Immigrants' Children : Jewish and Italian Memories of Old South Portland

Jews and Italians came to South Portland during the immigration wave in the early 1900s. It was a self-contained neighborhood where immigrants replicated the society they left in Europe. The Jews had kosher butcher shops and bakeries, synagogues and a mikvah while the Italians had the ethnic food they remembered, bocce bal courts, and their beautiful Italian National Church. In 1958 Portland voted to create an urban renewal district and bulldozers demolished 54 blocks of the immigrant community. Although the neighborhood no longer exists, it still means a great deal to those who remember. This oral history captures the spirit of daily life in South Portland through the words of the immigrants' children and grandchildren.Olsen, Polina is the author of 'Immigrants' Children : Jewish and Italian Memories of Old South Portland', published 2006 under ISBN 9780978718312 and ISBN 0978718313.