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The Great Poor Boy Debate
Cartoonist and artist Bunny Matthews, radio personality and food writer Tom Fitzmorris, and Vance Vaucresson of Vaucresson's Sausage Company engage in a lively debate regarding the proper way to order…
Benjamin Franklin Senior High School: Dedication Ceremony
Benjamin Franklin Senior High School was dedicated on November 10, 1957. The dedication was sponsored by the Orleans Parish School Board, and it included the formal presentation of the building by a…
Benjamin Franklin Senior High School: Student Life
The school opened in September 1957 with 103 students at the Sophomore level. Junior and Senior levels were added in subsequent years. The high school was created to provide college preparatory…
Arbor Day at McDonogh No. 23
From the late 1800s through to the mid-1900s, the old Carrrollton Courthouse served as the site of McDonogh 23 public school. On February 10, 1889, McDonogh 23 became the first school in Louisiana to…
Oak Street & Jefferson Gambling
Hank Staples of the Maple Leaf Bar discusses illicit gambling that took place along Oak Street prior to the 1960s.
Maps of Historic Gaming Dens
Clubs often changed owners, locations and names, but the general area and primary circle of families involved with the clubs remained largely consistent. While the gaming activity was illegal, it was…
"Tolerating" Gambling
The state of illicit gambling in New Orleans was summed up well in the 1938 WPA New Orleans City Guide, "although gambling is, strictly speaking, illegal, these places are usually open for business…
Gambling in the "Free State of Jefferson"
Oral history interview with Buddy Adams about gambling in Jefferson.
Gambling Club Owner “Birthday” Cakes
Al Kleindienst explained that he met a Dakin Street club owner because the owner would frequent the Kleindienst bakery. Al asked the man why he was always buying so many birthday cakes, and the owner…
Gaming Chips
Every club would produce their own gaming and roulette chips, marked with their names or an identifiable symbol. Since the closing of the clubs, these have become collector's item.
Club Forest
According to Al Kleindienst, after a fire in 1942 destroyed George and Rudy O'Dwyer's Original Southport Club, they "moved to the Club Forest at 407 Jefferson Highway and called it O'Dwyer's Club…
O'Dwyer's Club
According to Al Kleindienst, a long-time resident of the Greater New Orleans Area, the O'Dwyer family opened a gambling club at 100 Jefferson Highway in 1949 called "O'Dwyer's." The O'Dwyer brothers…
Southport Gambling Club
Southport was one of the most infamous clubs in the area. It was owned by Carlos Marcello and is now a music venue called Southport Hall. It moved and changed names several times.
According to Al…
John McDonogh Monument
There are multiple statues erected to John McDonogh in New Orleans. The monument featured on this page is located in Lafayette Square. In June 2020, protestors removed another statue of McDonogh…
Mater Dolorosa School
Originally located on the corner of Cambronne and Freret Streets, Mater Dolorosa School was founded in 1872 in order to provide quality education to the children of the Mater Dolorosa congregation.…
Krewe of Carrollton
In 1924, Oak Street merchants formed the Seventh District Carnival Club, which became the Krewe of Carrollton. The krewe’s original parade route was around the Carrollton neighborhood, centering upon…
Horse Racing on Sundays at the Eclipse Course
Captain Yelverton N. Oliver of Virginia, who “cast the seed of enterprise upon the rich alluvial soil of Louisiana,” rejuvenated the languishing sport of thoroughbred racing in New Orleans by…
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…
Margaret Haughery: "Friend of the Orphans"
Nineteenth-century New Orleanians knew Margaret (nee Gaffney) Haughery by several endearing names including the "Bread Woman," "Friend of the Orphans," "Mother of the Orphans," "Our Margaret," and…
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,…
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…
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…
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…