While Boston’s North End is famous for being a hub of Italian culture, thousands of Jewish residents once lived and worked in this historic neighborhood. A new project is underway to highlight the substantial contributions that Jewish people have made to the North End’s renowned immigrant heritage. Old North Illuminated (ONI) has been awarded a Historic Markers Community Grant to pursue a special project documenting the North End’s Jewish history.
Old North Illuminated is the secular nonprofit organization that manages education, tourism, and preservation at Old North Church Historic Site. ONI maintains a close relationship with the Episcopal congregation of Old North Church, as well as the National Park Service and the Freedom Trail Foundation.
ONI is collaborating with internationally recognized scholars of Jewish history and culture, as well as local history and topography experts, to research and document sites for potential historic markers that recognize and document Jewish experiences in the North End. Dr. Jessica Dello Russo, a North End native and historian who has published extensively on Jewish archaeology, is working closely with ONI on the historic markers project. Dello Russo is a visiting professor in Art History and Archaeology at Clark University, and her recent publications include “A Jewish Archaeology: The Christian Discovery of Jewish Catacombs in Rome” (DeGruyterBrill, 2025) and “Growing the Global Audience for the Jewish Catacombs of Italy” (UniOr Press, 2025).
Boston’s North End was home to a thriving Jewish community in the late 19th century. Composed primarily of immigrants and first-generation Americans, it was defined by the languages, religious practices, and social networks originating from Eastern Europe and Russia. As this community developed within a densely populated urban environment, it navigated the challenges and opportunities of social integration and upward mobility while preserving Jewish traditions and values. These social dynamics have left traces in the contemporary North End cityscape that are overlooked.
Funding for the project comes from the Edward Ingersoll Browne Fund. In honor of the nation’s 250th anniversary in 2026 and the City of Boston’s 400th in 2030, the Edward Ingersoll Browne Fund offered grants to support community research and proposals for permanent historic markers by Boston’s Office of Historic Preservation. The Browne Fund was created in 1978 through the will of Boston-born attorney Edward Ingersoll Browne.
As the project progresses, we will continue to update this blog with videos and research. Check back soon!
An Interview with Nancy Schön
We were thrilled to interview the incredible sculptor Nancy Schön as part of our Jewish history project. Best known for Boston’s “Make Way for Ducklings” sculpture, Nancy continues to create meaningful works of art at 98 years old.
We spoke with Nancy about “The Noble Journey,” her 2024 sculpture honoring the immigrant experience in Boston’s North End.
