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Geographies of New Orleans: Urban Fabrics Before the Storm

Richard Campanella

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Review from the New Orleans Times-Picayune, September 10, 2006 5 out of 5 stars.
15 of 15 people found this review helpful.

As Hurricane Katrina roared into the city, Richard Campanella remembers in "Geographies of New Orleans," he tried to convince himself that his decision to ride the storm out in his 9th Ward home "was not an emotional one, made with a clenched fist and a fanatical dedication to place, but rather a rational one based on data and reason."

He lived, after all, in a sturdy, old, raised house, seven feet above sea level, and by staying he could be present "to minimize structural damage, to mitigate, to respond to conditions before they developed into crises, to take corrective action to protect important papers and possessions, and afterwards, to guard against looters." But when his street suddenly filled with two feet of water, he knew he had made a "big, big mistake." He and his wife were now living "literally in the Gulf of Mexico."

Although the water receded before it became life-threatening, Campanella later recognized that his "ill-advised decision" not to evacuate had never really been as rational as he'd first thought. Instead, as "the big one" approached, he simply could not bring himself to leave. He wanted to be here "to bear witness to the intricate fabrics of this cherished city, at the moment of their terrible shredding." And, after reading "Geographies of New Orleans," it is easy to empathize with his decision.

"Geographies of New Orleans: Urban Fabrics Before the Storm" is a big, striking book, filled with photographs, maps, timelines and beautifully written essays on the city's culture, environment and history. Campanella, a geographer at the Tulane Center for Bioenvironmental Research, has made understanding the nuances of New Orleans neighborhoods his life's work. "Geographies of New Orleans" is clearly a labor of love, but it is also a book stunning in its analytical precision. While Campanella knows and appreciates the lore of New Orleans, he bases all of his conclusions about the city's past and present on hard-won data, and it is, indeed, difficult to imagine just how much painstaking research went into this book.

Take, for example, his chapter on the Irish Channel, one of New Orleans' most-storied neighborhoods. Anyone who has attended the St. Patrick's Day block party at Parasol's Irish Channel Bar knows the legends. The Channel, so the story goes, was once filled with Irish immigrants who worked grueling shifts on the docks and then went to corner watering holes at night to drink, fight and sing Irish songs long into the evening. It is a rich and colorful history, and one based, in part, on truth. But, as Campanella notes, there is substantial disagreement as to whether Parasol's is in the historical Irish Channel -- or even whether the Channel of lore ever existed at all.

Some historians and old-timers say the "one and only" Irish Channel was on Adele Street, near where the Wal-Mart stands today. Others claim that Tchoupitoulas Street was the "main avenue of the Irish Channel." And while many maintain that the boundaries of the Channel were Josephine Street, Magazine Street, Louisiana Avenue and the river (the neighborhood that includes Parasol's), the 1938 WPA guide to New Orleans placed the Channel in today's Warehouse District. Father Earl Niehaus, the most famous chronicler of the Irish in New Orleans, rejected the idea that the city ever had a segregated Irish neighborhood. Instead, he suggested that people simply liked the "picturesque, though mysterious" phrase "Irish Channel," and "a myth was born."
Campanella brings a geographer's meticulousness to this debate. Rather than rely on legend, he spent countless hours mining data from primary sources in an effort to determine if there ever was a specific, predominantly Irish neighborhood known as the Irish Channel. His systematic search through old newspapers revealed that the term Irish Channel first appeared in the late 19th century but that the exact location of the neighborhood was rarely defined.

Census data from the 19th century proved to be of little help because census takers often failed to record house numbers or streets for the houses they visited. So Campanella created his own method for determining whether there was ever a neighborhood Irish enough to fit the legend of the Irish Channel. Matching addresses found in 19th century city directories with a list culled from the burial records of St. Patrick's Cemetery No. 1 of unmistakable Irish surnames -- such as Callahan, Flynn, Kelly and those starting with Fitz-, Mc-, O' -- Campanella mapped the old neighborhoods block by block.

