>> THE FOLLOWING IS A STEREO PRESENTATION OF WYES-TV NEW ORLEANS.

>> THIS PROGRAM HAS BEEN MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH A GRANT FROM THE LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES, A STATE AFFILIATE OF THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES WITH MAJOR CORPORATE FUNDING PROVIDED BY CORPORATE CAPITAL, L.L.C., WHICH RECOGNIZES THE IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTIONS OF ITALIAN AMERICANS TO OUR QUALITY OF LIFE.

AS AN INVESTOR IN TRADITIONAL AMERICAN BUSINESSES, CORPORATE CAPITAL, L.L.C.

IS ESPECIALLY PLEASED TO HELP WYES BRING THIS TYPE OF PROGRAMMING INTO YOUR HOME.

AND BY FIRST BANK AND TRUST, A LOCALLY-OWNED FINANCIAL INSTITUTION HEADQUARTERED IN NEW ORLEANS WITH A GROWING TRADITION OF WORKING TO MAKE BUSINESSES HERE SUCCESSFUL.

OUR BUSINESS IS BUILT ON WORKING WITH PEOPLE YOU KNOW AND TRUST AND WE'RE PLEASED TO HELP RECOGNIZE THE IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION OF ITALIAN AMERICANS TO THE HISTORY OF OUR CITY.

ADDITIONAL FUNDING BY LAMANA-PANNO-FALLO, SERVING THE NEW ORLEANS AREA WITH PERSONALIZED FUNERAL SERVICES FOR OVER 100 YEARS.

AND, FRANKY AND JOHNNY'S RESTAURANT, SPECIALIZING IN SEAFOOD AND NEW ORLEANS FAVORITES.

AND, ANGELO BROCATO'S BAKERY, HOMEMADE ITALIAN ICE CREAM, PASTRIES AND BISCOTTI SINCE 1905.

AND, THE WYES PRODUCERS CIRCLE, A GROUP OF GENEROUS CONTRIBUTORS DEDICATED TO THE SUPPORT OF CHANNEL 12'S LOCAL PRODUCTIONS.

[ ITALIAN MUSIC ] >> THE APRIL 13TH, 1889, COVER OF THE MASCOT, A WEEKLY TABLOID PUBLISHED IN NEW ORLEANS, IS A PAINFULLY GRAPHIC TESTAMENT TO THE CITY'S XENOPHOBIA IN THE LATE 19TH CENTURY.

NEW ORLEANS' HATRED AND CONTEMPT FOR IMMIGRANTS BOILED OVER TWO YEARS LATER AND ELEVEN ITALIANS WERE LYNCHED BY A MOB LED BY THE CITY'S ELITE.

THIS MONSTROUS ACT STILL REVERBERATES THROUGH THE HISTORY OF ITALIAN AMERICANS IN THE CRESCENT CITY.

[ ITALIAN MUSIC ] FOR CENTURIES, THE BUSTLING PORT OF NEW ORLEANS OFFERED SAFE HARBOR TO WAYFARERS FROM FOREIGN LANDS.

TODAY WE EXPLORE THE HISTORY OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO SETTLED A CITY LOOKING FOR THE CULTURAL ARTIFACTS THAT MIGHT PROVIDE A GLIMPSE INTO THE HEART OF THIS MULTIFACETED COMMUNITY.

WHAT WE DISCOVER IS THAT MUCH OF WHAT WE HEAR, TASTE AND SEE AROUND US HAS ITS ROOTS IN ITALY.

THE EXTENT OF THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION TO THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS MAY COME AS A SURPRISE FOR THE NEOPHYTE, BUT FOR JOSEPH MASELLI, IT'S A NO-BRAINER.

FOR MORE THAN A QUARTER OF A CENTURY, MASELLI HAS SPEARHEADED THE LOCAL, MAKE THAT STATEWIDE, EFFORT TO PRESERVE ITALIAN HERITAGE.

TIRELESSLY PARTICIPATING IN THE VARIOUS ACTIVITIES OF THE 21 ORGANIZATIONS HE HELPED UNITE AS THE AMERICAN ITALIAN FEDERATION OF THE SOUTHEAST, THIS PLAIN-SPEAKING SEPTUAGENARIAN ALSO PUBLISHES THE ITALIAN AMERICAN DIGEST, A QUARTERLY NEWSPAPER WITH A CIRCULATION OF 15,000.

ONE OF MASELLI'S MOST SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR THE ITALIAN COMMUNITY, HOWEVER, IS THE FOUNDING OF THE AMERICAN ITALIAN RENAISSANCE FOUNDATION MUSEUM AND RESEARCH LIBRARY, A GEM OF AN ETHNIC MUSEUM ON SOUTH PETERS STREET IN THE WAREHOUSE DISTRICT.

>> IN HERE, WE THOUGHT WE'D DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT, DIFFERENT IN THAT WE WOULDN'T GO BACK TO THE 15TH CENTURY, THE RENAISSANCE PERIOD.

WE WOULD KEEP THE TITLE, THE AMERICAN ITALIAN RENAISSANCE FOUNDATION, BUT WE WERE THINKING MORE IN TERMS OF CREATING OUR OWN MICHELANGELOS AND OUR OWN DA VINCIS WE DECIDED TO DO IT WITH LOUISIANA ITALIAN AMERICAN HEROES.

>> NEW ORLEANS HAS ONE OF THE OLDEST ITALIAN COLONIES IN THE UNITED STATES, SECOND ONLY TO NEW YORK, WHICH IS JUST A FEW YEARS ITS SENIOR.

DR. ANTHONY MARGAVIO, SOCIOLOGY PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW ORLEANS, IS CO-AUTHOR OF A BOOK, SOON TO BE PUBLISHED ON ITALIAN IMMIGRATION IN NEW ORLEANS.

>> THEY WERE HERE IN THE EARLIEST PERIOD OF LOUISIANA SETTLEMENT.

AND WE CAN TRACE THEIR PRESENCE IN THE HISTORIANS OF THE 19TH CENTURY, FOURCHE, GRACE KING ALL SPEAK TO THAT SAME ISSUE THAT OBVIOUSLY, THEY'RE HERE FOR AN EXTREMELY LONG TIME AS A SIGNIFICANT RECOGNIZABLE COMMUNITY.

>> ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS EARLY EXPLORERS IN LOUISIANA WAS HENRI DE TONTI, THE ITALIAN SECOND IN COMMAND FOR THE FRENCH EXPLORER LA SALLE.

BORN ENRICO TONTI IN NAPLES, THIS ABLE MILITARY LEADER CONTINUED TO BUILT FORTS AND SETTLEMENTS FROM THE GREAT LAKES TO THE GULF OF MEXICO FOR 17 YEARS AFTER LA SALLE'S MURDER.

THERE ARE NO RECORDS INDICATING JUST HOW MANY ITALIANS SETTLED IN NEW ORLEANS AFTER THE FRENCH ESTABLISHED THE CITY IN 1718.

HOWEVER, WE HAVE THE NAMES OF A NUMBER OF ITALIAN COLONISTS WHO CAME AS MEMBERS OF THE MILITARY.

ONE OF THE SOLDIERS WHO ARRIVED IN 1750 IS FRANCESCO MARIA DE REGGIO, A GREAT GRANDFATHER OF THE FAMOUS CIVIL WAR GENERAL PIERRE BEAUREGARD.

SCORES OF ITALIANS, LIKE CAPTAIN VINCENT GAMBIO FOUGHT WITH THE AMERICAN FORCES AT THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS.

AFTER THE BATTLE, GENERAL JACKSON WAS CARRIED IN TRIUMPH TO ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR ESTABLISHMENTS IN THE CITY, THE NEW EXCHANGE COFFEE SALOON ON CHARTER STREET, OPERATED BY PIERRE MASPERO, A NATIVE OF MILAN.

OFFICIAL IMMIGRATION STATISTICS FROM 1860 SHOW THAT ON THE EVE OF THE CIVIL WAR, LOUISIANA HAD 1,134 ITALIAN RESIDENTS IN THE STATE.

THESE ITALIANS WERE PROFESSIONALS, CRAFTSMEN AND TRADESMEN, MANY OF WHOM WERE INVOLVED IN THE CITRUS TRADE, WHICH IMPORTED LEMONS, OLIVE OIL AND TOMATOES FROM ITALY.

>> WE ALREADY HAD AN ESTABLISHED TRADE BETWEEN EUROPEAN PORTS IN THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS VIA THE MEDITERRANEAN PORT, PARTICULARLY PALERMO.

A LOT OF CITRUS AND OTHER PRODUCTS WERE CARRIED FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN AREA TO THE PORT OF NEW ORLEANS TO BE DISTRIBUTED, AGAIN, TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE BIG OPEN WAY THAT MISSISSIPPI IS THROUGH THE HEARTLAND OF AMERICA.

>> IN THE YEARS FOLLOWING THE UNIFICATION OF ITALY IN 1870, THE COUNTRY'S SEVERE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS FORCED MILLIONS OF ITALIANS TO FLEE TO THE UNITED STATES.

WHILE MOST ITALIANS WHO CAME FROM CONTINENTAL ITALY SETTLED IN NEW YORK, NEW ORLEANS BECAME A MECCA FOR THE THOUSANDS OF SICILIANS WHO SAILED FROM PALERMO.

BY THE 19TH CENTURY, THOUSANDS OF YEARS OF EXPLOITATION BY FOREIGN POWERS, LOCAL POLITICAL CORRUPTION AND POOR AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES HAD LEFT THE ONCE FERTILE ISLAND IMPOVERISHED.

>> YOU'VE PROBABLY HEARD OF THE PHRASE THAT IT WAS BREADBASKET OF THE WORLD.

AND THAT'S WHY A LOT OF THE DIFFERENT CULTURES PLUNDERED SICILY TO REAP THE BENEFITS OF WHAT SICILY PRODUCED.

SICILY GOT THE BAD END OF IT ALL BECAUSE NOBODY CAME IN TO REPLENISH IT.

>> MEANWHILE, EVENTS IN LOUISIANA HAD FORTUITOUS CONSEQUENCES.

FOLLOWING THE CIVIL WAR, SUGAR PLANTERS IN THE STATE FACED A CRISIS OF THEIR OWN, A LABOR SHORTAGE THAT THREATENED THEIR VERY LIVELIHOOD.

RECOGNIZING THE EXISTING CITRUS CONNECTION, BETWEEN SICILY AND LOUISIANA, THE PLANTERS BEGAN TO ACTIVELY RECRUIT ITALIAN LABORERS.

>> IT WAS A SYSTEM CALLED PATRONE SYSTEM.

