Hello, quinnie24-ga!
I have compiled some references pertaining to the massive immigration
of individuals from Palermo in the late 1800's and early 1900's. New
Orleans was a destination for many. I have also included some general
references to the Sicilian immigrants who arrived in New Orleans,
since information referring specifically to individuals from Palermo
was hard to pin down.
=
From "LOUISIANA ITALIANS IMMIGRATED EARLY."
http://micbarnette.bravepages.com/october_12__2002.html
"For the most part Italians living in Louisiana prior to the 1880-1920
great migration were from northern Italy and were from the areas of
Turin, Milan, Genoa, Naples, Malta and Sardinia. In 1850 with 924
foreign born Italians Louisiana had the largest Italian immigrant
population in the United States."
"Between 1870 and 1920 twenty-five percent of the Italian immigrant
population in the United States was from Sicily. By contrast
approximately ninety percent of the Italian immigrant population in
Louisiana was from Sicily. Many of these people lived in areas in or
near New Orleans."
"Of those Italians who came to Louisiana after 1880 most were from the
interior and fruit growing regions of Sicily. Many came from the towns
of: Contessa, Entellina, Ustica, Bisacquino, Termini Imerse,
Poggioreale, Corleone, Cefalu, Palazzo Adriano, Trapani, Chiusa
Sclafani, Trabia, Caccamo, Gibellina, Vallelunga Pratemento,
Roccamena, Sambuca, Salaparuta
and ***** the city of Palermo." *****
=
St. Joseph's Day Altars
by Anna Maria Chupa
http://www.houstonculture.org/cr/stjo.html
"The concentration of Sicilian immigrants in New Orleans explains why
this tradition is almost exclusive to this southeastern city. Whereas
most immigrants from Naples "settled in New York and other cities
along the eastern seaboard,"
*** the Sicilians "sailed from Palermo and landed in New Orleans.
Between 1850 and 1870, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that there
were more Italians in New Orleans than in any other U.S. city. By
1910, the population of the city's French Quarter was 80 percent
Italian. Today there are 200,000 Americans of Italian descent living
in New Orleans and its suburbs, making Italian Americans the largest
ethnic group in the city."(4)
==
Italian Passengers to Louisiana, 1905-10
http://www.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=4742
While many Italian immigrants came to the United States through Ellis
Island and the port of New York, there were thousands who arrived at
different ports throughout the country.
** Many immigrants traveling from the city of Palermo entered the
United States at the port of New Orleans, Louisiana
==
Contessa Entellina, Palermo, Sicily
http://www.gctechgroup.com/leita/lrs2.htm
"Contessa Entellina is approximately 78 km (50 miles) south of
Palermo, Sicily. Contessa Entellina is in the province of Palermo,
district of Corleone, Eparchy of Piana degli Albanesi."
"In the late 1800's people in Sicily began to immigrate to various
countries. The people of this town began immigrating to America. They
immigrated to Chicago, New York City, Sacramento, San Francisco and
Stockton, California, Madison, Wisconsin, Hammond, Louisiana and Tampa
(Ybor City), Florida.
** "The greatest number immigrated to New Orleans, Louisiana. Their
exodus was such that at one time there were more Contessioti in New
Orleans then remained in Contessa Entellina."
==
The founders of Progresso Foods sailed to New Orleans from Palermo in 1907.
http://travel.discovery.com/fansites/greatchefs/profiles/uddo.html
"Michael Uddo, a native of New Orleans and grandson of Italian
immigrants, named his G&E Courtyard Grill in honor of his
grandparents, Guiseppe and Eleanora. Their portraits hung in the first
dining room, a tribute to the journey in 1907 that brought them from
Palermo, Sicily, to New Orleans. In New Orleans, after years of hard
work and more than their share of adversity, Guiseppe and Eleanora
established a small mom-and-pop grocery store and, as the demand for
quality Italian foodstuffs grew, founded Progresso Quality Foods."
==
The American Italians of Louisiana Exhibition
http://www.sec.state.la.us/archives/italian2001/italian2001-cultural.htm
See pictures and information:
"The Liguria, one of the many ships that arrived monthly in New
Orleans bringing Sicilians during the great wave of immigrants in
1880-1910."
"S. S. Manilla arrived in the New Orleans port between 1901 and 1905
bringing Sicilians from Genoa and Palermo."
==
Shipping Lists:
----------------
Read "The Ships Lists" for information on sicillian immigrants
arriving in New Orleans.
http://www.theshipslist.com/accounts/britanniano.html
=
From The Compass - Passenger Lists.
http://www.immigrantships.net/newcompass/pass_lists/listitalian.html
Darlington, departed from Palermo, Italy, stopped in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania and arrived in New Orleans, Louisiana, 19 December 1882.
