New+Orleans+1940-+1950

Kara Jellesma Audience

New Orleans between 1940 and 1950 was filled with immigrants from all over the world. This lead it to offer new and unique experiences through the city for those that entered the city during that time. Those that were in the city were surrounded by change, in the 1940's NOPSI or New Orleans Public Service Incorporated introduced new ideas of transitioning streetcars into buses during the mid 1940's. This brought around a new and rich culture that could serve as a melting pot for all of the immigrants that were going into the city. The cultures inspired areas all around, leading the still existing street cars to travel through areas such as "Tonti to France, France to Royal Street, and then followed Royal all the way to Canal"(Ramirez). This showed the diversity that spread throughout the city, opening New Orleans up to show its colors to many audiences of different cultures and ethnicities. The city opened up to a plethora of different cultures and races that were all tied together by this transportation that soon began to change in the 1940's, taking them all over the city to experience the other cultures that mixed there. New Orleans served as a mixing pot, and its changing times and new additions and cultures made it an astounding mixture of colors and cultures.

Ramirez, Emily A. "Riding Desire: A Microcosm of Streetcar Loss & Rebirth in New Orleans, Part 1 | New Orleans Historical." //Omeka RSS//. Web. 24 Apr. 2015.

Schmalbach, Heidi. "MEDIA NOLA." //A Streetcar Named Desire @ Media Nola//. Web. 24 Apr. 2015.

Tim Wils

Aim



New Orleans between the time period of 1940 to 1950 was one of the biggest melting pots that this country had ever experienced. It was at this time, where all of those in surrounding areas began to move there along with many different groups of immigrants as well, making it a center for multiculturalism in this country. In fact, “Its reputation of being more accepting and diverse drew immigrants in and made New Orleans one of the oldest multicultural cities in the nation” (“Immigration and Settlement”). There were many cities throughout this time that were thriving, however the main point behind New Orleans was that it attracted people from all walks of life. And with these different variety of groups of people coming together and living in one place, there was a sort of a cultural revolution that at this point was completely and utterly unprecedented. Despite all the hardships after the economic downturn in the 1930s, “the city grew as a tourist attraction, with hundreds of thousands of annual visitors drawn to its [|__Mardi Gras__] festivities and to the culture that had inspired playwright Tennessee Williams, trumpeter Louis Armstrong and chef Jean Galatoire” (“New Orleans”). These people were extremely influential in shaping the culture of the entire country, and this was due to the environment of New Orleans. The city was accepting of people from all different walks of life, and this allowed the city to thrive as a cultural center that was nonexistent otherwise throughout the rest of the country.

“Immigration and Settlement Patterns, New Orleans, 1940”. History Engine. The University of Richmond. Web. 23 April 2015.

“New Orleans”. History. 2010. A&E Networks. Web. 23 April 2015.

Cultural by Katie Walker

New Orleans has been the home of a unique culture since its very inception, acting as not a merely a collection of different cultures, but a combination that is seen in no other city in the United States. It is the place where European and African Cultures combined to form an entirely new way of life, often contradicting social norms in surrounding areas in the process. In the 1940’s immigrants made up a large portion of the city, strengthening the melting-pot culture had already boasted for many years. The diversity of the city resulted in a cultural identity that was not a discordant, frankensteinian mess, but rather a harmonious intertwining (Hirsch and Logsdon 1). The ‘40s were also the period of the jazz revival and the introduction of blues, which came from the combinations of African and European music and jazz and Caribbean music respectively. Mardi Gras was a popular celebration of the decade (and continues to be today), springing from the merging of Haitian ritual, African beliefs, and Catholic pageantry (“New Orleans History” 1). The common ground provided by the city of New Orleans to people of every creed, culture, or race created an entirely new sort of city where all were welcome and integrated not only into daily life, but into the way other people lived (Hirsch and Logsdon 1). While even the city of New Orleans was not immune to the intolerant attitudes emanating from surrounding areas, the history of the city, its large population of well-off creoles, and the general acceptance its citizens fostered provided a sizable counterweight.

Sources:

Hirsch, Arnold R., and Joseph Logsdon. "The People and Culture of New Orleans." New Orleans Online. New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation. Web. 23 Apr. 2015.

"New Orleans History." Tureaud. Web. 23 Apr. 2015.

Cultural by Savannah During the 1940's and 1950's, there was a huge shift in culture in the area. Population was expanding with the end of World War 2 and the increase or returning soldiers and blossoming relationships. Culture in New Orleans was full of jazz music and racial mixing. According to an interview, Ronnie Vergets explained, “I think New Orleans in the ‘50s was just on the threshold of becoming Americanized a little more in the sense of growing suburbs, but there was still the ‘small town’ part of New Orleans and there was still the part where we felt, ‘Hey, we’re different,’ and we liked it" ("New Orleans in" 1). In addition, there was a melting pot of cultures created as immigrants from all over came and settled in New Orleans during this decade. While other cities tended to spread out and clump according to race, New Orleans defined it's culture by remaining mixed. According to The University of Richmond, "it expanded, filled with immigrants, and experienced clumped settling patterns. Although people tended to gravitate towards others of their same ethnicity, New Orleans was unique in that it remained very intermixed and multicultural" ("Immigration and Settlement" 1). New Orleans during this time period was defined by intermixing and growth.

