The Black Hand in the Red Light: The Gangsters of Storyville

In the aftermath of the assassination of Police Chief David Hennessy and the mass lynching that followed the controversial acquittal of the alleged conspirators, the underworld of New Orleans sought less spotlight and found the red lights of Storyville a more welcoming setting. While figures like Charles Matranga maintained influence in parts of the vice trade, the menacing and decentralized Black Hand extortion rackets terrorized the city. As silent struggles for underworld control played out in the city’ dark spaces, a loudly defining moment for Storyville came on Easter morning 1913 with the deadly Tuxedo Dance Hall shootout: a labor dispute turned gunfight which resulted in multiple deaths and a year-long ban on live music that hastened Storyville’s decline and dispersed jazz musicians. This paper outlines the organized crime networks that continued to grow in the Crescent City with a focus on the vice district known as Storyville. Using police records, memoirs, and newspaper articles, the development of the New Orleans underworld will be uncovered, illustrating how gangsters aided in the creation of one of the most iconic eras of American history. This research adds to the understanding of how decentralized Black Hand activities and emerging Mafia vied for influence and how that affected interests in Storyville and the development of a vice culture the city has simultaneously fought and embraced.