Italians have had a presence in the

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

area since the explorations of the Europeans. Many

Sicilians Sicilians () are a European ethnographic group who are indigenous to Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean, as well as the largest and most populous of the autonomous regions of Italy. History The Sicilian people are indigenous to ...

immigrated to New Orleans in the 19th century, traveling on the

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

-New Orleans route by ship.Maselli and Candeloro, p
7
Maggi, Laura.

" '' The Times-Picayune''. January 29, 2012. Retrieved on August 28, 2014. The number of Italians who immigrated in the late 19th century greatly exceeded those who had come before the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

.Huber, Leonard Victor. ''New Orleans: A Pictorial History''. Pelican Publishing, 1971. . p
56
Only

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

has a higher population of Sicilian-Americans and Sicilian immigrants than New Orleans.

History

Economics in Louisiana and Sicily combined to bring about what became known as the great migration of thousands of Sicilians. The end of the Civil War allowed the freed men the choice to stay or to go, many chose to leave for higher paying jobs, which in turn led to a perceived scarcity of labor resources for the planters. Northern Italy enjoyed the fruits of modern industrialization, while southern Italy and Sicily suffered destitute conditions under the system of absentee landowners. The peasant was still essentially the serf in the system. Emigration not only offered peasants a chance to move beyond subsistence living, it also offered them a chance to pursue their own dreams of proprietorship as farmers or other business owners. On March 17, 1866, the Louisiana Bureau of Immigration was formed and planters began to look to Sicily as a possible solution to their labor needs. Steamship companies advertisements were very effective in recruiting potential workers. Three steamships per month were running between New Orleans and Sicily by September 1881 at a cost of only forty dollars per person. In 1890 the ethnic Irish chief of police, David Hennessy was assassinated.1890: New Orleans police chief is assassinated
" '' The Times-Picayune''. September 24, 2011. Retrieved on August 28, 2014. Suspicion fell on Italians, whose growing numbers in the city made other native whites nervous and led to vicious anti-Italian prejudice.ANTI-ITALIAN MOOD LED TO 1891 LYNCHINGS

Archive
. '' The Times-Picayune''. March 14, 1991. p. B1. Retrieved on August 28, 2014. The March 14, 1891 New Orleans lynchings were the largest ever mass lynchings in Louisiana history. The use of the term "

mafia "Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the Sicilian Mafia, original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other Organized crime in Italy, organiz ...

" by local media in relation to the murder is the first-known usage of the word in print.

Geography

"Little Palermo" was established by recent immigrants in the lower

French Quarter The French Quarter, also known as the (; ; ), is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. After New Orleans () was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city developed around the ("Old Square" in English), a ...

. So many Italians settled here that some suggested the area should be renamed as "The Sicilian Quarter" in the early 20th century. As time passed and they became established, many Italian-Americans moved out of New Orleans and to the suburbs.

Economy

Historically many corner stores in New Orleans were owned by Italians. Progresso Foods originated as a New Orleans Italian-American business. The business established by the Vaccaro brothers later became Standard Fruit. After they first arrived, Italian immigrants generally took low-wage laboring jobs, which they could accomplish without being able to speak English. They worked on docks, in macaroni factories, and in nearby sugar plantations. Some went to the French Market to sell fruit. Italian workers became a significant presence in the French Market.

Organizations

In 1843 the ''Società Italiana di Mutua Beneficenza'' was established. The San Bartolomeo Society, established by immigrants from Ustica, was established in 1879. As of 2004 it is the oldest Italian-American society in New Orleans. Joseph Maselli, an ethnic Italian from New Orleans, founded the first pan-U.S. Italian-American federation of organizations. The American Italian Cultural Center honors and celebrates the area's Italian-American heritage and culture. The AICC houses the American Italian Museum, with exhibits about the history and contributions of Italian-Americans to the region. The Piazza d'Italia is a local monument dedicated to the

Italian-American Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...

community of New Orleans.

Recreation

On Saint Joseph's Day, ethnic Sicilians in the New Orleans area establish altars. On that day marches organized by the Italian-American Marching Club occur. The club, which welcomes anyone of Italian origins, started in 1971 and as of 2004 has more than 1,500 members. Italian Americans originally established the Krewe of Virgilians because they were unable to join other Krewes in the Mardi Gras. In 1936 the krewes crowned their first queen, Marguerite Piazza, who worked in the New Orleans Metropolitan Opera.

Cuisine

Italians in New Orleans brought with them many dishes from

Sicilian cuisine Sicilian cuisine is the style of cooking on the island of Sicily. It shows traces of all cultures that have existed on the island of Sicily over the last two millennia. Although its cuisine has much in common with Italian cuisine, Sicilian foo ...

and broader

Italian cuisine Italian cuisine is a Mediterranean cuisine#CITEREFDavid1988, David 1988, Introduction, pp. 101–103 consisting of the ingredients, recipes, and cooking techniques developed in Italy since Ancient Roman cuisine, Roman times, and later spread ...

s, which influenced the Cuisine of New Orleans. Many food businesses and restaurants were started by Italians in New Orleans. Progresso, now a large Italian food brand, was started by Sicilian immigrants to New Orleans. Angelo Brocato's an Italian

Ice cream Ice cream is a frozen dessert typically made from milk or cream that has been flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as Chocolate, cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit, such as strawberries or peaches. Food ...

parlor and bakery, established in 1905 by a Sicilian immigrant, is still in existence today. Central Grocery, also founded by a Sicilian immigrant and still in business, originated the muffaletta sandwich, served on the traditional Sicilian muffaletta bread. MidCityBrocatosOpen

Notable people

* Sam Butera * Dukes of Dixieland (Frank Assunto, Freddie Assunto, Papa Assunto) * Nick LaRocca * Carlos Marcello *

Louis Prima Louis Leo Prima (; December 7, 1910 – August 24, 1978) was an American trumpeter, singer, entertainer, and bandleader. While rooted in New Orleans jazz, swing music, and jump blues, Prima touched on various genres throughout his career: he ...

* Vaccaro brothers (including Joseph Vaccaro), who established Standard Fruit * Robert Maestri * Cosimo Matassa * Victor H. Schiro * Candy Candido *

Steve Scalise Stephen Joseph Scalise ( ; born October 6, 1965) is an American politician who has been the House majority leader since 2023 and the U.S. representative for since 2008. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he was ...

References

* Maselli, Joseph and Dominic Candeloro. ''Italians in New Orleans'' (Images of America).

Arcadia Publishing Arcadia Publishing is an American Publishing, publisher of neighborhood, local history, local, and regional history of the United States in pictorial form.(analysis of the successful ''Images of America'' series). Arcadia Publishing also runs th ...

, 2004. , 9780738516929.

Notes

External links

American Italian Museum
(AICC)
American Italian Cultural Center
{{Ethnicity in Louisiana Ethnic groups in New Orleans History of New Orleans