Ernest Nathan Morial
Encyclopedia
Ernest Nathan Morial (October 9, 1929–December 24, 1989) was a U.S. political figure and a leading civil rights
advocate. He was the first black mayor of New Orleans, serving from 1978 to 1986. He was the father of former New Orleans mayor Marc Morial
.
ancestry and grew up in the Seventh Ward
. His father was Walter Etienne Morial, a cigarmaker, and his mother was Leonie V. (Moore) Morial, a seamstress. He attended Holy Redeemer Elementary School
and McDonogh #35 Senior High School
. He graduated from Xavier University of Louisiana
in New Orleans, Louisiana
in 1951. In 1954, he became the first African American
to receive a law degree from Louisiana State University
in Baton Rouge. Morial attended summer school throughout his law school tenure in order to graduate as the first African American. Had he not done so, another classmate, Robert F. Collins, would have graduated at the same time, thus entering into the history books as, technically, the first African American graduate of LSU Law, by virtue of his last name: "C" comes before "M." Collins would later become the first black federal judge in the south.
Morial came to prominence as a lawyer fighting to dismantle segregation
and as president of the local NAACP from 1962 to 1965. He followed in the cautious style of his mentor A.P. Tureaud in preferring to fight for civil rights
in courtroom battles rather than through sit-ins and demonstrations. After unsuccessful electoral races in 1959 and 1963, he became the first black member of the Louisiana State Legislature
since Reconstruction when he was elected in 1967 to represent a district in New Orleans' Uptown neighborhood
. He ran for an at-large position on New Orleans' City Council in 1969–1970 and lost narrowly. He then became the first black Juvenile Court judge in Louisiana in 1970. When he was elected to the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal
in 1974, he was the first black American to have attained this position as well.
In 1955, he married Sybil Haydel, later to become an accomplished professional in her own right and, ultimately, a dean of Xavier University College. The couple had two sons, Marc
and Jacques, and three daughters, Julie, Cheri, and Monique.
he became the first African American
mayor
of New Orleans by defeating City Councilman Joseph V. DiRosa by a vote of 90,500 to 84,300. Morial won with 95 percent of the black vote and 20 percent of the white vote, which came mainly from middle and upper class Uptown
precincts. He won this election without the support of major local black political organizations, like SOUL and COUP. During most of the election campaign, Morial was viewed by most commentators as a spoiler candidate with little chance of victory. The two established 'serious candidates' — Nat Kiefer
and Toni Morrison
(liberal son of former mayor DeLesseps S. "Chep" Morrison) — came in third and fourth respectively.
Morial was a polarizing figure as mayor of New Orleans. Possessing a confrontational and abrasive personality, Morial was often accused by critics of being pompous, arrogant, vindictive and ruthless toward his political opponents. Morial and his supporters countered that he was a confident and decisive leader, and that he was being held to a different and harsher standard than previous white mayors with a similar style.
Morial waged long-standing political battles with the City Council, led by his archrival Sidney Barthelemy
, and with COUP, Barthelemy’s political organization. He spent much of his time as mayor trying to increase the strength and influence of the mayor's office over independent, state-chartered governmental bodies, like the Sewerage and Water Board
and the Dock Board (the supervisory body for the Port of New Orleans
), an effort he described as a democratization of city governance. He built a powerful patronage machine using unclassified city employees and used it to defeat opponents in the state legislature
— including Hank Braden, Louis Charbonnet, and Nick Connor — by personally sponsoring little-known challengers.
In his first term, Morial faced a sanitation workers’ strike and a police strike which led him to cancel the 1979 Mardi Gras
parade season. The police union wagered, among its membership, that a strike coinciding with Mardi Gras would force the city to grant many of their demands, but Morial refused to give in and was supported by leaders of many of the city's Carnival krewe
s. The New Orleans krewes either canceled their parades that year or moved them to suburbs in other parishes
. Emblematic of Morial’s hard-line stance toward the police strikers was the Napoleonic gesture he made by placing his arm inside his coat and striking a characteristically pugnacious pose at the announcement that he was canceling Mardi Gras.