AND ONE FELLOW WHO'D BE SICILIAN WHO COULD SPEAK BOTH LANGUAGES, ENOUGH AMERICAN TO GET ALONG WITH HIS BOSS, THE PLANTATION BOSS, HE'D GO BACK TO ITALY AND GO TO SICILY AND THEN BRING BACK SO MANY PEOPLE WHO WANT TO COME TO THIS COUNTRY WITH CERTAIN PROMISES.

>> THEY LIED TO THEM AND TOLD THEM HOW GOOD PLACES IN AMERICA WERE.

WHY, THEY WERE TOLD THAT THE STREETS WERE PAVED IN GOLD.

IT WAS ONLY LATER THAT THEY DISCOVERED THAT NOT ONLY WERE THE STREETS NOT PAVED IN GOLD, THEY WEREN'T PAVED AT ALL.

THEY FURTHER CAME TO UNDERSTAND THAT THEY WERE EXPECTED TO PAVE THEM.

>> BY SICILIAN STANDARDS, LOUISIANA REPRESENTED A VIRTUAL GOLDMINE OF OPPORTUNITY WHERE ORDINARY LABORERS COULD EARN 75 CENTS A DAY, PLUS RENT-FREE HOUSING AND A SMALL PLOT OF LAND THAT COULD BE FARMED WITH THE PLANTATION'S MULE AND PLOW.

AS A RESULT, SICILIANS POURED INTO LOUISIANA DURING THE SUKARATA, OR HARVEST SEASON, BETWEEN OCTOBER AND DECEMBER.

AT THE END OF THE HARVEST, MANY SICILIANS BOARDED TRAP STEAMERS, BOUND FOR PALERMO, ONLY TO RETURN THE NEXT SEASON.

DESPITE THE HARDSHIP IN SICILY FOR MANY PEASANTS, THERE WAS NO DESIRE TO ESTABLISH ROOTS IN AMERICA.

THEY SIMPLY WANTED TO EARN ENOUGH MONEY TO PURCHASE LAND BACK HOME ON THE SUN-WASHED ISLAND THAT STILL STIRS THE HEARTSTRINGS OF ITS NATIVE SONS.

>> WHEN YOU SEE THE BEAUTY, IT'S ALMOST INDESCRIBABLE.

A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT I KNOW THAT HAVE GONE FOR THE FIRST TIME ALWAYS REFER TO THE METAPHORS, THEY'VE BEEN TO HEAVEN AND THE WORD IN ITALIANO IS PARADISO, "PARADISE".

AND, OF COURSE, IT'S BREATHTAKING TO SEE THAT BECAUSE YOU HAVE THAT CONNECTION AND YOU RECONNECT.

MAYBE IT'S BEEN GENERATIONS LATER, BUT BECAUSE YOU HAVE THAT IN YOUR BLOOD, IT JUST COMES OUT.

AND IT'S AMAZING TO BE ABLE TO GET THAT SENSE OF BEING HOME AGAIN.

>> ULTIMATELY, THE PLAN OF THE PLANTATION OWNERS FAILED.

TO THEIR SURPRISE, THE SICILIANS WHO REMAINED IN LOUISIANA QUICKLY SOUGHT OCCUPATIONAL INDEPENDENCE.

>> MY FATHER-IN-LAW WAS ONE OF THEM.

HE WORKED FOR 50 CENTS A DAY.

HE HAD SIGNS THAT SAID, "WHITE PEOPLE, A DOLLAR A DAY.

BLACKS, 75 CENTS.

DAGOS 50 CENTS."

BUT AFTER ABOUT THREE OR FOUR YEARS ON THE PLANTATION, THIBODAUX, RIENZI PLANTATION, HE CAME HERE AND HE STARTED GROCERIES.

HE ENDED UP OWNING TEN PIECES OF PROPERTY.

>> THE OLD ITALIANS FROM SICILY, WHO WERE BASICALLY FARMERS, LIKED THIS AREA OF THE COUNTRY.

IT'S VERY SIMILAR TO WHAT THEY HAD IN SICILY.

THEY CAME IN AND SETTLED RIGHT ALONG THE RIVER.

THEY FORMED IN ST. BERNARD, WESTWEGO, GRETNA, KENNER.

THEY WENT UP TO NEWCASTLE, INDEPENDENCE, LOUISIANA.

THEY FLOURISHED IN THIS LAND.

>> MANY SICILIANS GRAVITATED TO NEW ORLEANS, A COMMUNITY WITH THE SUBTROPICAL CLIMATE, CATHOLIC RELIGION AND AN APPETITE FOR FOOD AND DRINK ON PAR WITH THAT OF SOUTHERN ITALY.

BY THE 1890'S, MORE THAN 2,000 ITALIANS WERE ARRIVING IN THE CITY EACH YEAR.

ABOUT 90% OF THESE IMMIGRANTS WERE SICILIAN PEASANTS.

THE BULK OF THE SICILIANS SETTLED IN THE FRENCH QUARTER.

FROM 1880 TO 1945, ITALIANS MADE UP THE HISTORIC DISTRICT'S LARGEST ETHNIC GROUP.

A DEMOGRAPHIC THAT EARNED IT THE NICKNAME LITTLE ITALY, OR LITTLE PALERMO.

>> MY MOTHER AND FATHER RAN A RESTAURANT AND BAR WITH MY GRANDPA MIKE WHO CAME TO AMERICA WHEN HE WAS 9 YEARS OLD.

HE LANDED IN THE FRENCH QUARTER ON A SHIP, AND WHEN HE GOT TO THE FRENCH MARKET, HE SAW EVERYBODY TALKING IN SICILIAN.

HE THOUGHT HE WAS STILL IN SICILY.

>> FOR THE SICILIAN IMMIGRANTS, THE FRENCH QUARTER WAS A COMFORTABLE SELF-CONTAINED UNIVERSE.

>> YOU HAD GROCERY STORES ON JUST ABOUT EVERY CORNER AND YOU HAD A LITTLE SUPERMARKET, MERCHANTS DOWN THE BLOCK, FRUIT AND VEGETABLE STANDS.

YOU HAD A VEGETABLE MAN COMING DOWN THE STREET EVERY DAY.

HE'D COME, BLOW THE HORN, SINGING A SONG OR WHATEVER.

"BANANAS!"

"WATERMELON!"

YOU HAD SEAFOOD.

EVERYTHING YOU WANT.

>> THE SHEER NUMBERS OF IMMIGRANTS COMING IN CREATED CONSIDERABLE DEMAND FOR FAMILIAR FOOD LIKE PASTA, CHEESE, WINE, OLIVES AND OLIVE OIL, A NEED THAT WAS QUICKLY FILLED BY THE ENTERPRISING MERCHANTS AND RESTAURATEURS.

NEW ORLEANS AND ITS FRENCH MARKET OFFERED TREMENDOUS OPPORTUNITY.

>> SO, BEFORE LONG, ITALIANS WERE TAKING THE FOOD FROM THE FARMS AND THE MARKET, OFTEN FOR A BOSS OR FOR A DISTANT OWNER.

BEFORE LONG, THEY MANAGED TO GET STALLS IN THE MARKETS THEMSELVES.

AS THEY DEVELOPED THEIR OWN FARMS, EVEN IF SMALL, TO GROW VEGETABLES AND FRUITS, THEY BECAME SELLERS IN THE MARKETPLACE, SELLING PRODUCE NOT ONLY TO PEOPLE WHO WALKED UP AND DOWN THROUGH HE STALLS BUT, OF COURSE, TO THE RESTAURANTS.

>> IN A SHORT TIME, SICILIANS DOMINATED THE FOOD INDUSTRY IN THE CITY.

FROM THE FRENCH MARKET TO NEIGHBORHOOD GROCERIES AND CONFECTIONARIES TO FOOD PROCESSING FACTORIES, LIKE THE PROGRESSO FOOD COMPANY, FOUNDED BY THE UDDO AND TAROMINA FAMILY.

ITALIANS WERE ALSO PROMINENT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF OTHER BUSINESSES AND PROPERTIES THROUGHOUT THE CITY.

THE MONTELEONE HOTEL ON ROYAL STREET WAS ESTABLISHED BY A SICILIAN COBBLER NAMED ANTONIO MONTELEONE IN THE LATE 1800'S.

SIMILARLY, THE ROOSEVELT HOTEL OR THE FAIRMONT, AS WE KNOW IT TODAY, WAS OWNED BY THE D'ANTONI AND VACCARO PARTNERSHIP, WHICH ESTABLISHED A BOOMING BANANA IMPORT BUSINESS THAT BECAME THE STANDARD FRUIT AND STEAMSHIP COMPANY.

>> THEY ALSO CREATED A SYSTEM OF PRESERVING THE BANANA.

IN THE SUMMERTIME, THEY WOULD PUT ICE, IN THE WINTERTIME THEY USED THESE POTBELLY STOVE TO KEEP THE BANANA FROM FREEZING.

AND, AS A RESULT, OVER A PERIOD OF YEARS, THEY'D BECOME ONE OF THE FIRST ITALIAN AMERICAN MILLIONAIRES IN THE UNITED STATES.

>> THE KEY TO THE PROSPERITY OF THE NEWCOMERS WAS HARD WORK AND FAMILY UNITY.

>> VERY, VERY FEW AMERICANS COULD MARSHAL THAT KIND OF LOYALTY FROM ALL FAMILY MEMBERS, YOUNG, OLD, MALE, FEMALE AND PUT THEM ALL TO WORK AT ALMOST UNSPEAKABLE HOURS IN THE COURSE OF A DAY.

WORK TO A SICILIAN IS LIKE HIS SOUL.

IF HE DOESN'T WORK, HE'S NOTHING.

>> THAT IS THE KEY TO IT, THE FAMILY.

EVERYBODY CHIPPED IN AND KNEW THEY HAD TO DO IT WHETHER YOU LIKED IT OR NOT.

IT GAVE YOU A WORK ETHIC WHERE YOU'RE NOT REALLY LOOKING AT A CLOCK.

IF YOU AND THE FAMILY DIDN'T DO THEIR PART, THAT THE FAMILY WASN'T GOING TO SUCCEED.

>> NOT EVERYONE WAS THRILLED ABOUT THE RAPID UPWARD MOBILITY OF THE SICILIANS.

>> WE TEND TO DISLIKE PEOPLE WHO ARE FAILURES WHO ARE POOR.

BUT WE TEND TO EQUALLY DISLIKE PEOPLE WHO ARE, WHAT WE CONSIDER TO BE TOO SUCCESSFUL.

>> TO ADD FUEL TO THE FIRE IN THE LATE 19TH CENTURY, THERE WAS GROWING CONCERN ABOUT THE MAFIA IN LOUISIANA.

