New York Historical Society: Construction: The cornerstone of the NYHS building at 170 Central Park West was laid on Nov. 17th 1903. Members and guest of the society gathered at the American Museum of Natural History and proceeded to the NYHS building site, a temporary scaffold and viewing stand had been erected for the day's events. After an invocation by the Rev. Charles E. Brugler, Pres. Samuel Verplank Hoffman, reviewed the society's history and listed the articles …showed first 75 words of 297 total…

…showed last 75 words of 297 total…recruiters known as padroni.Family and friends came eventually through intricate networks of village paesani, making an ardous journey to relocate to NY neighborhoods that would become "Little Italies" of the roughly 5 million Italians who arrived at Ellis Island by the early 20th century more than 1 million remained in NY. Today passports, immigration papers, and wooden trunks have passed through their families are a silent testimony to that immense human drama. Bibliography Visit to NYHS