New Book Unveils Story of St. Michael Church, Connecticut’s First Italian Church

Story by Joe Pisani

Daniel Elliott cherishes his boyhood memories of celebrating the feast of St. Mary Magdalene on Wooster Street in New Haven, when his parents would dress him in a snappy white suit to watch the procession of bands, Italian religious societies, food vendors and the statue of Santa Maria Maddalena being carried on a platform by parishioners of St. Michael’s Church.

“Wooster Street would be festooned with red, white and green garland, and our entire family would stand outside my grandmother’s apartment watching,” Elliott recalls. “As a kid, I went to Mass at St. Michael’s, and all the religious processions were so cool to me.”

A parishioner and former trustee of the church, Elliott’s love of his Italian heritage and his interest in genealogy inspired him to undertake a nearly three-year project, writing his first book, The History of St. Michael’s Roman Catholic Church, about the first Italian-American parish in Connecticut, founded in 1889 to serve the influx of immigrants.

The 375-page work, which is available on Amazon, is also a chronicle of the Italian community and the Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo, known as the Scalabrinians, founded by St. John Baptist Scalabrini in 1887 to support immigrants and who staffed the church for almost 120 years.

For more than 130 years, six generations of his family on his mother Barbara Colloso Elliott’s side have worshipped at St. Michael’s, which is part of the Blessed Michael McGivney Parish. And while his father David is of Irish, Scottish and English lineage, he has a love of Italian culture and food.

“I always had an interest in St. Michael’s history because it seemed to be the most spectacular church,” Elliott says. “I’ve gone there from the time I was a little kid and attended the school until the second grade.”                         

Today, the Glastonbury resident and attorney worships there with his wife Lauren and daughters Grace Angelika, 5, and Isla Maddalena, 2.

Elliott’s interest led him to Dr. Mary Elizabeth Brown, archivist and historian at the Center for Migration Studies in New York City, where he discovered a treasure trove of material about the church.

“We got to talking, and the idea just came up that maybe I should do a book on St. Michael’s,” he recalls. “She provided me with access to the records I needed.”

Elliott’s research revealed that then-Bishop Lawrence McMahon “was relentless in his support of Italian immigrants in New Haven and he went all out to help them.”

Although acrimony between Irish and Italian communities was common, the Italian immigrants revered the three Irish priests assigned to them before the Scalabrinians arrived.

Religious societies associated with Italian towns were formed to support immigrants, including the Santa Maria Maddalena Society, St. Trofimena Society, St. Andrew the Apostle Society, St. Catello Society and the Santa Maria delle Vergini Society, along with a society honoring St. Ann.

His book also describes the work of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart, who arrived in 1906 to help the Italian community and run St. Michael’s School. The sisters even began day care so immigrant families could work in the factories and have a better life.

The generation of immigrants that arrived between 1880 to 1920 is gone, but the church is trying to preserve traditions for younger Italian-Americans.

“We’re fortunate to have people who are strongly devoted to this culture and want to preserve these traditions for our kids and grandkids,” Elliott says. “And the way that happens is for us to continue with the processions and the feasts, and I hope in some small way my book contributes to that.”