SENSATIONAL NEWSPAPER STORIES SUGGESTED THAT ITALY WAS EXPORTING ITS CRIMINALS TO AMERICA AND THAT ANY AND ALL CRIMES WITHIN THE ITALIAN COMMUNITY WERE MAFIA-RELATED.

A NOTORIOUS ASSASSINATION SPURRED AMERICA'S BELIEF IN A MAFIA CRIME CONSPIRACY.

THE MURDER IN 1890 OF DAVID HENNESSY, THE POPULAR NEW ORLEANS CHIEF OF POLICE.

HENNESSY WAS GUNNED DOWN ABOUT MIDNIGHT ON OCTOBER 15, 1890, NOT MORE THAN 150 FEET FROM THE HOME HE SHARED WITH HIS MOTHER ON GIROD STREET, A POOR AND VIOLENT AREA OF TOWN, KNOWN AS "THE SWAMP".

MORTALLY WOUNDED, HENNESSY ALLEGEDLY WHISPERED TO HIS FRIEND, CAPTAIN WILLIAM O'CONNOR OF THE BOYLAN DETECTIVE AGENCY, A SINGLE WORD THAT WOULD CONSTITUTE A DEATH SENTENCE FOR ALMOST A DOZEN ITALIANS: "DAGOES."

ALTHOUGH HENNESSY LINGERED IN THE HOSPITAL ABOUT TEN HOURS, IN PAIN BUT CONSCIOUS, HE APPARENTLY NEVER FURTHER IDENTIFIED, DESCRIBED OR DISCUSSED HIS ATTACKERS.

NEVERTHELESS, UPON HIS DEATH, MAYOR SHAKSPEARE GAVE ORDERS FOR THE POLICE TO SUMMARILY ROUND UP ANY AND ALL ITALIANS.

OF THE DOZENS THAT WERE ARRESTED, 19 MEN WERE CHARGED WITH HENNESSY'S MURDER, INCLUDING JOSEPH MACHECA, A WEALTHY OWNER OF A SHIPPING LINE WHOSE BUSINESS DOMINATED THE DOCKS OF THE CITY.

IN MARCH OF 1891, DESPITE THE MECHANIZATIONS OF THE MAYOR WHO DENOUNCED THE ITALIANS AS IDLE, VICIOUS AND WORTHLESS, SIX OF THE FIRST NINE DEFENDANTS WHO WERE TRIED WERE FOUND NOT GUILTY.

A MISTRIAL WAS FOUND FOR THREE OTHERS.

THE UNSUBSTANTIATED MAFIA SCARE PERPETUATED BY THE NEWSPAPERS AND THE DEEP SEEDED RESENTMENT HARBORED AGAINST 30,000-SOME ITALIANS THEN LIVING IN THE CITY LEFT NEW ORLEANS SHOCKED AND OUTRAGED BY THE JURY'S NOT GUILT VERDICT.

ON MARCH 14TH, ABOUT 8,000 GOOD CITIZENS MET AT THE CLAY STATUE AT CANAL AND ROYAL STREET, LED BY FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS OF MAYOR SHAKSPEARE TO, AS STATED IN A NOTICED IN THE CITY'S PAPERS, "TAKE STEPS TO REMEDY THE FAILURE OF JUSTICE IN THE HENNESSY CASE".

ARMED WITH RIFLES AND SHOTGUNS, THE MOB MARCHED TO THE PARISH PRISON, TODAY THE SITE OF THE MUNICIPAL AUDITORIUM.

AS THEY BEGGED FOR MERCY, ELEVEN OF THE ITALIAN PRISONERS WERE SHOT, BEATEN TO DEATH OR HANGED BY THE ANGRY CROWD.

>> BASICALLY, I THINK THAT THEY TOOK THE LAW INTO THEIR OWN HANDS TO GET RID OF THIS ECONOMIC ADVANCEMENT OF THE ITALIAN AMERICAN AT THE TIME.

THEY DIDN'T LIKE WHAT WAS HAPPENING.

THEY WERE THREATENED BY THESE PEOPLE.

THEY WERE STRANGE PEOPLE, AS FAR AS THEY WERE CONCERNED.

>> THE NEW YORK TIMES AND OTHER PROMINENT ORGANS OF THE PRESS DURING THAT PERIOD PRAISED THE MOB ACTION IN EXECUTING THESE PEOPLE.

IT WAS THE LARGEST SINGLE MASS LYNCHING, LITERALLY IN THE SENSE OF THE WORD "LYNCHING", BY THE WAY, WHICH MEANS A MOB ACTION TAKING PEOPLE FROM THE CUSTODY OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS AND PUTTING THEM TO DEATH.

>> NATIONALLY, THE HENNESSY AFFAIR BROUGHT ITALY AND AMERICA TO THE BRINK OF WAR.

LOCALLY, IT STRUCK A BLOW, SOCIALLY, POLITICALLY AND ECONOMICALLY, FROM WHICH THE ITALIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY WOULD SUFFER FOR YEARS TO FOLLOW.

IT ALSO INSPIRED THE ETHNIC TAUNT THAT WOULD RING IN THE EARS OF ITALIAN AMERICANS FOR DECADES.

>> MY MOTHER WAS BORN IN 1900.

SO, SHE COULD REMEMBER, AS A TEENAGER, NEW ORLEANIANS COMING UP TO HER AND WAVING THEIR FINGERS LIKE THIS IN FRONT OF HER FACE SAYING, "WHO KILLA DA CHIEF?

WHO KILLA DA CHIEF?"

>> A CASH INDEMNITY OF $25,000 DISTRIBUTED AMONG THE VICTIMS' FAMILIES WAS LITTLE OR NO COMPENSATION FOR THE FAR-REACHING CONSEQUENCES OF THE ACTION.

THE LYNCHING HAD FOREVER IMPLANTED THE CONCEPT OF ITALIAN CRIMINALITY IN THE MINDS OF AMERICANS THROUGHOUT THE NATION.

THE SCOPE OF MAFIA ACTIVITY IN NEW ORLEANS PRIOR TO AND IN THE YEARS FOLLOWING THE HENNESSY CASE IS THE SUBJECT OF A HEATED DEBATE AMONG THE HISTORIANS AND CRIMINOLOGISTS.

DR. MICHAEL KURTZ, HISTORIAN AND DEAN OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL AT SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA UNIVERSITY.

>> TO USE THE TERM "ORGANIZED CRIME" AS WE THINK OF IT TODAY AS A HIGHLY-STRUCTURED CRIMINAL SYNDICATE, SIMPLY DID NOT APPLY DURING THAT PERIOD OF TIME AT ALL.

THE FACT IS, IS THAT THE TERM "MAFIA" WAS USED BY OPPONENTS OF VARIOUS POLITICAL FACTIONS WHO EMPLOYED SICILIANS OR ITALIANS AS PART OF THEIR ORGANIZATION AND IT WAS USED AS MORE AS A RACIAL SLUR OR A CULTURAL SLUR THAN IT WAS TO DENOTE ANY KIND OF CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION.

>> IN THE BAWDY, SORDID HISTORY OF NEW ORLEANS, THERE IS NO STATISTICAL EVIDENCE TO SUGGEST THAT ITALIANS COMMITTED A GREATER AMOUNT OF CRIMES THAN NATIVE-BORN AMERICANS IN PROPORTION TO THEIR NUMBERS.

IF THE HENNESSY MURDER PUT THE NAIL IN THE COFFIN AS FAR AS NEW ORLEANS' LINK WITH THE MAFIA WAS CONCERNED, THEN THE MEDIA CIRCUS SURROUNDING CARLOS MARCELLO DROVE IT HOME.

THE SON OF A SICILIAN TRUCK FARMER, MARCELLO REPORTEDLY ROSE THROUGH THE RANKS IN THE 1950'S TO BECOME THE HEAD OF A SYNDICATE THAT USED LEGITIMATE BUSINESSES LIKE RESTAURANTS AS FRONTS FOR ILLEGAL OPERATIONS IN THE CITY.

IN THE 1960'S, MARCELLO MADE NATIONAL NEWS WHEN HE WAS INVESTIGATED BY J. EDGAR HOOVER REGARDING THE KENNEDY ASSASSINATION.

20 YEARS LATER, HE WAS BACK IN THE NEWS AGAIN AND ULTIMATELY IN JAIL AS A RESULT OF THE FBI'S BRILAB STING OPERATION.

>> TO LOOK AT MARCELLO IN THE SAME SENSE, THOUGH, AS AN ORGANIZED CRIME BOSS WITH A VERY TIGHT-KNIT HIERARCHAL ORGANIZATION WITH PEOPLE, A LARGE GROUP OF SOLDIERS, AS THEY CALLED THEM, GOING OUT, KILLING EACH OTHER OFF WITH TOMMY GUNS AND THAT SORT OF THING, I THINK IT'S MISLEADING TO SAY THE LEAST.

>> UNTIL THE LAST DECADE OR SO, ITALIANS WHO SUCCEEDED IN NEW ORLEANS WERE OFTEN SAID TO HAVE DONE SO THROUGH MAFIA INFLUENCE.

BUT, DESPITE ANY LINGERING ANTI-ITALIAN SENTIMENT, SUCCEED THEY DID IN MANY FIELDS, INCLUDING PUBLIC SERVICE.

IN 1936, WITH THE CITY ON THE VERGE OF BANKRUPTCY, ROBERT MAESTRI BECAME MAYOR OF NEW ORLEANS.

>> THE CITY HAD THIS BAD HABIT OF BASING ITS BUDGET BY PROJECTING FUTURE INCOME.

WELL, MAESTRI, EVEN THOUGH HE HAD A THIRD GRADE EDUCATION, WAS A BUSINESSMAN.

HE WAS IN REAL ESTATE.

AND THIS WAS NO WAY TO RUN A BUSINESS AND NO WAY TO RUN A CITY.

AND SO HE CHANGED THAT.

AND SO HE DID A LOT TO PUT THE CITY ON MORE STABLE FOOTING.

>> THE CITY NEVER LOOKED BETTER.

MAESTRI MADE SURE THAT GARBAGE WAS PICKED UP, SIDEWALKS WERE REPAIRED AND BUILDINGS WERE REPAINTED.

BUT THE MAYOR WAS EITHER POWERLESS OR UNWILLING TO CLEAN UP THE SEAMIER SIDE OF NEW ORLEANS THAT WAS FLOURISHING IN THE FORM OF GAMBLING AND PROSTITUTION.

AND ON JANUARY 22ND, 1946 IN A PIVOTAL ELECTION, THE CITIZENS OF NEW ORLEANS SENT A MESSAGE TO CITY HALL THAT THEY WERE READY FOR CHANGE.

