Mayor Victor H. Schiro

New Orleans in Transition, 1961–1970

Edward F. Haas

• Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781626741805
• Topic: Storia
• Subtopic: Storia nordamericana

During the turbulent 1960s, the city of New Orleans experienced unprecedented economic growth, racial tensions and desegregation, political realignment, and natural disaster. Presiding over this period of sweeping change was Mayor Victor H. Schiro (1904-1992), an unassuming, moderate Democrat who sought the best for his city and adhered strictly to the rule of law in a region where laissez faire was standard practice and hardened defiance was a social norm. Schiro sought fairness for all and navigated a gauntlet of conflicting pressures. African Americans sought their civil rights, and whites resisted the new racial environment. Despite vigorous opposition and an unfriendly press, Schiro won election twice.

Under his direction, the city experienced numerous municipal reforms, the inclusion of African Americans in executive positions, and the broad extension of city services. The mayor, a businessman, recruited new corporations for his city, heralded the development of New Orleans East, and brought major professional sports to the Crescent City. He also initiated the plans for the construction of the Superdome.

At the height of this activity, Hurricane Betsy devastated New Orleans. In response, Schiro coordinated with the federal government to initiate rescue and recovery at a rapid pace. In the aftermath, he lobbied Congress for relief funds that set the precedent for National Federal flood insurance.

1.

Youthful Odyssey

To use the vernacular of native New Orleanians, Victor Hugo Schiro was not “from here.” Schiro’s birthplace was Chicago, Illinois. Nevertheless, from his birth on May 28, 1904, until his death eighty-eight years later, New Orleans was central to Schiro’s life.

The child was the only son of Andrea (later Americanized into Andrew) Edward Schiro and his wife Mary An Pizzati. The Schiros already had a daughter, Elizabeth Vindictis, called Bettina, who was also born in Chicago, a year before her brother, on April 21, 1903.¹ Andrea Schiro was a native of Piana dei Greci, Palermo Province, Sicily. The English translation of the town’s name is “Grecian plain.”² According to Victor Schiro, Greeks from the Aegean island of Skyros had been the Piana dei Greci’s first settlers, and Schiro’s ancestors had lived in the region from the beginning. The family name supposedly derived from the “Italian spelling of the ancient Isle of Skyros.”

On November 3, 1899, Andrea immigrated to America at the age of twenty-three. In 1966 his son recalled that Andrea came from Italy “as a college student.”³ On another occasion, however, Victor Schiro reported that his father as a young man had studied for the priesthood in a Catholic seminary and later served three years in the Italian military. After completing his military duty, Andrea decided to emigrate to America, “the land of opportunity.”⁴ Perhaps the unavailability of land in Sicily contributed to his decision. In the late nineteenth century, large landholders predominated in many sections of the island. The mayor of Piana dei Greci commented that individuals could “not convince landlords to sell them land. Unfortunately, there are no small properties in this town; this is a region of large estates.”⁵ Such conditions may very well have prompted young Schiro to question his future in Sicily.

Andrea Schiro entered the United States through the port of New York and in 1900 settled in Chicago, the second largest city in the United States, a town with a rapidly expanding Italian community. After his arrival, like many immigrants, he sent money home, and his brothers Michael and Victor eventually followed him to Chicago.⁶

Andrea Schiro was an educated man who spoke five languages. English unfortunately was not one of them. Learning the language of his new country immediately became his primary goal. The young immigrant, furthermore, arrived in the United States “without a cent.” Under these circumstances he had little choice but to become a laborer. During this difficult period, he held a variety of physically demanding jobs. Schiro worked in the cornfields and later in the sugarcane fields. At the end of many long days, he returned to his lodgings with bleeding hands from wielding long knives and other agricultural implements. He typically earned wages of fifty cents to a dollar per day.⁷

One of the jobs that Andrea Schiro held was with a railroad construction crew that laid tracks throughout the country. The work eventually took him to the small Louisiana town of Sunset. There the young man met a teacher who found him to be interesting. Schiro’s son remembered, “She took a liking to him, and she taught him what she could about the English language, and that’s how he learned the English language.”

All, however, was not work with Andrea Schiro. While he struggled with the problems of assimilation in a new land, he carried on a correspondence with a young woman in New Orleans. Schiro’s father had known Mary Pizzati’s family in Sicily and arranged the introduction. Although the two young people had never met, their communications developed into a courtship. They finally decided to get married without having seen each other.⁸

In 1902, Andrea Edward Schiro and Mary An Pizzati, daughter of Lorenzo and Mariannina Pizzati, married in New Orleans. Mary Schiro belonged to a prominent New Orleans Italian American family. Her uncle, Captain Salvatore Pizzati, was a “well-known capitalist and philanthropist” who had made his fortune in shipping. Pizzati, a member of S. Oteri and Company, “enjoyed the distinction of being the first captain to take a steamboat to Spanish Honduras for the purpose of bringing back bananas to the United States.” In 1900, after the Oteri company sold its interests to United Fruit Company, Pizzati retired from commerce and devoted his life and fortune to charitable activities. He was a honorary colonel on the staff of governor J. Y. Sanders and a “special officer” of the New Orleans Police Department. For many years, he served as a director of the Interstate Bank and the Whitney Central Bank.⁹

