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A busy corner on Harvard Street with young people passing by on the street.

Koreans

Corner of Harvard Avenue in Allston, an area often referred to as Boston's "Koreatown" and home of dozens of Korean-owned restaurants, businesses, and the Korean language newspaper, BostonKorea (building center left). Courtesy of Alastair Pike, NBC News.

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Greek Restaurants in Boston

There’s an old saying that “when Greek meets Greek, they start a restaurant.” In Boston at least, this seems to have been true. Along with Jews and Italians, Greeks were one the top three immigrant groups that owned restaurants in…

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Jewish Restaurants in Boston

In 1894, the Boston Globe reported that the city had only one Jewish restaurant, located on Hanover Street in the North End. By the 1920s, however, there were more than three hundred Jewish-owned restaurants across the city, the most run…

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Large restaurant with tablecloths and centerpieces, leather booths, and murals with Italian scenes on the wall.

Italian Restaurants

Postcard showing main dining room of Cafe Bova, a popular downtown Italian restaurant, 1912. Founded by Calabrian-born Antonio Bova in 1907, this cosmopolitan restaurant featured elegant tables, murals of Neapolitan scenery, and live Italian music. Its eclectic menu offered dishes…

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German Restaurants

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, German restaurants and breweries were popular gathering places in Boston and other US cities. Following the 1848 revolutions and agricultural crises in Europe, German immigration to the United States increased sharply. Although…

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Chinese Restaurants

Unidentified man seated at the Oriental Restaurant at 32 Harrison Street owned by Bun Fong Low Company, ca. 1895-1910. Courtesy of the Trustees of Boston Public Library.

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Immigrant women medical pioneers of JP

In the late 19th century, Jamaica Plain was home to two immigrant women who were pioneers in the medical profession. Dr. Marie Zakrzewska (1829-1902) and Dr. Mary Morey Pearson (1861-1931) exemplify the bold part immigrant women have played in developing…

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Global Eats

Cast members of the theatrical production “One Sunday Afternoon” celebrating at the Russian Bear Restaurant on Newbury Street in December 1933, just days after the end of Prohibition. This restaurant opened a year earlier under the ownership of Mrs. L.B.…

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Frank Storer looks at the camera as he plays piano in the foreground. Behind him, there are three other instrumentalists, playing string instruments. In the background, there are many men and women dancing and talking.

Dudley Street

Frank Storer plays piano to a crowded dance hall at the Intercolonial Club on Dudley Street in the 1950s. It was one of at least five dance halls that featured live music by Irish and Canadian bands in the mid-20th…

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Anti-Asian Violence

After the Vietnam war, thousands of refugees from Vietnam and Cambodia were resettled in the greater Boston area. Many were traumatized by their experiences, only to face more hostility from white neighbors in their new homes. To help end this…

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