Historical_New+Orleans+1940-1950

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Visual- A victory garden in downtown New Orleans

New Orleans in the 1940’s was a decade split by WWII and life after WWII. The beginning of the 1940’s was spent working to aid the war effort in any way possible. There are several pictures that display the New Orleans population waiting at the Rationing Board Office or tending to “victory gardens” (Edey 159). The people of New Orleans did what they could to ensure that WWII could be won, and they kept up morale as much as possible. Nevertheless, the end of WWII was not the end of struggle for New Orleans. In 1947, New Orleans faced one of “four of the most destructive storms of the twentieth history” (McCarragher). The Hurricane of 1947 caused the loss of “fifty-one lives, a flooding of Jefferson Parish, and $100 million in damages to New Orleans.” Its destruction was great, but that did not leave the people of New Orleans wanting. Although the people of New Orleans suffered hell and high water, “ the city grew as a tourist attraction, with hundreds of thousands of annual visitors drawn to its Mardi Gras and to the culture” (“New Orleans”). This “culture” was formed out of the impoverishment from the Post-Depression era and WWII. It was created by writers and playwrights that found the magic in lower classes and integration. The 1940’s were a meager time for the people of New Orleans; it was spent rationing and reviving life after conflict and a hurricane.

Edey, Maitland A. //This Fabulous Century: 1940-1950//. New York: Time-Life Books, 1969. Print.

McCarragher, Barbara. “Hurricanes: History.” //New Orleans Hurricane History//. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, n.d. Web. 2 April 2013.

“New Orleans.” //The History Channel//. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 2 April 2013.