>> THERE WAS A NEW FEELING AND A NEW SPIRIT, A NEW MOOD IN THE CITY.

AND DELESSEPS MORRISON, WHO HAD JUST COME BACK FROM THE WAR, WHO WAS AN OFFICER IN THE U.S. ARMY, WHO HAD BEEN A STATE REPRESENTATIVE, RAN FOR OFFICE.

AND HE REPRESENTED A NEW FRESH FACE.

AND IT WAS REALLY THIS FEELING OF REFORM IN THE CITY.

IN WHAT WAS REALLY ONE OF THE MOST AMAZING POLITICAL UPSETS AT THAT TIME, MORRISON DEFEATED MAESTRI.

>> IN 1961, WHEN MORRISON RESIGNED IN HIS FOURTH TERM TO BECOME THE AMBASSADOR TO THE ORGANIZATION OF THE AMERICAN STATES, IT WAS ANOTHER ITALIAN AMERICAN, VICTOR H. SCHIRO, WHO WAS APPOINTED INTERIM MAYOR.

SCHIRO SERVED AS MAYOR OF NEW ORLEANS UNTIL 1969 AND LED THE CITY DURING AN EVENTFUL PERIOD THAT SAW SCHOOL INTEGRATION, DEVELOPMENT OF NASA'S MICHOUD FACILITY AND HURRICANE BETSY.

DURING HIS NINE YEARS AS MAYOR, SCHIRO MADE GOOD ON HIS CAMPAIGN SLOGAN: "IF IT'S GOOD FOR THE CITY, I'M FOR IT" WITH SIGNIFICANT MUNICIPAL IMPROVEMENTS, INCLUDING THE GROUND FLOOR DEVELOPMENT OF A DOME STADIUM.

>> LATELY, I'VE BEEN TRYING TO CORRECT A MISNOMER TOO ABOUT THE SUPERDOME.

IT APPEARS THAT THERE'S NOT A PLAQUE SAYING VIC SCHIRO, THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS AT THE TIME HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT.

VIC SCHIRO SAID, "WE NEED A DOME HERE."

AND ABOUT A WEEK LATER, HE CREATES THE SPORTS COMMITTEE AND THE REST IS HISTORY.

>> WHILE SCHIRO WAS IMPLEMENTING HIS VISION FOR THE CITY, OTHER ITALIAN AMERICANS WERE BECOMING PART OF THE POLITICAL MAINSTREAM.

>> DURING THE 60'S, YOU SEE NAMES LIKE PHILIP CIACCIO, WHO WAS ON THE COUNCIL.

YOU SEE MORRISON APPOINTING JOSEPH GIARRUSSO AS POLICE CHIEF AND THEN GIARRUSSO'S BROTHER CLARENCE GIARRUSSO BECAME POLICE CHIEF.

JOE GIARRUSSO WENT ON TO BECOME A COUNCILMAN AT LARGE AND CLARENCE GIARRUSSO WENT ON TO BECOME A JUDGE.

AND SO THOSE WERE TWO FAIRLY PROMINENT NAMES.

>> ONE OF THE MOST ESTEEMED ITALIAN AMERICAN OFFICIALS IS PASCAL CALOGERO, JR., A JUDGE WHO HAS SERVED FOR OVER TEN YEARS AS CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE LOUISIANA SUPREME COURT.

>> MY FATHER'S PARENTS WERE BOTH FROM SICILY.

HIS FATHER WAS AN ITALIAN SEAMAN FROM NEAR MESSINA.

MY FATHER, HE WAS A NEW ORLEANS POLICE OFFICER.

HE MARRIED AN IRISH GERMAN GIRL FROM NEW ORLEANS.

HE SAW TO IT THAT I BECAME A LAWYER.

>> CALOGERO'S ITALIAN HERITAGE HAS BEEN BOTH A HINDRANCE AND A HELP TO HIS CAREER.

>> I CAN RECALL, I WAS FIRST IN MY LAW SCHOOL CLASS, I DIDN'T GET ANY OFFERS TO GO TO WORK WITH ANY OF THE LAW FIRMS.

AND THERE WERE ONLY A HANDFUL OF BIG LAW FIRMS IN NEW ORLEANS AT THE TIME.

>> CALOGERO GOT INTO A RUN-OFF AGAINST LEON SARPY, WHO WAS FROM UPTOWN, AN ESTEEMED LAWYER, A FORMER REX.

BUT, IN THAT RUN-OFF, THEY WERE ABLE TO USE THAT AS REALLY EMOTIONAL BAGGAGE.

CALOGERO WAS THE POOR ITALIAN BOY BUT THE GUY FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

AND THAT IMAGE DID A LOT, I THINK, TO PROPEL CALOGERO.

AND CALOGERO WAS ELECTED.

>> WE ALL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF WHAT WE'VE GOT, AND, FRANKLY, AS A POLITICAL OFFICE HELD, IT'S HELPED ME TO GET VOTES AND I HAVE, INDEED, BEEN PROUD OF MY HERITAGE.

>> UPRIVER, TWO ITALIAN AMERICAN BROTHERS ARE PROMINENT ELECTED OFFICIALS IN KENNER.

LOUIS CONGEMI IS IN HIS SECOND TERM IN THE OFFICE OF MAYOR OF THIS COMMUNITY OF 80,000.

OLDER BROTHER, NICK CONGEMI IS KENNER'S CHIEF OF POLICE AND IS THE MOST RECENT IN A LINE OF ITALIAN AMERICAN POLICE CHIEFS IN THIS ONCE PREDOMINANTLY ITALIAN CITY.

>> THE SECTION OF KENNER THAT I WAS FROM, WE CALLED IT HANSON CITY.

IT'S LOCATED IN THE SOUTHWEST PORTION OF THE CITY, WHICH HAD A LARGE ITALIAN POPULATION.

YOU WOULD GO TO THE BARROOMS BACK THEN AND PEOPLE WOULD BE SPEAKING ITALIAN.

YOU'D STAND ON THE STREET CORNERS AND YOU WOULD HEAR PEOPLE SPEAKING ITALIAN.

>> IN RECOGNITION OF THIS RICH HISTORY, CONGEMI HELPED ORGANIZE A FESTIVAL THAT CELEBRATES THE COMMUNITY'S ITALIAN ROOTS.

>> FOR THE LAST THREE OR FOUR YEARS, I'VE BEEN ATTEMPTING TO BUILD A KENNER ITALIAN HERITAGE DAY.

AND NOW YOU CAN SEE THOSE PROUD PEOPLE WHO COME BACK TO PAY TRIBUTE TO AND TO HONOR THEIR MOTHERS AND FATHER, THEIR GRANDFATHERS AND GRANDMOTHERS AND A GREAT TRADITION THAT WE COME FROM.

[ ITALIAN SINGING ] >> ITALIAN AMERICANS INFLUENCED NOT ONLY THE POLITICS BUT THE SOUND OF NEW ORLEANS.

ON THE STREETS, ITALIAN MUSIC FILLED THE AIR, PLAYED BY ORGAN GRINDERS, FESTIVAL BRASS BANDS AND ITALIANS SERENADING WITH GUITARS AND MANDOLINS.

BUT IT WAS AN ITALIAN OPERA THAT REALLY CAPTURED THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE OF NEW ORLEANS.

[ ITALIAN MUSIC ] >> AMONG THE PEOPLE VERY MUCH A FAVORITE BACK THEN WAS ROSSINI AND HE CONTINUES TO BE VERY MUCH A FAVORITE IN NEW ORLEANS TODAY.

IF THERE'S A ROSSINI OPERA TODAY PERFORMED IN NEW ORLEANS, IT'S ALWAYS SOLD OUT.

>> BY 1910, THE SICILIAN COMMUNITY IN NEW ORLEANS WAS ABOUT 24,000 STRONG.

THE CONTRIBUTION OF THIS MUSICAL PEOPLE TO THE BIRTH OF NEW ORLEANS JAZZ HAS LONG BEEN UNDERESTIMATED.

ITALIAN AMERICANS TODAY ARE TRYING TO CORRECT THE MYOPIA THAT PERVADES JAZZ HISTORY.

>> ITALIAN SCHOLARS ARE RECENTLY WORKING ON WHAT THEY CALL THE FIRST GENERATION OF JAZZ, WHICH IS ABOUT A HUNDRED PEOPLE HAVE ESTIMATED THAT ABOUT A THIRD OF THOSE NAMES ARE ITALIAN.

THERE WERE A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF SICILIAN AMERICANS WORKING ON THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF JAZZ.

WE CAN SAY IN ALL SERIOUSNESS THAT ITALIANS ARE MAKING CONTRIBUTIONS AT THE GROUND LEVEL IN THE EVOLUTION OF JAZZ AS AN IDIOM.

>> THE MOST FAMOUS AND CERTAINLY MOST CONTROVERSIAL OF THE EARLY ITALIAN JAZZMEN WAS TRUMPET PLAYER DOMINIC JAMES "NICK" LAROCCA.

LAROCCA LEAD THE ORIGINAL DIXIELAND JAZZ BAND TO GREAT HEIGHTS INCLUDING THE RECORDING OF THE FIRST JAZZ RECORD IN 1917.

"LIVERY STABLE BLUES" SOLD 1.5 MILLION COPIES AROUND THE WORLDS OF FANS OF THIS LIVELY NEW DANCE MUSIC.

>> LAROCCA IS KIND OF EXPLORING THE WAY.

HE'S A TRAILBLAZER.

HE'S HELPING CREATE WHAT JAZZ TRUMPET STYLE IS.

BUT HE'S REALLY NICE AND GOT A REALLY NICE PUNCHY RHYTHM AND BRINGS THE THING ON.

BUT BEFORE THEY MAKE THE FIRST RECORD, IN MY OPINION, THEY DO A FEW LITTLE FINAL STEPS THAT ARE SOME OF THE FINAL STEPS THAT TURN THE NEW ORLEANS RAGTIME INTO JAZZ.

>> LATER IN HIS CAREER, LAROCCA ALIENATED MANY IN THE MUSIC WORLD WHEN HE CLAIMED TO HAVE INVENTED JAZZ.

LAROCCA HAD BECOME INCENSED BY PRINT PIECES WRITTEN IN THE 1930'S THAT CUT ITALIAN MUSICIANS OUT OF THE JAZZ PICTURE.

WHILE SCHOLARS MAY HAVE REFUSED TO ACKNOWLEDGE LAROCCA, ANOTHER FELLOW TRUMPETER, FELLOW NEW ORLEANIAN LOUIS ARMSTRONG WAS, HIMSELF, A FAN OF THE ORIGINAL DIXIELAND JAZZ BAND.

