Following increasingly heated contract negotiations, New Orleans streetcar motormen and conductors struck beginning July 1, 1929. The survival of the carmen's union and 1,100 jobs was in question. Transit strikes throughout the nation provoked…

“Belle calas tout chaud, Madam, belle calas tout chaud,” calls out the calas lady selling fried rice fritters to the tourist and locals roaming New Orleans Streets. The calas lady is one of the most renowned street vendors in New Orleans history;…

During the Second World War, a labor shortage developed as men began to serve in the armed forces. Women were increasingly encouraged to take over responsibilities on the home front. Women took jobs of all types: skilled and unskilled, manual and…

Shortly before the arrest of Homer Plessy in June 1892, a successful streetcar strike initiated a wave of union organizing that culminated in what has been called the first biracial general strike in US history. Between 20,000 and 25,000 union…

As with many culinary innovations, the poor boy or po-boy sandwich has attracted many legends regarding its origins. However, documentary evidence confirms that stories about one particular restaurant were right.Bennie and Clovis Martin left their…

Club My-O-My was a female impersonator club that originated and ended in the French Quarter. It flourished after first being kicked out of an informal, after-hours home in a fur warehouse in the Vieux Carre in the early 1930s, according to oral…

Earliest ferry service from Carrollton across the Mississippi River to the West Bank area known as Nine Mile Point was operating by 1845. Rowers powered these skiff ferries. In the mid- and late 1800s, visitors to Carrollton could disembark the New…

In July 2010, Avondale Shipyard owner Northrup-Grumman announced that Avondale would be closed by the end of the year, moving all operations to Pascagoula, Mississippi. In September 2010, the Avondale workers launched the Save Our Shipyard…

Founded in 1938 as Avondale Marine Ways, Inc., Avondale Shipyard has long been a centerpiece of the economy of New Orleans and much of Southeast Louisiana. From barges to Navy warships, to the oil and natural gas industry, Avondale has been a…

Until 1958, all park amenities, including the playground, were restricted to white residents. African American children and families were banned from entering the park. In a 1995 interview, the late author Tom Dent discussed his childhood…

A small fort was erected in 1701 before the founding of the city of New Orleans by the French where Bayou St. John empties into Lake Pontchartrain. The settlers sought to protect the important trade route along Bayou St. John. The fort was first…

The Clio streetcar line opened in 1867 and ended service in 1932. Also known as the "C-L-10," this route once connected the uptown and Marigny (downtown) neighborhoods. The street, accompanied by the other eight muses, intersects a portion…