BAYOU ST. JOHN: ACTING UP AGAIN
"Water hyacinths blocking a steam boat on a bayou in Louisiana in 1920." October 25, 1920, photo from Louisiana Works Progress...
WPA PHOTO COLLECTION DETOUR
For the past few weeks, I've been searching for images to use in the bayou book—combing the digital holdings of the Library of Congress,...
BSJ's STUBBORN SHIPYARDS
In the 1920s and ‘30s, thanks in no small part to the New Deal, Bayou St. John got a huge makeover. No more mudflats and sunken garbage!...
A BRIDGE'S MANY LIVES
Did you know that the historic, blue-tinted bridge spanning Bayou St. John across from Cabrini High School—colloquially referred to as...
INVISIBLE ISLANDS
In 1907, then Mayor Martin Behrman made a formal offer on behalf of the city for “four small islands” in Bayou St. John. When I first...
BAYOU ST. JOHN: SILENT FILM STAR
Did you know Bayou St. John once had a career in silent film? It’s true—our bayou served as the outdoor set to a number of films shot in...
WHAT THE BAYOU REMEMBERS
First, a couple quick notes: *The author is desperately hoping that the lovely woman who approached her at the Studio in the Woods’...
THE MESMERISM OF VIRGINIA REED, PT. III
At last, we come to the surprising final act in the saga of Virginia Reed and Charles E. Letten. Finally we get to hear Reed herself...
THE MESMERISM OF VIRGINIA REED, PART III
Part two of the Virginia Reed embezzlement scandal (for part one, click here) involves our beloved bayou. Here’s what we know so far:...
THE MESMERISM OF VIRGINIA REED
If you take gender and race relations of early twentieth-century New Orleans and add a healthy dose of drama, you get the story of...