>> HE ALSO MENTIONS THAT HE'S INFLUENCED BY CARUSO AND TETRAZZINI AND AMELITA GALLI-CURCI.

AND HE HAS THOSE IN HIS RECORD COLLECTION.

SO HE'S LISTENING TO BOTH JAZZ THAT ITALIANS ARE PRODUCING AND HE'S LISTENING TO OPERA THAT ITALIANS ARE PRODUCING.

THEN YOU HAVE THE THREE ITALIANS THAT ARE OFTEN THOUGHT OF AS LOUIS ARMSTRONG IMITATORS: SHARKEY BONANO, WIGGY MANONE AND LOUIS PRIMA.

THEY'RE ALL THEIR OWN.

[ ITALIAN SINGING ] THEY'RE ITALIANS AND THEY'RE DRAWING OFF ITALIAN OPERA.

AND ARMSTRONG IS DRAWING OFF ITALIAN OPERA.

IF YOU WANT TO GET DOWN TO IT, ARMSTRONG WAS DRAWING FROM THEIR CULTURAL POOL.

IF ANYTHING, IN A WAY, HE'S IMITATIVE OF ITALIAN CULTURE THAN THEM JUST BEING IMITATIVE OF HIM.

>> SO WHAT'S HAPPENING IS THESE PEOPLE ARE BECOMING AMERICANS AND JAZZ BECOMES THE MEDIUM FOR THEM TO DO THAT MUSICALLY.

BUT THEY'RE BRINGING IN THESE ITALIAN TRAITS.

[ ITALIAN MUSIC ] >> BESIDES TALENTED MUSICIANS, THE ITALIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY ALSO PRODUCED ITS SHARE OF SPORTS GREATS, INCLUDING SEVERAL WORLD-BOXING CHAMPS.

PETE GULOTTA HERMAN, THE 1919 BANTAM WEIGHT CHAMPION FOUGHT HIS WAY OUT OF THE FRENCH QUARTER AND EVENTUALLY RETURNED TO SERVE AS THE ONLY BLIND BOXING COMMISSIONER.

>> THE ITALIAN BOYS COMING UP BECAME FIGHTERS, YOU SEE?

BUT THEY DIDN'T HAVE ANNUAL NO JOBS.

IT WAS PRETTY BAD.

SO, THAT'S WHY ALL THE ITALIANS WERE GOOD FIGHTERS IN THEM DAYS, TONY CANZONERI AND ALL THEM.

>> ANOTHER YOUNG NEW ORLEAN WENT ON TO BECOME THE LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMP OF THE WORLD.

IRONICALLY, WILLIE "THE WISP" PASTRANO TOOK UP BOXING TO AVOID BEING BEATEN UP.

>> AND I REMEMBER HIM AS A FAT KID, ABOUT 200 POUNDS, AT LEAST 190 POUNDS.

AND HE TRIMMED DOWN TO 126.

HE WAS ONE OF THE SMOOTHEST LOOKING FIGHTERS.

AND WHAT HAPPENED IS, ST. MARY'S WAS LIKE A FACTORY.

AND THEY HAD ONE OF THE MOST WONDERFUL COACH, MENTOR, MANAGER NAMED WHITEY EISENHALL WHO REALLY TOOK CARE OF THOSE BOYS.

SO ALL ST. MARY'S FIGHTERS WEREN'T ALL ALTER BOYS.

HOWEVER, THEY PRODUCED SOME GREAT FIGHTERS.

AND THEY ALL HAD ABOUT THE SAME STYLE.

>> WHILE THE GYM AT ST. MARY'S WAS TURNING OUT YOUNG PUGILISTS, THE CHURCH NEXT TO THE URSULINE CONVENT ON CHARTER STREET WAS TENDING TO THE SPIRITUAL WELFARE OF THE ITALIAN AMERICANS IN THE FRENCH QUARTER.

IN THE 19TH CENTURY, ITALIAN IMMIGRANTS ATTENDED MASS AT ST. LOUIS CATHEDRAL, WHERE THERE WERE ITALIAN, AS WELL AS FRENCH SPEAKING PRIESTS.

ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI CHAPEL ON URSULINE STREET WAS ESTABLISHED AS AN ITALIAN PARISH IN THE 1890'S.

BUT, NOT LONG AFTERWARDS, THE ITALIANS MOVED JUST AROUND THE CORNER TO ST. MARY'S, WHICH HAD BEEN BUILT ORIGINALLY FOR GERMAN CATHOLICS.

ST. MARY'S ITALIAN, AS IT WAS KNOWN, BECAME THE HUB OF THE ITALIAN COMMUNITY.

>> THE ITALIAN FAMILY, EVERYTHING REVOLVED AROUND ST. MARY'S CHURCH.

YOU GOT MARRIED, YOU GOT CONFIRMED, BAPTIZED, DIED, EVERYTHING WAS DONE.

>> ST. MARY'S WAS REALLY LIKE A CULTURAL CENTER FOR ALL THE ITALIAN ORGANIZATIONS AT ONE TIME.

AND ALL OF THE MASSES AND OFFICIAL FUNCTION WERE HELD AT ST. MARY'S.

FOR YEARS AND YEARS AND YEARS AND MANY, MANY OF THE OLDER PEOPLE WERE BAPTIZED AT ST. MARY'S CHURCH, WHICH WAS OUR ST. MARY'S ITALIAN CHURCH FOR MANY YEARS.

>> IN THE MID-1960'S DURING A MOVEMENT AWAY FROM THE ETHNIC CHURCHES, ST. MARY'S WAS STRIPPED OF ITS NAME AND ITS SERVICES WERE REDUCED.

THIS CHANGE SOUNDED A DEATH KNELL FOR THE ITALIAN COMMUNITY IN THE FRENCH QUARTER.

THE LOSS OF ST. MARY'S WAS ESPECIALLY BITTER FOR SICILIANS, WHOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CHURCH HAD A ROCKY HISTORY.

CENTURIES OF DOMINATION BY OUTSIDERS HAD MADE THE SICILIANS ANTICLERICAL.

>> WE HAVE A REALLY RICH RACKET OF VERY DEDICATED CLERGY GOING OUT TO THE BOONDOCKS, TO THOSE DISTANCE PLANTATIONS AND MINISTERING TO THESE IMMIGRANTS.

MANY OF THE IMMIGRANTS' CHILDREN CAN REMEMBER THE PRESENCE OF WOMEN LIKE MOTHER CABRINI AND SO MANY OTHER COUNTLESS SOULS WHO WORKED TIRELESSLY.

THAT'S THE CLERGY THAT THEY SAW, NOT THE CALLOUS CLERGY BUT THE VERY, VERY DEDICATED HARD-WORKING CLERGY.

SO, WHEN THEY CAME, THEY MAY HAVE BEEN MORE THAN A BIT ANTICLERICAL BUT THEY RATHER QUICKLY BECAME PILLARS OF THE CHURCH.

>> THE FIRST CANONIZED SAINT IN AMERICA AND THE PATRONIST OF ITALIAN IMMIGRANTS WAS FRANCES XAVIER CABRINI.

MOTHER CABRINI WAS A RELIGIOUS PIONEER FROM MILAN WHO CAME TO THE UNITED STATES IN 1889 TO ESTABLISH SCHOOLS, HOSPITALS AND ORPHANAGES.

WHEN NEWS OF THE SLAYING OF THE ITALIANS FOLLOWING THE HENNESSY MURDER REACHED HER, MOTHER CABRINI VOWED TO FOUND THE MISSION IN NEW ORLEANS, WHICH SHE AND HER SISTERS OF THE SACRED HEART DID IN 1892.

>> THE SISTERS DISCOVERED THAT THEY WERE NOT REALLY ALL THAT WELCOMED INITIALLY EVEN BY THE ITALIANS.

AND MOTHER SUPERIOR TOLD THE YOUNG SISTERS, "REACH THE CHILDREN FIRST AND THE REST WILL FOLLOW."

WELL, THE SISTERS IMMEDIATELY OPENED AN ORPHANAGE.

THERE WERE A LOT OF LITTLE ORPHANS JUST RUNNING THE STREETS.

AND THE SISTERS HAD TO FEED THESE ORPHANS THREE MEALS A DAY AND THE MERCHANTS THERE IN THE FRENCH MARKET KNEW THAT THE WAY THAT THESE CHILDREN SURVIVED IS THROUGH THEIR GENEROSITY.

AND, SO SEVERAL TIMES A DAY, THE SISTERS WOULD PUSH THE LITTLE CART THROUGH THE FRENCH MARKET AND THE MERCHANTS WOULD TOSS THE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES INTO THEIR LITTLE CARTS THAT THEY WOULD BRING BACK AND PREPARE THE MEALS FOR THE ORPHANS.

>> MOTHER CABRINI'S ORPHANAGE AT 817 ST. PHILIP'S STREET ONLY RECENTLY LEFT THE HANDS OF THE SISTERS OF THE SACRED HEART WHOSE NUMBERS ARE SADLY DWINDLING.

>> THE SISTERS IN THE FRENCH QUARTER WERE JUST A SYMBOL, I THINK.

THEY WERE A SYMBOL OF THEIR CATHOLIC FAITH, OF THE ITALIAN FAITH, OF STABILITY, OF SUCCESS, MAYBE IN THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS.

>> A SECOND ORPHANAGE ON ESPLANADE, WHICH OPENED ITS DOOR IN 1906 BECAME CABRINI HIGH SCHOOL IN 1959.

THE BEDROOM THAT MOTHER CABRINI OCCUPIED WHILE LIVING AND WORKING IN NEW ORLEANS HAS BEEN PRESERVED ON THE HIGH SCHOOL CAMPUS.

SICILIANS WHO ARRIVED IN NEW ORLEANS BROUGHT WITH THEM A COLORFUL BRAND OF CATHOLICISM THAT MUST HAVE SCANDALIZED THE LOCALS.

DEEPLY SPIRITUAL, THESE NEWCOMERS HAD AN INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP WITH THEIR SAINTS.

>> I THINK SOMEONE HAS EXPLAINED IT AS THEY ARE OLDER BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST.

ONE THINKS OF THEM AS THAT WAY AND THAT'S WHY THEY PRAY TO THEM.

I ALWAYS THINK OF THE STORY THAT I WAS TOLD THAT IN A VILLAGE IN ITALY, THEY HAD A PATRON SAINT LIKE ALMOST EVERY VILLAGE HAS.

AND THEY HAD HIM UP IN NICHE AND HE DIDN'T COME THROUGH FOR HIM.

I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT WAS BUT HE DIDN'T COME THROUGH.

