19th Century Jazz, Nudity, and Political Corruption

I was thrilled to see how my research paralleled Shelley's post on Storyville. The dates and locations both overlap. I focused my interest on what some researchers call the "Golden Age" of New Orleans (1870-1930). Three sites (that correspond to actual physical sites) also parallel (generally) the 3 points of Jazz, Nudity, and Political Corruption. Oooh. I love it when things work out like this.


JAZZ (MUSIC)
Site: St. Charles Hotel
Images: Krewe Invitations to Mardi Gras Balls

"Completed in 1842, in the American sector, and proclaimed one of the largest and finest in the world, the first St. Charles Hotel was a grandiose testament not only to the economic and politclal ascendancy of the Anglo-Americans, but to their version of New Orleans style. In 1851, the palatial building was burned to the ground in thre hours. From tis ahses rose the second magnificent St. Chalres, and it ws to the fescoed, gold-leafed ballroom of that horol also desroye by fire long ago, that guest wre summoned to a "Soiree Dansante" on a January evening of 1854--with the oldest extant invitation to a New Orleans Carnival ball" (Schindler 8).

The St. Charles Hotel was host to the Mardi Gras Balls of the Mistick Krewe of Comus, who initiated the Mardi Gras celebrations that evolved into today's celebrations.

For more on Mistick Krewe, wiki has a good intro: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistick_Krewe_of_Comus


NUDITY (PROSTITUTION)
Site: Rampart Street
Images: Watercolor series by Édouard Marquis



I've already mention the placage system in a response to an earlier post. While the quadroon mistresses were certainly not prostitutes in the Storyville sense of the term, the highly codified system of creating and placing young women of color as mistresses to upper-class Creole men served the same function.






POLITICAL CORRUPTION
Site: Oak Alley Plantation
Images: Plenty of postcards here.



Owned by Jacques Telesphore Roman, this plantation is remarkable for its gorgeous restoration (and 300 year old trees) that allows it to serve as THE nostalgic antebellum fantasy. Completed in 1841, the plantation was one of 3 owned by the Roman family along the great river row. The Roman family were political: J.T.'s brother Andre was the frist Creole governor of Lousiana (and the first to serve 2 terms). Romans served under General Beauregard in the Civil War, and only sister Josephine married Valcour Aimee, the "Sugar King of Louisiana." The consolidation of wealth and power in this family was made possible by the culture code of New Orleans that valued pure-blooded French Creole as the highest caste. This was underlined by the odd (socially corrupt) political situation that brought New Orleans into the United States.

"Louisiana, meanwhile, had become a ping-pong ball on the political table of Spain and France and in a few short weeks bounced from the Spanish flag, where it had been since the transfer from French hands by secret treaty in 1763, to the French Tri-Color, to the Stars and Stripes where it remained, achieving statehood in 1812. However, in the brief 3 weeks of the post-revolution French regime (November 30 - December 20, 1803) the Napoleonic Code was introduced, establishing a precedent that would remain and create a legal system in Louisiana distinct from the rest of the Nation."

for more information see http://www.oakalleyplantation.com/