A grant has been awarded to Old North Illuminated (ONI), which operates the Old North Church Historic Site, to research and document that before the North End Little Italy came about, it was a thriving Jewish community in the 1800s.
The grant, a Historic Makers Community Fund that will potentially place markers on sites that recognize the Jewish community in the neighborhood.
Apparently, there is a legacy of this historic fact is still visible in the neighborhood today for those who know where to look.
A faded Star of David on a building faced. An alley renamed Jerusalem Place for a synagogue that once stood nearby and a Hebrew School inscription slowly disappearing under grime from a restaurant next door.
The grant would potentially place markers on site in the community that recognize the Jewish experience in the community.
ONI is collaborating with international recognized scholars of Jewish history and culture as well as local history and photography exports to do fact finding results.
North End native Dr. Jessica Dello Russo, a historian who has published papers exclusively on Jewish Archaeology is working closely with ONI on the historic markers project.
She is a visiting professor of art history and archaeology at Clark University.
Together, all parties will trace the story of Shalom Street as Salem Street was once nicknamed and to explore new questions about how Old North Church’s own congregation interacted with the neighborhood’s Jewish residents.
The grant is funded by the Edward Ingersoll Brown Fund to research and document this overlooked history and purpose permanent historic markers across the North End.
Public presentations and feedback sessions are planned for this fall.