SO THEY LITERALLY TOOK HIM OUT OF THE NICHE AND THREW HIM DOWN INTO A DITCH.

[ LAUGHS ] BUT, THEN, WHEN HE SEEMED TO RESPOND, THEY TOOK HIM OUT OF THE DITCH, DUSTED HIM OFF AND PUT HIM BACK INTO THE NICHE.

MAYBE IT WAS LITTLE UNSOPHISTICATED, BUT I THINK IT DOES SPEAK ABOUT A GOOD THING, THAT FAMILIARITY WITH THE SAINTS, WITH THE COMPANY OF HEAVEN.

>> AT THE HEART OF THE CATHOLIC RELIGION OF THE SICILIANS IS A CENTURIES-OLD UNSHAKEABLE BELIEF THAT MIRACLES CAN AND WILL BE PERFORMED THROUGH THE EFFORTS OF A PANOPLY OF SAINTS.

IT WAS THE MIRACLE PERFORMED BY SANTA ROSALIA, OR ST. ROSALIE, A HERMIT OR A SOLITARY WHO LIVED IN PALERMO IN THE 12TH CENTURY AND INSPIRED A DEVOTED FOLLOWING AMONG THE ITALIAN AMERICANS IN KENNER.

>> IN 1899, FROM WHAT MANY OF MY PARISHIONERS TELL ME WHO KNOW MORE ABOUT THIS BECAUSE THEIR ANCESTORS ACTUALLY EXPERIENCED IT, THERE WAS AN ANTHRAX EPIDEMIC HERE.

AND THEY HAD CATTLE AND LIVESTOCK.

AND THIS WAS THREATENING AND IN FACT, DEVASTATING TO THEIR WHOLE ECONOMY.

SO THEY BEGAN TO PROMISE ROSALIE IF SHE WOULD INTERVENE WITH GOD FOR THEM THROUGH HER PRAYERS THAT THEY WOULD REMEMBER HER EVERY YEAR IN A PROCESSION.

AND SO THIS WONDERFUL CUSTOM STARTED IN 1899 AS CONTINUED DOWN THROUGH THIS DAY.

>> IN ITS HEYDAY, THOUSANDS OF PIOUS WOULD WALK, SOME IN THEIR BARE FEET THE TWO AND A HALF MILE PROCESSION THROUGH KENNER.

THE CITY'S ITALIAN HERITAGE CELEBRATION, WHICH SHARES A WEEKEND IN SEPTEMBER WITH THE SANTA ROSALIA PROCESSION HAS BEEN A MUCH WELCOMED ATTENDANCE BOOSTER FOR THE 100-YEAR-OLD TRADITION.

[ ITALIAN OPERA SINGING ] >> ON DRYADES STREET, A MULTI-ETHNIC AREA OF NEW ORLEANS WITH A POCKET OF ITALIAN AMERICANS, AN ORGANIZATION WAS FORMED TO VENERATE ST. LUCY, PROTECTRESS OF GONDOLIERS AND PATRONESS OF THE EYES.

MADLYN SCALISE, PRESIDENT OF THE ST. LUCY SOCIETY IS THE DAUGHTER OF ONE OF THE ORGANIZATION'S FOUNDERS.

>> WELL, IT BEGAN IN 1927 IN THE PARISH OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST CHURCH.

AND THEY NEEDED A STATUE OF ST. LUCY REPAINTED AND THEY DIDN'T HAVE THE MONEY SO MY MOTHER WENT AROUND COLLECTING TO GET ENOUGH MONEY TO PAIN THE STATUE AND THEY DID AND THEY STARTED THE ORGANIZATION.

ONCE A YEAR, THEY CELEBRATE HIGH MASS IN HER HONOR ON THE FEAST OF ST. LUCY, WHICH IS DECEMBER THE 13TH, AND THEY'VE BEEN HAVING IT THERE EVER SINCE AT ST. JOHN'S.

>> IN THE LATE 1800'S, BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES WERE ALSO FOUNDED IN NEW ORLEANS TO ASSIST THE SICILIANS WHO WERE POURING INTO THE CITY.

ORGANIZED AROUND VILLAGE AFFILIATION, MEMBERSHIP PRIVILEGES USUALLY INCLUDED MEDICAL CARE AND BURIAL IN THE SOCIETY'S TOMB IN METAIRIE CEMETERY.

SEVERAL OF THESE SOCIETIES ARE STILL IN EXISTENCE, INCLUDING THE SAN BARTOLOMEO, THE CEFALUTANA AND THE CONTESSA ENTELLINA SOCIETIES.

>> CONTESSA ENTELLINA IS A VERY OLD SOCIETY.

IT'S 114 YEARS OLD AND IT'S ALL CONTESSA DESCENDANTS.

NO ONE CAN BELONG TO IT OTHER THAN THAT.

BASICALLY, IT STARTED OUT AS A MUTUAL AID SOCIETY TO THE POOR AND THEN IT DEVELOPED INTO A SOCIAL GROUP.

>> WHAT DISTINGUISHES THE CONTESSA GROUP FROM OTHERS IS THAT ALTHOUGH CONTESSA IS ONLY 75 MILES SOUTH OF PALERMO, IT WAS BUILT BY GREEKS AND ALBANIANS, RATHER THAN ITALIANS.

THE VILLAGERS ARE KNOWN AS ARBRESHE.

[ MUSIC ] >> THE ARBRESHE ARE PEOPLE WHO CAME FROM SICILY BUT THEIR ROOTS ACTUALLY GO BACK TO ALBANIA.

IT GOES BACK TO THE 14TH CENTURY WITH A WAR BETWEEN THE TURKS AND THE ALBANIANS IN WHICH A LOT OF THE PEOPLE FLED TO SICILY FOR REFUGE.

AND SO THOSE PEOPLE SETTLED IN SICILY, AND THEY WERE A DISTINCT CULTURE IN SICILY.

>> IN NEW ORLEANS, THERE WERE CULTURE CLASHES BETWEEN THE ALBANIAN-SPEAKING ARBRESHE AND THE SICILIANS, WHO WERE THROWN TOGETHER IN THE FRENCH QUARTER.

>> IN TRADITION AND IN RELIGIOUS HABITS THEY'RE DIFFERENT BECAUSE SICILY IS ROMAN CATHOLIC AND IN CONTESSA, THEY ARE GREEK CATHOLIC.

AND THE GREEK CATHOLICS DO RECOGNIZE THE POPE AS THE LEADER BUT ALL OF THEIR CEREMONIES AND RITUALS WERE IN GREEK.

>> NEW ORLEANS' REGISTER OF CONVEYANCES, GASPAR SCHIRO, IS THE KEEPER OF THE SOCIETY'S ENROLLMENT BOOK.

DATING BACK TO 1886, IT LISTS ABOUT 200 CURRENT MEMBERS IN CONTESSA ENTELLINA, EACH ONE A BONA FIDE DIRECT DESCENDENT OF A VILLAGER OF CONTESSA.

>> IT'S REALLY ODD TO NOTE THAT IN NEW ORLEANS WE HAVE MORE PEOPLE WITH CONTESSA BLOOD THAN THEY ACTUALLY HAVE IN CONTESSA NOW BECAUSE SO MANY FAMILIES CAME HERE AND MULTIPLIED.

>> IN 1912, THE ITALIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY BOUGHT A BUILDING AT 1020 ESPLANADE.

MEETINGS, RECEPTIONS, DANCES AND OTHER SOCIAL FUNCTIONS OF THE VARIOUS ITALIAN ORGANIZATIONS WERE HELD AT ITALIAN HALL THROUGH THE 1950'S.

>> EACH PART OF THE TOWN YOU WERE FROM HAD AN ORGANIZATION.

THEY'LL HAVE A BAND, START ON A SUNDAY.

THEY'LL START FROM ST. LOUIS CATHEDRAL AND THEY GO ALL THE WAY DOWN TO ST. MARY'S.

AND THEY'D BE PLAYING MUSIC AND THEY ENJOYED THEMSELVES AND THEY COME TO THE ICE CREAM PARLOR AND EAT ICE CREAM.

THEY GO TO THE ITALIAN HALL AND THEY CELEBRATE.

>> FOR SHEER EXUBERANCE, NO OTHER ITALIAN CELEBRATION, RELIGIOUS OR SECULAR, CAN MATCH THE OBSERVANCE OF ST. JOSEPH DAY ON MARCH 19TH.

THIS ANCIENT SICILIAN PRACTICE STRADDLES BOTH THE PAST AND THE PRESENT AND HELPS MAKE THE CITY THE UNIQUE PLACE THAT IT IS.

[ MUSIC ] ALTHOUGH THERE ARE VARIOUS SPINS ON THE STORY, LEGEND HAS IT THAT THE ST. JOSEPH DAY TRADITION BEGAN MANY CENTURIES AGO IN SICILY WHEN DESPERATE PEASANTS PRAYED TO SAINT JOSEPH, PATRON SAINT OF LABORERS, FOR RELIEF FROM A DROUGHT.

>> PEOPLE WERE STARVING AND THEY ALL PRAYED.

THEY TURNED TO SAINT JOSEPH TO GIVE THEM RAIN SO THEIR CROPS WOULD GROW.

AND THE FAVA BEANS, THE CROPS GREW AND GREW AND THEY FED EVERYBODY.

THEY FED ALL THE POOR PEOPLE.

>> ST. JOSEPH DAY ALTARS IN NEW ORLEANS ARE OVER-THE-TOP OFFERINGS OF LOVE, LABOR AND SACRIFICE INVOLVING MONTHS OF PREPARATION IN HOME AND COMMERCIAL KITCHENS THROUGHOUT THE CITY.

SANDRA SCALISE JUNEAU, PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ITALIAN HERITAGE AND THE DAUGHTER OF MADLYN SCALISE FIRST LEARNED ABOUT ST. JOSEPH DAY PREPARATION AT HER GRANDMOTHER'S KNEE.

NOW, UNDER THE WATCHFUL EYE OF HER MOTHER, SHE IS PASSING ON TO HER DAUGHTER AND TWIN GRANDDAUGHTERS THE CENTURIES-OLD ALCHEMY THAT TURNS SUGAR, FLOUR, SHORTENING AND WATER INTO EDIBLE WORKS OF ART.

>> THE PREPARATION IS SOMETHING THAT YOU HAVE TO LOVE, YOU REALLY DO BECAUSE IT'S INTENSIVE.

YOU USUALLY BEGIN RIGHT AFTER CHRISTMAS, AND IT'S NOT SOMETHING YOU WANT TO DO ALONE.

IT'S A SOCIAL THING.

