My Sicilian Orleanian Family
Issue 01 | May 16, 2024
The Sicilian Immigration
Between the 1880s and the 1920s, approximately 300,000 Sicilians immigrated to New Orleans, Louisiana. My paternal great, great grandparents were among those who migrated, making their voyage out of Palermo with the citrus fleet that delivered lemons and oranges to the Port of New Orleans.
They left their homeland at young ages in hopes of finding a better life – one free from the crime, chaos and corruption that was plaguing Sicily in a time of poverty, political turmoil and Mafia expansion.
New Orleans greeted them with a new life where they worked hard and became entrepreneurs. Some were cab drivers and barbers; others owned fruit stands and groceries. One took to bootlegging during Prohibition, while others invested in real estate, buying up portions of city blocks.
But even halfway across the world, the family was unable to escape death, discrimination and run-ins with the mafia as they made a new start for our lineage.
The youngest relative to arrive in New Orleans was Benedetto Giordano. Benedetto made his first voyage to New Orleans from Chiusa Sclafani in 1895 with both of his parents at the age of six. His father did not like the new way of life and brought the family back to Sicily. Benedetto and his mother returned to New Orleans within the next two years, leaving his father behind to continue his life as a sheep herder. The Giordano’s settled in LaPlace upon their return, and the mother would go to open a bar room on Claiborne Street and then a grocery store. Benedetto worked as a crop picker in the field and as a run around for his mother’s businesses. Benedetto and his mother both invested in real estate, buying multiple rental properties around the city.
The next to arrive was Josephine Leaino, Benedetto’s soon-to-be wife. Josephine immigrated in 1897 around the age of 20 with her mother and older sister. The three of them settled in LaPlace, and the mother was shot and killed shortly after their arrival. A family who owned a barber shop took the two sisters in after their mother’s death.
In 1899, Michelangelo Lo Forte and Margheri Lo Garbo left the life of sulfur mining in Lercara Friddi and made their way to New Orleans, along with their oldest daughter, Concetta. The family settled down in Lutcher and Michelangelo started working as a barber. He was later shot and killed outside of a movie theater in New York City after he and the family had fled New Orleans for fear of their safety.
Rosa Calo immigrated from Casteldaccia in 1902 at the age of 13 with her two older sisters, Mary and Annie. Their mother had planned to meet the girls in New Orleans soon after, but she died in Sicily before making the voyage. Rosa married her first husband, Ciro Cusimano, an alleged Black Hand who was killed by the Giacona family. After Ciro’s death, Rosa moved in with her sister, Annie, and brother-in-law, Jack Varuso. Soon after, Rosa married Jack’s brother, Giusseppi “Joe” Varuso, whom it is believed she had known from her early life in Sicily.
Joe Varuso came to New Orleans from Casteldaccia in 1903 around the age of 15, arriving with his older brother Jack. Joe got started in the city with a horse and buggy business, going from place to place buying and selling goods. Jack, Joe and Rosa were later involved in a presumed retaliatory attack against the Giacona family the year after the death of Ciro Cusimano. Joe went on to open a grocery store on Olive Street that would later be passed down to the next generation.
Benedetto Giordano and his mother, early 1900s
Italian passport for Michelangelo Lo Forte, Margheri Lo Garbo and Concetta, 1899
Presumed mugshot of Rosa Calo, 1909
Salvador “Sam” Vinterella was born in Sicily in 1872 and most likely immigrated to New Orleans before the turn of the century. Sam started off in the city with a horse and buggy business. He eventually opened a family grocery store on Erato Street near Washington Avenue and was known for making homemade wine and goat cheese. Sam and his wife, Mary, invested in real estate throughout the city.
Mary Macaluso was born in 1886 in Gretna, as her parents had immigrated to New Orleans shortly before Mary was born. Mary married Sam Vinterella, and she gave birth 13 times to a total of 14 children, though her twins did not survive childbirth.
The family made it through a time of murderous discrimination towards Sicilians in New Orleans as they worked to set down roots for the future generations to come. In 1891, there was a gruesome lynching of 11 Sicilians by an angry mob. Then, in the late 1910s, a serial killer known as The Axeman tormented the city and appeared to be targeting Italian grocery store owners.
Remnants of our Sicilian ancestors can still be felt in our current generations, from the red gravy and stuffed artichokes that frequent our tables to the strong entrepreneurial hustle many of us carry. Some family members even still live right next door to one another, buying up portions of city blocks like the previous generations that came before.
—
While some details of our lineage are able to be verified, others have been passed down through family stories.