Stories by author "Kathryn O'Dwyer, Editor": 82
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"Tolerating" Gambling
The state of illicit gambling in New Orleans was summed up well in the 1938 WPA New Orleans City Guide, "although gambling is, strictly speaking, illegal, these places are usually open for business…
“Confined in the Dungeons”: Orleans Parish Prison and Self-Emancipated People
Located in Treme, the original Orleans Parish Prison stood where the Municipal Auditorium and Louis Armstrong Park stand today. From the 1830s to 1895, the prison housed individuals accused of crimes,…
“They Would Not Let Me Quit”: Black Greek Life in The University Center at UNO
Located near the geographic center of the university, the University Center, or UC for short, host various offices such as the cafeteria, bookstore, ballroom, and staff offices for Student Involvement…
1961 Construction of the William J. Guste, Sr. Homes
In 1961, the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) announced plans to construct the William J. Guste, Sr. Homes, named for the Housing Authority’s long-time general counsel. The 1961 Report of the…
A Greater Purpose: Community Service and Activism in Black Greek Life at UNO
Of all the purposes of Black Greek organizations at UNO, perhaps the most important and impactful is the community service they provided to the UNO and surrounding community.
Founded in the early…
A Streetcar Named Desire
A Streetcar Named Desire is the title of a 1947 Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Tennessee Williams, adapted in 1951 for the big screen by director Elia Kazan. It is undoubtedly one of the most famous…
A Way of Their Own: Black Greek Organizations at UNO
Black Greek letter organizations at UNO play an essential role for African American students as they do across the nation. Black Greek organizations provide a safe space for African Americans where…
Algiers Folk Art Zone & Blues Museum
The Algiers Folk Art Zone & Blues Museum, which is located directly across from the Mississippi River levee at 207 Leboeuf Street, was founded by Charles Gillam in 2000. A self-taught sculptor,…
Alice Marie Thompson
On November 1, 1961, Alice Marie Thompson joined other New Orleans Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) members to test the Interstate Commerce Commission’s new policy of bus desegregation at the New…
Archaeology of the Melpomene Neighborhood at the Turn of the Twentieth Century: Excavation of a Privy at 1304 Howard/LaSalle
In the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, many of the people who lived in the Melpomene neighborhood of Central City rented their residences with some addresses seeing rapid turnover. …
Archaeology of The Melpomene Neighborhood During Reconstruction
During 2013 investigations in City Square 350, archaeologists excavated a large and well-constructed brick-lined privy shaft, producing a rich assemblage of glass containers and ceramic vessels, along…
Audubon Park
Sandwiched between St. Charles Avenue and the Mississippi River, is the lush urban oasis- Audubon Park. Named after naturalist John James Audubon, the park is used for outdoor recreation of all kinds.…
Bell Theater
The Bell Theater was originally located at Bell and Dorgenois Streets, where it operated between 1914 and 1921. In the early years, the theater served not only as an entertainment venue, but was…
Boston Club
The Boston Club was a social club founded in 1841 through which rich, white men could enjoy the popular card game called “Boston.” [1] Members of The Boston Club organized and rented rooms in their…
Cabrini High School
Cabrini High School was named for Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini, founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart. Mother Cabrini was born in Italy and traveled to New York to provide catechism…
Confetti Park: Where Imagination, Fun, and Magic Fill the Air
Confetti Park is a whimsical, magical playground for kids.
Landscape architect Christopher Friedrichs and sculptor Steve-Kline designed Confetti Park in 1996 on land that was a legacy of the…
Courting 1910's Film Industry: New Orleans Association of Commerce
The New Orleans Association of Commerce was an organization dedicated to stimulating New Orleans-based industries, the organization increasingly saw film as part of their public relations strategies…
Dawn of a New Tradition: Black Greek Letter Organizations
On a stroll around most college campuses, you may see students wearing shirts, hoodies, and sweaters with a number of letters from Greek alphabets in a variety of colors. These students are members of…
Diamond Film Company Studios
The Diamond Film Studios was to be the primary production site for the Diamond Film Company, one of the first homegrown film companies in New Orleans. The founding of the company was linked to an…
Dryades Street Library and YMCA
Today home to the Dryades YMCA, this beautiful building, erected in 1915, was the first New Orleans Public Library created to serve black New Orleanians and had the capacity to hold 10,000 books.
Edgar Joseph Edmunds: Teacher Defies New Orleans's Racial Segregation of Schools in 1875
Edgar Joseph Edmunds was born January 26, 1851, in New Orleans to Edgar and Rose Euphemie Foy Edmunds, free people of color. Edmunds graduated fifth among a class of over 200 students at the…
Evariste Blanc House
Evariste Blanc built the mansion you see before you around 1834. According to city directories, Evariste Blanc was a hardware merchant, ship chandler, and lime merchant. By 1834 Blanc also had a…
Filming Location: The Belle of New Orleans
The Old Jockey Club of New Orleans was a primary filming location of the 1912 silent film "The Belle of New Orleans." The film was created and produced entirely in New Orleans by the Kalem Film…
Filming Location: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a 2008 Oscar winning film by director David Fincher, filmed primarily in uptown New Orleans. The film was adapted from a 1922 short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald…