Storyville was the
prostitutionProstitution is the act or practice of engaging in sex acts for hire. In most cultures, prostitution is viewed by many as a deviant profession, either illegal or socially discouraged...
district of
New Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans is a major U.S. port and the largest city in the state of Louisiana. New Orleans is the center of the New Orleans Metropolitan Area, the largest metro area in the state....
, from 1897 through 1917.
Locals usually simply referred to the area as
The District. The nickname
Storyville was in reference to city alderman Sidney Story, who wrote the legislation setting up the district. It was bounded by Iberville,
BasinBasin Street or Rue Basin in French, is a street in New Orleans, Louisiana. It parallels Rampart Street one block lakeside, or inland, from the boundary of the French Quarter, running from Canal Street down 5 blocks past Saint Louis Cemetery...
, St. Louis, and Robertson streets. Most of this former district is now occupied by the
Iberville Housing ProjectsIberville Projects is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans and one of the Housing Projects of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Mid-City District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: St. Louis Street to the north, Basin Street to the east, Iberville Street to...
, two blocks inland from the
French QuarterThe French Quarter, also known as Vieux Carré, is the oldest and most famous neighborhood in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. When La Nouvelle Orléans was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city was originally centered on the French Quarter, or the Vieux Carré as it...
.
The District was set up to limit prostitution to one area of town where authorities could monitor and regulate the practice.
Storyville was the
prostitutionProstitution is the act or practice of engaging in sex acts for hire. In most cultures, prostitution is viewed by many as a deviant profession, either illegal or socially discouraged...
district of
New Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans is a major U.S. port and the largest city in the state of Louisiana. New Orleans is the center of the New Orleans Metropolitan Area, the largest metro area in the state....
, from 1897 through 1917.
Locals usually simply referred to the area as
The District. The nickname
Storyville was in reference to city alderman Sidney Story, who wrote the legislation setting up the district. It was bounded by Iberville,
BasinBasin Street or Rue Basin in French, is a street in New Orleans, Louisiana. It parallels Rampart Street one block lakeside, or inland, from the boundary of the French Quarter, running from Canal Street down 5 blocks past Saint Louis Cemetery...
, St. Louis, and Robertson streets. Most of this former district is now occupied by the
Iberville Housing ProjectsIberville Projects is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans and one of the Housing Projects of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Mid-City District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: St. Louis Street to the north, Basin Street to the east, Iberville Street to...
, two blocks inland from the
French QuarterThe French Quarter, also known as Vieux Carré, is the oldest and most famous neighborhood in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. When La Nouvelle Orléans was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city was originally centered on the French Quarter, or the Vieux Carré as it...
.
The District was set up to limit prostitution to one area of town where authorities could monitor and regulate the practice. In the late 1890s, the New Orleans city government studied the legalized
red light districtsA red-light district is a neighborhood or a part of a neighborhood where businesses connected to the sex industry exist. In some red light districts prostitution may legally take place; other red light districts are known for their illegal prostitution scene...
of northern
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
and
DutchThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
ports and set up Storyville based on such models. Between 1895 and 1915, "blue books" were published in Storyville. These books were guides to prostitution for visitors to the district's services including house descriptions, prices, particular services and the "stock" each house had to offer. The Storyville blue-books were inscribed with the motto: "Order of the Garter: Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense (Shame to Him Who Evil Thinks.)"
Establishments in Storyville ranged from cheap "cribs" to more expensive houses up to a row of elegant mansions along
Basin StreetBasin Street or Rue Basin in French, is a street in New Orleans, Louisiana. It parallels Rampart Street one block lakeside, or inland, from the boundary of the French Quarter, running from Canal Street down 5 blocks past Saint Louis Cemetery...
for well-heeled customers (the term "crib" originated in San Francisco's red-light district). New Orleans' cribs were 50-cent joints, whereas the more expensive establishments could cost up to $10. Black and white brothels coexisted in Storyville; however, black men were barred from legally purchasing services rendered in either black or white brothels. Nonetheless, brothels with black prostitutes serving blacks openly flourished with the full knowledge of the police and other local authorities a short distance uptown from Storyville proper.
The District was adjacent to one of the main railway stations where travelers arrived in the city and became a noted attraction.
JazzJazz is a musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
did not originate in Storyville (it started off as a New Orleans style of music played all over town), but it flourished there as in the rest of the city. Many out-of-town visitors first heard this style of music there before the music spread north. . Some people from elsewhere continue to associate Storyville with the origins of jazz. It was tradition in the better Storyville establishments to hire a piano player and sometimes small bands.
The District was closed down by the federal government (over the strong objections of the New Orleans city government) during
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
in 1917. In regard to prostitution, New Orleans Mayor
Martin BehrmanMartin Behrman , an American Democratic politician, was the longest-serving mayor in New Orleans history.Martin Behrman was born in New York City. His parents brought him to New Orleans as an infant. He lived most of his life in the Algiers neighborhood, on the west bank of the Mississippi River...
pronounced that, "[y]ou can make it illegal, but you can't make it unpopular." After 1917, when Storyville was shut down, separate black and white underground dens of prostitution emerged around the city.