After the wedding, the young couple returned to Andrea’s home in Chicago, where their two children were later born. The Schiros named their son and daughter, respectively, for their paternal grandparents, Vito and Vendictis Elisabetta Schiro of Piana dei Greci. The parents gave young Victor the middle name of Hugo because his father “had been a great admirer of the French novelist Victor Hugo.”¹⁰ In Chicago, Andrea Schiro began to work as a customhouse broker. His improving language skills and inherent intellect were clearly elevating his economic status.¹¹

In late 1904, after young Victor’s birth, the Schiros returned to New Orleans. The business connections of the Pizzati family may very well have been the lure. Perhaps Mary, like many New Orleanians, particularly young mothers with small children, simply wanted to be near her family. In the Crescent City, Andrew (no longer Andrea) embarked on a career in banking that would eventually carry him to various parts of the United States and Latin America.¹²

At first, New Orleans provided the base. For eight years, Andrew Schiro “was connected with the banking business of New Orleans.” He began as a clerk for the People’s Saving Trust and Banking Company in the southern metropolis. He then became the manager of the French Market branch of the City Bank and Trust Company at Decatur and Ursulines streets. He held that position for seven years. The young banker also served on the board of directors of the French Market Homestead Association.¹³

In 1913, at the urging of friends, Schiro retired from banking to become secretary-treasurer and manager of the Glee-Nol Bottling Company in New Orleans. Glee-Nol, a soda water beverage, was “the latest drink on the New Orleans market.” Schiro’s partners in the bottling concern were an interesting amalgam of local entrepreneurs. Marco Antonio Pizzati, Mary Schiro’s cousin, the nephew and adopted son of Salvatore Pizzati, became the president. First vice president was William Waterman, a well-known New Orleans businessman. Waterman was the son of J. S. Waterman Sr., the former private secretary of mayor Walter C. Flower and head of J. S. Waterman and Company, a firm that specialized in the sale of flour and grain. In 1910, William Waterman had taken control of the flour branch of the family interests and expanded the business into the export trade. O. H. Simpson, a local attorney with ties to the homestead industry, was second vice president. Simpson, too, had political affiliations. Since 1908 he had served as secretary of the Louisiana Senate. In 1926 he would become governor of the state.

The four partners operated an “elaborate bottling works at 509 Dryades Street” that produced Glee-Nol and “other soda water drinks.” The men had high hopes for their product. They emphasized that their corporation was “purely a local concern” that intended “to bottle the very best in accordance with the approval of the pure food law.” The company slogan was “Quality for Us.” One account of the drink’s success proclaimed “its instantaneous popularity” and noted that “hundreds of retail grocers and saloonkeepers are stocking their places with Glee-Nol.”¹⁴

Despite these rosy projections, Glee-Nol could not keep up with Coca-Cola and other powerful rivals in the highly competitive soft drink bottling business. By 1915, Glee-Nol had no listing in the city directory, and Pizzati, Waterman, and Simpson had returned to their previous business pursuits. Andrew E. Schiro’s name, however, was completely absent from the directory’s pages.¹⁵

Schiro, like his partners, had also returned to his previous business, banking, but his new duties took him beyond the borders of Louisiana. Schiro became associated with the Banco Atlántida in Honduras. The bank was the creation of the Standard Fruit Company, a corporation with a strong base in New Orleans. The rapidly growing shipping firm operated in a region of Honduras where financial institutions were in short supply. The Vaccaro brothers, Joseph, Luca, and Felix, and Salvador D’Antoni (the owners of Standard Fruit) decided that the best solution to this problem was to create their own banking firm. The unique endeavor soon acquired the blessing of the U.S. Department of State. Carmelo D’Antoni, Salvador’s brother, became the bank’s president; John Plauche of New Orleans became the manager; and Vincent D’Antoni, another brother, was one of four directors. Victor Schiro later recalled that his father was “one of the original founders” of the bank, but he was probably mistaken. In February 1913, when the bank opened in Honduras, Andrew Schiro was still in New Orleans, bottling Glee-Nol. Schiro was perhaps an original director of the institution, but he most likely joined the Banco Atlántida in 1914 after the demise of his soda drink venture.¹⁶

