March 14, 1891 lynchings

After the 1890 assassination of the chief of police of New Orleans, David Hennessy, authorities arrested several ethnic Italians. The arrests came because, according to The Times-Picayune, Hennessy "reportedly" blamed Italians for attacking him. In 1891 jury trials of the defendants resulted in acquittals and mistrials. On March 14, 1891 a mob lynched 11 ethnic Italian men at the Orleans Parish Prison.[1] The Italian government protested after the killings.[2] No individuals were ever criminally tried for the killings,[1] which were the largest ever mass lynching in American history.[2] Stacey Lee Donohue of Central Oregon Community College stated that most American history texts only describe it within footnotes or short paragraphs but that the lynching "is widely known in Italy even today".[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "1890: New Orleans police chief is assassinated." The Times-Picayune. September 24, 2011. Retrieved on August 28, 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "ANTI-ITALIAN MOOD LED TO 1891 LYNCHINGS" (Archive). The Times-Picayune. March 14, 1991. p. B1. Retrieved on August 28, 2014.
  3. ↑ Donohue, Stacey Lee. "Linciati: Lynchings of Italians in America (2004)" (Archive). Film & History. Retrieved on August 28, 2014.

Further readings