Letimbro~a, departed from Palermo, Italy, and arrived in New Orleans,
Louisiana, 4 November 1886.
Letimbro~b, departed from Palermo, Italy, and arrived in New Orleans,
Louisiana, 4 November 1886.
Letimbro~c, departed from Palermo, Italy, and arrived in New Orleans,
Louisiana, 4 November 1886.
==
Read about Carlos Marcello, a New Orleans mafia kingpin who emigrated
from Palermo to New Orleans with his parents in 1910.
"The Little Man With The Big Plan."
http://www.pharo.com/intelligence/jfk/articles/ifjk_04_the_little_man_with_the_big_plan.asp
==
Read "Our Story" for some personal accounts of Sicilian immigration to
New Orleans. http://www.members.tripod.com/womanola/ourstory.html
Also read "Sons of Contessa Entellina."
http://www.members.tripod.com/womanola/articles.html
General Information about Sicilian Immigrants to New Orleans
=============================================================
"Timeline of Sicily: New Orleans, Louisiana
http://www.sicilianculture.com/history/neworleans.htm
=
From "Italian-Americans," By Diana C. Monteleone.
http://ccet.louisiana.edu/03a_Cultural_Tourism_Files/01.02_The_People/Italian_Americans.html
"The pockets of Italian culture persisting in present-day Louisiana
are the legacy of the individuals who participated in the massive
influx of Sicilians during the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries. Most of the Sicilian immigrants were peasants fleeing the
poverty of their homeland. Like the Irish immigrants of an earlier
generation, the Sicilians worker alongside blacks on the Port of New
Orleans docks. They also labored in the south Louisiana sugar fields.
So many Sicilians occupied the then-declining French Quarter section
of New Orleans that the area became known locally as "Little Sicily"
and "Little Palermo."
"Some Sicilians eventually managed to open corner grocery stores, meat
and fish markets, and bakeries. Although most of these neighborhood
"mom and pop" stores no longer exist, Italians maintain a high profile
in the New Orleans food industry by operating restaurants and
bakeries. Second- and third-generation Sicilian immigrants served the
city as firemen, police officers, and politicians."
=
From "Italian New Orleans."
http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:4C72BX720uAJ:www.wyes.org/pages/italian_new_orleans.htm+sicilian+immigrants+to+New+orleans&hl=en
(** Since this is a cached link, please copy and paste the link (or
the title) into your browser and click on the "cached" version)
"New Orleans became a mecca for thousands of Sicilians in the years
immediately after the unification of Italy. The country's severe
economic and social problems forced many Italians to emigrate to the
United States. Following the Civil War, these immigrants, many of whom
were involved in the citrus trade in Italy, quickly filled the labor
shortage on Louisiana's plantations.
"While many of the laborers would return back to Italy at the end of
the harvest season, those who stayed sought occupational independence
from the plantations. A number of those who remained naturally
gravitated towards New Orleans -- a community with a sub-tropical
climate, Catholic religion and an appetite for food and drink
comparable to that of their homeland. By the end of the 1890s, more
than 2,000 Italians were arriving in the city each year; about ninety
percent were Sicilian. Settling mainly in the French Quarter, the
neighborhood soon earned the nickname, "Little Italy."
"Their passion for their heritage is infectious," says producer Terri
Landry, who feels like she became part of the Italian New Orleans
family during her work on the project. Though they carried few
possessions on their month-long journey to New Orleans, these
determined Italians brought their old world cultural values, work
ethic, frugality, faith, family devotion and sheer joy of life that
enabled them to accomplish considerable social and economic gains in a
short period of time. And their campanillisimo, or inherent suspicion
of others, allowed them to preserve their Old World ways, particularly
when it came to food.
BOOK
====
BREAD AND RESPECT: THE ITALIANS OF LOUISIANA By A. V. Margavio &
Jerome J. Salomone. http://www.osia.org/public/culture/summer_2003.asp
"Nearly 100,000 Sicilian immigrants settled in New Orleans between
1898 and 1929. The eight chapters in this well-documented history each
tackles one yearning, hunger or hope that these immigrants felt as
they struggled in the new world and explains the historical and social
circumstances connected to those feelings. Includes biographical
sketches, personal stories, and fact-based fictional vignettes."
Another review of the book:
http://www.fga.it/altreitalie/aita25/Libri4.htm
"There is much valuable information in this book. The comparison
between New Orleans and Palermo is one such example."
==
I hope this information provides you with some helpful background!
umiat
Palermo to New Orleans
Immigrants from Palermo
Palermo Sicily to New Orleans
Italian immigrants to New Orleans
1900's AND Sicilian immigrants
Palermo immigrants to New Orleans |