Most of Morial's achievements occurred in his first term as mayor. Expanding upon the efforts of his predecessor Moon Landrieu
, Morial redoubled the city's commitment to affirmative action in hiring city workers and introduced minority hiring quotas for city contractors. The proportion of black employees on the city's workforce increased from 40% in 1977 to 53% in 1985 under Morial’s tenure. Under Morial’s administration the number of black officers in the NOPD was increased to make up one third of the force. But continued incidents of police brutality — most notably the police killing of four blacks in Algiers in 1980 — damaged Morial’s reputation in the black community.
Morial was responsible for getting federal Urban Development Action Grant (UDAG) funding for several major projects, including Canal Place and the Jax Brewery
development in the French Quarter. He continued to support previous mayor Moon Landrieu
’s emphasis on tourism and tried to diversify the economy by developing the Almonaster-Michoud Industrial District in New Orleans East, now called the New Orleans Regional Business Park. Downtown New Orleans
underwent an impressive building boom, with multiple office towers constructed to house the headquarters, or large regional offices, for companies such as Freeport-McMoRan
, Pan American Life Insurance
, Exxon
, Chevron
, Gulf Oil
, Amoco
, Mobil
, Murphy Oil
and Texaco
. By the mid-80s these firms, with other large employers, such as Royal Dutch Shell
, Louisiana Land and Exploration and McDermott International, employed thousands of white collar workers downtown, with thousands more employed by others providing services to them. Due to a multitude of factors, including the Oil Bust (1986)
, inexorable corporate mergers and downsizings, and less-than-effective support from subsequent administrations' economic development departments, none of these firms, or their successors, maintain a large presence in New Orleans today — apart from Shell
and Pan American Life Insurance.
By Morial's second term the city's economy was slowing and increased conflict with the City Council led to a decrease in the ability of the Morial administration to govern effectively. The 1984 World's Fair
, which transpired midway through Morial's second term, was an embarrassing financial debacle that was negatively remarked upon nationally. The World's Fair declared bankruptcy while still operating and failed to pay many contractors, mortally wounding numerous New Orleans-based design and construction companies. More generally, the financial failure of the World's Fair severely undermined the community's morale and ominously presaged the hard times of 1986's Oil Bust.
After serving two terms as mayor, Morial was prevented by the city charter from seeking a third term. He twice tried to convince voters to change the charter to allow him to run again, but both proposals were soundly defeated. In his last months as mayor, he surprised political observers by seeking a City Council seat for District D. His unexpectedly poor showing in the Council primary led to his withdrawal from the runoff.
Morial’s political strength did not end after he left City Hall in 1986. He considered running for mayor again in the election of 1990
, and his sudden death in 1989 during the election campaign influenced Mayor Barthelemy’s re-election, since Morial died before he could endorse an opponent.
in 1992 for the late mayor. The convention center has been a major economic engine for the city's large tourist industry and, in 2005, became a highly publicized national symbol when it served as a makeshift evacuation center in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
In 1997, the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center posthumously honored Morial with the dedication of the Ernest N. Morial Asthma, Allergy and Respiratory Disease Center. The facility is Louisiana's first comprehensive center for the education, prevention, treatment and research of asthma and other respiratory diseases. "Dutch" suffered and eventually died from complications associated with asthma.
Morial was the 23rd general president of Alpha Phi Alpha
, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter
organization
established for African Americans.
In 1993, Morial was named one of the first thirteen inductees into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame
in Winnfield
, the first African American so honored.
A public school
in New Orleans East
was named after him: Ernest N. Morial Elementary.
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
advocate. He was the first black mayor of New Orleans, serving from 1978 to 1986. He was the father of former New Orleans mayor Marc Morial
Marc Morial
Marc Haydel Morial is an American political and civic leader and the current president of the National Urban League. Morial served as mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana from 1994 to 2002. He is married to Michelle Miller, who has won awards as a CBS News Correspondent.- Early life and educations...
.
Early life and career
Morial was born in New Orleans of CreoleLouisiana Creole people
Louisiana Creole people refers to those who are descended from the colonial settlers in Louisiana, especially those of French and Spanish descent. The term was first used during colonial times by the settlers to refer to those who were born in the colony, as opposed to those born in the Old World...
ancestry and grew up in the Seventh Ward
7th Ward of New Orleans
The 7th Ward is a section of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is geographically the second largest of the 17 Wards of New Orleans, after the 9th Ward.-Boundaries and geography:...