What he found was that there was never an intensely clustered, exclusively Irish neighborhood in New Orleans. Although Irish immigrants did settle in particular districts such as the "back of town" where housing was cheap, they invariably lived side by side with Germans, Italians, African-Americans, and "a multitude of other ancestries." Assessing his research as a whole, Campanella concludes that the Irish Channel was once, most likely, a specific street -- Adele Street -- whose nickname came to be applied to a number of neighborhoods where Irish families lived. It is a cautious conclusion, one unlikely to end the long-standing debates, but in reaching it Campanella creates the most detailed account we have of where Irish immigrants to New Orleans settled and why they chose to settle where they did.

The Irish Channel is just one of many New Orleans neighborhoods Campanella explores in "Geographies of New Orleans." In other chapters he turns his expertise to the French Quarter, Uptown, the 9th Ward, Lakeview and eastern New Orleans, and it is fascinating to view the city through his eyes. In old, seemingly unremarkable buildings, Campanella sees the settlement patterns and streetscapes created by Sicilian and German immigrants, former slaves and free persons of color, Orthodox Greeks and Jews, black and white Creoles. In newer buildings he sees the history of desegregation, man's fateful efforts to conquer the environment, and the haphazard campaign to make New Orleans a "New South" city. He makes the architecture and topography of Gentilly and Mid-City as compelling as the famous neighborhoods frequented by tourists. And oft-ignored thoroughfares such as Elysian Fields Avenue become as interesting and worthy of preservation as St. Charles Avenue or Royal Street. "As a microcosm and barometer of two centuries of urban growth," Campanella argues convincingly, "Elysian Fields Avenue stands alone."

Because Campanella wrote almost all of "Geographies of New Orleans" before Katrina, it is also heartbreaking to read. Every page is a reminder of just how much has been lost. Given the amount of destruction the storm wrought, some may even wonder whether we should be spending so much time worrying about the city's past when there are so many questions about its future. Are long debates about the location of the Irish Channel -- and the meaning of the word Creole, and the dividing line between Uptown and downtown -- a luxury we can really afford? Perhaps New Orleanians have always been too focused on the minutia of the past rather than the problems of the present.

"Geographies of New Orleans" is a powerful refutation to such arguments. It is a dazzling book, unparalleled in its scope, precision, clarity and detail, that makes clear that what still survives of the "intricate urban fabrics woven here over the past three hundred years" is exactly what makes New Orleans worth saving.
. . . . . . .
Michael A. Ross is associate professor of history at Loyola University.

Patriotic Fire: Andrew Jackson and Jean Laffite at the Battle of New Orleans

Winston Groom

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From the author of best-selling works of history and fiction, a fast-paced, enthralling retelling of one of the greatest battles fought on the North American continent, and of the two men who—against all expectations and odds—joined forces to repel the British invasion of New Orleans in December 1814.

It has all the ingredients of a high-flying adventure story. Unbeknownst to the combatants, the War of l812 has ended, but Andrew Jackson, a brave, charismatic American general—sick with dysentery and commanding a beleaguered garrison—leads a desperate struggle to hold on to the city of New Orleans and to thwart the army that defeated Napoleon. Helping him is a devilish French pirate, Jean Laffite, who rebuffs a substantial bribe from the British and together with his erstwhile enemy saves the city from invasion . . . much to the grateful chagrin of New Orleanians shocked to find themselves on the same side as the brazen buccaneer. Winston Groom brings his considerable storytelling gifts to the re-creation of this remarkable battle and to the portrayal of its main players. Against the richly evocative backdrop of French New Orleans, he illuminates Jackson’s brilliant strategy and tactics, as well as the antics and cutthroat fighting prowess of Laffite and his men.

Patriotic Fire brings this extraordinary military achievement vividly to life.

God in the Whirlwind: Stories of Grace from the Tornado at Union University

Tim Ellsworth

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Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

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When a powerful EF-4 tornado with winds in excess of 200 miles per hour slammed the Union University campus on February 5, 2008, destroying eighteen dormitory buildings and causing $40 million in damage, the immediate assumption was that dozens if not hundreds of lives would have been lost. Miraculously, nobody died, and the next morning major media outlets flocked to Jackson, Tennessee, where Union students and faculty credited God for their survival and got to share their faith with millions worldwide.

God in the Whirlwind recounts the entire experience through twenty eye-of-the-storm accounts from those who saw the walls and ceilings crashing down upon them and felt their ears pop as the pressure dropped, from anxious parents who waited for their child’s call, and from Union leaders who marvel at the university’s unbroken spirit in the face of such devastation. This inspiring book also includes eighty photographs that visualize God’s mighty hand upon nature and his gentle hand of grace.

