Our Lady of Pompeii Church was the first to open its doors on the northeast corner of Lexington in April of 1911. On October 10th, 1994, Joseph Cardinal Bernadin proclaimed the church a shrine, a center of hospitality, evangelization and spiritual growth founded in the Italian tradition and culture. Incorporating the Italian language into parts of the mass, Our Lady of Pompeii carries on old traditions and welcomes all who wish to attend. Other parishes that connect the community are Notre Dame de Chicago, a French-Canadian church on Flournoy, and St. Callistus on West Bowler, both of which have been major influences for those families who have lived here from the beginning.

Today, the churches, the businesses, and the people all come together somehow in some small way that lingers on. In the midst of a changing neighborhood the Italian presence still makes a significant contribution. It isn’t just the name “Little Italy” that suggests this contribution, it is the revitalization and fight of these people that comes through their eyes and their actions.

Included in this rejuvenation only a few blocks away, an Italian-American Sports Hall of Fame is currently under construction. Founder, George Randazzo officially opened the first NIASHF in Elmwood Park back in 1978. The several million-dollar project hints to an even more promising future for the neighborhood, adding to an already profound community effort and hopefully welcoming back Italian-Americans who wish to return. Appropriately situated across from the construction site is yet another one of ‘Little Italy’s’ landmarks, a ‘piazza’ and bronze statue dedicated to Yankee legend Joe DiMaggio. Unveiled in May 1991, the ‘Yankee Clipper’ himself made one of his final public appearances, marking the 50th anniversary of his 56-game hitting streak here in this ‘home run’ neighborhood of Chicago.

So by now I walked it all, I finished my cup of espresso, and passed the afternoon with people who seemed to be like old friends. Slowly the pieces of the puzzle began to fit together as I wondered what could have, what might have, what should have been. Change is inevitable and the past is the past. What’s left on Taylor Street is the heart and soul of some Italians who, in my book, have the market cornered on ‘Little Italy’ in Chicago. Their future is one of possibilities with an integrity already intact, put there by the people, it’s the legend that will never vanish. You don’t need to look backwards to go forward in life, you need only take what you’ve got and keep fighting the bigger fight and that is exactly what ‘Little Italy’ in Chicago is doing.