Shreveport Mobile Center Open Soon to Help Homeowners

Shreveport Mobile Center Open from Monday, April 16th to Saturday, April 21st

The Road Home Program will be Opening a Mobile Housing Assistance Center in Shreveport, Louisiana on Wednesday, April 4th. The center will be opened until Saturday, April 16th. There will be an Open House on Wednesday, April 4th from 6-9pm at the Shreveport Convention Center, 400 Caddo Street, Shreveport, LA 71101. All Louisiana homeowners are encouraged to come out to meet with the Road Home Staff and tour the facility and to schedule appointments to meet with a housing advisor. There will be staff present at the open house to answer questions about the program and to assist homeowners with the completion and/or filing of applications to The Road Home Program. Formore information visit www.road2LA. org or call 1-888-ROAD-2- LA.

"We are making every effort to reach all eligible homeowners and ensure that they can move through the system as quickly as possible,"said Michael Taylor, director of the Disaster Recovery Unit, Office ofCommunity Development. "It's vitally important that Louisiana homeowners who are living in the Atlanta area call the program to file their applications and make an appointment at the Atlanta center."

Louisiana residents currently residing in Shreveport or the Northwestern Louisiana area who have applied to the program, but have not yet scheduled their appointments may do so by calling1.888.ROAD.2. LA and choosing prompt #4. Homeowners who have made appointments at one of the Louisiana Center have the option to reschedule those appointments at the Shreveport location by also calling that number.

New Orleans Spring Break '007!

Promo video for Campus Crusade for Christ's Spring Break trips to help rebuild New Orleans.

Further Information

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

March 17, 2007

Time to be putting on the green:

St. Patrick's Day is celebrated in New Orleans and its suburb in the form of another parade! It's the perfect season for another celebration ... after all, ....it's New Orleans, and we love to parade!

Our annual St. Patrick's Day Parades are considered another opportunity for family and friends to get together and enjoy a day outdoors. It seems as if the entire city is on the street with picnic baskets, umbrellas, and their recreational vehicles...enjoying one of the biggest street parties of the year! Men and women in walking groups from various clubs in the city dress in costumes of green give out flowers, beads, and kisses to lucky parade goers along the route.

Music adds to the festivities with bands and amplifiers in the parade, and walking groups dancing down the street...only stopping to award their beautiful beads and flowers to the lucky parade goers along the route.Floats and truck floats (those on flatbed trailors created by the riders themselves) respond to the call, "Throw me something, Mister!" Historically, the parade's most famous throws, are cabbages, carrots, onions...and moonpies! (You may even see a potato or two in the air!)

Spring arrives in New Orleans with colorful blooms and St. Patrick's Day parades. The Iron Chef reopens Stella! Restaurant and the Historic New Orleans Collection adds a new exhibit, from 2006.

Cajun And Creole Style Corn Relish

Ingredients

2 quarts fresh corn kernels
1 large cabbage, chopped
7 cups chopped celery
4 fresh green cayenne peppers, seeded and chopped (optional)
4 fresh red cayenne peppers, seeded and chopped (optional)
6-1/2 cups chopped red bell peppers
6-1/2 cups chopped green bell peppers
1/2 cup salt1 (2-ounce) box of dry mustard
2 pounds sugar
1/2 tablespoon turmeric
2 quarts while distilled vinegar
2 tablespoons cornstarch

Steps

Combine all of the ingredients in a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat and mix well. Bring to a boil, and cook for one hour, stirring often. Pack in hot sterilized pint-size canning jars, leaving a one-fourth inch space at the top of each jar. Wipe the jar rims with a clean, damp cloth, fit them with hot lids, and tightly screw on the metal rings. Process in a bath of boiling water for 10 minutes (the water should cover the jars by about one inch), cool on a wire rack, then store in a cool, dark place.

Makes about 7 pints.

La. governor outraged over faulty pumps

March 14, 2007

“In the pump industry you can either lead, follow, or get out of the way.” MWI

*By CAIN BURDEAU

NEW ORLEANS -Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco lashed out at the Army Corps of Engineers on Wednesday for installing defective pumps at three major drainage canals just before the start of last summer's hurricane season.

"This could put a lot of our people in jeopardy," Blanco said. "It begs the question: Are we really safe?"

She called for a congressional investigation into how the Corps allowed it to happen.

Citing internal documents, The Associated Press reported Tuesday that the Corps installed the 34 pumps last year in a rush to fix the city's flood defenses, despite warnings from one of its experts that the machinery was defective and likely to fail in a storm.

At the same time, the Corps, the White House and state officials were telling residents that it was safe to come back to New Orleans, which was devastated in August 2005 when Hurricane Katrina breached the city's floodwalls.

On Wednesday, Donald Powell, the administration's Gulf Coast hurricane recovery czar, said that he was never shown the memo, and that assurances he made that New Orleans was as safe as or safer than it was before Katrina were based on information he got from the Corps.

