A grid of nine vintage black-and-white portraits featuring women from different backgrounds and styles, each wearing early 20th-century clothing. Some have numbers written on or near their portraits, suggesting a historical or cataloging context.

Storyville: Madams & Music

Coda

Storyville

The District

Guidebooks to Sin

Brothels & Music

Rhythm of Storyville

Coda

Livery Stable Blues Fighting Racial Segregation After Storyville Storyville & Popular Memory

By 1917, Storyville was feeling pressure from an array of groups. A new generation of progressives and a rising middle class sought to eradicate rather than merely control prostitution, and segregationists hoped to impose their agenda upon one of the last integrated areas in the South. When it was proposed early in 1917 that the District be formally segregated, which would have forced the many women of color working in Storyville to relocate to the so-called Black Storyville, several prominent madams of color, led by the madam and plaintiff Willie V. Piazza, filed suit to retain their properties and won. The case was one of the first legal victories in the decades-long fight against the injustices of Jim Crow, but before anything could be made of the victory, the District was closed for good.

Even before the 1917 recording of the first jazz record, musicians who had played in Storyville and contributed to the development of New Orleans jazz were performing across the country. Jelly Roll Morton began his itinerant musical career in 1907, traveling the Gulf Coast and up to Memphis, New York, and Chicago. Scores of other New Orleans musicians followed suit. The success of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band’s 1917 recording of “Livery Stable Blues” and “The Original Dixieland Jass Band One-Step” helped drive the nation’s craving for more of this new style of music from New Orleans. Through the 1920s, jazz continued to gain popularity and evolve.

Following the official closure of Storyville, the District slowly began to wither away. Many women and madams, such as Lulu White, attempted to continue practicing their trade in spite of growing legal troubles. The music clubs, once bustling, became less popular without the nearby allure of the sex trade. A number of the once grand buildings were demolished in the 1930s to make way for the public-housing development called the Iberville Housing Project that was constructed over much of the site in the 1940s. Despite its demolition, Storyville remains a part of New Orleans’s complex identity.

Livery Stable Blues

In 1917, a group of white New Orleanians, with no history of having performed in Storyville, recorded two songs for Victor in New York City. The album featuring “Livery Stable Blues” and “The Original Dixieland Jass Band One-Step” is commonly considered the first jazz record ever released.

From left: Tony Sbarbaro, Eddie Edwards, Nick LaRocca, Larry Shields, Henry Ragas.

Original Dixieland Jazz Band, negative, circa 1917, gelatin silver print, 1954, by Apeda Studios. HNOC, the William Russell Jazz Collection, acquisition made possible by the Clarisse Claiborne Grima Fund, MSS 520, 92-48-L.278

Livery Stable Blues

"Livery Stable Blues" from Original Dixieland Jazz Band’s first record, 1917, by RCA-Victor. HNOC, the William Russell Jazz Collection, acquisition made possible by the Clarisse Claiborne Grima Fund, MSS 529, 92-48-L.54

Original Dixieland Jass Band One-Step

"Original Dixieland Jass Band One-Step" from Original Dixieland Jazz Band’s first record, 1917, by RCA-Victor. HNOC, the William Russell Jazz Collection, acquisition made possible by the Clarisse Claiborne Grima Fund, MSS 529, 92-48-L.54

Advertisement for the Original Dixieland Jazz Band’s first record from New Orleans Item, May 11, 1917. HNOC, gift of Philip Werlein, Ltd., 2005.0154.2

Original Dixieland Jazz Band’s first record, 1917, by RCA-Victor. HNOC, the William Russell Jazz Collection, acquisition made possible by the Clarisse Claiborne Grima Fund, MSS 529, 92-48-L.54

Fighting Racial Segregation

Although the boundaries of a separate red-light district catering to African American men were defined in the original ordinance establishing Storyville, the provision was not included in the final ordinance that was enacted. The area known as Uptown, or Black, Storyville operated quasi-legally for most of the Storyville years. An ordinance passed in February 1917, only months before all prostitution in New Orleans was made illegal, reinstated recognition of the African American red-light district, in an attempt to racially segregate all prostitution.

The ordinance required the removal of all sex workers of African descent from the most established and lucrative portions of Storyville to the much less profitable Uptown section. In response to the measure, a number of women of color—led by "the Countess" Willie Piazza, a prominent brothel operator with businesses on Basin St.—challenged the legality of the ordinance in court. The case was eventually heard by the Louisiana Supreme Court, who ruled in favor of the women. The landmark ruling represents an early legal victory against legislation requiring segregation on the basis of race.

A vintage document titled Mayorality of New Orleans dated 1917, detailing city ordinances. The text is typewritten with handwritten annotations in blue and red ink. The document includes several numbered sections and signatures at the bottom.

City ordinance restricting prostitution by women of color to the district bound by Perdido, Gravier, S. Franklin, and Locust Streets, February 7, 1917, by the Commission Council of the City of New Orleans and the Mayoralty of New Orleans. Courtesy of Louisiana Division / City Archives, New Orleans Public Library

Willie V. Piazza from Sporting Guide, of the Tenderloin Distrct [sic] of New Orleans, La., 1902. HNOC, 1969.19.3

City of New Orleans v. Willie V. Piazza, 1917. HNOC, the William Russell Jazz Collection, acquisition made possible by the Clarisse Claiborne Grima Fund, MSS 536, 92-48-L.255

Sweetie Miller worked in the employ of Piazza and was one of the many women of color who appealed to the Louisiana Supreme Court in their fight against the racial segregation of Storyville.

