President
FROM ITALY TO AMERICA
We seek to install a bronze sculpture at St. Leonard Church (SLC) that symbolizes the first steps down a gangway from Italy to America that Italian and other immigrants walked after crossing the Atlantic since the mid 1800’s.
With love and devotion. descendants can walk in the footsteps of their ancestors whose dream it was to make a better social, economic, and spiritual life for their families and their future. These footprints led directly into the first Italian Catholic Church in new England which they built in 1873 for their spiritual guidance and to grow their new community.Now the North Ends’s Catholic congregation, St. Leonard Church (SLC), includes Sacred Heart and St. Stephen Church, the St. Mary Chapel at Casa Maria Housing, and St. John’s School, and is the hub for spiritual collaboration by the North End’s well known religious societies. It is in the heart of the North End with an iconic Peace Garden.It will remind all visitors of the values, challenges, courage, and dedication it took to make their vision a reality and inspire its continuity and evolution.
About the Artist Nancy Schön. the sculpture,
is an internationally recognized public art sculptor, known for her warm evocative representations of human and animal figures. She is best known for the“Make Way for Ducklings” sculpture in the Boston Public Garden and the “ Tortoise and Hare “ in Copley Square. Visit her web site to learn more about her https://schon.com/public/ “When Mike Annunziata told me about this project, I knew I had to find a way to represent a universal idea of people seeking a new and better life for their families and future generations. … We hope it gives continuity for generations to come as it symbolizes the path Italian immigrants walked as they crossed the Atlantic to the U.S.” Nancy