City of a Million Dreams Works by Jason berry Render unto Rome: The Secret Life of Money in the Catholic Church Earl Long in Purgatory (Stage Play) Last of the Red Hot Poppas (Novel) Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II (With Gerald Renner) Louisiana Faces: Images of a Renaissance (With photographs by Philip Gould) The Spirit of Black Hawk: A Mystery of Africans and Indians Lead Us Not into Temptation: Catholic Priests and the Sexual Abuse of Children Up from the Cradle of Jazz: New Orleans Music since World War II (With Jonathan Foose and Tad Jones) Amazing Grace: With Charles Evers in Mississippi JASON BERRY City of a Million Dreams A History of New Orleans 300 at Year The UniversiTy of norTh Carolina Press Chapel Hill © 2018 Jason Berry All rights reserved Designed by Kimberly Bryant Set in Miller and Desire Pro by Tseng Information Systems, Inc. Manufactured in the United States of America The University of North Carolina Press has been a member of the Green Press Initiative since 2003. Jacket illustrations: Front, “Creole Dancer” (NOL04), © Herman Leonard Photography, LLC; back, Louis Armstrong and Leon René, author’s collection, gift of the late Leon René. Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Names: Berry, Jason, author. Title: City of a million dreams : a history of New Orleans at year 300 / Jason Berry. Description: Chapel Hill : The University of North Carolina Press, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: lCCn 2018020837 | isbn 9781469647142 (cloth : alk. paper) | isbn 9781469647159 (ebook) Subjects: lCsh: New Orleans (La.)—History. Classification: lCC f379.n557 b47 2018 | DDC 976.3/35—dc23 lC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018020837 For Melanie McKay, my wife and soul mate, with love and gratitude. And in memory of Kenny M. Charbonnet: paterfamilias, attorney, godfather of my youngest. Jeff Gillenkirk, “Lefty”: author, social critic. Hoya Saxa. The past is not decent or orderly, it is made up and devious. The man was correct when he said it’s not even past. —roberT Pinsky, “GUlf MUsiC” ConTenTs Prologue: In the Hum of a B- flat City 1 1 Bienville: Journey into the Interior 6 2 St. Maló in the Memory Rings 27 3 The Great Fire and Procession for Carlos III 46 4 City of Migrants 61 5 Claiborne: A City Embattled 78 6 Pirates, Black Soldiers, and the War under Jackson 97 7 The Builder and the Priest 115 8 The Burial Master: Times of Yellow Fever and War 143 9 The Time of Jazz 166 10 Sicilians in the Meld 184 11 Mother Catherine and the Lower Ninth Ward 205 12 Sister Gertrude Morgan: Running for the City 235 13 The Last Days of Danny Barker 257 14 Dr. Michael White and the Widow’s Wail 279 15 After the Flood 298 Acknowledgments 327 Notes 333 Index 391 Galleries of illustrations begin on pages 127 and 219. This page intentionally left blank City of a Million Dreams