Noble Journey Sculpture: Italy to America

In partnership with other area institutions, NEHS is raising funds to install a bronze sculpture at St. Leonard Church in Boston’s North End to symbolize the first steps down a gangway from Italy to America which Italian and other immigrants walked after crossing the Atlantic in the mid 1800's. These footprints lead directly into the first Italian Catholic Church in New England and will be installed in the Peace Garden of St. Leonard Church built by Italian Immigrants in 1873. It will remind all visitors of the values, challenges, courage, and dedication it took to make the immigrant vision a reality, and inspire its continuity and evolution. 

The North End Historical Society, award winning sculptor, Nancy Schön, Fr. Michael Della Penna, Dr. Michael Annunziata and Friends of the North End have initiated a public art project to honor the legacy of 175 years of Italian immigration and culture of the North End in the 19th to the 21st centuries.  

With love and devotion, descendants can walk in the footsteps of their ancestors whose dream it was to make a new and better social, economic and spiritual life for their families and future generations. 

Nancy’s design reflects the journey by boat that all North End Italian ancestors took when originally settling in the U.S.