"We were asking the Corps to do the job as fast as possible to get the condition of the levee back to make it as safe as possible," Powell said. "That was the primary goal above all goals — safety in the region."

Because the 2006 hurricane season was mild, the new pumps were never put to the test.

The Corps and the politically connected manufacturer of the equipment, Moving Water Industries Corp. of Deerfield Beach, Fla., are still struggling to get the 34 pumps, designed and built under a $26.6 million contract, working properly.

The pumps have been plagued by excessive vibration, overheated engines, broken hoses and blown gaskets.

"You want to build confidence, but you have to tell it like it is," said Gwen Bierria, 65, who is rebuilding her home with her husband next to the London Avenue canal, one of two canals that were breached during Katrina and flooded vast sections of the city.

"It's like being pregnant, sooner or later it's going to show," she said. "And Katrina was a big-time show."

MWI is owned by J. David Eller and his sons. Eller was once a business partner of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in a venture called Bush-El that marketed MWI pumps. And Eller has donated about $128,000 to politicians, the vast majority of it to the Republican Party, since 1996, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

The U.S. Justice Department sued MWI in 2002, accusing it of fraudulently helping Nigeria obtain $74 million in taxpayer-backed loans for overpriced and unnecessary water-pump equipment. The case has yet to be resolved.

As for whether the city was as safe as the Corps claimed, Powell said: "We got through a hurricane season without a hurricane so we didn't have to answer that question."

But he said residents should not panic as the new hurricane season approaches. "The corps is working as fast it can to get the systems back up. The levee system is better than it has ever been," he said.

The Corps said it decided to press ahead with installation of the pumps because some pumping capacity was better than none.

The 34 pumps were installed in the drainage canals that take water from this bowl-shaped, below-sea-level city and deposit it in Lake Pontchartrain. They represented a new ring of protection that was added to New Orleans' flood defenses after Katrina. The city also relies on miles of levees and hundreds of other pumps in various locations.
___

*Pumps put in place by the Army Corps of Engineers pump water from New Orleans' 17th Street Canal to Lake Pontchartra in New Orleans, Saturday, March 10, 2007. One of the levees along the canal failed during Hurricane Katrina contributing heavily to the flooding of the city. The pumps and floodgate are designed to control the water level in the drainage canals during a storm event. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)

Basic Beignets

Ingredients

1 cup water
1 cup milk
1 large egg
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
Pinch of nutmeg
4 to 6 cups vegetable oil
Confectioners sugar

Steps

Combine the water, milk and egg in a large mixing bowl and mix well. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and the sugar and mix until the batter is smooth. Pour the oil into a large, deep pot or a deep fryer and heat to 360º F. Drop the batter by spoonfuls into the hot oil and fry, turning two or three times, until they are golden brown. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with confectioners sugar.

Makes about 2 dozen.

Straight From The Projects: 3rd Ward New Orleans

C-Murder's music is all about where he grew up in the Calliope Projects 3rd Ward (CP3), one of the toughest projects in New Orleans. This is the flip-side of the Big Easy...not Bourbon Street, not Mardi Gras, just the mean streets where poverty, drug abuse and violence are epidemic. See his neighborhood uncensored: gunfire breaking out...children toting guns in their waistbands...as well as warmth and love so vital to the neighborhood's survival and its hope for the future.

Part 1

The Ward touches the Mississippi River as its front. The down river boundary is Canal Street, below which is the city's 4th Ward. The upper boundary is Julia Street, originally to the New Basin Canal; the former canal route in this area is now I-10. For most of this route from the river back is the 2nd Ward; from Carrollton Avenue up it borders the 17th Ward.

The back boundary is City Park Avenue (formerly known as Bayou Metairie Road), across which is another portion of the 4th Ward.

Part 2

The 3rd Ward encompasses the majority of the Central Business District near the River. The Ward includes the city seat of government, both the old 19th century City Hall on Lafayette Square and the new City Hall Complex on Loyola Avenue. Further back from the Central Buiness District is the Tulane/Gravier neighborhood. At Tulane and Broad are the Courthouse and Orleans Parish Prison.

Continuing back, the Ward includes a large section of the Mid City neighborhood. The famous Calliope, Magnolia & Melpomene Projects are located in the 3rd Ward. The Calliope Projects are a center of the heroine trade on the street level, which is as big a problem in New Orleans as cocaine is in Miami.

Part 3

Celebrities From in the Third Ward

Rappers Master P, Silkk the Shocker, C-Murder, the Birdman AKA "Baby" Brian Williams, Juvenile, and Soulja Slim were all born in the Third Ward.

Part 4

Bush’s Legacy?