City of New Orleans v. Sweetie Miller et als., 1917. HNOC, the William Russell Jazz Collection, acquisition made possible by the Clarisse Claiborne Grima Fund, MSS 536, 92-48-L.256

After Storyville

Business sharply declined for madams after the District’s closure, forcing some of them to auction the contents of their mansions to resolve debts or raise funds to relocate. Although the madam Willie V. Piazza (1865–1932), also known as the “Countess,” was said to have auctioned her white grand piano at this time, she had amassed a considerable fortune and lived comfortably in her former brothel at 317 N. Basin until her death in 1932. Her story was an exception, however, and as the majority of madams left and houses closed, the Storyville neighborhood sank into poverty. It was considered a slum when the Housing Authority of New Orleans purchased much of the area during the late 1930s for construction of the Iberville Housing Project.

Throughout her long career, Lulu White crossed paths with the law many times. The charges against her included assault, attempted murder, and trafficking in underage girls, but her lawyers usually managed to have charges reduced or dropped. Once Storyville closed, White’s influence, as well as much of her fortune, vanished. She was charged repeatedly for continuing to run a brothel under the guise of a hotel, in violation of the ordinance abolishing the District.

In 1922, during Prohibition, she was convicted for possessing and selling liquor from her saloon at 241 N. Basin, a portion of which still stands. White lived at various addresses in and around the former Storyville for the remainder of her life, racking up arrests for numerous violations along the way. In 1929 she sold Mahogany Hall and her saloon to Leon Heymann, owner of Krauss Department Store. Ill, destitute, and awaiting another trial on charges of running a disorderly house, or brothel, White died in 1931.

City of New Orleans v. Lulu White, March 1918. HNOC, 77-1486-RL

235 N. Basin Street, formerly Lulu White’s Mahogany Hall, 1943, gelatin silver print. HNOC, the William Russell Jazz Collection, acquisition made possible by the Clarisse Claiborne Grima Fund, MSS 520, 92-48-L.69

331–33 N. Basin Street, formerly Emma Johnson’s brothel, 1935, gelatin silver print by J. Wallace Paletou, Inc. HNOC, gift of Clara duChiron Paletou, 92-32-L.1

Auction notice for sale of furniture and household goods from Lulu White’s Mahogany Hall, from the New Orleans Times-Picayune, March 16, 1919. HNOC, LI-000287.1

Auction notice for sale of furniture and household goods from May Spencer’s brothel at 315 N. Basin Street, from New Orleans Times-Picayune, April 23, 1919. HNOC, LI-000287.2

Two sepia-toned aerial photographs depict a densely packed urban landscape, showcasing tightly clustered rows of buildings. The images highlight the uniform architectural style and grid pattern of the streets, set against a distant industrial backdrop.

The Iberville Housing Project, completed in 1941 and occupying the greater part of Storyville’s footprint, grew out of state legislation in 1936 (authorizing slum clearance) and the United States Housing Act of 1937 (providing federal assistance to construct housing for low-income residents of cities). The program was segregated, and the African American counterpart of Iberville, which was for whites only, was the nearby Lafitte Housing Project, built about the same time. Iberville’s 75 two- and three-story residential buildings contained 858 apartments. During the 1960s, Iberville’s viability was affected by the exodus of many residents to the suburbs, the construction of an elevated expressway a block from its northern perimeter, and diminishing federal support for maintenance. By 2011, only 441 of its units were occupied. A recent infusion of federal funding has prompted a new round of rehabilitation, involving the renovation of some of the historic buildings and the construction of new multifamily and townhouse buildings. In 2015 the Iberville Public Housing Development Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Aerial view of Iberville Housing Project, 1944, gelatin silver print by Charles L. Franck photographers. HNOC, the Charles L. Franck Studio Collection, 1979.89.7578

Storyville & Popular Memory

The legend of Storyville has remained firmly ensconced in popular memory long after the official closure of the district in 1917. Over the years, stories about the District have repeatedly appeared in music, film and the arts. The local tourism industry has also attempted to profit off this history, publishing, and selling facsimile blue books.

From the Scarlet Past of Fabulous New Orleans, 1951, by Thurman W. Reeves. HNOC, 77-1371-RL

The Blue Book Guide to Pleasure for Visitors to the Gay City, 1963. HNOC, the William Russell Jazz Collection, acquisition made possible by the Clarisse Claiborne Grima Fund, MSS 536, 92-48-L.62.483

Blue Book, Tenderloin “400,” 1970s, by Institute of Louisiana Music and Folklore New Orleans. HNOC, gift of Friends of Jefferson Public Library, 2003.0268

Filmed in New Orleans and released in 1978, Pretty Baby was a tribute to New Orleans’s fabled red-light district by French filmmaker Louis Malle (1932–1995). It was controversial in its depiction of an underage prostitute, Violet, played by Brooke Shields (who was only twelve years old at the time of filming), and for its advertising campaign, which emphasized Shields’s youth in a sexually charged setting. Susan Sarandon starred as Violet’s mother, also a prostitute, and Keith Carradine played a character named “Papa” Bellocq, very loosely based on photographer Ernest J. Bellocq. The title comes from the 1916 hit song by New Orleans pianist Tony Jackson.

Pretty Baby screenplay, March 22, 1977, by Polly Platt. HNOC, gift of Gary Hendershott, 2015.0221.3

Pretty Baby movie poster, 1978, offset lithography by Paramount Pictures. HNOC, 2014.0506.95