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New Orleans Tribune Offices After November 1866: Growing Readership in the Reconstruction Era
In November 1866, the Tribune moved from its offices on Conti Street to 122-124 Exchange Alley. These new digs were in the shadow of the St. Louis Hotel (site now occupied by the Omni Royal Orleans…
Mechanics' Institute Massacre
On July 30, 1866, black Republicans attempted to reconvene the Louisiana constitutional convention in an effort to secure voting rights. Held at the Mechanics' Institute, a large crowd of black…
Residence and Medical Practice of Dr. Louis Charles Roudanez and Family
Dr. Louis Charles Roudanez was a visionary free man of color, doctor, and journalist. Angered by slavery and racial injustice, he took up the cause of equality during the Civil War and Reconstruction…
Tomb of Dr. Louis Charles Roudanez
Faubourg Tremé is home to the oldest existing cemetery in the City of New Orleans, St. Louis Cemetery No. 1. Dr. Louis Charles Roudanez, founder of the New Orleans Tribune, America’s first black daily…
Tombs of Jean Baptiste Roudanez and his mother Aimée Potens
Jean Baptiste Roudanez, publisher of L’Union, the South’s first black newspaper, and the New Orleans Tribune, America’s first black daily newspaper, is entombed alongside his mother Aimée Potens, a…
Residence of Jean Baptiste Roudanez
Jean Baptiste Roudanez (1815-1895), a free man of color, served as publisher of L’Union, the South’s first black newspaper, and the New Orleans Tribune, America’s first black daily newspaper. Dr.…
Economy Hall
Soon after Union forces seized New Orleans from the Confederacy in 1862, calls for equality reverberated among free people of color. Hundreds assembled at frequent mass meetings and rallies at Economy…
Aimée Potens Residence
Aimée Potens was the mother of Louis Charles and Jean Baptiste Roudanez, the founder and publisher of L’Union, the South’s first black newspaper, and the New Orleans Tribune, America’s first black…
Election Intimidation in Carrollton 1858
Was an election for Mayor of Carrollton upheld even though voters were threatened and intimidated from voting? Yes, the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled in 1858, reversing District Judge Victor…
Dying Declaration of a Ten-Year-Old Carrollton Girl
Could the dying declaration of a 10-Year-old girl be admitted as evidence in a trial for murder? Yes, held the Louisiana Supreme Court, affirming the Jefferson Parish Second Judicial District Court…
Carrollton Courthouse
The Carrollton Court House, built more than 150 years ago, has a fascinating legal history. Carrollton was incorporated as a city on March 10, 1845. In 1852, the neighboring town of Lafayette,…
Joseph Tom v. The Slave Ernest
Could an enslaved child be seized and sold to pay for the expenses of raising him? No, the Louisiana Supreme Court (onced housed in Carrollton Courthouse) ruled in 1860, in a case originally decided…
The Cabildo: Home of the Louisiana Supreme Court, 1853-1910
Regarded as Louisiana’s most important historical building, the Cabildo is located at 701 Chartres Street, the corner of Chartres and St. Peter Streets. Viewed from Jackson Square across Chartres…
Former Home of Judge Francois-Xavier Martin
Judge Francois-Xavier Martin, a Louisiana Supreme Court judge for thirty-one years, from 1815 until his death in 1846, first acquired 915 Royal Street in 1818 for $7,500. At that time, a two-story…
The Myra Clark Gaines Cases: “The Most Remarkable in the Records of its Courts”
While located in the Cabildo, the Louisiana Supreme Court decided several cases in the Myra Clark Gaines litigation. Lasting for more than fifty years, the Myra Clark Gaines litigation is known as the…
Former Home the Morphys: a Louisiana Supreme Court Judge and his World Chess Champion Son
Directly across the street from the Louisiana Supreme Court building is 417 Royal Street, best known as the former home of Brennan’s Restaurant. In the mid-1800s, this building was the residence of…
Government House: First Louisiana Supreme Court Location, 1813-1818
Government House, where the Louisiana Supreme Court met for approximately five years from March 1, 1813 until 1818, was located on the northeast corner of Levee (now Decatur) and Toulouse…
Batture Cases
The Louisiana Supreme Court decided one of the famous “Batture Cases” while located in the Government House. In Morgan v. Livingston, the Louisiana Supreme Court held that the owner of “rural” land…
The Presbytère: Home of the Louisiana Supreme Court, 1822-1853
The Presbytère, originally named the Casa Curial (Ecclesiastical House), was designed to be the presbytery, or residence, of the priests serving St. Louis Cathedral next door. Located at 751 Chartres…
The Final Will of Presiding Judge Francois-Xavier Martin
In June 1847, the Louisiana Supreme Court upheld the olographic, or hand written, will of its deceased member Presiding Judge Francois-Xavier Martin, who served on the Court for 31 years until March…
Civil Defense Control Center
In the decade following World War II, the United States formulated a Civil Defense initiative that would attempt to preserve order during a nuclear attack.
In 1950, the Louisiana Legislature…
Dryades Streetcar Line: Urban Transit above St. Charles Avenue
The Dryades Streetcar line opened in 1866 to serve the areas above St. Charles Avenue. Known as the "Banlieu" (outskirts), this area was an economic center even before the Civil War. The Dryades…
Clio Streetcar in the Early 1900s
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…
Spanish Fort at Bayou St. John
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…