FEMA Evicts 58 Families

Remember when Bush promised to rebuild New Orleans, and help the victims of Hurricane Katrina? Now the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is evicting an entire trailer park full of people who were made homeless by Katrina. It’s been 18 months. And people are still living in “temporary” housing because so much of New Orleans is still uninhabitable.


Nicole Dumas of FEMA, left, talks with Carolyn Young about where she will live. Fifty-eight families at the Louisiana site were given 48 hours to move.

Courtesy of Appletree

Dump Cake Recipe

"This cake is just as easy as dumping ingredients in a pan."

2 Tbsp. margarine
1 can cherry pie filling or apple or blueberry
1 can crushed pineapple
1 box yellow cake mix
2 sticks melted margarine
1 c. each coconut and nuts

Melt 2 tablespoons margarine in 9 x 13-inch pan.

Dump cherry pie filling; dump pineapple over cherry filling; dump cake mix over pineapple; dump 2 sticks margarine over cake mix and dump desired amounts coconut and nuts on top.

Place, don't dump, in oven.

Bake in preheated 350 degrees oven for 35 or 40 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve alamode.

SERVINGS 24

Rising Water

World Premiere
by John Biguenet
March 14 - April 8, 2007



A couple awakens in the middle of the night to find their pitch-dark house filling with water. Clambering into their attic, cluttered with a lifetime of possessions that scratch open old wounds, they grapple not only with their terror at the rising water but also with the life they have lived together. When the water finally laps at the attic itself, they claw a hole in the roof to escape. But only one of them is slender enough to squeeze through. Caught between an attic of ghost stories and a rooftop that reveals a New Orleans utterly transformed into a sea of sunken houses, the man and woman struggle to keep the guttering flame of their love from being extinguished by a flood of secrets and feelings never before confessed as they wait for help to arrive.


Further information or Tickets

The Day the Music Died

This is the city that the Federal government abandoned, when the worse natural disaster happened in history; of the United States of America.

And they still do...

Mardi Gras 1941

A parade from 1941 in New Orleans.

A good sign, that the Carnival Spirit is felt deeply by a Krewe, Venus Carnival's first female parading Krewe, rolls it's first parade, in a driving downpour of rain.

To think, this was only a year before World War 2 broke out.

Saint Louis Cemetery No. 1

In 1788, New Orleans lost many citizens to an epidemic and a great fire. The existing St. Peter Street cemetery, established at the edge of the early city, but just within the ramparts was filled. Common belief that interring the dead among the living contributed to outbreaks of disease, the Cabildo, following Spanish Royal decree, ordered a new cemetery to be established outside the city limits. St. Louis Cemetery, now called St. Louis Cemetery Number 1, was established in 1789 to the north of the city, outside the ramparts in the area now bound by Basin, Conti, Tremé and St. Louis streets.

Saint Louis Cemetery No. 1 was listed on National Register of Historic Places in 1975. It just recently (March 2004) benefited from a big restoration project.

Saint Louis Cemetery is supposedly haunted by the ghosts of Marie Laveau, a Voodoo priestess, and her daughter, both are buried in this cemetery. Supposedly they return to life each St. John's Eve and lead their faithful voodoo practitioners in a wild ceremony/orgy. The area in front of her grave is filled with all sorts of gifts left by cemetery visitors - beads, herbs, bricks wrapped in foil, dried beans, bones, etc. Also, her tomb is covered in small x's or crosses...people draw them on the tomb for luck. It's also said that if you turn around three times, either clockwise or counter clockwise, in front of her tomb and then knock on it three times your wish will be granted.

It is also the most famous and dangerous cemetery in New Orleans, visit at your own rist or take a tour; but do not venture alone or at night.

Significant Inhabitants of St. Louis Cemetery No. 1

Saint Louis Cemetery No. 1 is a microcosm of New Orleans history. The diversity and integration of the early city's population is as evident in death as it is in life. Some of its more famous inhabitants include:

1. Barbarin Family - One of the most significant New Orleans jazz dynasties. Tomb #218.

2. Etienne de Boré (1741-1820) - New Orleans' first mayor. He is credited with being the first person to successfully granulate sugar. His grandson, Charles Gayarré, a noted Louisiana historian, is also buried in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1. Tomb #224.

3. Blaize Cenas (1776-1812), Dr. Augustus Cenas (1809-1878) - Blaize Cenas was the first Postmaster General of the New Orleans. Tomb #108.

4. Eliza Lewis Claiborne (1784-1804) - First wife of William C.C. Claiborne, the first American Governor of Louisiana. Also entombed here are her son and her brother, Micajah Green Lewis, who died in a duel defending the honor of his brother-in-law, the governor. Tomb #640.

5. Clarice Durlade Claiborne (1788-1809) - The second wife of William C.C. Claiborne, Governor of the territory of New Orleans. Tomb #589.