. His father was Walter Etienne Morial, a cigarmaker, and his mother was Leonie V. (Moore) Morial, a seamstress. He attended Holy Redeemer Elementary School
Institute Catholique
The Institute Catholique, also known as the Catholic School for Indigent Orphans or the "Ecole Des Orphelins Indigents" was a school founded in the Fauborg Marigny district of New Orleans in 1840 dedicated to providing a free education to African-American orphans. It was the first school in the...
and McDonogh #35 Senior High School
McDonogh No. 35 Senior High School
McDonogh No. 35 Senior High School was the first high school for African-American pupils in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. Prior to 1917, during the era of segregated school systems in the Southern US, no public high school existed in New Orleans for African-American pupils...
. He graduated from Xavier University of Louisiana
Xavier University of Louisiana
Xavier University of Louisiana , located in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the United States, is a private, coeducational, liberal arts college with the distinction of being the only historically black Roman Catholic institution of higher education...
in New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
in 1951. In 1954, he became the first African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
to receive a law degree from Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
in Baton Rouge. Morial attended summer school throughout his law school tenure in order to graduate as the first African American. Had he not done so, another classmate, Robert F. Collins, would have graduated at the same time, thus entering into the history books as, technically, the first African American graduate of LSU Law, by virtue of his last name: "C" comes before "M." Collins would later become the first black federal judge in the south.
Morial came to prominence as a lawyer fighting to dismantle segregation
Jim Crow laws
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They mandated de jure racial segregation in all public facilities, with a supposedly "separate but equal" status for black Americans...
and as president of the local NAACP from 1962 to 1965. He followed in the cautious style of his mentor A.P. Tureaud in preferring to fight for civil rights
African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)
The African-American Civil Rights Movement refers to the movements in the United States aimed at outlawing racial discrimination against African Americans and restoring voting rights to them. This article covers the phase of the movement between 1955 and 1968, particularly in the South...
in courtroom battles rather than through sit-ins and demonstrations. After unsuccessful electoral races in 1959 and 1963, he became the first black member of the Louisiana State Legislature
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
since Reconstruction when he was elected in 1967 to represent a district in New Orleans' Uptown neighborhood
Uptown New Orleans
Uptown is a section of New Orleans, Louisiana on the East Bank of the Mississippi River encompassing a number of neighborhoods between the French Quarter and the Jefferson Parish line. It remains an area of mixed residential and small commercial properties, with a wealth of 19th century architecture...
. He ran for an at-large position on New Orleans' City Council in 1969–1970 and lost narrowly. He then became the first black Juvenile Court judge in Louisiana in 1970. When he was elected to the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal
Louisiana Circuit Courts of Appeal
The Louisiana Circuit Courts of Appeal are the intermediate appellate courts for the state of Louisiana.There are five circuits, each covering a different group of parishes...
in 1974, he was the first black American to have attained this position as well.
In 1955, he married Sybil Haydel, later to become an accomplished professional in her own right and, ultimately, a dean of Xavier University College. The couple had two sons, Marc
Marc Morial
Marc Haydel Morial is an American political and civic leader and the current president of the National Urban League. Morial served as mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana from 1994 to 2002. He is married to Michelle Miller, who has won awards as a CBS News Correspondent.- Early life and educations...
and Jacques, and three daughters, Julie, Cheri, and Monique.
Morial as mayor
In the election of 1977New Orleans mayoral election, 1977
The New Orleans mayoral election of 1977 resulted in the election of Ernest Morial as the first African-American mayor of New Orleans.- Background :...
he became the first African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of New Orleans by defeating City Councilman Joseph V. DiRosa by a vote of 90,500 to 84,300. Morial won with 95 percent of the black vote and 20 percent of the white vote, which came mainly from middle and upper class Uptown
Uptown New Orleans
Uptown is a section of New Orleans, Louisiana on the East Bank of the Mississippi River encompassing a number of neighborhoods between the French Quarter and the Jefferson Parish line. It remains an area of mixed residential and small commercial properties, with a wealth of 19th century architecture...
precincts. He won this election without the support of major local black political organizations, like SOUL and COUP. During most of the election campaign, Morial was viewed by most commentators as a spoiler candidate with little chance of victory. The two established 'serious candidates' — Nat Kiefer
Nat G. Kiefer
- Political career :Mr. Kiefer of New Orleans carried a brash style into the Louisiana State Senate to become one of Gov. Edwin Edwards' most effective floor leaders. He was instrumental in the construction of the Lakefront Arena.-Family:...
and Toni Morrison
DeLesseps Morrison, Jr.
deLesseps Story "Toni" Morrison, Jr. , the older son of four-term New Orleans Mayor DeLesseps Story "Chep" Morrison, Sr. , was an American attorney and international business consultant who was a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1974–1980...
