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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…
State Cycling Championship of 1891 at the Fair Grounds
In the late nineteenth century, bicycles appeared on city streets, country roads, and race tracks. Cycle racing in New Orleans rose with a tide of interest in sports—recreational and spectator—among…
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…
Taking the Elysian Fields Bus to UNO in 1958
Begin this tour by climbing aboard the 55 Elysian Fields bus, just as many black students did on their first day of classes in September 1958. The bus runs from Canal Street, through the French…
Integrating UNO: Legal and Political Actions
Ironically, for Joseph Narcisse (one of the 55 black students to first integrate LSUNO in1958) becoming part of history started right after his graduation from St. Augustine High School, when he…
St. Augustine Catholic Church
Founded in 1841 by free people of color, St. Augustine is the oldest African-American parish in the United States. Civil Rights activists Homer Plessy and A.P. Tureaud were parishioners of St.…
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,…
Gwen Bristow: Best Selling Author 1903-1980
Gwen Bristow, though not originally from New Orleans, was a great contributor to both Southern literature and the Times-Picayune newspaper. She helped mold the face of Southern writing into what it is…
Valena Cecelia MacArthur Jones: New Orleans Educator 1872-1917
Valena Cecelia MacArthur Jones is a notable Louisiana educator. Born in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi in 1872, MacArthur Jones moved to New Orleans to attend Straight College is 1892. [1] Straight…
1984 World's Fair Gondola (MART)
The signature attraction of the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition held in New Orleans was MART (Mississippi Aerial River Transit), a $12 million aerial gondola transport system that connected the fair…
Carnival on Wheels 1887
On the evening of February 23, 1887, a crowd lined St. Charles Avenue to witness a procession of lanterns floating like a swarm of fireflies through the darkened street. First came the bandwagon,…
Courting 1910's Film Industry: New Orleans Association of Commerce
The New Orleans Association of Commerce was an organization dedicated to stimulating New Orleans-based industries, the organization increasingly saw film as part of their public relations strategies…
Diamond Film Company Studios
The Diamond Film Studios was to be the primary production site for the Diamond Film Company, one of the first homegrown film companies in New Orleans. The founding of the company was linked to an…
Filming Location: The Belle of New Orleans
The Old Jockey Club of New Orleans was a primary filming location of the 1912 silent film "The Belle of New Orleans." The film was created and produced entirely in New Orleans by the Kalem Film…
Projectionist Strike of 1914
Projectionists played a key role in early movie theaters. Despite its central function, the job was not without occupational hazards.
Circle Food Store
Originally the St. Bernard Market founded in 1854, Circle Food Store was a community gathering space which housed a grocery store, bakery, pharmacy, uniform shop, dentist, chiropractor, bill payment…
Creating Shushan Airport
All of the land now occupied by the Lakefront Airport was once marshland home to numerous fishing camps. In 1922, Abraham Shushan, President of the Board of Commissioners of the Orleans Levee…
The Buildings of Shushan Airport
You are currently standing in front of the Lindbergh/Williams hangar. This hangar, the administration building behind you, and the Moffett hangar across the driveway were the airport’s original three…
The 1934 Pan-American Air Races
On February 9, 1934, the first Mardi Gras after Prohibition was repealed, hundreds of people crowded around the airport to see the Pan-American Air Races. Abraham Shushan, the Henderson brothers (air…
A Thing of Beauty: Shushan Airport's Administration Building
The art deco administration building epitomized a fine combination of form and function. Not simply a place for travelers to wait for their flights, the airport allowed white New Orleanians to relax…
The Works Progress Administration Renovations and the Fall of Abe Shushan
In 1936, a $250,000 Works Progress Administration beautification project took place at the airport and included extensive landscaping, paving roads and runways, and this fountain. Enrique Alférez…
Huey P. Long Bridge: The Kingfish and Public Works Projects in Louisiana
The Huey P. Long Bridge spans the Mississippi River in Jefferson Parish, a few miles upstream of New Orleans itself, and features a central 4.4-mile rail track. At the time of its construction, the…
New Orleans Lakefront Airport: The End of an Era
In the 1930s Shushan Airport was one of the most advanced airports in the country. During the airport's heyday, the Orleans Levee Board extended the airports' runways numerous times to accommodate the…