Historic Photos of New Orleans
Birthplace of jazz, home to the beignet, city of a thousand legends, New Orleans grew out of a unique blend of cultures. Its architecture and cuisine, born of Spanish, French, Caribbean, African and other influences, created a city unlike any other in America. Its popular saying, laissez les bons temps rouler—let the good times roll—reflects the upbeat spirit of its citizens, a spirit that has at times been diminished by tragedy, but that can never be vanquished.
Historic Photos of New Orleans celebrates that spirit in nearly 200 striking, black-and-white photographs selected from local and national archives.
Here are the grand buildings and the immigrant slums, the cast-iron corn fences and the open-air markets, Mardi Gras parades and scenes of daily life. From the French Quarter and the elegant Garden District to the infamous Storyville, the people and places of New Orleans tell their unique story through these beautiful, rarely seen images.
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Book details
- Author
- Melissa Lee Smith
- Imprint
- Turner Publishing Company
- Published
- Pages
- 204
- Formats
- Hardcover
- Series
- Historic Photos
- Subjects
- History › United States › State & Local › South (AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV)
Photography › Subjects & Themes - Topics
- historic photography · Louisiana history · black-and-white photos · American cities · Southern United States · cultural history · architecture
- ISBN-13
- 9781596524057
About the author
MELISSA LEE SMITH is an archivist and historian specializing in Louisiana history and is the author of Remembering New Orleans and Historic Photos of New Orleans.
Smith holds a B.A. in history from Loyola University of New Orleans and an M.A. in history from the University of New Orleans. She serves on the LSU Libraries faculty as Assistant Curator of Manuscripts for Special Collections, and has contributed chapters to a series on Mardi Gras Indians published by the Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame.
When she’s not writing, Smith works across New Orleans’s major archival institutions, having held positions at the Historic New Orleans Collection, Tulane University’s Special Collections, Amistad Research Center, and the Louisiana State Museum. Her work centers on African American education and Louisiana history.
Melissa lives in St. Tammany Parish.