Time was critical for the growing financial institution. On March 9, 1914, the building that housed the Banco Atlántida, the largest in the town of La Ceiba, burned to the ground in a fire that destroyed twelve blocks of the business district as well as the Vacarros’ waterfront office. Rebuilding was a priority, but the Vaccaros also wanted to establish branches of the Banco Atlántida in other towns as well. Since the Vaccaros knew the Pizzati family in New Orleans and occasionally did business with them in Honduras, they were certainly aware of Andrew Schiro’s background in banking and also his availability. The Vaccaros and the D’Antonis consequently brought Schiro to Honduras to organize branches of the Banco Atlántida in San Pedro Sula, Puerto Cortés, and Tegucigalpa and to rebuild the headquarters in La Ceiba. Andrew Schiro would remain in Honduras for five years.¹⁷

Andrew Schiro’s move to Honduras had a profound effect on his family, particularly his young son. Victor Schiro had attended elementary school at William O. Rogers and McDonogh No. 28. on Esplanade Avenue. During his early years, he enjoyed various activities, particularly climbing. Schiro later recalled that he was a “very agile” boy who became “the little leader of all these kids in the neighborhood.” Years afterward he asked himself, “How I didn’t break my kneck I don’t know.” In the Crescent City, the boy enjoyed a generally average childhood.

One typical boyhood experience stood out in Victor Schiro’s mind decades later. He recalled that “everyone came to my house. We had a big enough house, a big yard and everything else in front.” The neighborhood boys decided to try smoking. They got corn silks, rolled them in paper, and made crude cigarettes. They then went under the house and smoked “this thing.” Although they knew that they “were doing something wrong,” the boys thought they “were great. We were having a lot of fun.” Mary Schiro, however, discovered the young experimenters. She took no action; she only said, “I guess I’ll have to tell your daddy that you’re smoking now.” When Andrew Schiro came home, he called his son into his study and took out a box of the cigars he smoked. The elder Schiro said, “I understand you’re smoking now,” and “I [also] understand you’re smoking trash. You’re smoking corn silks or something.” He said, “I don’t want my son to smoke that. You don’t have to, son.” The father then offered his son a cigar from his personal stock, remarking, “You don’t have to hide from your daddy. If you want to smoke, you can smoke.” Andrew Schiro next led his son through the ritual of cutting off the tip, lighting the cigar, and inhaling deeply. He particularly stressed the instructions on inhaling. Young Schiro recalled that “he drew in a couple of times.” “About the third time I drew in, I was getting yellow. Then I got green.” Andrew Schiro continued to coach his son in the protocol of smoking. “Well, now, son, I’ll get a cigar, and we’ll smoke together.” By that time, Victor was “getting greener and greener.” Deciding that smoking had lost its allure, the youngster pleaded, “Papa, do you mind if I put this down?” His father acceded readily, advising, “No, son, you don’t have to smoke unless you want to.” A much older Victor Schiro recollected, “From that day ’til today, I have never touched a piece of tobacco or cigarette or cigar or anything.” Andrew Schiro understood the nature of young boys as well as he did banking.¹⁸

After the older Schiro moved to Honduras, life changed for young Victor. Although Mrs. Schiro maintained their home at 2625 Ursulines Street in New Orleans, the couple spent much of their time in Honduras. Victor apparently accompanied his parents initially, but the Schiros eventually decided to enroll their son in the Gulf Coast Military Academy, a boarding school. It was a lonely time for Victor. On November 16, 1917, he wrote his father in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, to ask permission to visit his sister Bettina, who was also at boarding school in New Orleans, and to request some stamps “so I can write to you and Bettina and every body.”¹⁹ On the same day, Schiro asked his mother, “Why don’t you write me a letter. . . . I have been waiting very long for a letter.” The boy said, “I am very well,” and then asked about their dog. “Pet him for me.” He wished he “could be with you all[,] but I am trying my best to study hard and so don’t forget to write to me.” He concluded with another request to visit his sister: “Bettina wants me to go with her for Christmas time. But I have to ask your consent.”²⁰

On December 2, 1917, young Schiro again wrote his father. Permission to visit with his sister for Christmas was not forthcoming, and the boy was homesick. He wrote, “I hope that you had a good thanksgivin day and I wish that I had a plate of nice macrones that mama makes.” He dreaded a Christmas away from his family. “I wish you all a happy Christmas an[d] I would be so happy if I could only be with you all for Christmas. I am goin[g] to be all alone for Christmas when all the boys leave.” He again asked about their dog and promised “to study hard.” Schiro also inquired about the family’s new house in Honduras: “Is it many stories high?” He concluded with his wish “that the time will pass quick so I can see you all again” and the obvious admission, “W[h]en I write I feal a little homesick for you all.” His last words were “Pleas[e] write to me.”²¹

The youngster, however, was not completely alone at the military school. On February 1, 1966, nearly fifty years later, Schiro wrote to Mrs. Linfield, who had befriended him while he was on the Gulf Coast. He reminisced, “I will always remember how wonderful you and your husband were to me when I was a little boy at the Gulf Coast Military Academy.” Schiro particularly remembered “the night the boys took me on a snipe hunt and I managed to return to the campus before they did.” The other cadets all became “concerned about having lost me!”²²

Although the youngster could not visit his pare...