(liberal son of former mayor DeLesseps S. "Chep" Morrison) — came in third and fourth respectively.
Morial was a polarizing figure as mayor of New Orleans. Possessing a confrontational and abrasive personality, Morial was often accused by critics of being pompous, arrogant, vindictive and ruthless toward his political opponents. Morial and his supporters countered that he was a confident and decisive leader, and that he was being held to a different and harsher standard than previous white mayors with a similar style.
Morial waged long-standing political battles with the City Council, led by his archrival Sidney Barthelemy
Sidney Barthelemy
Sidney John Barthelemy is a former American political figure. He served as Democratic mayor of New Orleans from 1986 to 1994...
, and with COUP, Barthelemy’s political organization. He spent much of his time as mayor trying to increase the strength and influence of the mayor's office over independent, state-chartered governmental bodies, like the Sewerage and Water Board
Drainage in New Orleans
Drainage in New Orleans, Louisiana has been a major concern since the founding of the city in the early 18th century, remaining an important factor in the history of New Orleans through today....
and the Dock Board (the supervisory body for the Port of New Orleans
Port of New Orleans
The Port of New Orleans is a port located in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the 1st in the United States based on volume of cargo handled, second-largest in the state after the Port of South Louisiana, and 13th largest in the U.S. based on value of cargo...
), an effort he described as a democratization of city governance. He built a powerful patronage machine using unclassified city employees and used it to defeat opponents in the state legislature
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
— including Hank Braden, Louis Charbonnet, and Nick Connor — by personally sponsoring little-known challengers.
In his first term, Morial faced a sanitation workers’ strike and a police strike which led him to cancel the 1979 Mardi Gras
New Orleans Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana, is a Carnival celebration well-known throughout the world.The New Orleans Carnival season, with roots in preparing for the start of the Christian season of Lent, starts after Twelfth Night, on Epiphany . It is a season of parades, balls , and king cake parties...
parade season. The police union wagered, among its membership, that a strike coinciding with Mardi Gras would force the city to grant many of their demands, but Morial refused to give in and was supported by leaders of many of the city's Carnival krewe
Krewe
A krewe is an organization that puts on a parade and or a ball for the Carnival season. The term is best known for its association with New Orleans Mardi Gras, but is also used in other Carnival celebrations around the Gulf of Mexico, such as the Gasparilla Pirate Festival in Tampa, Florida, and...
s. The New Orleans krewes either canceled their parades that year or moved them to suburbs in other parishes
New Orleans metropolitan area
New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner, or the Greater New Orleans Region is a metropolitan area designated by the United States Census encompassing seven parishes in the state of Louisiana, centering on the city of New Orleans...
. Emblematic of Morial’s hard-line stance toward the police strikers was the Napoleonic gesture he made by placing his arm inside his coat and striking a characteristically pugnacious pose at the announcement that he was canceling Mardi Gras.
Most of Morial's achievements occurred in his first term as mayor. Expanding upon the efforts of his predecessor Moon Landrieu
Moon Landrieu
Maurice Edwin "Moon" Landrieu is a Democratic politician from Louisiana who served as Mayor of New Orleans from 1970–1978. He also is a former judge...
, Morial redoubled the city's commitment to affirmative action in hiring city workers and introduced minority hiring quotas for city contractors. The proportion of black employees on the city's workforce increased from 40% in 1977 to 53% in 1985 under Morial’s tenure. Under Morial’s administration the number of black officers in the NOPD was increased to make up one third of the force. But continued incidents of police brutality — most notably the police killing of four blacks in Algiers in 1980 — damaged Morial’s reputation in the black community.
