Special to Seacoastonline
| Portsmouth Herald
PORTSMOUTH — An enthusiastic audience cheered as the last Portsmouth 400th anniversary (PNH400) legacy project came to fruition Aug. 29, when a North Enders Pocket Garden and commissioned sculpture unveiling took place at 70 Maplewood Ave., thanks to Portsmouth builder Tom Bolan and his wife, Kirsten.
The couple installed the pocket garden on the north edge of their nearly completed building, once the site of the old railroad station, that includes a commissioned sculpture, called The Circle Builders, created by artist and sculptor, Antoinette Prien Schultze, who has ties to the North End. The garden and sculpture honor a thriving community and celebrate those who lived there, and their descendants. A 30-acre tract of the North End was demolished through Urban Renewal in the late 1960s and early 1970s, resulting in the loss of hundreds of home and business buildings.
Tom Bolan reached out to restauranteur and Little Italy Celebrations (LIC) Chairman, Massimo Morgia after a PNH400 committee proposal for a garden with sculpture to be sited at the Portsmouth Sheraton fell through.
Morgia addressed the gathering about how the PNH400’s LIC group developed and financed their many events; Tom Balon spoke about the importance of including North history and community in North End locations and LIC committee member, Robyn Aldo, recited a rousing poem/song about the injustice of destroying a vital community, penned by Arthur Z. The unveiling of the sculpture was met with merriment by attendees, including members of PNH400 group, North Enders, the mayor and notable community figures such as Monte Bohanan, community and communications specialist for the city and formerly The Music Hall, and lauded arts maven Denise Wheeler.
The culture, history and resiliency of the North End Community has gained exposure and momentum over the years. Three billboards featuring vintage photos of North End residents were installed on Sheraton grounds in 2005 as part of a City program called Overnight Art. More North End history surfaced in recent years about this sector of the city, thanks to historians J. Dennis Robinson, UNH professor Blake Gumprecht and Laura Pope, who wrote a profile of North Ender and midwife, Rose Rizza Fiandaca, in Portsmouth Women, a book she created and edited in 2013.
Portsmouth’s sister city, Santarcangelo di Romagna, near the Adriatic Sea, is the ancestral home of many North Enders. Thanks to many, including North Ender Donna Garganta and PNH400 Managing Director, Valerie Rochon, this sister city alliance was formed in 2019.
Supercharging the momentum in North End awareness were previous PNH400’s Little Italy Celebrations Committee events in 2023 – a Venetian-style Masquerade Ball fundraiser, a festive Street Carnival, and a North Enders Feast at the Sheraton, located on what was once part of the old neighborhood. The Lost North End, a documentary featuring the voices and memories from members of this tight-knit community, premiered during the NH Film Festival at The Music Hall and was featured in other film festivals.
As the role of the once thriving working class community has become common knowledge and appreciated, North End archives of historic photos, videos and history held at the Portsmouth Library and Portsmouth Athenaeum have greatly expanded. Other projects have blossomed, as well. An exchange program that brought teachers and students from Santarcangelo di Romagna to Portsmouth yielded a program of Italian language studies in Portsmouth schools and a group of students from UNH, led by Professor Amy Boylan of the Italian Studies department, is making a prequel to The Lost North End documentary.
If this North End community was forgotten in the past, they are most definitely going to be remembered as a hard-working, remarkable community far into the future. At the conclusion of the North Enders Pocket Garden and Sculpture unveiling, North Ender Donna Zoffoli Pantelakos, spoke to the crowd.
“I want to give enormous thanks to three people in particular who began a campaign in honor of this forgotten neighborhood and the families so gravely impacted,” she said. “It’s truly a beautiful thing when people step up to advocate for others, especially for historical injustices that have been overlooked. The work of Robyn Aldo, Laura Pope, and Massimo Morgia to bring attention to this forgotten neighborhood is a testament to their compassion and commitment. Also, thank you Julie Gagne, my beautiful niece, for her countless hours interviewing those affected for the documentary and to director, Scott Maclin, who captured the heartwarming and sometimes painful interviews.
My heart is overflowing today with gratitude for all they have done. Let us never forget the pain and suffering of the lives and families that were torn apart. It’s a reminder that honoring the past is just as important as building for the future.”
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