6. Daniel Clark (?-1812), Myra Clark Gaines (1810-1887) - Daniel Clark was the American Consul when Spain ruled New Orleans, and later the Territorial Delegate to Congress. Myra Clark Gaines, his illegitimate daughter, gained notoriety due a court case regarding her claim to Clark's large land tracts after his death, resulting in expensive litigation which lasted over 65 years. Tomb #590.

7. Pierre Derbigny (?-1829) - A noted jurist who, along with Louis Moreau-Lislet, drew up the Civil Code of Louisiana. He was Governor of the state from 1828 until his death in 1829. Tomb #476.

8. Colonel Michael Fortier (1750-1819) - Royal armourer and soldier. Fortier fought with the Spanish under Galvez, aiding in the capture of Manchac and Baton Rouge, LA, from the British. He later became a member of the first New Orleans city council. Tomb #81.

9. Grima Family - A prominent family descending from Albert Xavier Grima who emigrated from Malta in 1780. Descendants include a notary, a lawyer, a judge, an ophthalmologist, and a writer. Tomb #72.

10. Benjamin Latrobe (1764-1820) - Founder of the architectural profession in the United States. He was buried in the Protestant section, but only a plaque stands in his memory, as his remains may have been lost when graves were moved. Location unknown.

11. Marie Laveau (1794-1881) - Well known Voodoo Queen. Her remains are reputed to be interred in the Glapion family tomb, although there is no solid proof. Tomb #347.

12. Louis Moreau-Lislet (1767-1832) - Co-author of the Louisiana Civil Codes of 1808 and 1825. Tomb #105.

13. Bernard de Marigny (1788-1871) - Wealthy French landowner who participated in early Louisiana government. He lost most of his wealth through gambling. He is credited with introducing the game of craps to the United States. Tomb #606.

14. Dr. Joseph Montegut (1735-1819); Edward Montegut (1806-1880) - Dr. Joseph Montegut was a leading physician and surgeon in Charity Hospital and proponent for the establishment of St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 outside the city. His grandson, Edward, was mayor of New Orleans from 1844-1846. Tomb #144.

15. Ernest "Dutch" Morial (1929-1989) - New Orleans' first African-American Mayor. Tomb #2003 is a new tomb, which replaced an earlier family tomb.

16. Paul Morphy (1837-1884) - World famous chess champion. Tomb #366.

17. Homer Plessy (1862-1925) - Plaintiff in the landmark 1896 Supreme Court case, Plessy vs. Ferguson, which declared separate as being equal. This was overturned by another landmark case, Brown vs. the Board of Education in 1954. Tomb #619.

18. Carlos Trudeau (?-1816) - Surveyor General of Louisiana and a leading French and Spanish Colonial surveyor. Tomb #54.

19. Numerous veterans of all the wars fought by residents of the area.

Laularie House the Most Haunted House in the French Quarter

"There were holes in skulls, where a rough stick had been inserted to stir the brains. Some of the poor creatures were dead, some were unconscious; and a few were still breathing, suffering agonies beyond any power to describe."

"The man who smashed the garret door saw powerful male slaves, stark naked, chained to the wall, their eyes gouged out, their fingernails pulled off by the roots; others had their joints skinned and festering, great holes in their buttocks where the flesh had been sliced away, their ears hanging by shreds, their lips sewed together, their tongues drawn out and sewed to their chins, severed hands stitched to bellies, legs pulled joint from joint.

Excerpt from Ghost Stories of Old New Orleans by Jeanne deLavigne, pub 1946"The Haunted House of the Rue Royale" pp.248-258

Introduction

She was born Marie Delphine, daughter of Louis Barthelemy Chevalier de Maccarthy. She was first married on June 11, 1800 to Don Ramon de Lopez y Angulo. When he died on March 26, 1804 in Havana, Cuba, she married Jean Blanque in 1808, who died in 1816. From there she married Dr. Lalaurie on June 12, 1825.

History

1831 - Madame Delphine Lalaurie and husband Dr. Louis Lalaurie buy the house at 1140 Royal St. from Edmond Soniat du Fossat. Delphine Lalaurie rises to a position of social prominence.

1833- Rumors grow about Madame Lalaurie's cruelty to her slaves. She is seen cowhiding the child of a slave when the young girl breaks away and runs onto the balcony. Madame Lalaurie chases the child - who falls and is killed instantly. Madame Lalaurie has her secretly buried at night in an old well in the rear courtyard of the house.

1833 -- After the death of the young slave girl, Madame Lalaurie was fined and all of her slaves were taken from her and sold at auction. She convinced relatives to buy the slaves at auction and return them to her.

April 1834 - A fire breaks out at the house. Rescuers discover tortured, tormented slaves locked and chained in rooms in the attic. More than a dozen slaves are found - some chained to a wall and in a horrible state. Some were strapped to crudely fashioned operating tables while others were confined in cages made for dogs. Human body parts were scattered around the attic. Some firefighters are said to have fainted at the sight.

