Vendetta

by Richard Gambino

Eleven Italian Americans were lynched in New Orleans on March 14, 1891. The lynching caused a crisis between the President and the Congress of the United States, between Washington and Rome. It also introduced a sinister word to America: Mafia. This book has become a HBO film starring Christopher Walken.

Genres: History, Italy, True Crime

198 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1998

Reviews

[Redsteve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Based on other accounts I had read of the incident, I was inclined to attribute the persecution of Italians in New Orleans, the shaky prosecution, and the officially sanctioned mob violence to a combination of ingrained racism and shoddy police work, but Vendetta puts forward a lot of information that suggests that the motivations were both more sinister and more economically motivated. In short, that the entire situation was engineered to crush the expanding Italian influence and economic power in New Orleans - which it did, at least for a time. The events around the murder of Chief Hennessey certainly suggest that there was some sort of conspiracy involved - both because of some evidence which seems to have been suppressed, and other evidence that just didn't add up - beyond the targeting of an easy scapegoat. Unfortunately, the author makes no suggestion as to the identities of the actual murderers of Hennessy (whose hands, despite attempts to paint him as a martyr to the cause of law and order, were in no way clean), or their motivation. In contemporary records, the only other name presented as a possible assassin was a private detective who was later employed by the defense in the case, but no motivation we ever suggested. An interesting sidebar is that the lynchings of 11 Italian immigrants in 1890 indirectly led to the expansion of the US navy (in response to fears that war with Italy and its modern navy was imminent) and, seven years later, victory over Spain that gave the US control of the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Cuba. Very readable and with a lot of documentation. 3.5 Stars.

[Frank Settineri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I offer my apologies in advance because this review is quite long. I recently heard stories of Italians being lynched in the 1890's in New Orleans and found this book that detailed those atrocities. After the Civil War the Southern aristocrats (SA) needed to replace the freed black slaves - many who refused to work the fields for them - and imported indigents from southern Italy and Sicily to work the fields. They treated them worse than slaves, forcing them to live in filthy, squalid ghettos with one room for two or three families, no running water and no dignity. Called Dagoes, the Italians - accustomed to growing crops in the harsh, arid conditions of Sicily - eventually grew enough crops in the South to buy their own plots, set up markets in New Orleans and expand their markets to oysters. The SA, fearing the Italians would surpass their own stations in life, continued to discriminate, taunt, abuse and refuse acceptance of the Dagoes into southern society. Prior to this period the corrupt, established SA families feuded with the indigent Dagoes and framed the Dagoes for the murder of their own crooked, corrupt police chief in the middle of the night. A trial was held, the Dagoes were either acquitted or subjected to a mistrial, and, despite their innocence, jailed. The next day a mob stormed the jail, lynched 11 of them, shot and killed those who attempted to escape, thereby setting off an international confrontation between Italy and the US. All the newspapers across the US claimed the Italians were wrong and the narrative of the day was that Italy, with a huge navy, was mounting a naval attack on the US (with only 5-6 ships). This false narrative was a pretext to fund the US Navy, which became the most powerful in the world. It also enabled the south to make amends with the north, where men from all over the country (and Ireland since the police chief was Irish) signed up to join the nascent navy to fight the phantom Italian naval ships. Concurrently the Italian embassy attempted to prove the mob was encouraged and supported by the corrupt mayor, district attorney and governor and other crooks, to no avail. Italians suffered for years based upon the pronouncement of the word "Mafia" and not until the 1960's were their names cleared. I found it fascinating that the horrific lynchings spawned the US Navy, soothed the wounds of the Civil War, and have been relegated to less than a footnote in history. It's amazing how the events of over a hundred years ago are echoed in our lifetime. If we don't know our history we're doomed to repeat it.

[patrick Lorelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book about true crime or crimes in New Orleans. This is very rarely spoken of, so after hearing about this incident in another book I found this book that goes into the store. What most don’t know is that New Orleans had a huge Italian population beginning from 1866 when Sicilians were going there as part of labor with promises of a better life. By the 1880s some Italians had were houses on the docks and were beginning to make a name for themselves by taking goods from the docks to their own store and cutting out the middle man. When some New Orleans businessmen now saw that the docks were profitable and not slums they wanted in but the Italians already owned the best ones so the story goes. Chief Hennessey began ticketing some of the men. He had also fired a police officer a few days before he was murdered. The night of his murder he said to have said the Italians got me though no one saw anyone around. It was then that nineteen men were rounded up and when the trail began it was just a show. Men were acquitted and some had a mistrial. A mob formed outside the prison and all hell broke loose and 11 people were killed. Some of the men had not even been tired yet. In the aftermath no one was tired of any of the killings of those “Dagos” also a commission was formed for the docks which ended up pushing out the Italians and actually giving control to some of the men who killed the Italians. Overall another sad piece of history that has gotten pushed away and forgotten like so much in our country, just sad.

[John McDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

This powerful story of the unlawful lynching of Italians in New Orleans is a reminder that nativist hatred of immigrants can power emotions over evidence, and permit the justification of clearly illegal actions by mobs and by elected officials. This hatred of immigrants by prominent citizens and elected officials, in this case, those Italians who had migrated to New Orleans, is the basis of virtually every movement that seeks to discredit institutions founded on the rule of law.

There are multiple explanations for the lynchings, all done despite acquittals at trial, mistrials, and non-prosecution, but for a very long period of time the rule of law was discarded in Louisiana and the US, and phony justifications for the murders, including manufactured evidence were used. It is remarkable that so many lies and instances of manufactured evidence were able to exist. There simply were no safeguards that the entire Italian community could call upon for due process of law.

I was unaware of these lynchings in 1891, which infected every aspect of life for Italian-Americans and Italian citizens in New Orleans. The lesson is that those who value the rule of law, the story of these mass lynchings of Italians in New Orleans is a very powerful reminder that vigilance for justice and fairness in due process of law can never rest.

[Vincent Lombardo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I appreciate and admire the prodigious amount of research that Gambino did for this book, but his narrative was irritating and confusing. Instead of telling the story chronologically, he went back and forth in time. The book does contain a lot of information, and is probably the definitive account of the largest lynching in American history. The Appendices alone are most informative.

[Paul Mastrodonato · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the story of the biggest lynching in US history. Good information and a quick, easy read.

[Walt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good retelling of the Mafia lynchings in 1891 New Orleans. The author leans towards sensationalism; but still has a good overview of the event.