"Immigration and Settlement Patterns, New Orleans, 1940." //History Engine: Tools For Collaborative Education and Research//. University of Richmond, Web. 23 Apr. 2015.

"New Orleans in the 50's." //WYES New Orleans//. WYES New Orleans, Web. 23 Apr. 2015.

Audience by Sophia Phillips

New Orleans in the 1940s offered a unique, though poorer, experience to its diverse inhabitants that was perhaps years ahead of the rest of America. Typical cities in the Southern states had hierarchies existing from pre-Civil War times with white people getting better public facilities and rights while blacks, legally unprotected, were left to the most undesirable conditions. However, remodeling done to the city left desirable property on the outskirts of the city as opposed to the center, and white Americans "fled to the periphery […] because they could afford to leave" ("Immigration and Settlement Patterns, New Orleans, 1940"). This created an unusual arrangement in which the bulk, or majority, of the city primarily consisted of what is usually the minority - poor whites, blacks, and other immigrants. Despite Jim Crow laws that served to separate and oppress African Americans, the prevalence of poverty made such social orders seem irrelevant, and people of many different racial minorities mixed their cultures and histories together as a majority in the mixing pot of New Orleans. Furthermore, the end of World War II sparked an increase in immigration and women's rights, as women entered the workforce and then "often reluctantly, returned to their roles as homemakers" (Bradford). Groups from all over the world came to the US and specifically New Orleans for their rich and welcoming culture, and the women already living there began to fight in earnest for rights the legal and social laws had denied them. In total, New Orleans in the 1940s had a blend of individuals and rich cultures that were rarely allowed together, and enabled them to create a more advanced, free community even under the national pressures of racism and economic elitism.

Works Cited Bradford, Wade. "Setting of 'A Streetcar Named Desire'." About.education. About.com, n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2015.

"Immigration and Settlement Patterns, New Orleans, 1940." History Engine. The University of Richmond, n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2015.

Aim by Sabrina

The birthplace of jazz and home of diversity. Above ground cemeteries and tall vertical churches, vibrant colors and french architecture fill the quarter with a desirable twist, a city that pulses like Europe but resides in America. Its history is rich with Spanish, French, Creole, Cajun, and Native American people that keep its traditions beating on. A large portion of New Orleans residence had immigrated from Europe and Asia intermingling with a variety of cultures and races to form its own originality. The formation of the streetcar allowed for the upper classes to travel outward from the heart of New Orleans. With this innovation “unskilled jobs moved from the periphery to the core of the city, and immigrants began to move into the abandoned town homes, forming what would be called the “Immigrant Belt” (“Immigration and Settlement”). This ended up benefiting immigrants, the unskilled jobs were more centralized thus providing more opportunity for a variety of immigrants searching for the American dream. While jazz and culture led to an abundance of creative expression on Rue and Bourbon street New Orleans had many new movements, “some musicians wanted to re-create [Jazz] music, while others attempted to adapt old music to the newer swing style”(Raeburn). Thus the never ending spirit of the city continues to take flight showing off its alluring qualities found through art, music, and a melting pot of individuals.

"Immigration and Settlement Patterns, New Orleans, 1940." History Engine: Tools for Collaborative Education and Research. Richmond University, n.d. Web. 23 April. 2015.

Raeburn, Bruce. "New Orleans Jazz." The Journal of American History. Organization of American Historians, Dec. 2007. Web. 23 April. 2015.

Historical by Emmalee Mauldin

New Orleans during the 1940’s and 1950’s brought back the city to its’ original jazz history and classic “New Orleans style”. While the nation had turned towards the roaring “swing” style in the 1920’s, the 1940’s brought the city back to its’ roots with jazz. And with the new era of jazz remained the segregation of whites and African American’s, which caused tense relations between the races. Eventually, beginning in 1954, the Civil Rights Movement began and so did the desegregation of America (“Civil Rights Movement...” 1). Before that, however, the Second World War had broken out and taken thousands of young American men from their families to be sent to Europe. The war lasted from 1939 to 1945 and within that time every city in America was affected because citizens, particularly women, were employed to create bombs, planes, and other necessities for the war (“World War II…” 1). In the French Quarters, where A Street Car Named Desire takes place, the streets are dirty, the music is loud, and the community is bustling. New Orleans is in its’ prime once again and the Desire Streetcar had been one of the central means of travel in New Orleans. It travelled throughout New Orleans for over 25 years, until the streetcar got replaced with a bus in 1948 (“Riding Desire: A…” 1). Now the streetcar and the prime of New Orleans is remembered and commemorated in Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire.

Works Cited

Ramirez, Emily A. "Riding Desire: A Microcosm of Streetcar Loss & Rebirth in New Orleans, Part 1 | New Orleans Historical." NewOrleansHisorical.org. University of New Orleans and Tulane University, n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2015.

"Civil Rights Movement." History.com. Ed. Eric Foner and John Garraty. A&E Television Networks, 1991. Web. 23 Apr. 2015.

"World War II in Europe." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 20 June 2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2015.