The entire neighborhood gathers and storms the house. Madame Lalaurie escapes by carriage just ahead of the mob and takes a schooner from St. John's Bayou to St. Tammany Parish. She is said to have gone to Paris but her whereabouts remain unknown. Rumors persist that she lived on the Northshore until her death.

1837 - 1865 -The house is rebuilt and strange stories begin about ghostly sightings, unusual noises, and flickering lights in the upstairs windows. The next owner only lives in it for 3 months. The house is rented out; a furniture store occupies the basement for a short time. The house is a barbershop for a few months. No tenant or business stays too long. It is rumored that there is a curse on the location and that nothing will last long there.

1842 - Delphine Lalaurie dies and her body is said to have been buried in New Orleans at an undisclosed location.

1860 to 1865 the Civil War rages through the country.

1865 - During Reconstruction, house becomes a girl's public high school, open to both white and black children.

1878 - New Orleans school system is segregated. School becomes high school for black girls only. Lasts for one year.

1882 - House becomes conservatory of music and dancing school. Dismal failure when rumor spreads about owner of school and no one attends planned soiree and concert. Owner closes school next day. That night, it is rumored that the spirits of the Lalaurie house held a wild carnival to celebrate their triumph.

1889 - An apartment in the house occupied by Joseph Edouard Vigne for a little more than 3 years. He was thought to be a pauper.

1892 - Vigne found dead upstairs - after black crepe seen on the doors. An inspection of his apartment reveals over $10,000 in cash and family heirlooms stashed in various places around the dwelling. Contents of house auctioned off.

1920 - House is tenement by this time - many reports of ghosts. "There were no other families living here and one night, on the third floor, I saw a man walking carrying his head on his arm," reports one resident.

1923 - House sold to William Warrington who established the Warrington House, a refuge for young delinquents.

1932 - House sold to The Grand Consistory of Louisiana (a consistory is the organization that confers the degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry). The Consistory sold the house in 1942.

The house would become a bar and then a furniture store. The saloon, taking advantage of the building's ghastly history was called "Haunted Saloon". The owner knew many of the building's ghost stories and kept a record of strange things experienced by his patrons. The furniture store did not do as well at that location. The owner first suspected vandals when all of his merchandise was ruined several times, covered with a foul liquid filth. The owner waited one night with a shotgun, hoping to catch the vandals in the act. When dawn came, the furniture was once again ruined. He closed the place down shortly thereafter.

1941 - A grave marker plate for the tomb of Delphine Lalaurie is found in St. Louis Cemetery #1, Alley 4. But the plate is not attached to any specific tomb so the exact location of her crypt remains a mystery.

1969 to the present -- The house was divided into approximately 20 apartments before it is purchased by its current owner, a retired New Orleans physician. He has restored the home to its original state with a living area in the front portion and five apartments to the rear of the building. He has had no paranormal experiences since moving into the house.

New Orleans Present State

A 2 minute documentary, showing the devastation still affecting the city of New Orleans and why it should matter to everybody in the United States.

Filmed about February 21, 2007.

Hexing A Hurricane

Hexing A Hurricane, a new film by Jeremy Campbell, documents the resilient spirit of New Orleanians during the hardest times of their lives.

Hexing begins back when life was "normal" in New Orleans - six weeks before Hurricane Katrina forever changed the landscape of the city. The film opens with a 9th Ward VooDoo Ceremony asking spirits for protection from dangerous storms. After the ominous hurricane strikes a few weeks following the VooDoo service, the film follows locals on a roller coaster ride of despair, tragedy and hope.

For more info visit www.ten18films.com

This is a clip from Jeremy Campbell's "Hexing A Hurricane."

VooDoo Priestess Sallie Ann Glassman leads a voodoo ceremony in New Orleans to ward off dangerous hurricanes the July before Hurricane Katrina struck.

DEATH OF MARIE LAVEAU

The Daily Picayune
June 17, 1881


A WOMAN WITH A WONDERFUL HISTORY, ALMOST A CENTURY OLD, CARRIED TO THE TOMB YESTERDAY EVENING

Those of you who have passed by the quaint old house on St. Ann, between Rampart and Burgundy streets, with the high, frail looking fence in front over which a tree or two is visible, have till within the last few years, noticed through the open gateway a decrepid old lady with snow white hair, and a smile of peace and contentment lighting up her golden features. For a few years past, she has been missed from her accustomed place. The feeble old lady lay upon her bed with the daughter and grandchildren around her ministering to her wants.

On Wednesday the invalid sank into the sleep which knows no waking. Those whom she had befriended crowded into the little room where she was exposed, in order to obtain a last look at the features, smiling even in death , of her who had been so kind to them.

