City of a Million Dreams: A History of New Orleans at Year 300

424 Pages·2018·7.5 MB·English

by  Jason Berry

City of a
Million
Dreams
Works by Jason berry
Render unto Rome: The Secret Life of Money in the Catholic Church
Earl Long in Purgatory (Stage Play)
Last of the Red Hot Poppas (Novel)
Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II
(With Gerald Renner)
Louisiana Faces: Images of a Renaissance
(With photographs by Philip Gould)
The Spirit of Black Hawk: A Mystery of Africans and Indians
Lead Us Not into Temptation: Catholic Priests and the Sexual Abuse of Children
Up from the Cradle of Jazz: New Orleans Music since World War II
(With Jonathan Foose and Tad Jones)
Amazing Grace: With Charles Evers in Mississippi
JASON BERRY
City of a
Million
Dreams
A History of New Orleans
300
at Year
The UniversiTy of norTh Carolina Press
Chapel Hill
© 2018 Jason Berry
All rights reserved
Designed by Kimberly Bryant
Set in Miller and Desire Pro by Tseng Information
Systems, Inc.
Manufactured in the United States of America
The University of North Carolina Press has been a
member of the Green Press Initiative since 2003.
Jacket illustrations: Front, “Creole Dancer” (NOL04),
© Herman Leonard Photography, LLC; back, Louis
Armstrong and Leon René, author’s collection, gift of
the late Leon René.
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Berry, Jason, author.
Title: City of a million dreams : a history of
New Orleans at year 300 / Jason Berry.
Description: Chapel Hill : The University of North
Carolina Press, [2018] | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: lCCn 2018020837 | isbn 9781469647142
(cloth : alk. paper) | isbn 9781469647159 (ebook)
Subjects: lCsh: New Orleans (La.)—History.
Classification: lCC f379.n557 b47 2018 |
DDC 976.3/35—dc23 lC record available at
https://lccn.loc.gov/2018020837
For Melanie McKay, my wife and soul mate,
with love and gratitude.
And in memory of
Kenny M. Charbonnet: paterfamilias, attorney,
godfather of my youngest.
Jeff Gillenkirk, “Lefty”: author, social critic.
Hoya Saxa.
The past is not decent
or orderly, it is made up
and devious.
The man was correct
when he said it’s not
even past.
—roberT Pinsky, “GUlf MUsiC”
ConTenTs
Prologue: In the Hum of a B- flat City 1
1 Bienville: Journey into the Interior 6
2 St. Maló in the Memory Rings 27
3 The Great Fire and Procession for Carlos III 46
4 City of Migrants 61
5 Claiborne: A City Embattled 78
6 Pirates, Black Soldiers, and the War under Jackson 97
7 The Builder and the Priest 115
8 The Burial Master: Times of Yellow Fever and War 143
9 The Time of Jazz 166
10 Sicilians in the Meld 184
11 Mother Catherine and the Lower Ninth Ward 205
12 Sister Gertrude Morgan: Running for the City 235
13 The Last Days of Danny Barker 257
14 Dr. Michael White and the Widow’s Wail 279
15 After the Flood 298
Acknowledgments 327
Notes 333
Index 391
Galleries of illustrations begin on pages 127 and 219.
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City of a
Million
Dreams