IF YOU GO BACK TO THE HISTORY OF SICILY, THESE FIG CAKES GO BACK MANY, MANY CENTURIES AND THE CONTINUITY IN THESE DESIGNS IS JUST ASTOUNDING BECAUSE THE DESIGNS ARE HANDED DOWN FROM FAMILY TO FAMILY.

IT'S QUITE EXTRAORDINARY TO SEE THAT COUSINS THAT I HAD NEVER MET WHEN I VISITED SICILY ARE MAKING THESE SAME CUCHIDATI IN EXACTLY THE SAME WAY THAT MY GRANDMOTHER TAUGHT ME.

>> MOST PEOPLE NO LONGER HAVE THE TIME OR DESIRE TO PERFORM THIS KIND OF INTRICATE HANDIWORK.

AND SO THE ITALIAN BAKERIES OF NEW ORLEANS OPERATE AT A FULL-SPEED FOR SEVERAL WEEKS TO SUPPLY THE 100 OR SO PRIVATE OR PUBLIC ST. JOSEPH ALTARS SCATTERED AROUND THE CITY.

BROCATO'S ICE CREAM AND CONFECTIONARY HAS BEEN SERVING THE ITALIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY SINCE ANGELO BROCATO OPENED HIS FIRST ICE CREAM PARLOR IN 1905.

TODAY, GRANDSON ARTHUR CARRIES ON THE FAMILY TRADITION.

>> THE RECIPES ARE SICILIAN.

MY GRANDFATHER BROUGHT THESE FROM SICILY WHEN HE ARRIVED IN AMERICA.

HE WORKED AT MANY OF THE PLACES, BAKERIES AND ICE CREAM PARLORS AS AN APPRENTICE IN SICILY.

SO THESE ARE THE AUTHENTIC RECIPES.

BASICALLY, WE'RE DOING ALL THE DIFFERENT ITALIAN COOKIES THAT WE DO ALL YEAR ROUND BUT ONLY IN A MUCH HIGHER VOLUME, AS WELL AS SOME SPECIAL ITEMS, WHICH ARE THE PIGNOLATAS, WHICH ARE PIECES OF DOUGH THAT ARE FRIED AND THEN PUT TOGETHER WITH COOKED SUGAR IN THE SHAPE OF A PINE CONE, WHICH REPRESENTS THE PINE CONES THAT JESUS PLAYED WITH AS A CHILD.

WE ALSO DO A LOT OF FIG COOKIES.

FIG COOKIES ARE PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT COOKIE ON THE ST. JOSEPH ALTAR.

>> WHILE THERE'S NO STRICT FORMULA FOR THE THREE-TIERED ALTARS REPRESENTING THE HOLY TRINITY, ABUNDANZA OR ABUNDANCE IS THE ORDER OF THE DAY.

ALSO GRACING THE ALTARS ARE GOLDEN-BROWN LOAVES OF BREAD BAKED INTO FANCIFUL SYMBOLIC SHAPES.

ANGELO'S BAKERY IN METAIRIE TURNS OUT AN ASTONISHING NUMBER OF THE DECORATIVE LOAVES FOR ST. JOSEPH DAY ALTARS LOCALLY AS WELL AS THROUGHOUT THE REGION.

>> MY DAD STARTED WHEN HE WAS ABOUT 10 YEARS OLD HELPING HIS UNCLE IN HIS BAKERY.

HE LOVED ST. JOSEPH TIME.

THAT WAS HIS FAVORITE TIME OF THE YEAR, HE USED TO TELL US ALL THE TIME BECAUSE HE LOVED THE DIFFERENT SHAPES OF THE BREAD AND SUCH AN ARTISTRY.

WE DO ABOUT 30 TO 35 DESIGNS.

>> ACCORDING TO TRADITION, AFTER THE FOOD IS BLESSED, IT IS VIEWED BEFORE BEING DISTRIBUTED TO THE POOR.

EXPERIENCED PLANNERS KNOW THAT ELABORATE CAKES DRAW SOME OF THE BIGGEST "OOH'S" AND "AHH'S" IN THIS FEAST FOR THE EYES.

>> YOU NEED A CROSS CAKE, A BIBLE CAKE.

WE DO A CAKE WITH ST. JOSEPH DRAWN ON TOP OF IT.

WE DO A CAKE WITH JESUS ON TOP OF IT.

>> IF THE SHEER VOLUME OF CAKES, COOKIES AND DECORATIVE BREAD BEING SOLD FOR ST. JOSEPH DAY ALTARS IS ANY INDICATION THEN THE TRADITION IS ON THE UPSWING.

IT IS ALSO BEING ADOPTED BY CATHOLICS OUTSIDE THE ITALIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY WHO ARE PUTTING THEIR OWN STAMP ON THE CUSTOM.

>> THERE ARE NO TWO ST. JOSEPH ALTARS THAT WILL EVER BE ALIKE AND THEY SHOULDN'T BE.

IT'S A TOTALLY PERSONAL THING.

IT'S A COMBINATION OF FOOD, ART AND LOVE.

IT REALLY IS.

>> FORTUNATELY FOR NEW ORLEANS, FINE ITALIAN FOOD ISN'T LIMITED TO THE ALTAR.

THE EPICUREAN DELIGHTS OF THE IMMIGRANTS ADDED A NEW AND WELCOME DIMENSION TO THE FLAVORS OF THE CITY.

>> FOR MANY PEOPLE, COOKING IS JUST A NECESSITY THAT YOU HAVE TO DO IN ORDER TO HAVE FOOD TO FILL YOUR BELLY.

BUT, TO AN ITALIAN, COOKING IS A WORK OF ART.

AND SO A SICILIAN HOUSEWIFE IS GOING TO TRY TO ACHIEVE SOMETHING WONDERFUL, EXCELLENT, SOMETHING THAT SHE CAN GO "MAMA MIA THAT'S --" AND YOU CAN'T SAY THE WORDS.

THERE ARE NO WORDS TO DESCRIBE IT.

IT'S UP THERE IN HEAVEN.

>> THE SICILIAN PLACE IN FOOD HISTORY HAS LONG BEEN OVERLOOKED.

CONSIDER, FOR INSTANCE, THAT PASTA WAS FIRST PREPARED IN SICILIAN KITCHENS IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY AND DID NOT ORIGINATE IN CHINA, AS IS COMMONLY BELIEVED.

EVEN IN NEW ORLEANS, WE TEND TO FORGET TO GIVE SICILIANS THE CULINARY CREDIT THEY'RE DUE.

>> WE LOVE A LOT OF THINGS THAT WE THINK OF AS BEING ITALIAN FOODS.

NEW ORLEANIANS LOVE RED GRAVY.

WELL, TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE, NO ONE ELSE REALLY HAD A RED GRAVY FETISH QUITE THE WAY THE SICILIANS DID.

WE LOVE ARTICHOKE AND EGGPLANT.

THESE ARE TWO VERY IMPORTANT INGREDIENTS IN SICILIAN COOKING.

NOT EVEN IN ITALIAN COOKING BUT IN SICILIAN COOKING.

>> NEW ORLEANS HAS BRAGGING RIGHTS TO A LEGENDARY SANDWICH BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN CREATED SOMETIME BETWEEN 1910 AND 1920 AT THE CENTRAL GROCERY STORE ON DECATUR STREET IN THE FRENCH QUARTER.

TOMMY TUSSA, GRANDSON OF THE ORIGINAL OWNER, GOT THE HISTORY OF THE MUFFULETTA FROM HIS MOTHER.

>> 6:00 IN THE MORNING THEY'D OPEN BECAUSE THE FARMERS WOULD COME TO THE MARKET TO BRING THEIR PRODUCE EARLY, EARLY IN THE MORNING.

AND WHEN THEY WERE FINISHED RUNNING THEIR PRODUCE ROUTES THEY'D WANT TO COME BUY THEIR GROCERIES BECAUSE THEY LIVED IN THE COUNTRY.

THEY DIDN'T MAKE SANDWICHES LIKE WE MAKE IN AMERICA BACK THEN.

I MEAN, THEY USED TO EAT EVERYTHING SEPARATE.

SO, IN THOSE DAYS, THEY HAD SAWDUST ON THE FLOOR IN HERE AND THE FARMERS WOULD COME IN AND THEY'D HAVE THE MUFFULETTA BREAD, WHICH VENDORS SOLD ON THE STREET IN CARTS, COME IN, BUY SALAMI, CHEESE, OLIVES, EVERYTHING SEPARATE, SIT DOWN AND EAT IT SEPARATE.

EVENTUALLY, THEY ENDED UP PUTTING IT ON THE BREAD AND MAKING A SANDWICH.

>> THE SANDWICH IS A TESTAMENT TO SICILIAN OVERINDULGENCE.

TUSSA SAYS THAT CENTRAL GROCERY HAS JUST ONE SECRET TO ITS WORLD-CLASS MUFFULETTAS.

>> WE USE VERY INGREDIENTS.

WE DON'T SKIMP ON ANYTHING.

WITH THE OLIVE SALAD OR THE COLD CUTS, WE USE THE BEST INGREDIENTS WE CAN GET AND WE GOT A SIGN WE PUT OUT FRONT THAT SAYS, "IMITATED BY MANY, DUPLICATED BY NONE."

[ MUSIC ] >> IN THE 1960'S, ITALIAN AMERICANS WERE ON THE FOREFRONT OF THE CREATION OF A MODERN NEW ORLEANS SKYLINE.

ONE OF THESE URBAN VISIONARIES, REAL ESTATE MOGUL JOSEPH CANIZARO, HAS TRANSFORMED POYDRAS STREET, ONE HIGH-RISE AT A TIME, INTO THE PARK AVENUE OF NEW ORLEANS.

>> I REALLY CAME TO NEW ORLEANS ONE DAY TO LOOK AROUND, AND I ENDED UP AT THE FOOT OF CANAL STREET AT THE RIVER.

THE WORLD TRADE CENTER WAS UNDER CONSTRUCTION.

IT WAS BUT A SHELL OF A BUILDING AND I WALKED UP AND LOOKED OUT AT THE CITY AND I SAW THIS WONDERFUL CANAL STREET COMING TO THE RIVER AND POYDRAS, THOUGH NOT WIDENED AT THE TIME, COMING TO THE RIVER.

AND, I SAW THESE TWO STREETS COMING TO THE RIVER AND THEN THE RIVER ITSELF AND I SAID, "MY GOD, WHAT AN OPPORTUNITY!"

>> CANIZARO FACED MAJOR DIFFICULTIES IN SECURING LOCAL FINANCING FOR HIS NEW ORLEANS DEBUT, THE FIRST PRIVATELY-OWNED COMMERCIAL OFFICE BUILDING ON POYDRAS.