Morial was responsible for getting federal Urban Development Action Grant (UDAG) funding for several major projects, including Canal Place and the Jax Brewery
Jackson Brewery
Jackson Brewery, commonly known as Jax Brewery by locals, is a building in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, containing shops and restaurants and primarily frequented by tourists. Constructed in 1891, it originally was the central brewery for Jax Beer, and in the 1960s was the...
development in the French Quarter. He continued to support previous mayor Moon Landrieu
Moon Landrieu
Maurice Edwin "Moon" Landrieu is a Democratic politician from Louisiana who served as Mayor of New Orleans from 1970–1978. He also is a former judge...
’s emphasis on tourism and tried to diversify the economy by developing the Almonaster-Michoud Industrial District in New Orleans East, now called the New Orleans Regional Business Park. Downtown New Orleans
New Orleans Central Business District
The Central Business District is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the French Quarter/CBD Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Iberville, Decatur and Canal Streets to the north, the Mississippi River to the east, the New Orleans Morial...
underwent an impressive building boom, with multiple office towers constructed to house the headquarters, or large regional offices, for companies such as Freeport-McMoRan
Freeport-McMoRan
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., often called simply Freeport, is the world's lowest-cost copper producer and one of the world's largest producers of gold...
, Pan American Life Insurance
Pan American Life Center
The Pan American Life Building, located at 601 Poydras Street in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, is a 28-story, -tall high-rise building. Designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, it was built in 1980 as the headquarters for the Pan-American Life Insurance Co.In December...
, Exxon
ExxonMobil
Exxon Mobil Corporation or ExxonMobil, is an American multinational oil and gas corporation. It is a direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company, and was formed on November 30, 1999, by the merger of Exxon and Mobil. Its headquarters are in Irving, Texas...
, Chevron
Chevron Corporation
Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation headquartered in San Ramon, California, United States and active in more than 180 countries. It is engaged in every aspect of the oil, gas, and geothermal energy industries, including exploration and production; refining,...
, Gulf Oil
Gulf Oil
Gulf Oil was a major global oil company from the 1900s to the 1980s. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies...
, Amoco
Amoco
Amoco Corporation, originally Standard Oil Company , was a global chemical and oil company, founded in 1889 around a refinery located in Whiting, Indiana, United States....
, Mobil
Mobil
Mobil, previously known as the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, was a major American oil company which merged with Exxon in 1999 to form ExxonMobil. Today Mobil continues as a major brand name within the combined company, as well as still being a gas station sometimes paired with their own store or On...
, Murphy Oil
Murphy Oil
Murphy Oil Corporation is an international oil and gas company, founded in 1944 as C.H. Murphy & Co by Charle H Murphy Sr., that conducts business through various operating subsidiaries. Murphy produces oil and/or natural gas in the United States, Canada, Malaysia, the United Kingdom and Republic...
and Texaco
Texaco
Texaco is the name of an American oil retail brand. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owns the Havoline motor oil brand....
. By the mid-80s these firms, with other large employers, such as Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...
, Louisiana Land and Exploration and McDermott International, employed thousands of white collar workers downtown, with thousands more employed by others providing services to them. Due to a multitude of factors, including the Oil Bust (1986)
1980s oil glut
The 1980s oil glut was a serious surplus of crude oil caused by falling demand following the 1970s Energy Crisis. The world price of oil, which had peaked in 1980 at over US$35 per barrel , fell in 1986 from $27 to below $10...
, inexorable corporate mergers and downsizings, and less-than-effective support from subsequent administrations' economic development departments, none of these firms, or their successors, maintain a large presence in New Orleans today — apart from Shell
One Shell Square
One Shell Square is a 51-story, skyscraper designed in the International style by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, located at 701 Poydras Street in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the tallest building in both the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana. The...
and Pan American Life Insurance.
By Morial's second term the city's economy was slowing and increased conflict with the City Council led to a decrease in the ability of the Morial administration to govern effectively. The 1984 World's Fair
1984 Louisiana World Exposition
The 1984 Louisiana World Exposition was a World's Fair held in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was held 100 years after the city's earlier World's Fair, the World Cotton Centennial in 1884. It opened on Saturday, May 12, 1984 and ended on Sunday, November 11, 1984...
