Lecture -Diaspora Serie: “Multiculturalism and Cultural Identities in the 21st Century” by Prof Matteo Brera
Wednesday, November 6 at 7:00pm
After the murder of New Orleans police chief David Hennessy in 1890, political conflict between reformers and ward bosses resulted in mob violence and the lynching of 11 italian -Americans.
On March 14, 1891, in New Orleans, a mob lynched 11 Italian- Americans, most of whom were of Sicilian descent. Their crime? Their alleged role in the murder of Irish Police Chief, David Hennessy.
The massacre and resulting media frenzy would forever stereotype Italian-Americans as criminals. And, the ensuing mob “justice” marked a dark chapter in U.S. civic history, as the term “mafia” was introduced into the North American vernacular.
This talk will reconstruct the days leading up to the murder of the 11 Italian-Americans. Through the analysis of the surviving trial papers, Italian-American and local press and other documentary evidence, we explore one of the darkest moments in the history of the Sicilian (and Italian) Diasporas.
Price: Free Admission
Location: Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery Columbus Centre
The Diaspora Series is presented in partnership with Istituto Italiano di Cultura
Matteo Brera is a Postdoctoral Visitor in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics at York University, where he coordinates the project An Online Pre-World War II Italian Canadian Newspaper Collection. Generously sponsored by the ‘Zorzi Family Italian-Canadian Studies Archival Fund’, his work aims to create a portal dedicated to the preservation and further study of the ethno-cultural newspapers published in Canada before 1940.
Dr Brera’s research interests include politics, religion and transnational exchanges between Italy and North America (Canada and American South).