At 5 o'clock yesterday evening, Marie Laveau was buried in her family tomb in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1. Her remains were followed to the grave by a large concourse of people, the most prominent and the most humble joining in paying their last respects to the dead. Father Mignot conducted the funeral services.

Marie Laveau was born ninety-eight years ago. Her father was a rich planter, who was prominent in all public affairs and served in the Legislature of this State. Her mother was Marguerite Henry, and her grandmother was marguerite Semard. All were beautiful women of color. The gift of beauty was hereditary in the family, and Marie inherited it in the fullest degree. When she was twenty-five years old, she was led to the altar by Jacques Paris, a carpenter. This marriage took place at the St. Louis Cathedral, Pere Antoine, of the beloved memory, conducting the service and Mr. Mazureau, the famous lawyer acting as witness. A year afterwards Mr. Paris disappeared and no one knows to this day what became of him. After waiting a year for his return she married Capt. Christophe Glapion. The latter was also very prominent here, and served with distinction in the battalion of men of San Domingo, under D'Aquilo , with Jackson in the war of 1815.

Fifteen children were the result of their marriage. Only one of those is now alive. Capt. Glapion died greatly regretted, on the 26th of June 1855. Five years afterwards, Marie Laveau became ill, and has been sick ever since, her indisposition becoming more pronounced and painful within the last ten years.

Besides being very beautiful, Marie was also very wise. She was skillful in the practice of medicine and was acquainted with the valuable healing qualities of indigenous herbs.

She as very successful as a nurse, wonderful stories being told of her exploits at the sick bed. In yellow fever and cholera epidemics she was always called upon to nurse the sick and always responded promptly. Her skill and knowledge earned her the friendship and approbation of those sufficiently cultivated but the ignorant attributed her success fo unnatural means and held her in constant dread.

Notably in 1853 a committee of gentlemen appointed at a mass meeting held at Globe Hall, waited on Marie and requested her on behalf o f the people to minister to the fever-stricken. She went out and fought the pestilence where it was thickest, and many alive to-day owe their salvation to her devotion.

Not alone to the sick was Marie Laveau a blessing. To help a fellow creature in distress she considered a priceless privilege. She was born in the same house where she died. Her motherd lived and died their before her. The unassuming cottage has stood for a century and a half. It was built by the first French settlers of adobe and not a brick was employed in its construction.

Whe it was erected it was considered the handsomest building in the neighborhood. Rampart street was not then in existence, being the skirt of a wilderness and latterly a line of entrenchment. Notwithstanding the decay of her little mansion, Marie made the sight of it pleasant to the unfortunate. At any time of night or day anyone was welcome to food and lodging.

Those in trouble had but to come to her and she would make their cause her own after undergoing great sacrifices in order to assist them.

Besides being charitable, Marie was very pious and took delight in strengthening the allegiance of souls to the church. She would sit with the condemned in their last moments and endeavor to turn their last thoughts to Jesus. Whenever a prisoner excited her pity, Marie would labor incessantly to obtain his pardon or at least a commutation of sentence, and she generally successful.

A few years ago, before she lost control of her memory, she was rich in interesting reminiscences of the early history of this city. She spoke often of the early history of this city. She spoke often of the young American Governor Caliborne and told how the child-wife he brought with him from Tennessee died of the yellow fever shortly after his arrival and with the dead babe upon her bosom was buried in a corner of the old American Cemetery. She spoke sometimes of the strange little man with the wonderful bright eyes, Aaron Burr, who was so police and so dangerous. She loved to talk to Lafayette, who visited New Orleans over half a century ago. The great Frenchman came to see her at her house and kissed her on the forehead at parting.

She remembered the old French general, Humbert, and was one of the few colored people who escorted to the tomb, long since dismantled, in the Catholic cemetery, the withered and grizzly remains of the hero of Castelbar. Probably she knew Father Antoine better than any living in those days - the he the priest and she the nurse met at the dying bedside of hundreds of people - able to close the faded eyes in death and he to waft the soul over the river to the realms of eternal joy.

All in all Marie Laveau was a most wonderful woman. Doing good for the sake of doing good alone, she obtained no reward, oft times meeting with prejudice and loathing, she was nevertheless contented and did not flag in her work. She always had the cause of the peplum at heart and was with them in all things. During the late rebellion, she proved her loyalty to the South at every opportunity and freely dispensed help to those who suffered in defense of the "lost cause." Her days were spent surrounded by sacred pictures and other evidence of religion, and she died with a firm trust in heaven. While God plays around the little tomb where her remains are buried, by the side of her second husband and her sons and daughters, Marie Laveau's name will not be forgotten in New Orleans.

