A Slice of Sicily

Riverfront statue dedicated to the New Orleans Italian immigrant community

Italian Immigrants arrived in the 1880s

Early jazz leader Nick LaRocca

The Muffuletta, a New Orleans classic

Piazza d'Italia

The majority of Italian immigrants in New Orleans are from Sicily and started to arrive in large numbers in the 1880s to escape a homeland, that had fallen into a corrupt, dangerous, and unlawful state. They arrived in a city where previous Italian immigrants had already established a decent-sized community, dating back to the French era. In fact, the Italian-born Henri de Tonti, as part of a French expedition, explored Louisiana even before New Orleans existed and later became a leader in the fledgling colony. A street named Tonti still exists in the city.

The Italians began social clubs and benevolent organizations as other ethnic groups in New Orleans did. The oldest group began before the Civil War, but more and more formed with the wave of Sicilian immigrants during the last part of the 19th century. These organizations were often linked to a specific region in Italy to preserve customs among members and helped provide a support network for new arrivals. Many Italians settled in run-down apartments of the French Quarter, which, for a while, was locally known as “Little Italy.”

The Italians, like other poor immigrants, were met with discrimination and suspicion from locals. Tension particularly existed between them and the Irish, who immigrated decades earlier and were more established in the city. In 1890, many New Orleanians blamed the murder of a Police Chief David Hennessey on Italian immigrants, and over a hundred men were arrested in a sweep, but most were soon released. After a trial of several suspects led to acquittals, a mob stormed the jail and murdered eleven Italians. The lynchings made news worldwide, and pressure from Italy led the US government to pay reparations to the families of the murdered. For years and years after, the Italians of New Orleans were harassed by taunts of “Who killa the chief?”

Over the decades, however, Italians became integrated into New Orleans culture and society. The Sicilian tradition of building elaborate St. Joseph’s Day altars is now a New Orleans tradition. The city has had two Italian-American mayors, Robert Maestri and Victor Schiro. An obvious homegrown Italian contribution to the cuisine of the Crescent City is the muffuletta, a hearty sandwich of salami and provolone topped with a distinctive olive salad. Muffulettas, found at delis across the country, originated at Central Grocery on Decatur St. in the Quarter, a store still selling them to this day. Progresso, a national brand known for its soups, began as the Italian-owned Progressive Foods in New Orleans.

Nick LaRocca was an important Italian-American jazz musician at the birth of the genre, while New Orleans-born Louis Prima became a prominent singer and trumpeter during the swing era. The elegant Hotel Monteleone, first established by a Sicilian shoemaker, is a landmark in the French Quarter and is still run by the Monteleone family generations later.

Points of Interest

• American Italian Renaissance
  Foundation Museum & Library
• The Piazza d’Italia