Professional Tourguiding Blog

BOOK NOTES

The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans. Lawrence N. Powell,

Harvard University Press, 2012

In reading this book, I was particularly interested in what new insights the author was bringing to the table historically! The book provides special treatment on subjects like John Law’s role in developing the LA Colony, the difficulties of the journey sailing up the Mississippi River’s 125 miles from the Gulf to New Orleans, de Pauger and Blond de la Tour’s engineering of the design of the city, as well as what was going on in colonial designs for cities. Whereas, European cities grew up from crab claw-like networks of rural roads, in the new world colonial powers could start with a clean slate. Hence, New Orleans took on a checkerboard like design with god, government and military in the central place.  It was probably a page out of New Spain’s colonial designs. (more…)

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John McDonogh  NOTES By Bill Norris   bill@norreys.com     April 8, 2002

Born Dec. 29, 1779; son of John & Elizabeth Wilkins McDonogh; a Scotsman and Revolutionary War veteran who owned a brickyard is South Baltimore.  His parents raised him in strict Calvinistic principles. He apprenticed to a wealthy Baltimore merchant, William Taylor, at age 17; visited New Orleans as a young man; in 1800 Taylor sent JM to Liverpool to establish a branch of John & William Taylor. From there he was sent to NO as Taylor’s agent at 21 in September of 1800. By 1805 he had amassed a small fortune for himself and owned a full warehouse! (more…)

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LINCOLN IN NEW ORLEANS: The 1828-1831 Flatboat Voyages and Their Place in History, Richard Campanella, University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press, 2010, 381 pps.  BOOK NOTES by Bill Norris    1/1/11

 Allen Gentry and Abraham Lincoln poled out of Rockport, Indiana into the Ohio River on Friday or Saturday, April 18 or 19 of 1828 for the purpose of delivering a cargo to the New Orleans market. The flatboat, made of course cut timbers, measured about 15′ by 40′ had a flat bottom and canopy or roof over whole or part for protection of the crew and cargo. These boats were navigated by long paddles on each side often called “broad horns.” Owned by Gentry’s father, it carried a cargo of “barrel pork” often used to feed slaves. They planned to drift in the currents by day and tie up at night to get a early start before daylight the next day. Spring was the prime floating time for flatboats with the snow melt and spring rains raising the river waters and increasing the current flow. Their boat moved at about 5.5 miles per hour. (more…)

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FOODS OF NEW ORLEANS IN 1728

Based on the Letters of Marie-Madeleine Hachard

Bill Norris

12/12/10

Marie-Madeleine Hachard, a young nun in the order of the Ursulines, set out from Paris to French Colonial Louisiana in 1727. This group of young women were the “Peace Corps” of their day, undertaking to provide education for French, Native American, and African young women in the colony. With New Orleans as their objective, she wrote letters to her father in Rouen, France describing her experiences. Unbeknown to her, he published them. In 1728, well ensconced in the growing colony, she wrote about the foods. This is the first known documentation of the cuisine of New Orleans. (more…)

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NAPOLEON HOUSE

Located at Chartres St. and St. Louis St. in the French Quarter

Bill Norris   10/1/2001

 Nicholas Girod, a prosperous merchant, erected the three and a half story town house known as the Napoleon House at 500-06 Chartres St. in 1814.  The lot traces back to the 1722 de La Tour map of the Quarter as Lot 18. Prior to the 1794 fire there had been a small wood and brick cottage on the site that was consumed in the flames.  Mme. Widow Angelique Manger Dejan mortgaged the property in 1794.  (more…)

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BRIEF HISTORY OF NEW ORLEANS

By Bill Norris       5/19/2010

Folks coming to New Orleans and taking a tour need to understand a brief synopsis of the history without being overwhelmed by the details! In providing this there are basic groupings of events and people, outlined by a simplified chronology. Yes, a Ph.D. candidate in History would be appalled, but we are not making scholars, we are raconteurs introducing strangers to the land, the people and the events in a brief summary. I see four basic periods of interest to tourists. (more…)

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HISTORY OF JAZZ – Notes from a lecture by Steve Teeter, Curator  of the Jazz Exhibit

Louisiana State Archives in New Orleans  April 2002

Louis Armstrong said in answer to the question, what is jazz? “If you have to ask, you’ll never know!”  The history of jazz began with the history of brass bands. Created by Black Americans, it is an amalgamation of European and African sounds. From jazz came swing. Individuality  is unique to jazz. Improvisation is at the essence of jazz. Each musician puts his own stamp on it. Jazz requires two or more musicians playing off of one another. Jazz is played in 2:4 or 4:4 time, not in the 3:4 time of waltzes. Europe gave the harmony and instruments. Africa gave rhythm, rhythmic complexity, syncopation and melodic style. (more…)

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FUNERALS WITH MUSIC  Lecture by Jack Stewart, Music Historian

Notes by Bill Norris   3/8/2005

Blacks forming Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs in the 19^th Century as a method of insurance, first appointed a pharmacist, a doctor and an undertaker to care for the needs of members. Prior to that benevolent societies preceded the social aid clubs. Music had a role in funerals as evidenced by Verde’s Requiem, though he was an atheist living with a mistress. The Catholic Church issued an encyclical against it. Negro brass bands in 1880 played sorrowful music at funerals.  When they left the cemetery the music became spirited. White society dropped the brass at funerals. (more…)

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