Welcome to Preservation Hall

In terms of New Orleans music hallowed ground, perhaps there is none more important than 726 St. Peter Street-Preservation Hall. A tattered instrument case hangs over the door where seven nights a week pass eclectic groups of jazz fans from near and far. Inside the small wooden room, patrons sit on backless benches, squat on the cement floor or peer through the doorways of the adjacent carriageway. The attraction is the best Dixieland jazz New Orleans has to offer. Over the years, such legends as Sweet Emma Barrett, Danny Barker, Kid Punch, George Lewis, Percy and Willie Humphrey, Kid Thomas Valentine, Louis Nelson, Billie and De De Pierce, Tuts Washington-just to name a few-have practiced their art here.

Music has emanated from 726 St. Peter Street for nearly half-a-century. Ironically though, in the beginning (1956), Dixieland music was merely dressing for an art gallery maintained by Larry Borenstein. However, this was a period when many of the old time New Orleans dance halls were being closed and there were fewer venues for live Dixieland. Eventually, art took a back seat to music at 726, as more and more people came there to hear Dixieland. Borenstein eventually turned the building over to Grayson Mills and Barbara Reid, cofounders of the New Orleans Society for the Preservation of Traditional Jazz. In 1961, 726 St. Peter Street was re-christened "Preservation Hall."

After a short period of confusion, Preservation Hall was turned over to Sandra and Allan Jaffe, who had moved to New Orleans from Philadelphia. Under the Jaffees' direction, Preservation Hall became a worldwide attraction. The Jaffees realized early in the game that less is best.

People came to Preservation Hall to hear good music and see their idols at close range. Tables, chairs, and air-conditioning, as well as drinks, food and souvenirs were just a distraction. The Jaffees also realized there was a market for Dixieland outside of Preservation Hall, so they put the Preservation Hall Jazz Band on the road. (At any one time, there could be several Preservation Hall bands working in New Orleans or somewhere else in the world.)

Of course, most of the old masters who were associated with Preservation Hall have long since departed. But it's a new Millennium and Preservation Hall is now under the direction of Allan and Sandra Jaffe's youngest son, Benjamin, who has not only maintained the allure of 726, but enhanced it. If you don't believe it, spend an evening at Preservation Hall and decide for yourself. Get there early though, so you can find a space to sit on the floor close to the bandstand.

If you can’t make it to New Orleans and Preservation Hall, but want to come face-to-face with the best of Dixieland jazz, you can catch the band on the road. In 2001, Preservation Hall partnered with Zatarain’s to bring the Preservation Hall Bus Tour to life. This sponsorship brings together the best of what makes New Orleans one of the most unique cities in the world --- food and wonderful music. Check the tour schedule to see when the band will be playing in your hometown.

- Jeff Hannusch

Café du Monde

Café du Monde is a coffee shop on Decatur Street in the French Quarter, is best known for its
café au lait and its French-style beignets. In the New Orleans style, the coffee is blended with chicory.

The location at the upper end of the French Market was established in 1862.

Starting in the late 1980s, Café du Monde opened up additional locations in shopping malls.

It is open 24 hours, 7 days a week, except for Christmas Day and days when "the occasional hurricane passes too close to New Orleans," and is patronized by both locals and visitors.

Hurricane Katrina did, indeed, pass too close to New Orleans — the shop closed at midnight on August 27, 2005, due to the city's mandatory evacuation. Although it suffered only minor damage, it remained closed for nearly two months. Owners took advantage of the low traffic time when New Orleans was gradually repopulating to refurbish and upgrade the kitchen. The French Quarter location re-opened on October 19, 2005 to national media attention.

Characters played by Gene Hackman and John Cusack were seen meeting at the café in the movie Runaway Jury in 2003.

Stepping Back in the Crescent City

There's a lot more to NEW ORLEANS - the "Big Easy," the "city that care forgot" - than its tourist image as a nonstop party town. The mixture of cultures and races that built the city still gives it its heart; not "easy" exactly, but quite unlike anywhere else in the States - or the world.


New Orleans began life in 1718 as a French-Canadian outpost, an unlikely set of shacks on a marsh. Its prime location near the mouth of the Mississippi River led to rapid development, and with the first mass importation of African slaves, as early as the 1720s, its unique demography began to take shape. Despite early resistance from its francophone population, the city benefited greatly from its period as a Spanish colony between 1763 and 1800. By the end of the eighteenth century, the port was flourishing, the haunt of smugglers, gamblers, prostitutes and pirates. Newcomers included Anglo-Americans escaping the American Revolution and aristocrats fleeing revolution in France. The city also became a haven for refugees - whites and free blacks, along with their slaves - escaping the slave revolts in Saint-Domingue.

As in the West Indies, the Spanish, French and free people of color associated and formed alliances to create a distinctive Creole culture with its own traditions and ways of life, its own patois, and a cuisine that drew influences from Africa, Europe and the colonies. New Orleans was already a many-textured city when it experienced two quick-fire changes of government, passing back into French control in 1801 and then being sold to America under the Louisiana Purchase two years later. Unwelcome in the Creole city - today's French Quarter - the Americans who migrated here were forced to settle in the areas now known as the Central Business District (or CBD) and, later, in the Garden District. Canal Street, which divided the old city from the expanding suburbs, became known as "the neutral ground" - the name still used when referring to the median strip between main roads in New Orleans.

