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Carrollton's First Ferry
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…
Po-Boy Sandwich
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…
1892 General Strike
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…
WWII Conductorettes and Motorettes
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…
1929 Streetcar Strike
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.…
Dorothy Mae Taylor
Paper Monument Project #007: Dorothy Mae Taylor was the first Black woman elected to Louisiana State Legislature, celebrated for her tireless work to end discrimination by Mardi Gras krewes.
George Herriman Birthplace and Family Home
The house where George Herriman was born no longer stands; in its place is a gate leading into a school parking lot. But it was here that, on August 22, 1880, George Joseph Herriman was born into a…
The Herrimans and St. Augustine Catholic Church
The Herrimans were devoutly Catholic. They attended Masses and celebrated sacraments at numerous churches surrounding their neighborhood. Yet the historic St. Augustine Church was their “home” church.…
St. Louis Cathedral aka Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Louis King of France and the Herriman Family
The first historical record of George Herriman Sr. — the cartoonist George Herriman’s grandfather — is the New Orleans Archdiocese’s confirmation records for St. Louis Cathedral on March 1, 1836. …
Joseph Lavigne Store
Devout Catholics and energetic members of a radical integrated Masonic lodge, the Herrimans also were regular participants in a remarkable series of seances that were led by their friend, neighbor,…
Herriman & Chessé Tailor Shop
George Joseph Herriman’s grandfather had been working as a tailor since at least 1847, when he was twenty-seven years old, and he had been in business with his half-brother Alexander Laurent Chessé…
Chessé Family Home
There are three buildings still standing in New Orleans where it is most likely young George Herriman spent his childhood days: St. Augustine Church, the site of the Herriman & Chessé tailor shop,…
New Orleans Tribune Office and the Herriman Family
This peach-colored commercial building is a landmark of both journalism and the struggle for civil rights in 19th Century New Orleans. Here were the original offices of the New Orleans Tribune, first…
St. Mary’s Catholic Church and the Herriman Family
On September 4, 1846 — just one year after the New Orleans Archdiocese constructed this church adjacent to the Old Ursuline Convent — George Herriman Sr. and Louisa Eckel arrived here to be married by…
Stephen Herriman House
Here — near the corner of Royal Street and Esplanade Avenue — a white riverboat captain named Stephen Herriman, originally from Long Island, made his home from 1843 until his death in 1854.…
Café du Monde: Coffee in George Herriman’s Krazy Kat Comics
There is no way of knowing if young George Herriman ever accompanied his parents to the historic Café du Monde Coffee Stand, which was established in the New Orleans French Market in 1862, eighteen…
Fraternité No. 20 Masonic Lodge
At the former intersection of Exchange Alley and St. Louis Street — now a parking gate for the Louisiana Supreme Court — once stood the meeting place for Fraternité No. 20, a racially integrated…
Our Lady of Sacred Heart Church and the Herriman Family
Now an empty lot and the site of two pop-up restaurants, this corner was once the location of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart church. It was here, on Sunday, October 17, that the cartoonist George Joseph…
Enter the World of the World's Fair: 1884 Cotton Centennial Exposition
From December 16, 1884 until June 1, 1885, the spectacular World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition covered these grounds with gigantic wooden structures and broad, lighted paths. Too…
From the Water's Edge: The 1884 Cotton Centennial Exposition
In the eighteenth century, working sugar plantations existed on this land. They faced the Mississippi River, which is straight ahead about a half mile. Pierre Foucher planted long alleys of live oak…
Stroll the Path to Prytania Street: The 1884 Cotton Centennial Exposition
Take a few moments here to enjoy the activity in the park and the beauty of the entrance. As you face the entrance again, Tulane and Loyola universities are across the street and were also originally…
Former Entrance to the 1884 Cotton Centennial Exhibition on Prytania
Cross over to the path along the side of the park that is Exposition Boulevard. Walk along and admire the houses on your way to Prytania Street, the main entrance to the fair in 1884.
In…
Memories of the 1884 Cotton Centennial Exposition
Imagine yourself in a mule-drawn streetcar or private carriage being transported to Exposition grounds. Hear the hooves on a shell road constructed for the occasion. You arrive at this Main Entrance.…
Government and States Building and Exhibits at the 1884 Cotton Centennial Exposition
To the right of where you sit was the Government and States Building, still partially under construction when the exposition opened. By January and February, 1885, however, most exhibits were in…