Hunting, Murder, and the Black Hand

The Pennsylvania State Archives holds a series of records related to the murder of western Pennsylvania State Game Warden L. Seeley Houk in 1906. Rocco Racco, an Italian immigrant, was found guilty of the crime and executed in 1909. Racco was the one-time head of the Hillsville, Lawrence County, Black Hand. The series includes an actual Black Hand (a piece of paper cut into the shape of a hand and painted black), with a threat written in Italian to the State Game Commission’s chief warden, Joe Berrier and the Secretary of the State Game Commission, Dr. Joseph Kalbfus.