Most people do not realize that Italian-Americans were the victims of lynch mobs. The largest mass lynching of Italian-Americans occurred in New Orleans on March 14, 1891.
Following the murder of Police Chief Hennessy on the evening of October 15, 1890, Italians and Italian-Americans were rounded up by the hundreds. Some of these men were held at the old Parish Prison for trial. The closely watched trial of a number of these men resulted in several acquittals and a mistrial. A large crowd of New Orleans citizens, unhappy with the result, marched to and broke into the parish prison. They murdered both the men on trial and those yet to be tried, eleven in all. The police did nothing to stop them.
The Historic New Orleans Collection, Acc. No. 1979.199 i, ii.
