All Stories: 561
Stories
Sort by:
Leona Tate: Integrating McDonogh 19 Elementary School
In the 1954 Supreme Court Case Brown v. Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that racial segregation in public schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment prohibiting states from…
Marie Galatas Ortiz
Marie Galatas Ortiz, born in New Orleans in 1939, participated in many demonstrations, marches, boycotts, and founded Grass Roots Organization for Women (GROW), an organization once housed at 1610…
A Bakery Shaped by Place: Garic’s Bakery
Often visible in the background of historic images of the French Market, the three-story Italianate building with the “Garic’s Bakery" sign anchored the neighborhood. [1] Garic’s Bakery was once part…
The Legend of New Orleans French Bread: Chretien’s Bakery and B.C. Francingues Bakery
In 2013, the reality cooking television series Top Chef filmed its eleventh season in New Orleans at 1231-33 Bourbon Street to revitalize the struggling restaurant and tourism industry following the…
Enslaved Bakers and the Foreign French: D’Aquin, Bouny, and Poincy Bakeries
Before the Civil War, enslaved labor was an integral part of the commercial baking industry and the overall economy in New Orleans. While food historians note the role that French, Spanish, and Anglo…
Fort Pike
In 1819, President James Monroe commissioned Fort Pike’s construction alongside six other forts on the Louisiana coast. [2] Originally known as Fort Petites Coquilles, Monroe commissioned the fort…
The Cabildo: The Archaeology of a Colonial-Era New Orleans Prison
The excavations at the Cabildo represented a rare opportunity to recover archaeological evidence of Colonial era governance, particularly in the realm of punishment. Modern conceptions of the prison…
The Cabildo
Today, the Cabildo is a facility of the Louisiana State Museum, but the courtyard of the Cabildo was the location of a city prison complex for nearly two hundred years, across French, Spanish, and…
810 Royal Street
On October 22, 2014, an over-200-year-old building at 810 Royal Street collapsed, presumably a victim of unrepaired termite and moisture damage. The collapse sparked conversations in New Orleans about…
1997 Excavation at Madame John's Legacy by Shannon Dawdy and GNOAP/UNO
In 1997, Dr. Shannon Dawdy directed the second series of excavations at Madame John’s Legacy under the auspices of the Greater New Orleans Archaeological Program, a state program then based at the…
Mayfair Department Store
In the early to mid 20th century, Canal Street was home to the New Orleans' largest department stores. Prior to the creation of department stores, shops typically specialized in one commodity. But,…
The Ancestors: Marie Laveau's Tomb
St. Louis Cemetery #1 on Basin Street, once outside the city limits, is the oldest existing cemetery in New Orleans. Towering above-ground tombs remind visitors of New Orleans’ high water table and…
The Spirit: Marie Laveau & Congo Square
While Marie Laveau worshipped at Catholic Mass in St. Louis Cathedral, she likely practiced Vodou at Congo Square. While no official documents place Laveau at Congo Square, many eyewitness accounts…
The Home: Marie Laveau’s House
Marie Laveau’s home once stood on the site of present-day 1020 and 1022 St. Ann Street. Marguerite Darcantel, Laveau’s mother, and Catherine Henry, Laveau’s grandmother, raised Marie Laveau at the…
The Church: Marie Laveau at St. Louis Cathedral
Marie Laveau was a devout Catholic throughout her life. Explore Laveau’s connections to the St. Louis Cathedral and Vodou’s relationship to the Catholic Church.
K&B Drug Stores
Katz & Besthoff, Ltd., later known as K&B, was a drug store chain headquartered in New Orleans throughout much of the 20th century. 1011 Canal Street was home to one of the chain's 186 storefronts.…
Singer Sewing Center
In 1930, Signer Sewing Company hired local architects Charles Favrot and Louis A. Livaudais to erect a Neoclassical style storefront at 934 Canal Street to house a flagship Singer Sewing Center. [1,…
Madame John's Legacy: 2013 Excavation by Ryan Gray and UNO
During the Summer of 2013, a team from Tulane University and its Masters in Preservation Studies program undertook a long-term study of conservation issues at Madame John’s Legacy. This project was…
Madame John’s Legacy: 1971 Excavations by Richard Shenkel and UNO
In 1971, Madame John’s Legacy was one of the first historic period sites in urban New Orleans to be systematically investigated, when the subdiscipline of historical archaeology was still in its…
Madame John’s Legacy
Madame John’s Legacy, located at 628-632 Dumaine Street, is often considered one of the best surviving examples of French Colonial architecture in the French Quarter, even though the existing…
Dorothy Day: Journalist, Activist, Catholic Worker Movement Founder
In 1924, journalist and political activist Dorothy Day lived in an apartment at 520 St. Peter Street while writing for the New Orleans Item. During her short time working at the newspaper, Day wrote…
“Don’t Wear Your Good Shoes Up Here”: The Arcadia and Alamo Dance Halls of Prohibition Era New Orleans
In the 1920s and 1930s, the second floor of 1001 Canal Street was home to the Arcadia and Alamo Dance Halls. These dance halls served as a space for thirsty men in New Orleans to cut loose at the…
St. Peter Street Cemetery
The St. Peter Street Cemetery served as the City of New Orleans’ primary burial ground through most of the Colonial era, from 1724 (and possibly earlier) until 1789, when it was officially replaced by…
Sintes Boat Works: Life and Business on the Banks of Lake Pontchartrain
Since 1952, the Sintes family has run Sintes Boat Works and Sea Chest Marina, providing a maritime outlet for New Orleanians and residents of the West End neighborhood.