L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D ear Readers, July j o t t i n g s , m o s t w i t h a n I t a l i a n Connection. Jazz, honored by the US Postal Service with the issue of a Jazz Forever Stamp in 2011, reminds me that the father of American Jazz was an Ital- i a n - A m e r i c a n n a m e d Dominic (Nick) LaRocca of New Orleans. He called his five-man group The Original Dixieland Jazz Band. LaRocca's band produced the first jazz recording: Darktown Strutters Ball. L a R o c c a , b o r n i n N e w Orleans on April 11, 1889, taught himself how to play the cornet. Credit goes to LaRocca for revolutionizing popular music. He died in 1961. Louis Armstrong wrote: "Four years before I learned to play the trumpet, the first great jazz orchestra was formed in New Orleans by a cornet player named Dominic James LaRocca." *** Ku Klux Klan groups in America did not only target Blacks in the South, there is ample evidence that they regularly burned crosses (or worse) on the lawns of Ital- i a n s o r C a t h o l i c s i n t h e South. In the "or worse" category, Richard Gambino's book, Vendetta, tells the story of the worst lynching in Ameri- ca - the mass murder of Ital- i a n - A m e r i c a n s i n N e w O r l e a n s i n 1 8 9 1 , a n d t h e vicious motivations behind it. According to Gambino, on a rainy New Orleans night in 1 8 9 1 , D a v i d H e n n e s s y , a nationally-prominent police superintendent, was gunned down by unknown assailants, purportedly identified only as "Dagoes." Based on this vague and dubious evidence, authorities indiscriminately rounded up nineteen Ital- ian-Americans. W h e n t h e f i r s t w e r e brought to trial, none was convicted. Yet immediately afterward, an inflamed mob, suspiciously well organized for such a quick appearance, stormed the jail and shot, beat to death, or otherwise slaughtered eleven innocent men. In the North, Signor F.B. told me that as a "kid" in the H i b b i n g , M i n n e s o t a i r o n range area, he personally saw c r o s s e s b e i n g b u r n e d t o intimidate the Italian immi- grant iron miners and that m o s t o f t h e K l a n s m e n , although covered with white sheets to hide their identity, were known to be local min- ing company management and owners. In the West, the Ku Klux Klan tried to "purify the land" by eliminating Ital- ians and Catholics from Colorado. The following is an excerpt taken from the book, Italian-American Folklife in the West. This oral story was gathered by interviewing older Italians or their proge- ny who lived in Colorado in the 1920s. [Son speaking about his father]: "In addition to work- i n g t h e h o m e s t e a d , h e worked in the mines when the mines were open. Dad worked every day. The peace w a s d i s t u r b e d , h o w e v e r , when local feelings began to turn against foreigners, circa 1924. Things were bad back t h e n i n C o l o r a d o a t t h e time. They had it in for the Catholics, the Italians, maybe all foreigners. But around Mount Harris, there were mostly Italians. T h e w o r d w a s o u t t h e y were going to drive all the foreigners out of Wolf Creek, Colorado: all the Italians, all the Catholics. To purify the land. *** T h e D e c l a r a t i o n o f Independence is a docu- ment familiar to Americans, o f c o u r s e . B u t l e s s w e l l known is the story behind one of its most famous parts. When still a senator, John F. K e n n e d y w r o t e t h a t t h e phrase "All men are created equal" was borrowed by Jef- ferson from an Italian-born m a n , F i l i p p o ( P h i l i p ) Mazzei, who had settled in Virginia in 1773, next to Jef- ferson's Monticello. The two neighbors, who had already corresponded when Mazzei w a s i n L o n d o n , b e c a m e friends and often discussed their political views. Mazzei's specific thoughts on freedom and the equality of men were written down in Italian but Advancing our Legacy: Italian Community Services CASA FUGAZI If you know of any senior of Italian descent in San Francisco needing assistance, please contact: ItalianCS.org | (415) 362-6423 | info@italiancs.com Italian Community Services continues to assist Bay Area Italian-American seniors and their families navigate and manage the resources needed to live healthy, independent and productive lives. Since Shelter-in-Place began in San Francisco, Italian Community Services has delivered over 240 meals, over 900 care packages and made over 2000 phone wellness checks for our seniors. were translated into English by Jefferson and were pub- lished in the Virginia Gazette of 1774. Mazzei's words read, "All men are by nature equal- ly free. Such equality is nec- essary in order to create a free government. All men must be equal to each other in natural law." Born in the Italian region of Tuscany and trained in medicine, Mazzei began his career working as a surgeon i n I t a l y a n d T u r k e y b u t moved to London in 1773 w h e r e h e s t a r t e d a w i n e - importing business. While in London, Mazzei met Ben- jamin Franklin when pur- c h a s i n g f r o m h i m t w o Franklin stoves for use by the Grand Duke of Tuscany. This initial business con- tact marked the beginning of a lasting friendship between Mazzei and Franklin; and through Franklin, Mazzei met John Adams who was then in London, working on b e h a l f o f t h e A m e r i c a n colonies. E v e n t u a l l y , J e f f e r s o n , Franklin, and Adams con- vinced Mazzei to move to Vir- ginia. Mazzei became a natu- ralized citizen. In his new country, his economic activi- ties included planting grapes for the production of wine (his old passion) and olive trees for the production of olive oil. Mazzei's contribution to the Declaration of Indepen- dence was officially recog- nized by the US Congress in an August 5, 1994 Joint Res- olution which stated that Jef- f e r s o n h a d b o r r o w e d t h e expression "All men are cre- ated equal" from his friend and neighbor Philip Mazzei.

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