By Michael Matza

Born in Italy in 1926, Elvira Raieta worked on a farm until 1971, then set sail for opportunity in America.

She and her husband used their savings to buy a house in a thriving Italian-immigrant neighborhood in Norristown.

Today, she is the sole Italian on her mostly African American street. The non-Hispanic white population of the borough that is the Montgomery County seat has dropped 18 percent since 2000, according to the U.S. Census, and had been falling for decades.

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Source: http://articles.philly.com