The Egg Bowl: Mississippi State vs. Ole Miss

William G. Barner

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From the contentious delay of the first clash in 1901 to the most recent battle in 2006, The Egg Bowl covers the Ole Miss-Mississippi State rivalry in depth. For each game the narrative includes every scoring drive, every player who crossed the goal line, and every final score. More than sixty photos illustrate the intensity of action on the field and capture the players and exploits faithful fans will always remember.

For the booster who demands to know every statistic, The Egg Bowl creates the ultimate reference. Which player has scored the most touchdowns? Who rushed for the longest run or threw the longest touchdown pass? How many kickoffs have been returned for touchdowns? Why is November 30 of consequence? Which two men have coached at both schools? And surprisingly, which three players have lettered at Mississippi State and Ole Miss?

The intensity of the rivalry cannot be understated. Student leaders created the treasured Golden Egg, trophy of the yearly contest, to quell frequent fisticuffs in the stands. While intended to cool the fervor, the Egg has been controversially remodeled, refurbished, and even kidnapped. The story continually simmers. This ideal gift for the football fanatic will only stoke those passions.

Grounded Globalism: How the U.S. South Embraces the World (The New Southern Studies)

James L. Peacock

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The world is flat? Maybe not, says this paradigm-shifting study of globalism's impact on a region legendarily resistant to change. The U.S. South, long defined in terms of its differences with the U.S. North, is moving out of this national and oppositional frame of reference into one that is more international and integrative. Likewise, as the South (home to UPS, CNN, KFC, and other international brands) goes global, people are emigrating there from countries like India, Mexico, and Vietnam--and becoming southerners. Much has been made of the demographic and economic aspects of this shift. Until now, though, no one has systematically shown what globalism means to the southern sense of self.

Anthropologist James L. Peacock looks at the South of both the present and the past to develop the idea of "grounded globalism," in which global forces and local cultures rooted in history, tradition, and place reverberate against each other in mutually sustaining and energizing ways. Peacock's focus is on a particular part of the world; however, his model is widely relevant: "Some kind of grounding in locale is necessary to human beings."

Grounded Globalism draws on perspectives from fields as diverse as ecology, anthropology, religion, and history to move us beyond the model, advanced by such scholars as C. Vann Woodward, that depicts the South as a region paralyzed by the burden of its past. Peacock notes that, while globalism may lift old burdens, it may at the same time impose new ones. He also maintains that earlier regional identities have not been replaced by the rootless cosmopolitanism of cyberspace or other abstracted systems. Attachments to place remain, even as worldwide markets erase boundaries and flatten out differences and distinctions among nations. Those attachments exert their own pressures back on globalism, says Peacock, with subtle strengths we should not discount.

The Earl of Louisiana (Southern Biography Series)

A. J. Liebling

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Brilliant writing does justice to a flawed but fascinating subject 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I was a kid in Louisiana when Uncle Earl was governor. When Earl started having some of his troubles (how's THAT for a euphemism?), several Northern journalists came down to write about (and laugh at) the Rube In Charge.

Liebling did so for the New Yorker, but he caught something most other journalists missed. Earl Long was remarkably progressive for the times, and was accomplishing some things no other Southern governor could. He had to balance many different factions to govern effectively, and he did so with a flair and flamboyance that's sorely missing in today's blow-dried politicos.

Liebling's prose is, as always, stellar. He's one of the few writers whose works I buy sight unseen. By now I have most of his stuff that's ever been printed. This book is Liebling at his best, which is head and shoulders above most writers.

A couple of the scenes in the movie 'Blaze' seem to be lifted from this book.

If this book whets your appetite for more Liebling, I heartily recommend 'Between Meals'. Written toward the end of his life, it's a beautiful reminiscence of a year he spent in Paris as a young man. Unforgettable.

Editorial Review:

In the summer of 1959, A. J. Liebling, veteran writer for the New Yorker, came to Louisiana to cover a series of bizarre events that began with Governor Earl K. Long's commitment to a mental institution. Captivated by his subject, Liebling remained to write the fascinating yet tragic story of Uncle Earl's final year in politics. First published in 1961, The Earl of Louisiana recreates a stormy era in Louisiana politics and captures the style and personality of one of the most colorful and paradoxical figures in the state's history. This updated edition of the book includes a foreword by T. Harry Williams, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Huey Long: A Biography, and a new introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Jonathan Yardley that discusses Liebling's career and his most famous book from a twenty-first-century perspective.