Though much has been made of the antipathy between Creoles and Anglo-Americans, in truth economic necessity forced them to live and work together. They fought side by side in the 1815 Battle of New Orleans , the final battle of the War of 1812, which secured American supremacy in the States. The victorious general, Andrew Jackson, became a national hero - and eventually US president; his ragbag volunteer army was made up of Anglo-Americans, slaves, Creoles, free men of color and Native Americans, along with pirates supplied by the notorious buccaneer Jean Lafitte.



New Orleans' antebellum "golden age" as a major port and finance center for the cotton-producing South was brought to an abrupt end by the Civil War. The economic blow wielded by the lengthy Union occupation - which effectively isolated the city from its markets - was compounded by the social and cultural ravages of Reconstruction. This was particularly disastrous for a city once famed for its large, educated, free black population. As the North industrialized and other Southern cities grew, the fortunes of New Orleans took a downturn.


Jazz exploded into the bars and the bordellos around 1900, and along with the evolution of Mardi Gras as a tourist attraction, breathed new life into the city. And although the Depression hit here as hard as it did the rest of the nation it also heralded the resurgence of the French Quarter, which had disintegrated into a slum. Even so, it was the less romantic duo of oil and petrochemicals that really saved the economy. The city now finds itself in relatively stable condition with a strengthening economy based on tourism.

One of New Orleans' many nicknames is "the Crescent City," because of the way it nestles between the southern shore of Lake Pontchartrain and a dramatic horseshoe bend in the Mississippi River. This unique location makes the city's layout confusing, with streets curving to follow the river, and shooting off at odd angles to head inland. Compass points are of little use here - locals refer instead to lakeside (towards the lake) and riverside (towards the river), and using Canal Street as the dividing line, uptown (or upriver) and downtown (downriver).


Most visitors spend most time in the battered, charming old French Quarter (or Vieux Carré), site of the original settlement. The heartbreakingly beautiful French Quarter is where New Orleans began in 1718. Today, battered and bohemian, decaying and vibrant, it's the spiritual core of the city, its fanciful cast-iron balconies, hidden courtyards and time-stained stucco buildings exerting a haunting fascination that has long caught the imagination of artists and writers. Official tours are useful for orientation, but it's most fun simply to wander - and you'll need a couple of days at least to do it justice, absorbing the jumble of sounds, sights and smells.



Early morning in the pearly light from the river is a good time to explore, as sleepy locals wake themselves up with strong coffee in the neighborhood patisseries, shops crank open their shutters and all-night revelers stumble home.


The Quarter is laid out in a grid, unchanged since 1721. At just thirteen blocks wide - smaller than you might expect - it's easily walkable, bounded by the Mississippi River, Rampart Street, Canal Street and Esplanade Avenue, and centering on lively Jackson Square. Rather than French, the famed architecture is predominantly Spanish colonial, with a strong Caribbean influence. Most of the buildings date from the late eighteenth century, after much of the old city had been devastated by fires in 1788 and 1794. Commercial activity - shops, galleries, restaurants, bars - is concentrated in the blocks between Decatur and Bourbon. Beyond Bourbon, up towards Rampart Street, and in the Lower Quarter, downriver from Jackson Square, things become more peaceful - quiet, predominantly residential neighborhoods where the Quarter's gay community lives side by side with elegant dowagers and scruffy artists.

On the fringes of the French Quarter, the funky Faubourg Marigny creeps northeast from Esplanade Avenue, while the Quarter's lakeside boundary, Rampart Street, marks the beginning of the historic, run-down African-American neighborhood of Tremé. On the other side of the Quarter, across Canal Street, the CBD (Central Business District), bounded by the river and I-10, spreads upriver to the Pontchartrain Expressway. Dominated by offices, hotels and banks, it also incorporates the revitalizing Warehouse District and, towards the lake, the gargantuan Superdome. A ferry ride across the river from the foot of Canal Street takes you to the suburban west bank and the residential district of old Algiers.

Back on the east bank, it's an easy journey upriver from the CBD to the Garden District, an area of gorgeous old mansions, some of them in delectable ruin. The Lower Garden District, creeping between the expressway and Jackson, is quite a different creature, its run-down old houses filled with impoverished artists and musicians. The best way to get to either neighborhood is on the streetcar along swanky St Charles Avenue, the Garden District's lakeside boundary. You can also approach it from Magazine Street, a six-mile stretch of galleries and antique stores that runs parallel to St Charles riverside. Entering the Garden District, you've crossed the official boundary into uptown, which spreads upriver to encompass Audubon Park and Zoo.