March 7, 2020 from 1pm to 2pm The National Park Service with present a discussion on the Sicilian Migration to New Orleans. Henri d’ Tonti efforts in 1686 led to the settlement by Bienville of New Orleans. Later in the 1820s, an Italian Consulate was opened. The Mandarin Orange was introduced by Sicilians to America via New Orleans.

On March 17, 1866, the Louisiana Bureau of Immigration was formed and planters began to look to Sicily as a possible solution to their labor needs. Steamship companies advertisements were very effective in recruiting potential workers. Three steamships per month were running between New Orleans and Sicily by September 1881 at a cost of only forty dollars per person.