Frank Sinatra Lodge # 2621

Points of Interest

ITALIAN NEW ORLEANS

 

 

It's hard to imagine New Orleans without the meaty muffuletta sandwiches and exuberant St. Joseph Day parades. Boasting one of the oldest Italian communities in the United States, second only to New York.

 

Memories of growing up Italian in the Big Easy are recalled by: Pascal Calogero, Jr., Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court; Joseph Maselli, founder of the American Italian Museum; UNO Professor of Sociology Anthony Margavio; music historian Jack Stewart; food writer John DeMers; Sandra Juneau of the American Society of Italian Heritage; local developer Joseph Canizaro; and Lena Steierwald, owner of Angelo's Bakery. Radio personality Bob Del Giorno narrates.

 

New Orleans became a mecca for thousands of Sicilians in the years immediately after the unification of Italy. The country's severe economic and social problems forced many Italians to emigrate to the United States. Following the Civil War, these immigrants, many of whom were involved in the citrus trade in Italy, quickly filled the labor shortage on Louisiana's plantations.

 

While many of the laborers would return back to Italy at the end of the harvest season, those who stayed sought occupational independence from the plantations. A number of those who remained naturally gravitated towards New Orleans -- a community with a sub-tropical climate, Catholic religion and an appetite for food and drink comparable to that of their homeland. By the end of the 1890s, more than 2,000 Italians were arriving in the city each year; about ninety percent were Sicilian. Settling mainly in the French Quarter, the neighborhood soon earned the nickname, "Little Italy."

 

"Their passion for their heritage is infectious," says producer Terri Landry, who feels like she became part of the Italian New Orleans family during her work on the project. Though they carried few possessions on their month-long journey to New Orleans, these determined Italians brought their old world cultural values, work ethic, frugality, faith, family devotion and sheer joy of life that enabled them to accomplish considerable social and economic gains in a short period of time. And their campanillisimo, or inherent suspicion of others, allowed them to preserve their Old World ways, particularly when it came to food.

 

It wasn't long before the newly-arrived Sicilians dominated the food industry in the city as owners of grocery stores, such as Central Grocery Store on Decatur Street, confectioneries, like Brocato's, and food processing factories such as the Progresso Food Company, owned by the Uddo and Taormina families. The Italians were also successful in other business ventures. The Monteleone.

 

Hotel on Royal Street was established by a Sicilian cobbler named Antonio Monteleone in the late 1800s and the Roosevelt Hotel, now the Fairmont, was owned by the same D'Antoni and Vaccaro partnership who established the Standard Fruit and Steamship Company.

 

But, not everyone was thrilled about the rapidity with which the Italians entered the business community. Discrimination was rampant about their dress, their broken English, their customs and traditions. Furthermore, in the late 19^th century, stereotypes and suspicions emerged about a local Mafia. In1890, when New Orleans Police Chief David Hennessey was murdered, the fingers pointed toward Italians believed to be a part of the Mafia. Nineteen Italian men were charged with the murder.

 

The Hennessey affair had far-reaching consequences. "Who Killa Da Chief?" became an ethnic taunt that would ring in the ears of Italian Americans for decades. Mafia stereotypes and anti-Italian sentiment lingered through the 1960s. However, their story is one of upward mobility and extreme pride that they refuse to blemish with accounts of discrimination. Armed with an invincible attitude, their additions to the city have become an indispensable piece of New Orleans' culture.

 

Ancient Sicilian practices, like the observance of St. Joseph Day on March 19, have become New Orleans' traditions. St. Joseph Day altars in New Orleans are tables laden with traditional and symbolic foods as over-the-top offerings of thanks that involve months of preparation. This peculiar brand of Catholicism, where patron saints are treated like kin, has been adapted as a lively part of the Catholic religion in New Orleans.

 

Italian Americans have also made their mark on the city through public service -- it was Italian mayor Victor H. Schiro who led the city through school integration in 1969. Many Italian-Americans were at the forefront of the jazz movement in New Orleans, such as Original Dixieland Band leader Nick LaRocca. And Italian food has most certainly added a distinct flavor to the Crescent City's diverse palate. Today, the Italian American contribution can literally be seen in the city's skyline. Native son and real estate developer Joseph Canizaro has made his mark downtown with the Lykes Building, the Texaco Center, Canal Place and made possible the award-winning monument to the Italians of New Orleans, the Piazza D'Italia.

 

The Italians have a saying, Molti ciottioli fanno una montagna: many pebbles make a mountain. In that sense, those Italians who came to New Orleans as laborers, cobblers and fruit vendors have added a unique multi-cultural stratum to the ethnic riches of the Crescent City.

 

Producer/Writer of ITALIAN NEW ORLEANS is Terri Landry. Associate Producer is Dawn Raymond. Director of Photography is Dave Landry. Original music composed by Jep Epstein. ITALIAN NEW ORLEANS was made possible by a grant from The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. Major corporate funding for ITALIAN NEW ORLEANS was provided by Corporate Capital and First Bank & Trust. Additional funding was provided by Lamana-Panno-Fallo and Franky & Johnny's Restaurant.

 

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