From the late nineteenth through the twentieth century, the South Village was a tale of two communities: Italian immigrants and American-born artists, authors, and performers. This illustrated Zoom lecture explores the Italians’ reactions to their neighbors.

Sometimes the Italians provided inspiration for artists; sometimes they became part of the mainstream community themselves. More often the communities operated in parallel: Eugene O’Neill at the Provincetown Playhouse, a Passion Play at a church auditorium. There is also some intriguing evidence that even though the Italians and the creative types came to the Village to pursue different dreams, they both found what they wanted in the Village’s unique mix of buildings.