THE DISCRIMINATION HE EXPERIENCED, HOWEVER, ONLY MADE HIM MORE DETERMINED TO SUCCEED.

>> I ACTUALLY HAD EVERY BANK IN TOWN TURN ME DOWN TO FINANCE THE LYKES CENTER AFTER I HAD PUT THE PERMANENT FINANCING TOGETHER AND HAD TO GO TO BATON ROUGE WITH A COMBINATION OF BATON ROUGE AND CITY BANK OUT OF NEW YORK TO REALLY PUT THAT FIRST DEAL TOGETHER.

SO IT WAS DIFFICULT AND CHALLENGING AND FUN, AND IT ENDED UP BEING VERY SUCCESSFUL.

>> CANIZARO, WHOSE GRANDFATHER ARRIVED IN NEW ORLEANS FROM SICILY IN 1894, IS RIDING AN ENVIABLE WAVE OF SUCCESS.

>> THE TEXACO CENTER, WHICH IS NEAR LYKES, AND THEN CANAL PLACE WE CONCEIVED AND DEVELOPED.

NOTE THAT ALL THOSE PROJECTS, INCLUDING THE CROWNE PLAZA, WHICH IS TODAY THE W, WERE ALL DONE WITHIN THREE BLOCKS OF WHERE I FIRST LANDED WHEN I LANDED AT THE WORLD TRADE CENTER IN NEW ORLEANS.

NOW, WE ALSO ARE VERY PROUD OF WHAT WE THINK IS ONE OF THE FINEST BUILDINGS IN THE CITY, WHICH IS THE LL AND E TOWER WHERE WE'RE SITTING TODAY.

>> CANIZARO ALSO HAD A HAND IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PIAZZA D'ITALIA, AN ITALIAN-THEMED URBAN LANDSCAPE ON POYDRAS, RIGHT BEHIND THE AMERICAN ITALIAN MUSEUM.

THE SITE WAS FORMERLY THE LOCATION FOR THE ANNUAL FEST D'ITALIA, A POPULAR CELEBRATION IN THE 1980'S, AND THERE IS A MOVEMENT TO BRING BOTH THE FESTIVAL AND MONUMENT BACK TO LIFE.

AS INTEREST HAS GROWN IN THE ETHNIC HERITAGE OF ITALIAN AMERICANS, NEW ORGANIZATIONS HAVE FORMED.

THE ITALIAN AMERICAN MARCHING CLUB TOOK TO THE STREETS THIRTY YEARS AGO WITH ABOUT 75 PEOPLE.

>> WE STARTED IN JUNE OF 1970.

I SAID, "YOU KNOW, THEY HAVE THE IRISH CLUBS AND THEY GOT THE ZULU CLUB.

THERE'S NO ITALIAN.

HOW CAN THIS CITY SURVIVE WITHOUT AN ETHNIC ITALIAN GROUP?

"THERE WERE OTHER GROUPS BUT THEY WERE SOCIAL GROUPS, YOU KNOW?

THEY WEREN'T PARADING ORGANIZATIONS.

>> TODAY, NEARLY 600 MEMBERS MARCH THROUGH THE FRENCH QUARTER ON THE SATURDAY CLOSEST TO ST. JOSEPH DAY.

THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PARADE ARE THE MOBILE ST. JOSEPH DAY ALTAR, THE ONLY ONE OF ITS KIND, AND THE ITALIAN AMERICAN CELEBRITY HONOREES, WHICH HAVE INCLUDED ANNETTE FUNICELLO, ROCKY GRAZIANO AND MOST RECENTLY, JAMES DARREN.

CLUB RULES STIPULATE THAT AT LEAST ONE PARENT MUST BE FBI, OR "FULL-BLOODED ITALIAN".

>> THE TWO GROUPS OF MEN LEFT IN THE CITY ARE THOSE THAT WANT TO BE ITALIAN OR THEY ARE ITALIAN.

>> IN METAIRIE, THE EAST JEFFERSON ITALIAN AMERICAN SOCIETY ALSO PARADES BUT IT DOES SO IN AN IRISH ITALIAN CROSS-CULTURAL CELEBRATION OF BOTH ST. PATRICK'S DAY AND ST. JOSEPH'S DAY.

THE 23-YEAR-OLD ORGANIZATION RECENTLY OPENED ITS MEMBERSHIP TO INCLUDE WOMEN AND NON-ITALIANS WHO ARE INTERESTED IN ITALIAN CULTURE.

>> IT'S TO CARRY ON OUR HERITAGE IS THE BASIC THING.

THAT'S THE NUMBER ONE THING THAT STARTED THE CLUB.

PEOPLE THAT ARE PROUD OF THEIR ITALIAN HERITAGE.

A GREAT FRIEND OF MINE, HE ALWAYS SAID, IF I HAD THE CHANCE TO BE BORN ALL OVER, I WOULD BE ITALIAN.

SO WE GOT SOME PEOPLE THAT LOVE ITALIANS, AND OF COURSE, WE LOVE OURSELVES.

[LAUGHTER] [ MUSIC ] >> THERE ARE AN ESTIMATED 200,000 ITALIAN AMERICANS IN NEW ORLEANS TODAY.

PERMEATING THE CULTURE OF THIS GROUP IS AN INTENSE ETHNIC PRIDE AND AWARENESS THAT BELIES THE 100 OR SO YEARS THAT HAVE PASSED SINCE THEIR ANCESTORS FIRST SET FOOT ON THE ALLUVIAL SOIL OF NEW ORLEANS.

>> EVERYBODY TODAY, BELIEVE ME, WOULD LIKE TO BE AN ITALIAN.

I'M SERIOUS.

WHEN I WAS A KID, THEY DIDN'T WANT TO.

THEY WAS THE OPPOSITE.

>> I FEEL THAT, IF MY HEART WAS TO BE CUT WIDE OPEN, THAT ON ONE SIDE YOU'D SEE RED, WHITE AND BLUE WITH STARS AND STRIPES AND THE OTHER SIDE YOU'RE GOING TO SEE GREEN, WHITE AND RED, ITALIAN, BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE MY HEART LIES.

>> I WANT TO TELL YOU, THERE'S NOTHING GREATER THAN MY PRIDE.

I'M SO PROUD OF IT THAT ANYTHING THAT I CAN BE INVOLVED IN THAT'S ITALIAN, I WANT TO BE PART OF IT.

>> THE ITALIAN PRIDE IS SOMETHING THAT'S IN YOUR BLOOD.

IT'S INSTILLED IN YOU AS A CHILD AND YOU SEE ALL THE GREAT THINGS THAT THE ITALIAN PEOPLE HAVE DONE TO PRESERVE AND PROMOTE.

>> WE WERE SIMPLY TOLD WHEN WE WERE YOUNG NOT TO BE ITALIAN.

NOW WE ARE TURNING AND SAYING, I WANT TO BE AN AMERICAN, BUT I WANT TO KNOW WHO I AM.

I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT MY HISTORY.

I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT MY HERITAGE.

BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT THE ITALIAN HERITAGE IS VERY RICH.

[ MUSIC ] >> THE ITALIANS HAVE A SAYING: "MANY PEBBLES MAKES A MOUNTAIN".

IN THAT SENSE, NEW ORLEANS IS IN PART THE SUM OF THE EFFORTS OF THE ITALIAN FARM WORKERS, COBBLERS, FRUIT VENDORS, SHOPKEEPERS AND OTHERS WHO CAME TO THE CITY IN SEARCH OF FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE AND RESPECT.

[ MUSIC ] >> THEY WANTED TO BETTER THEMSELVES, AND THEY CAME OVER HERE AND DID WHATEVER IT TOOK TO DO BETTER.

>> IN THIS UNIQUE PLACE, FOR A TIME, FOR A MAGIC TIME, FOR A CAMELOT MOMENT MAYBE, THINGS CAME TOGETHER.

THE ELEMENTS FROM DIFFERENT CULTURES CAME TOGETHER AND WE CREATED SOMETHING VERY, VERY UNIQUE.

>> NEVER DID ANYBODY DREAM THAT THESE PEOPLE WERE GOING TO PRODUCE SO MANY THINGS.

>> ONCE ITALIAN, ALWAYS ITALIAN.

I DON'T THINK YOU LOSE THAT.

I DON'T THINK YOU LOSE THE PRIDE OF YOUR ETHNIC BACKGROUND.

YOU KNOW, YOU SEE MORE AND MORE PEOPLE TODAY TAKING PRIDE IN THEIR ETHNIC BACKGROUND.

>> THERE'S ONLY TWO TYPES OF PEOPLE IN THE WORLD: ITALIANS AND THOSE THAT WISH THEY WERE.

>> HEY!

[ MUSIC ] >> THIS PROGRAM HAS BEEN MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH A GRANT FROM THE LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES, A STATE AFFILIATE OF THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES WITH MAJOR CORPORATE FUNDING PROVIDED BY CORPORATE CAPITAL, L.L.C., WHICH RECOGNIZES THE IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTIONS OF ITALIAN AMERICANS TO OUR QUALITY OF LIFE.

AS AN INVESTOR IN TRADITIONAL AMERICAN BUSINESSES, CORPORATE CAPITAL, L.L.C.

IS ESPECIALLY PLEASED TO HELP WYES BRING THIS TYPE OF PROGRAMMING INTO YOUR HOME.

AND BY FIRST BANK AND TRUST, A LOCALLY-OWNED FINANCIAL INSTITUTION HEADQUARTERED IN NEW ORLEANS WITH A GROWING TRADITION OF WORKING TO MAKE BUSINESSES HERE SUCCESSFUL.

OUR BUSINESS IS BUILT ON WORKING WITH PEOPLE YOU KNOW AND TRUST AND WE'RE PLEASED TO HELP RECOGNIZE THE IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION OF ITALIAN AMERICANS TO THE HISTORY OF OUR CITY.

ADDITIONAL FUNDING BY LAMANA-PANNO-FALLO, SERVING THE NEW ORLEANS AREA WITH PERSONALIZED FUNERAL SERVICES FOR OVER 100 YEARS.

AND, FRANKY AND JOHNNY'S RESTAURANT, SPECIALIZING IN SEAFOOD AND NEW ORLEANS FAVORITES.

AND, ANGELO BROCATO'S BAKERY, HOMEMADE ITALIAN ICE CREAM, PASTRIES AND BISCOTTI SINCE 1905.

AND, THE WYES PRODUCERS CIRCLE, A GROUP OF GENEROUS CONTRIBUTORS DEDICATED TO THE SUPPORT OF CHANNEL 12'S LOCAL PRODUCTIONS.