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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.
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…
Dryades Streetcar Maims Child in the 1920s
In an era when urban planners tout streetcars as engines of urban redevelopment, it is good to remember how dangerous these urban railroads could be.
In the oral history below, the late journalist…
Dueling Oak
Many myths are associated with the "Dueling Oaks." An 1892 Times-Democrat article noted that "Blood has been shed under the old cathedral aisles of nature. Between 1834 and 1844 scarcely a day passed…
Duncan Plaza
This past July, if you happened to be downtown near the Superdome and New Orleans City Hall, you might have seen something unexpected: in the public park known as Duncan Plaza, there were students…
Duties of the Wedell-Williams Air Service
The Wedell-Williams Air Service sold and distributed planes, taught the next generation of pilots and mechanics, and transported passengers.
To sell planes, the air service received informational…
Duties of the Wedell-Williams Air Service, Patterson
The air service at Patterson performed transportation and maintenance services and built the racing planes which brought fame to Wedell-Williams.
The Air Service’s routes usually started and…
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…
Early Ferry Service across the Mississippi River
Since the founding of New Orleans in 1718, the Mississippi River proved crucial in the city's development as a colonial French and Spanish port. Crossing the river was essential from the outset. The…
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…
Edgar Joseph Edmunds: Teacher Defies New Orleans's Racial Segregation of Schools in 1875
Edgar Joseph Edmunds was born January 26, 1851, in New Orleans to Edgar and Rose Euphemie Foy Edmunds, free people of color. Edmunds graduated fifth among a class of over 200 students at the…
Election Controversy and the Rise of the White League
The Battle of Liberty Place, which took place on September 14, 1874, exemplified the hostility that existed in Reconstruction-era New Orleans between the old social order on one side and so-called…
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…
Emma Barrett: Jazz Pianist and Vocalist 1897-1983
Emma Barrett, a self-taught jazz pianist and vocalist, was born on March 25, 1897, and began performing in venues across New Orleans at just twelve years old. [1] Despite being unable to read music,…
End of the Wedell-Williams Air Service
The Air Service hit its height in 1933 and 1934, but it experienced a period of decline partially due to the construction of the Shushan Airport in November 1933. The air service took a bigger hit…
End of the Wedell-Williams Air Service, Patterson
Jimmie Wedell would never enter the MacRobertson Race from England to Australia. The Gypsy Moth in which he was giving a lesson crashed just outside of Patterson on June 24, 1934. Wedell died…
Enslaved Bakers and the Foreign French: D’Aquin, Bouny, and Poincy Bakeries
Before the Civil War, enslaved labor was an integral part of the commercial baking industry and the overall economy in New Orleans. While food historians note the role that French, Spanish, and Anglo…
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…
Evariste Blanc House
Evariste Blanc built the mansion you see before you around 1834. According to city directories, Evariste Blanc was a hardware merchant, ship chandler, and lime merchant. By 1834 Blanc also had a…
Exchange Alley at Canal Street
This block on Canal street was the hangout spot for non-union white jazz musicians and the site where the Original Dixieland Jazz Band was discovered in 1915.
Famous Oaks
City Park is known for having one of the largest collections of mature live oaks in the world. The oldest is rumored to be up to 800 years old, although most sources claim the oak's age is closer to…
Farewell to the Honorable Marcus Garvey
Paper Monument Poster #023: Remembering Marcus Garvey's deportation and commemorates the New Orleans members of the United Negro Improvement Association who stood on the shores of Mississippi to bid…
Faulkner's House
William Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi in 1897, and frequently used his familiar Southern surroundings as the setting for many of his works. Faulkner was an American novelist and poet…
Federal Staff Housing, Site Utilities, The National Leprosarium
The State of Louisiana ran this 450 acre site as the Louisiana Leper Home from 1894 to 1921. In 1921, the Federal Government purchased the site for $35,000; the patient census was about 300. The…