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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.
Leeds Iron Foundry
The Leeds Iron Foundry was owned and operated by Charles Leeds. It was located at Delord and Constance Streets during the Antebellum period of the nineteenth century. The foundry was opened in 1824.…
Young Men’s Hebrew Association's Athenaeum
“One of the handsomest structures in the city will be the new building of the Young Men’s Hebrew Association,” [1] said an article from the New Orleans States when the Athenaeum opened in 1896. With…
Metro Film Exchange
In the early years of the film industry, few aspects of the industry were more important than distribution. Film exchanges handled the repair, rental, and advertisement of motion pictures both locally…
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…
Hotel Monteleone
In 1886, Antonio Monteleone purchased what was to become the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans. Since 1886, four generations of the Monteleone family have owned the hotel, making it one of the last…
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,…
The Lalaurie Mansion
Madame Delphine MacCarthy Lalaurie was a wealthy New Orleans socialite and notorious enslaver. In 1832, Madame Lalaurie moved into a neoclassical mansion at the intersection of today’s Royal and…
Gordon Plaza Residents' Present Day Political Activism
For decades, residents of Gordon Plaza engaged (and continue to engage) in political activism to spread public awareness about toxic contamination in their neighborhood. Residents hope to achieve fair…
The Hermann-Grima House
The Hermann-Grima House at 820 St. Louis Street, which today operates as an historic house museum, was a site of enslavement from its construction in 1831 through the Civil War. At least sixty people…
French Market
The French Market is a notable location right at the edge of the French Quarter. The market was built in 1791 and has continued to be a historic and important location for the people of New Orleans.…
Algiers Courthouse
Built in 1896, this Moorish-influenced Richardsonian style building was built on the site of the former Duverje plantation, which was completely destroyed, along with approximately 200 other homes and…
The Star Car
Joseph Guillaume had had enough. The Civil War was over, Reconstruction was in full swing, yet the practice of segregation on the streetcars of New Orleans continued. Every third streetcar—although it…
Previous Protests of Streetcar Segregation
No doubt Guillaume had heard of Dr. R. I. Cromwell, who had forcibly been thrown from a non-star car by five or six men who kicked him and tore his clothes. Cromwell noted the inequity of the star…
Joseph Guillaume's Audacious Ride
On May 4, 1867, Guillaume acted. What happened next is open to some debate. According to the New Orleans Times, at 11:30 a.m. Guillaume hailed a “Whites Only” car number 148 on Love Street, now known…
The Julia Montgomery Memorial Oak in Palmer Park
In March 1923, an oak tree was planted in Palmer Park to honor the death of Julia Blocker Montgomery, a nearby resident. The Daughters of the American Revolution dedicated the tree in memory of…
Music in Palmer Park
Music has played an important role in the history of Palmer Park. A band stand was built in 1923 and every summer a series of concerts was held in the park featuring military bands, marching bands,…
Palmer Park Arch and Early Improvements
Palmer Park, previously full of briar bushes and not much else, underwent some major changes in the early 20th century. In 1910, Carrollton Avenue was dug out by hand and paved; the excess mud was put…
Recreation and Rowdyism in Early Palmer Park
In the early 20th century Carrollton residents resisted attempts to permit sports recreation in Palmer Park, despite the fact that it was a public space. An effort to convert the park into a baseball…
Tinette Lichtenstein: Defender of the Status Quo in Palmer Park
Palmer Park in the first half of the 20th century was used primarily as an official public space, with an emphasis on formal and public gatherings. The park was the site of events like a 1911…
The Arts Market, Holidays, and Playground in Palmer Park
The Arts Market, held the last Saturday of every month in Palmer Park, has a become a popular event. The market, sponsored by the non-profit Arts Council of New Orleans and held in Palmer Park since…
The World War II and Carrollton Centennial Monument in Palmer Park
Palmer Park was a site for several of the city's World War II neighborhood bond shows. A show in June 1944 featuring speeches by wounded veterans, a parade, and music raised over $123,000 dollars.…
Change and Contention: Palmer Park During the 1970s
The 1970s was a period of contention over the future of Palmer Park as local residents opposed efforts by the city to incorporate the park and convert it to a playground. Residents, labeling…
Krewe of Carrollton and Palmer Park
In 1947, the Seventh District Carnival Club, originally formed in 1924, returned to parading after a hiatus during World War II. The club changed its name to the Krewe of Carrollton and also changed…