In Immigrants on the Hill, Gary Mormino traces the Hill's evolution from its roots in Lombardy and Sicily to contemporary times, focusing on those institutions that have sustained and nurtured the community. He reveals how, in work, play, religion, politics, and even bootlegging, Hill Italian-Americans have consistently encouraged ethnic pride, working-class solidarity, and family honor. His study, now with a new preface, shows why this ethnic enclave has garnered national attention.

"In more than forty collected stories, immigrants living in St. Louis write compelling accounts of their earlier lives"--Provided by publisher.

As St. Louis celebrates the 250th year since its founding, Ethnic St. Louis highlights the many communities that make St. Louis a vibrant, multi-ethnic city. Their stories—accompanied by rare photography—fill the new book Ethnic St. Louis, a rich tapestry of the people and cultures that have enriched the Gateway City throughout its history.From long-established French, German, and Irish communities, through the African American community, and the more recent arrivals of Vietnamese and Bosnian immigrants, this volume covers a broad spectrum of groups that shaped St. Louis history and daily life. Photo-illustrated vignettes convey why each community settled in St. Louis, how they changed through the years, and how they contributed to local progress and growth. A first-of-its-kind compendium, Ethnic St. Louis demonstrates the importance of diverse communities to the city's rich past, complex current identity, and interconnected future.

Rescued from the dumpster of a boarded-up house, the yellowing scraps of a young migrant’s schoolwork provided Benjamin Moore with the jumping-off point for this study of migration, memory, and identity. Centering on the compelling story of its eponymous subject, The Names of John Gergen examines the converging governmental and institutional forces that affected the lives of migrants in the industrial neighborhoods of South St. Louis in the early twentieth century. These migrants were Banat Swabians from Torontál County in southern Hungary—they were Catholic, agrarian, and ethnically German. Between 1900 and 1920, the St. Louis neighborhoods occupied by migrants were sites of efforts by civic authorities and social reformers to counter the perceived threat of foreignness by attempting to Americanize foreign-born residents. At the same time, these neighborhoods saw the strengthening of Banat Swabians’ ethnic identities. Historically, scholars and laypeople have understood migrants in terms of their aspirations and transformations, especially their transformations into Americans. The experiences of John Gergen and his kin, however, suggest that identity at the level of the individual was both more fragmented and more fluid than twentieth-century historians have recognized, subject to a variety of forces that often pulled migrants in multiple directions.

The Hill was named for its proximity to the highest point in St. Louis. Italians, mainly from Northern Italy, immigrated to the area starting in the late 1800s; however, by 1910, Sicilians were also immigrating to the Hill. Agencies in Italy were employed by mining companies and other industries to help Italian citizens gather all the required documentation for immigration. Italians came to the Hill because of its proximity to the factory and the mines and because it was a district that allowed them to purchase land and build a home. The Parish of St. Ambrose was founded 1903. After the original church was destroyed by fire, the new church was completed in 1926. The Hill has been home to some of St. Louis's nationally known residents, including baseball heroes Joe Garagiola and Lawrence "Yogi" Berra.