Mayor Fiorello La Guardia reading the Daily News
election results in 1941. |
“Black Hand”
Returns to Mulberry Street
October 9, 2009 - The Italian American Museum (IAM) is pleased to
announce the opening of its new exhibition “Italian Americans in Law
Enforcement; Petrosino, Serpico, Sprizzo” for Columbus Day, October
12, 2009 through November 22, 2009. The exhibit features three
notable Italian Americans in Law Enforcement.
Lieutenant Detective Giuseppe Petrosino, the first Italian American to
become a Lieutenant in the New York City Police Department and the
only NYPD police officer ever to have been killed on foreign soil in
the line of duty (Palermo, Sicily- March 12, 1909). Petrosino created
the “Italian Squad and the Bomb Squad to fight Black Hand crime in
Little Italy and was one of the first to use disguises and forensics
in his police work.” On display at the IAM are copies of New York
Times articles from 1909, which chronicle the exploits of this heroic
Lt. Detective, as well as an original Black Hand letter sent to the
Giovenco family. Dr. Joseph V. Scelsa, President and Founder of the
IAM received the Giovenco Black Hand letter from a relative of his,
when he was mounting “The Italians of New York” in 1999 at the New
York Historical Society. “Until then it was a family secret. It is
time to sha re with the public the true face of Italian on Italian
crime and the heroes who fought to stop it.”, said Dr. Scelsa.
Also on display, are artifacts of hero police officer Frank Serpico:
his pearl handle service revolver and two of his automatic fire arms
along with an original copy of “Serpico” by author Peter Maas; which
later was made into a movie starring, Al Pacino. Serpico testified
before the Knapp Commission and in doing so, is credited with rooting
out corruption in the N.Y.P.D. Included in the exhibit, is an
original copy of the Knapp Commissions report and memorabilia of
Federal Court Judge John E. Sprizzo who was one of the Knapp
Commissioners.
This exhibit is curated by the museum’s President, Dr. Joseph V.
Scelsa in collaboration with Curatorial Assistant, Mr. Antonio
Carlucci.
The Italian American Museum is located at 155 Mulberry Street in the
heart of New York City’s “Little Italy”. The IAM is open to the
public from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and
Sunday, and on Fridays from 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM.
For more information, please visit our website www.ItalianAmericanMuseum.org or call (212) 965-9000.
Members of the press can contact Dr. Scelsa
directly at (917) 642-4922.
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