Many of the more than 4 million Italians who emigrated to the US during the Industrial Revolution to escape poverty came through Ellis Island in New York. The other port of entry, for some, was Providence. “Ellis Island was saturated,” said Walter Potenza, 68, of Providence, who owns the largest collection of Italian photographs in the state. “They couldn’t process the incoming fast enough.”

Some of those immigrants became farmers who obtained land in places like Barrington, Bristol, Warren, Cranston — now some of Rhode Island’s most-affluent areas. They carried little with them and craved a place to belong. So they formed hubs that Potenza called “Little Italys.”