Established in 1883, the Olympic Club catered to a variety of pursuits from target shooting to billiards to boxing--the most popular sport in New Orleans, despite legal prohibitions. A revised city ordinance and a vague state statute permitting boxing sponsored by chartered athletic clubs were frequently tested at the Olympic, the epicenter of boxing in America. Between 1890 and 1894, the club's 10,000-seat arena hosted six world championship and seven national or regional title bouts. The 1892 Fistic Carnival featured three world title fights on three consecutive days, culminating in the World Heavyweight Championship between John L. Sullivan and James J. Corbett.

Documents the ruin waiting for almost all those ill-advised enough to become professional boxers. The author confirms the legends, of crime, of swindling, of the miserable economic rewards allotted to the vast majority of fighters, and the traditional racism of the American ring.

During the nineteenth century, New Orleans won and stoutly defended a reputation for amusement and dissipation that made it distinct among American cities. Exquisite cuisine, theaters, casinos, and private clubs attracted the affluent, while gambling dens, saloons, public ballrooms, cockfights, and ten-pin alleys drew the masses. In the antebellum period, organized sports were added to the numerous diversions already available. This book, on a neglected aspect of American social life, treats an important facet of Louisiana history and shows how the growth of cities contributed to the emergence of a leisure ethic. Professor Somers explains the reasons for the rapidly growing interest in sports, their impact on the city�s social and economic life, and their effect upon race relations and the emancipation of women. In the space of some fifty years sports, moved from a minor to a major role in the city�s play habits. By the turn of the century, sports played an unprecedented part in the daily lives of New Orleanians and thousands of other Americans.

Lists news events, population figures, and miscellaneous data of an historic, economic, scientific and social nature.

In the 1800s, New Orleans' local economy evolved from rural-agrarian into urban-industrial. With this transformation came newfound leisure time, which birthed the concept of organized sport. Though first considered a game for children, baseball became New Orleans' most popular pastime, and by 1859, numerous baseball clubs had been established in the city. This book traces the development of baseball in New Orleans from its earliest recorded games in 1859 through the end of the 19th century, with a particular focus on the New Orleans Pelicans.