The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture: Volume 7: Foodways (New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture)

James G Thomas Jr, Ann J Abadie

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Essential, but Uneven 3 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I have the original "Encyclopedia of Southern Culture," and I am delighted to see that a new edition is being published, and in an expanded, multi-volume format, too. On the whole, I like what I've read so far quite a lot. Most articles strike a pleasing balance between the academic and the popular, with both good general information and entertaining tidbits.

I do have a few reservations, though. Some of the articles in this volume (and other volumes, as well) quote authors who aren't credited in the short end-of-article bibliographies. The articles occasionally seem rather random and choppily edited. And some articles appear to drag in race just so the authors can assure the reader that slavery and Jim Crow were Very Bad Indeed. (Are they instructing the presumably-white-Southern and thus presumably-benighted reader? Or do they simply feel obligated to throw in a "racism is terrible" remark as a sort of "Hail, Mary!", regardless of how appropriate to the particular context?) Sometimes this tendency is merely a matter of stating the obvious, but sometimes it achieves a certain level of entertaining absurdity, e.g., after noting that African Americans during the Jim Crow era often had to carry their meals because restaurants wouldn't serve them: "While their home-cooked meal was probably better than what they would find in a restaurant on the road, for most blacks the food took on a bitter quality because of the lack of freedom to choose."

In addition, I have come across one case (in a different volume of the series) where the author of an article quotes her own theory extensively and in the third person, in the process commending the scholar (herself) for shedding new light on the topic. All of these lapses in professionalism suggest that many articles were farmed out to graduate students and perhaps not sufficiently edited afterwards.

I also wonder that of all the experts connected with this project, none of them seem aware that "Mammy" is a traditional British and Irish equivalent for "Mommy" or "Mummy," and that (especially in old songs and rhymes) it doesn't always necessarily refer to a black slave or servant.

As a folklorist, I could also wish for a little more on the folklore of food, but my objections in general are on the level of quibbles. This is a very worthwhile project, and I look forward to the yet unpublished volumes.

Editorial Review:

This 7th volume of The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture marks the first encyclopedia on the food cultures of the South. Articles explore not only what southerners eat but also why they eat it. The volume contains 149 articles, almost all of them new to this edition of the Encyclopedia. Longer essays address the historical development of southern cuisine and ethnic contributions to the region's foodways. Topical essays explore iconic southern foods such as MoonPies and fried catfish, prominent restaurants and personalities, and the food cultures of subregions and individual cities.

The Execution of Willie Francis: Race, Murder, and the Search for Justice in the American South

Gilbert King

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On May 3, 1946, a seventeen-year-old boy was scheduled to die by the electric chair inside of a tiny red brick jail in picturesque St. Martinsville, Louisiana. Young Willie Francis had been charged with the murder of a local pharmacist. The electric chair-three hundred pounds of oak and metal- had been dubbed “Gruesome Gertie” and was moved from one jailhouse to another throughout the state of Louisiana. The switch would be thrown at 12:08 P.M., but Willie Francis did not die. Miraculously, having survived this less than cordial encounter with death, Willie was soon informed that the state would try to kill him again in six days. Letters began pouring into St. Martinsville from across the country-Americans of all colors and classes were transfixed by the fate of this young man. A Cajun lawyer just returned from WWII, Bertrand DeBlanc would take on Willie’s case-in the face of overwhelming local resistance. DeBlanc would argue the case all the way from the Bayou to the U.S. Supreme Court. In deciding Willie’s fate the courts and the country would be forced to ask questions about capital punishment that remain unresolved today.

Historic Photos of Atlanta (Historic Photos.) (Historic Photos.)