, which transpired midway through Morial's second term, was an embarrassing financial debacle that was negatively remarked upon nationally. The World's Fair declared bankruptcy while still operating and failed to pay many contractors, mortally wounding numerous New Orleans-based design and construction companies. More generally, the financial failure of the World's Fair severely undermined the community's morale and ominously presaged the hard times of 1986's Oil Bust.
After serving two terms as mayor, Morial was prevented by the city charter from seeking a third term. He twice tried to convince voters to change the charter to allow him to run again, but both proposals were soundly defeated. In his last months as mayor, he surprised political observers by seeking a City Council seat for District D. His unexpectedly poor showing in the Council primary led to his withdrawal from the runoff.
Morial’s political strength did not end after he left City Hall in 1986. He considered running for mayor again in the election of 1990
New Orleans mayoral election, 1990
The New Orleans mayoral election of 1990 resulted in the reelection of Sidney Barthelemy to a second term as mayor of New Orleans.- Background :...
, and his sudden death in 1989 during the election campaign influenced Mayor Barthelemy’s re-election, since Morial died before he could endorse an opponent.
Morial’s legacy
New Orleans renamed its convention center, which spans over 10 blocks, the Ernest N. Morial Convention CenterErnest N. Morial Convention Center
The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center is in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The lower end of building one is located upriver from Canal Street on the banks of the Mississippi River. It is named after former Mayor of New Orleans Ernest N. Morial...
in 1992 for the late mayor. The convention center has been a major economic engine for the city's large tourist industry and, in 2005, became a highly publicized national symbol when it served as a makeshift evacuation center in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
In 1997, the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center posthumously honored Morial with the dedication of the Ernest N. Morial Asthma, Allergy and Respiratory Disease Center. The facility is Louisiana's first comprehensive center for the education, prevention, treatment and research of asthma and other respiratory diseases. "Dutch" suffered and eventually died from complications associated with asthma.
Morial was the 23rd general president of Alpha Phi Alpha
Alpha Phi Alpha
Alpha Phi Alpha is the first Inter-Collegiate Black Greek Letter fraternity. It was founded on December 4, 1906 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Its founders are known as the "Seven Jewels". Alpha Phi Alpha developed a model that was used by the many Black Greek Letter Organizations ...
, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter
Greek alphabet
The Greek alphabet is the script that has been used to write the Greek language since at least 730 BC . The alphabet in its classical and modern form consists of 24 letters ordered in sequence from alpha to omega...
organization
Fraternities and sororities
Fraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
established for African Americans.
In 1993, Morial was named one of the first thirteen inductees into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame
Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame
The Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield, Louisiana, highlights the careers of more than a hundred of the state’s leading politicians and political journalists. Because three governors, Huey P. Long, Jr., Oscar K...
in Winnfield
Winnfield, Louisiana
Winnfield is a city in and the parish seat of Winn Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,749 at the 2000 census. It has long been associated with the Long faction of the Louisiana Democratic Party and was home to three governors of Louisiana.-Geography:Winnfield is located at ...
, the first African American so honored.
A public school
New Orleans Public Schools
New Orleans Public Schools is a public school system that serves all of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Schools within the system are governed by a multitude of entities, including the Orleans Parish School Board , which directly administers 4 schools and has granted charters to another 12,...
in New Orleans East
Eastern New Orleans
Eastern New Orleans is a large section of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. Developed extensively from the 1960s onwards, it was originally marketed as "suburban-style living within the city limits", and has much in common with the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans...
was named after him: Ernest N. Morial Elementary.
Sources
- Biographical Dictionary of American Mayors, 1820-1980. Greenwood Press, 1981.
- DuBos, Clancy. “As an opponent, he had no equal.” Gambit Weekly, January 1, 1991.
- Hirsch, Arnold and Joseph Logsdon. Creole New Orleans: Race and Americanization. LSU Press, 1992.
- Hirsch, Arnold. "Harold and Dutch Revisited: A Comparative Look at the First Black Mayors of Chicago and New Orleans." in African-American Mayors: Race, Politics, and the American City. Edited by David Colburn and Jeffrey Adler. University of Illinois Press, 2001.
- Johnson, Allen, Jr. “The Morial Years: Highs and Lows.” New Orleans Tribune, May 1986.
- Whelan, Robert K., Alma Young, and Mickey Lauria. Urban Regimes and Racial Politics: New Orleans during the Barthelemy Years. UNO, 1991.