Derby Gisclair

He is also implored for success in lawsuits, hence his popularity in New Orleans. His Feast Day is April 19th.

... was established by the Roman Catholic Church in 1588. Expeditus was included in martyrologies in Italy before 1781. Saint Expédité was initially invoked for urgent cause, but he has since become the patron of dealers, sailors, students, and examinees. (continued)

But was there really a Saint Expédité? A Roman centurion named Expeditus was stationed in Melitene (present day Armenia) when he was beheaded and martyred around April 303 AD for converting to Christianity. He was canonized before the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints ... (continued)

... identify which saint it was. It was labeled "Expedite" (Expédit in French), so the priest and nuns assumed that must be the saint's name. Saint Expédité became quite popular in the city’s folklore and remains so to this day. Another version of the story takes place in France in 1781. (continued)

There is a popular story in New Orleans regarding a large shipment of religious statues of different saints destined for the Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel – also known as the mortuary chapel. One of the shipping cases arrived without a label to ... (continued)

#nolasky #nola #neworleans #history

“In life and in a boxing ring, the defeat is not declared when you fall down. It is declared only when you refuse to get up”
~ Manoj Arora

#quotes #boxing

... the Globe Theatre among others. In 1879 it would be renamed the Grand Opera House and remained until 1906.

... to relocate to Canal Street, shown here in 1874. There was a thriving theatre community. In addition to the Varieties Theatre there was Bidwells' Academy of Music, the St. Charles Theatre, the French Opera House, and ... (continued)

... Gaiety Theatre which was on Gravier Street between Carondelet Street and Baronne Street util it too was destroyed by fire on December 2, 1870. In fact, the theater would be built and rebuilt three times between 1849 and 1871 due to fires. After the last fire, the owners decided ... (continued)

Located on the corner of Canal Street between Dauphine and Burgundy Streets was the Varieties Theatre. It was originally known as Placide’s Varieties when it opened in 1849 and was destroyed by fire on November 21, 1854. Its successor was the ... (continued)

#nolasky #nola #neworleans #history

Thirty tons of dynamite was set off (shown below), releasing 250,000 cubic feet of water per second into St. Bernard and Plaquemine Parish. The event has been the subject of numerous books from authors such as William Faulkner, William Alexander Percy, and John Barry.

... power, city leaders devised a plan proposed by Cline and others to dynamite the levees of the Mississippi River to form a man-made crevasse 13.7 miles below New Orleans at Caernavon to release river water and thus protect the city of New Orleans. (continued)

More than 27,000 square miles were impacted, some up to 30-feet in depth. It was on April 15, 1927, that New Orleans experienced near Biblical torrents of rain which totaled 14.94-inches within a 24-hour period. When the New Orleans Public Service system failed and the city lost ... (continued)

... during which unprecedented high water levels which began with torrential rainfall during the summer of 1926 combined with record snowfall and snow melt in the spring of 1927 that resulted in the most destructive flood in the history of the United States. (continued)

... September 8, 1900. The Weather Bureau was moved to New Orleans in 1901 and Cline relocated there. Whilst in New Orleans, Cline developed and published forecasting models that correctly predicted major flooding events 1912, 1915, and 1927. It was during the Great Flood of 1927 ... (continued)

In 1882, Isaac Monroe Cline joined the meteorology training program of the U.S. Army Signal Corps. In March 1889, he was sent to Galveston to organize the Weather Bureau and was in place during the tragic 1900 hurricane that decimated the city on ... (continued)

#nolasky #nola #neworleans #history

Join us for our next presentation Makin' Groceries at the East Bank Regional Library at 4747 West Napoleon in Metairie on Thursday, March 19, 2026, as Edward Branley and Derby Gisclair take a fun-filled romp through the history of grocery stores in New Orleans.

#nolasky #nola #neworleans #history

“Finishing races is important, but racing is more important.”
~ Dale Earnhardt

#quotes #AutoRacing

... and Decatur Street. The first image dates from 1915 when it was occupied by a United Cigar Store and is one of the oldest buildings still standing on Canal Street. The second image is more recent although the building now houses a restaurant and oyster bar and has been painted a different color.

Not to tread too heavily on my friends’ Edward Branley and Craig Ernst and their wonderful new Facebook group and newsletter NOLA Then & Now Krewe, but I thought you might enjoy a side-by-side of the corner of Canal Street ... (continued)

#nolasky #nola #neworleans #history

For those who may have an interest, The Historic New Orleans Collection has a very fine collection of Blue Books for examination.

"... and the Star is for French.” So begins the gentlemen’s guide to the Tenderloin District “commonly called Anderson County or Storyville.” It all sounds so genteel for when a fella was ready to “go on a lark” he would know “who is who” and the best place to spend his time and money. (continued)

The editor informs the reader that the advertisers “are known as the Cream of Society.” On the right is an introduction to and key for the Blue Book entries. “Names in capitals are Landladies. W in front of a name means White; C stands for colored; OCT for octoroon; J means Jewess; ..." (continued)

A two-page spread from the 1906 Blue Book, the Seventh Edition. On the left is an advertisement for Lamothe’s Restaurant at 137 St. Charles Street. Originally established by Leon Lamothe, it was now operated by his son. (continued)

#nolasky #nola #neworleans #history

“The key to winning baseball games is pitching, fundamentals, and three run homers.”
~ Earl Weaver

#quotes #baseball

Designed by architect J.V. Delpierre, it was published in The American Architect and Building News to promote the event. This image may be found in the Southeastern Architecture Archive of the Tulane University Library. The structure was, of course, eventually taken down.

Much has been made recently concerning the construction of a new arc in the nation’s capital, but here we see an 1889 rendering of a triumphal arch erected to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Bastille Day. (continued)

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... became superintendent of the U.S. Mint. While serving in the US Congress he died in Washington DC on March 15, 1886, from a ruptured blood vessel.

Hahn was severely wounded during the riot at the Mechanic’s Institute in 1866 and briefly left the public eye to recover at his plantation in St. Charles Parish. The city of Hahnville is named in his honor. He returned to public life in 1872 in the state legislature until 1878 when he ...(continued)

... owner-editor of the New Orleans True Delta in whose headlines and columns he promoted his pro-Union policies. Hahn was in office for only a year after which he resigned when the military commander of the Department of the Gulf, Stephen Hurlbut, refused to recognize his position. (continued)