History

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Up From the Ashes: Rebuilding the Cabildo

Fire is the mortal enemy of the city’s oldest neighborhood, but in the case of the 1988 Cabildo inferno, dedicated preservationists prevailed in the end. Originally published October 2019 in The French Quarter Journal. “I thought it was a joke when they called me.” Robert Cangelosi was in his office at the architectural firm Koch & Wilson when he received a phone call. It was May 12, 1988. And the Cabildo was engulfed in flames. “They called me, and I...

A newly installed plaque in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 marks the area where Suzanne Douvillier was reputedly buried. (Photo courtesy French Quarter Journal)

Danseuse du Roi: The Life of Suzanne Vaillandé Douvillier

Originally published in the French Quarter Journal, February 7, 2020. A mysterious dancer in the early 1800s mesmerized crowds and caused consternation by cross-dressing and challenging social norms. She led a life both romantic and tragic, the stuff of which epics are written. Yet, little is known about her birth and upbringing. In the ballet halls of 18th-century Paris, she was declared a child prodigy. Later, she became America’s first female choreographer, and among the first to perform a full...

The Last Forgeron

Originally published by Cultured Oak Press, June 17, 2018. Who created the wonderfully detailed iron balconies in New Orleans? In 1920, the last in a line of French Quarter forgerons put down his hammer. M. Charles Antoine Mangin, Jr., a Creole and fifth-generation iron monger, decided to retire because he could no longer find workers interested in learning this art. Each piece that came from his shop was unique and original. On June 6 that year, Times Picayune reporter Marguerite...

That Heathen Crowd at the Green Shutter

Originally published in the French Quarter Journal, July 30, 2019. In the Roaring 20s, feisty Uptown socialite Martha Westfeldt opens a French Quarter bookstore that becomes Bohemia Central. From time to time, a shop opens in the French Quarter that becomes a nexus for creative minds. The shop is sometimes a restaurant or a gallery or book store that brings together New Orleanians of diverse talent. But it is always driven by an original and congenial personality. During Prohibition, one...