L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2019 www.italoamericano.org 20 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D ear Readers,  the Mayor of New Or- leans, La Toya Con- trell, issued a proclamation this year apologizing for the 1891 lynching of Italians in New Or- leans over a hundred years ago. Since we Italo-Americans have rarely been the recipients of any public apology by any public of- ficial, I thought I would share the "apology" story with you, in case you missed it the first time around. This clip appeared in the 2019, summer edition of the Ital- ian American Digest (the Italian American Voice of the South), a quarterly founded by my friend, the late Joseph Maselli, in 1973 and continues to be published by his son, Frank Maselli, chairman of the American Italian Renais- sance Foundation, at 537 South Peters St. New Orleans, LA 70130. *** La Toya Contrell Mayor of New Orleans with Federico Ciattaglio, Houston Consul Gen- eral of Italy in attendance, deliv- ered an Apology on behalf of the city of New Orleans for the mass lynching of 11 innocent Italians in 1891 when a bloodthirsty mob rushed a local jail in New Or- leans. The city's police chief, David Hennessy, had been shot to death, and over one hundred local Ital- ian-Americans were arrested in connection with the assassination. Nineteen were eventually charged with murder. The subsequent tri- als resulted in acquittal and mis- trials, but no convictions. Enraged by these results, an already anti- immigrant segment of population decided to take the law into their own hands... they stormed the jail and proceeded to brutally murder 11 men. For over a century, the mem- ory of the March 1891 attack has hunted the Italian-American denizens of the Crescent City. The mayor of New Orleans of- ficially apologized for the lynch- ing and issued an official Procla- mation of Apology to the Italian American community. Said the mayor: "What happened to those 11 Italians was wrong, and the city owes them and their descen- dants a formal apology... At this late date, we cannot give justice. But we can be intentional and de- liberate about what we do going forward." This attack was an act of anti- immigrant violence... New Or- leans is a welcoming city, but there remain serious and dark chapters to our shared story that remain untold and unaccounted for." Immigrants who came to the US from Europe and Asia in the late 19th century were often ac- cused of taking "American jobs" during difficult economic times. Italian immigrants, who often had darker complexions, were tar- geted in particular.  New Orleans was home to the largest community of Sicilian im- migrants to the United States. Though many integrated into the city, working and thriving in their own businesses, they were not welcomed by all. It was in this tenuous climate that Hennessy was murdered by unknown as- sailants. Rumors began to swirl that as Hennessy lay dying, he used a common slur for Italians to identify his murderers. Taking this as a cue authorities rounded up individuals of Italian descent en masse and the indictment were levied, including formally accus- ing a 14-year-old-boy.  After the acquittals, angry res- idents postulated that the Mafia had influenced jurors. Conse- quently, a number of prominent New Orleanians led the angry mob which shot and mutilated 11 men. Those who lost their lives were Antonio Bagnetto, Antonio Marchesi, Antonio Scaffidi, James Caruso, Rocco Graci, Pietro Monasterio, Loreto Comitis, Em- manuele Polizzi, Joseph P. Macheca, Frank Romero, and Charles Traina. The incident jeopardized diplo- matic relations between the US and Italy. The Italian consul in New Orleans, Pasquale Corte, left the city in May of 1891. The Ital- ian government demanded that the lynch mob be prosecuted, and that reparations be paid to the dead men's families. When the US failed to prosecute the mob's ring- leaders, Italy recalled its ambas- sador from Washington in protest. The US followed suit, recalling its ambassador from Rome. After a year of suspended diplomatic re- lations, President Benjamin Har- rison agreed to pay from from Ex- ecutive Branch Funds, $25,000 to the victims' families.  *** The unforgettable event in the history of Italian in New Orleans was the 1891 lynching of 11 Ital- ians. Discrimination against Ital- ian Americans was still evident in the 1920s and 1930s when they, along with Jews and African Americans, were excluded from membership in the city's famous Carnival "Krewes," the Mardi Gras organizations. However, it did not end there, as my friend Joe Maselli discovered and told in the Big Book of Italian Culture, (edited by Larry Di Stassi) in the chapter A Simple Game of Golf. Maselli says the incident that galvanized him and launched him as an Italian activist was when he applied for membership in the Metairie County Club in 1967.  "That's when I found out the whole world isn't peaches and ice cream and apple pie," he says. "I had played golf there for maybe ten, twelve years as a guest. I had been there hundreds of times - I'd play tournaments, go to parties, dances. And these two guys, my friends, they kept badgering me, when am I going to become a member? So finally I said OK, and I put my application in. I thought it was just a formality." Maselli says he waited several weeks to hear about his member- ship and was finally advised buy his two buddies to withdraw his application. Maselli took that to mean that he was going to be blackballed and he concluded it was because he was Italian. Today, Maselli treasures the experience. He considers it a turn- ing point in his life. And he thinks it's important to keep the memory of it alive.  Aside from his real-estate in- terested and his duties as owner of a wholesale liquor company, Joe Maselli today is the president, founder and guiding spirit of the American-Italian Renaissance Foundation, a museum and re- search library that documents the history of the Italian community in New Orleans. He has also founded an Italian American newsletter. He was a leading force in the establishment of the Piazza d'Italia, the centerpiece of a two- square-block downtown revital- ization project. He was the proprietor of the Italian Village at the World's Fair. He got the Renaissance Founda- tion off the ground, then organized the American Italian Federation of the Southeast, co-authored with Domenic Candeloro The Italians of New Orleans, and much more. If you visit New Orleans be sure to check the newly renovated American Italian Cultural Center and Museum on South Peters St. and the newly restored Piazza d'I- talia downtown.

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