Third Thursday Talk - "The Murder of David Hennessy"

Derby Gisclair, a local historian and frequent presenter at Jefferson Parish Libraries, will give a presentation titled “The Murder of David Hennessy, at 7 p.m., Thursday, July 17, at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon, Metairie.

David C. Hennessy was an American policeman and detective who served as police chief of New Orleans from 1888 until his murder in 1890. As a young lieutenant, he captured a notorious Italian criminal named Guiseppe Esposito in 1881, which eventually led to Hennessy’s promotion to superintendent and chief of police in New Orleans.

Hennessy was assassinated in 1890, leading to a series of trials and mistrials. In March 1891, a large crowd of local forced open the doors of the prison and lynched 11 of the 19 Italian men who had been indicted. It was the largest known mass lynching in U.S. history.

A lifelong resident of New Orleans, S. Derby Gisclair is a member of the Society of American Baseball Research (SABR) and its 19th Century, Minor Leagues, Deadball Era, Oral History, and Pictorial History Committees. He heads the Schott-Pelican Chapter of SABR in Louisiana and is on the Nominating and Selection Committees for the Greater New Orleans Professional Baseball Hall of Fame.

He is the author of several books including: New Orleans Steamboat Stories – The Brief Lives of Mississippi Riverboats; Baseball in New Orleans, Baseball at Tulane University; The Olympic Club of New Orleans – The Epicenter of Professional Boxing, 1883-1897; and Early Baseball in New Orleans – A History of 19th Century Play. His most recent book, The Dixie Series, 1920-1958, was released on May 1, 2023.

He is working on a history of horse-racing and racetracks in New Orleans, a history of the New Orleans Pelicans, and a pictorial history of boxing in New Orleans.

For more information regarding this presentation, contact Chris Smith, Manager of Adult Programming for the library, at 504-889-8143 or wcsmith@jefferson.lib.la.us.