L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2024 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D e a r r e a d e r s , J u l y J o t - t i n g s , m o s t with an Italian c o n n e c t i o n . The father of American jazz w a s a n I t a l i a n - A m e r i c a n named D o m i n i c ( N i c k ) James LaRocca of New Orleans. He called his five- man group the original Dix- ieland Jazz Band, which p r o d u c e d t h e f i r s t j a z z r e c o r d i n g , D a r k t o w n S t r u t t e r B a l l . LaRocca, born in New Orleans on April 11, 1889, taught himself how to play the cornet and credit goes to him for revolutioniz- ing 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 reg- ularly burned crosses — or worse — on the lawn of Ital- ians or Catholics. In the "or worse" category, Richard Gambino's book, Vendetta, tells the story of the worst l y n c h i n g i n A m e r i c a : t h e m a s s m u r d e r o f I t a l i a n - Americans in New Orleans in 1891, and the vicious motiva- tions behind it. According to Gambino, on a rainy New Orleans night in 1891, David H e n n e s s y , a n a t i o n a l l y - prominent police superinten- dent, was gunned down by unknown assailants, purport- e d l y i d e n t i f i e d o n l y a s " d a g o e s . " B a s e d o n t h i s vague and dubious evidence, authorities indiscriminately rounded up 19 Italian-Ameri- cans. When the first were 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 11 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 crosses being burned to intimidate the Italian immi- grants 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 Italians and Catholics from Colorado. The following is an excerpt taken from the book, Italian-Amer- ican Folklife in the West. This oral history was gathered by interviewing older Italians who lived in Colorado in the 1920s, and their progeny. [Son speaking about his father]: "In addition to work in the homestead, he worked in the mines when the mines w e r e o p e n . D a d w o r k e d every day. The peace was disturbed, however, when local feelings began to turn against foreigners, circa 1924. Things were bad back then in Colorado. They had it in for the Catholics, the Ital- ians, maybe all foreigners. But around Mount Harris, there were mostly Italians. The word was out they were going to drive all the foreign- ers out of Wolf Creek, Col- orado, all the Italians, all the C a t h o l i c s , t o ' p u r i f y t h e 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 talks on freedom and t h e e q u a l i t y o f m e n w e r e written down in Italian, but were translated into English 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. 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 free government, while men must be equal to each other in nat- ural 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. The i n i t i a l b u s i n e s s c o n t a c t marks 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. Eventually, Jeffer- son, Franklin, and Adams convinced Mazzei to move to Virginia. Mazzei became a naturalized citizen. In his new country, his economic activities included planting grapes for the production of wine (his old passion) and olive trees for the production of olive oil. Mazzei's contri- bution to the Declaration of Independence was officially recognized by the US Con- gress in an August 5, 1994, Joint Resolution, which stat- ed that Jefferson had bor- r o w e d t h e e x p r e s s i o n o f "Men are created equal" from h i s f r i e n d a n d n e i g h b o r Philip Mazzei.

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