Citizens of Italian descent comprise a significant percentage of South Louisiana's total population, and have had a tremendous impact on Louisiana culture, from architectural masonry to foodways to jazz and brass band music. In Independence, the proportion of Italian residents is conspicuous in that Italian-Americans outnumber any other cultural group. Many of these are first-generation Italian-Americans, their parents having emigrated at the turn of the century from southern Italy-Apulia, Calabria, and primarily Sicily.

Italian emigrants to Louisiana typically arrived at the Port of New Orleans and quickly found work, often as plantation workers replacing the newly freed slaves. As soon as possible, they sent for the rest of the family, and children worked alongside their parents in the cane fields.