Michael Rose

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The City in the Forest, Atlanta was a spot found in the wilderness of north Georgia for the end of a railroad line. It was thought few people would stay here, because most would be passing through to somewhere else. Instead, the people remained and the town grew, growing from Terminus to Marthasville to Atlanta. The city was defined by the rail lines, and for that reason, General William T. Sherman came with the Civil War. After he left the city in ruins, Atlanta rebuilt, rising from the ashes, raising a brave and beautiful city.
For a century and a half, Atlanta has been the southern city on the move, a town of railroads, business and trade putting up and pulling down airplanes and highways, America s team and international Olympics. Along the way, professional and amateur photographers have documented Atlanta s rich visual history. This volume, Historic Photos of Atlanta, presents nearly two hundred images of the city s past, including views of its streets, the people who called it home, and the life, look, and feel of Atlanta.

Victims: A True Story Of The Civil War

Phillip Shaw Paludan

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Great book about the Civil War 5 out of 5 stars.
13 of 14 people found this review helpful.

The book Victims: A True Story of the Civil War by Phillip Shaw Paludan is about the Shelton Laurel killings. Shelton Laurel is a remote Appalachian town in North Carolina. Despite its location in the Confederacy, there remained a strong tie to the Union and because of this it became a target for both Confederate and Union armies.

The people of Shelton Laurel and the Appalachian mountains were simple people. The area was home to related families and most people were very poor farmers. As in many small areas, what family you belong to and their actions affect everything. Paludan explained it best when he said, "juries in county seats could and did ignore the law and evidence to acquit or convict people they liked or disliked, people whose values or whose kin they did or did not respect," (Paludan, 24). The mountain people had a habit of using politics to satisfy personal vengeance. When the Civil War started, "the Unionism of Western North Carolina of which we heard so much during the war...was less a love for the Union than a personal hatred of those who went into the Rebellion. It was not so much an uprising for the government as against a certain ruling class," (Paludan, 62). The Civil War was an opportunity for people to use their new found power to gain personal revenge. People who were pro-confederate tended to be either rich farmers with slaves or "poor whites, profoundly hostile to blacks and most vulnerable to any change in the social and economic structure," (Paludan, 63). Pro-Unionists tended to be people who were poor farmers with no slaves or people who thought succession was treason. The people of the mountains used the "opportunity that the war brought to revenge old debts and to loot, plunder, and terrorize," (Paludan, 77).

The people's terrorism generally took the form of guerrilla warfare; it was like a mini civil war in the mountains of the Appalachians. The Confederates tried to maintain control of the area and recruit soldiers for their side, but at the same time the Unionists tried to persuade mountain Unionists to attack the Confederacy. The tensions were made worse when on April 16, 1862 the Confederate Congress passed a conscription that forced all men 18 to 35 to join the army. This was a huge problem for mountain farmers. Men were needed to plant and harvest crops, without them many families would go hungry or starve. The "mutual killing, the burning of barns, houses, and fields, the slaughter of livestock all crippled the productivity of the region's farm," (Paludan, 80). If this wasn't already enough there was a salt shortage. The shortage was significant because without salt meat could not be properly stored.

These problems soon became too much to bare and in January of 1863 a group of fifty mean raided the nearby town of Marshall. Marshall was the county seat of Madison County and contained Salt storages. These fifty men, mostly deserters from Confederate armies, and some from Shelton Laurel raided the town stealing salt, blankets, and anything else of value. The confederate army soon heard of the raid on Marshall. General Heth sent James Keith and Lawrence Allen to punish the rebels. Allen had personal interest in punishing the rebels who raided Marshall. His home was among the buildings that were looted. His family was terrorized and he wanted revenge. Thirteen prisoners, ranging from the age of thirteen to fifty-nine, were taken from the Shelton Laurel area and were shot to death. The problem with this is that "international law said while guerrillas could be killed if engaged in battle and could be denied the right to become prisoners, once they had been captured they could not be executed without legal proceedings to determine their status as guerrillas and their guilt for killing or destroying," (Paludan, 87-88). The men Allen and Keith killed were captured from their homes, it was not certain that they were even guerrillas. Even if they were guerrillas they had been taken prisoner and therefore could not be killed without legal proceedings.

Despite the murders of thirteen innocent people, there was not much of a public outcry. The people of the Confederacy and the Union were probably beginning to believe that war was brutal and that very bad things happen to innocent people. They began to except and expect the brutality. "Less than a month after the North Carolina killings gained national killings, William C. Quantrill and Lawrence, Kansas, shocked public consciousness with the story of 155 murders," (Paludan, 116). Stories of death and destruction were becoming common.