In the early 1900s, Hartford was a booming economic center. Italy, on the other hand, suffered both economically and socially. Hundreds of thousands of Italian men looked for unskilled work in other countries, with many eventually headed to the United States. Hartford's potential job opportunities attracted Italians and soon the city's number of immigrants increased dramatically. Many of the Italian men became construction laborers building factories, housing, and railroads. However, Italians were the poorest paid workers in Hartford, earning substantially less than their Irish and German immigrant counterparts. Yet, old world traditions also sparked the entrepreneurial spirit of some Italian immigrants, and businesses like shoe-repair, carpentry, selling fruit, and barbering thrived. Italian women also worked, but usually strictly in factories.

Second generation Italian immigrants found more success in securing skilled jobs—like bookkeeping, accounting, and clerking. Italian-Americans soon strived in the arts scene with Connecticut-born professional musicians and dancers filling the symphonies and ballet halls of the state. Connecticut Italian-Americans also entered the sporting circles, like Christopher "Bat" Battaglini, who became a world champion featherweight boxer.

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Source: http://wnpr.org