The ways in which city leaders of early 1900s New Orleans tamed nature are described in a richly illustrated history that also recounts what the city's inhabitants were wearing and driving, where they were living, and how they whiled away idle time.

Explores criminal activities in New Orleans during the Roaring Twenties.

New Orleans in the Thirties offers a nostalgic view of life in New Orleans half a century ago through photographs and reminiscences. It was a time when Robert Maestri was mayor, the St. Charles streetcar made a complete loop, and the Pelicans won the Dixie Series in baseball. Moreover, it was a time when doctors made house calls and women donned gloves to go shopping. Fascinating period photographs accompany intimate and loving descriptions of the Crescent City of the thirties, capturing the mood and magic of that decade. This volume brings to life the New Orleans of the past and allows the reader to discover-or rediscover-the character of that time and place. The author's recollections will appeal to non-New Orleanians, that is, to anyone who grew up in America during the depression era. She recalls, for example, the leisurely pace of pre-television society in which radio held a powerfully unique role, as well as the headline fashions of the day and the cultural mores that now may seem quaint to many. Mary Lou Widmer, a native New Orleanian, is president of the South Louisiana Chapter of Romance Writers of America. She has written several articles for New Orleans publications, and is the author of Night Jasmine, Beautiful Crescent, and Lace Curtain . Widmer is also the author of New Orleans in the Twenties, New Orleans in the Forties, and New Orleans in the Fifties, all published by Pelican.

In this, her fifth book in the series describing past decades in New Orleans' history, local author and historian Mary Lou Widmer offers readers unique glimpses into the turbulent and triumphal 1960s. The decade of the sixties was one that confounded America like no period before. It ushered in a time of social change and tension. In New Orleans, this period was visible in the city's skyline as the face of New Orleans began to change. Tourism became a major concern, construction on the Superdome began, some of the biggest buildings were built, and the Saints came marching in. Packed with photographs and reminiscences of an important decade in the evolution of this American metropolis, New Orleans in the Sixties is a unique accomplishment that will interest both residents and lovers of the Crescent City.

One July week in 1900 an obscure black laborer named Robert Charles drew national headlines when he shot twenty-seven whites—including seven policemen—in a series of encounters with the New Orleans police. An avid supporter of black emigration, Charles believed it foolish to rely on southern whites to uphold the law or to acknowledge even minimal human rights for blacks. He therefore systematically armed himself, manufacturing round after round of his own ammunition before undertaking his intentionally symbolic act of violent resistance. After the shootings, Charles became an instant hero among some blacks, but to most people he remained a mysterious and sinister figure who had promoted a “back-to-Africa” movement. Few knew anything about his early life. This biography of Charles follows him from childhood in a Mississippi sharecropper’s cabin to his violent death on New Orleans’s Saratoga Street. With the few clues available, William Ivy Hair has pieced together the story of a man whose life spanned the thirty-four years from emancipation to 1900—a man who tried to achieve dignity and self-respect in a time when people of his race could not exhibit such characteristics without fear of reprisal. Hair skillfully penetrates the world of Robert Charles, the communities in which he lived, and the daily lives of dozens of people, white and black, who were involved in his experience. A new foreword by W. Fitzhugh Brundage sets this unique and innovative biography in the context of its time and demonstrates its relevance today.

New Orleans in the 1920's is a city of many faces. The gaiety of Mardi Gras is juxtaposed with the rampant corruption that earned New Orleans the nickname "The City That Care Forgot." The genteel decline of the French Quarter, the location of the city's original settlement, stands in contrast to the rich opulence of the Garden District, where the Americans later built their mansions. Voodoo and Catholicism exist peacefully side by side. And beneath it all, the face of the Mythos can sometimes be glimpsed .... This guidebook includes detailed chapters on: the history of New Orleans, the French Quarter and the greater city, and the bayous and coastal area. A chapter on voodoo includes guidelines for integrating it into Call of Cthulhu. New occupations unique to the Crescent City and the area are suggested, and five secret societies are covered. A scenario designed to acquaint investigators with most of New Orleans' areas completes the book.