The District continued in a more subdued state as an entertainment center through the 1920s, with various dance halls, cabarets and restaurants.
SpeakeasiesA speakeasy was an establishment which illegally sold alcoholic beverages during the period of United States history known as Prohibition...
,
gamblingGambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods. Typically, the outcome of the wager is evident within a short period....
joints and prostitution were also regularly found in the area despite repeated police raids.
Almost all the buildings in the former District were demolished in the 1930s to clear the land for the building of the
Iberville ProjectsIberville Projects is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans and one of the Housing Projects of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Mid-City District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: St. Louis Street to the north, Basin Street to the east, Iberville Street to...
. While much of the area contained old and decayed buildings, the old mansions along Basin Street, some of the finest structures in the city, were also leveled. The city government wished to do all it could to blot the notorious district from memory. Basin Street was even renamed "North Saratoga" (although the historic name was returned some 20 years later).
A collection of photographs by
E. J. BellocqJohn Ernest Joseph Bellocq was a professional photographer who worked in New Orleans during the early 20th century. Bellocq is remembered for his haunting photographs of the prostitutes of Storyville, New Orleans' legalized red light district...
depicting Storyville prostitutes was published in 1971 under the title
Storyville Portraits.
Films with fictional portrayals of Storyville have included
New OrleansNew Orleans is a 1947 musical drama featuring Billie Holiday as a singing maid and Louis Armstrong as a bandleader; supporting players Holiday and Armstrong perform together and portray a couple becoming romantically involved...
(1947),
Pretty Baby (1978) and
StoryvilleStoryville is a 1992 film directed by Mark Frost and starring James Spader.-Plot:Cray Fowler, a young candidate for the United States Senate is filmed with a hooker as blackmail. As he investigates, Fowler discovers some family secrets involving his father and their political careers....
(1992).
Famous Persons Connected with Storyville
- Tom Anderson
Tom Anderson may refer to:*Tom Anderson , co-founder of MySpace*Tom Anderson , former member of the Alaska State Legislature...
, LouisianaThe State of Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state divided into parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
state legislator
- Josie Arlington
Josie Arlington was a brothel madam in the Storyville district of New Orleans, Louisiana.-Early life:Arlington was born Mary Deubler in New Orleans to German parents. Though very attractive and shrewd, Arlington was known to be short-tempered and violent...
, brothel madam
- Louis Armstrong
Louis Daniel Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
, musician and composer
- E. J. Bellocq
John Ernest Joseph Bellocq was a professional photographer who worked in New Orleans during the early 20th century. Bellocq is remembered for his haunting photographs of the prostitutes of Storyville, New Orleans' legalized red light district...
, photographer
- Buddy Bolden
Charles "Buddy" Bolden was an African American cornetist and is regarded by contemporaries as a key figure in the development of a New Orleans style of rag-time music which later came to be known as jazz.- Life :...
, seminal jazz musician
- Hilma Burt
Hilma Burt was a brothel madam in Storyville, New Orleans during the 1910s. She operated a lavish house of prostitution on Basin street until the district was shut down in 1917. Composer and pianist Jelly Roll Morton was employed by Burt, while still a youth, to entertain customers....
, brothel madam
- Ann Cook, blues singer
- Hattie Hamilton, brothel madam
- Tony Jackson
Anthony Jackson, best known as Tony Jackson was an American pianist, singer, and composer.Jackson was born to a poor African American family in Uptown New Orleans, Louisiana on June 5, 1876. He showed musical talents at a young age...
, musician
- Frank Lamothe, promoter
- Gertie Livingston, brothel madam
- Jelly Roll Morton
Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton was an American ragtime and early jazz pianist, bandleader and composer.Widely recognized as a pivotal figure in early jazz, Morton claimed, in self-promotional hyperbole, to have invented jazz outright in 1902...
, musician and composer
- Jimmie Noone
Jimmie Noone was an American jazz clarinetist.- Background :...
, musician
- Joe "King" Oliver, musician
- Al Rose
Alfred Grady Rose was a tight end in the National Football League who played for the Providence Steam Roller and the Green Bay Packers. Rose played collegiate ball for the University of Texas before playing professionally for 7 seasons. He retired after the 1936 season.-References:...
, author
- May Tuckerman, brothel madam
- Lulu White
Lulu White was a brothel madam, procuress and entrepreneur in New Orleans, Louisiana during the Storyville period.An eccentric figure, she was noted for her love of jewelry, her many failed business ventures, and her rap sheet that extended in New Orleans as far back as 1880.The exact dates of...
, brothel madam
- Minnie White
Minnie White was a Storyville brothel proprietor in the early part of the twentieth century. She operated out of a large mansion at 221 North Basin Street, in New Orleans, Louisiana, between 1907 and 1917. For most or all of that time, she co-owned the structure with another madam, Jessie Brown...
, brothel madam
Further reading
- Storyville, New Orleans by Al Rose, University of Alabama Press, 1978. ISBN 0-8173-4403-9
- The Great Southern Babylon by Alecia P. Long, Louisiana State University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-8071-2932-1