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Check out our "Hunkering Down" blog, documenting the French Quarter during the time of COVID-19.

Everyday life in an extraordinary neighborhood.

Scroll down for our latest in-depth stories by our FQJ team of writers and photographers.

Our digital journal publishes new stories and features 46 weeks a year. Subscribe to our newsletter for periodic alerts about new pieces.

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Hunkering Down: a blog
life in the French Quarter just became even more unusual

In Hunkering Down, French Quarter Journal writers and photographers explore life in the country's quirkiest neighborhood during the COVID crisis.

Below you'll find our regular features.

Rainbow History

Frances Benjamin Johnson and "Pops" Whitesell in the courtyard of her Bourbon Street house. Photo by FB Johnston, Library of Congress

The Gay Lens: Frances Benjamin Johnston and Pops Whitesell

One the world's early photojournalists chose to close out her extraordinary 70-year career in the French Quarter, in the company of bohemian artists like local photographer Joseph Woodson “Pops” Whitesell.

- by Frank Perez

Quarter Notes

This hotel expansion was slated to be built after the 1856 summer season on Isle Dernier. Rendering by Jim Blanchard

In Memoriam: Lost Lands

Hurricane Laura was the worst storm to hit Louisiana since the one that erased the Island of Derniere in 1856, when thirteen ancestors of the writer perished.

- by Bethany Ewald Bultman
- illustrations courtesy Bethany Ewald Bultman

Sketchbook

Monument to the Immigrant by Franco Alessandrini

Franco Alessandrini: Italian Master Sculptor and His New Orleans Studio

Take a tour of Alessandrini's significant public works along the river and through the Quarter, then visit with the artist in his Howard Avenue studio.

- by Saskia Ozols

Barstool Astrology
Monthly Horoscope

September 2020

As you create your life in a way that is uncompromising, proud, unreasonable and wholly interesting, you cannot possibly fail in any way that matters. The world waits with baited breath for the spectacle of your success.

- by Reda Wigle

Personalities
captivating conversations

Plywood Pop: Josh Wingerter

Philosophy and philanthropy drive the creative process of local artist and "universe kind of cat," Josh Wingerter.

- story by Reda Wigle

Full Plate
Quarter eateries

Palm & Pine Pivots and Perseveres

Flexibility learned as pop-up chefs proves invaluable to restaurant owners Amarys and Jordan Herndon in Palm and Pine's first year.

- story by Kim Ranjbar

Storyboard
photo essays

The Up Stairs Lounge Fire Memorial Service

On the 47th anniversary of an arson fire that killed 32 LGBT+ people in the French Quarter, the weather reflected the mood of the mourners.

photography by Andrew Simoneaux

Lit Life
Writers & Books

C. Morgan Babst, author of The Floating World, was the first author to be featured in the new virtual Salon Series.

New Salon Series Continues Literary Legacy

The literary salon tradition continues with an online twist thanks to an innovative partnership between the Tennessee Williams Festival and the Beauregard-Keyes House.

- by Christy Lorio

The Eyes Have It
Photo Essays

The French Quarter Reopening: Phase Two

Saturday marked the beginning of Phase Two of the COVID reopening, in which bars not serving food could reopen at 25% capacity. Stroll with us down Bourbon Street.

- by Ellis Anderson

Rainbow History

Legendary lesbian photographer Frances Benjamin Johnson and photographer Pops Whitesell.

The Queer Quarter: A Moveable Feast

In the 1900s, LGBT+ people from around the country were drawn to the French Quarter's shifting centers of queer gravity, which offered both a spicy nightlife scene and an evolving culture.

- by Frank Perez

The Eyes Have It
Photo Essays

Jackson Square Protest - June 5

Friday evening, much of New Orleans waited with bated breath in hopes the protest in the French Quarter would be peaceful. The rest of the city attended. Thousands rallied in front of Jackson Square in a remarkable show of solidarity against racism.

- by Ellis Anderson

Rainbow History

Stewart Butler, photo by Vince Santiago

Lion in Winter: A Tribute to Stewart Butler

Stewart Butler's biographer marks the March 2020 passing of this legendary New Orleans LGBT+ activist.

- by Frank Perez

Stanzas
Poetry Scene

A Conversation with Jericho Brown

The writer opens up about his Pulitzer Prize win, the power of transformation and the moment he realized he was a poet.

- by Skye Jackson

Bywater Notes
Guest writers

The View from my Porch

A writer and French Quarter tour guide discovers a time-tested culture where small pleasures bring great satisfaction.

- by Glennis Waterman

The Eyes Have It
Photo Essays

French Quarter Reopening - First Weekend

May 16 & 17: A sprinkling of restaurants and shops opened their doors for the first time in two months, welcoming a cautious vanguard of locals.

- by Ellis Anderson

A reminder if you're planning to visit the neighborhood: Please be especially mindful of our hospitality workers, culture bearers, and residents. If you love the Quarter, show some love to our peeps. You'll find guidelines to help protect them here.

Passing a Good Time
with Nan Parati

French Quarter Festival entertainment director, Greg Schatz

Fancy Footwork at the FQF

The traditional opening day for French Quarter Fest finds entertainment director Greg Schatz dancing with a very fickle future.

- by Nan Parati

Balcony View
publisher's notes

Minnie the dog

A Small and Single Kindness

New and newly-noticed homeless people spark memories of desperation and generosity in a former French Quarter street musician.

- by Ellis Anderson

Acknowledgments
tributes

Richard Sobol and Gary Duncan. Sobol represented Duncan in a significant 1968 U.S. Supreme Court case.

On Richard Sobol & Quarter Culture

Darlene Fife, co-founder and editor of the 1960s French Quarter underground newspaper NOLA Express, looks back at the late Richard Sobol's defense of civil rights and Quarterites.

- by Darlene Fife

The Eyes Have It
photo essays

Memories of Easter-past

If we can't have an Easter parade, let's pop on a bonnet, pour a mimosa (or two) and toast the four krewes who made the 2019 holiday one to remember.

- photos by Ellis Anderson

Lit Life
Writers & Books

"Lafitte the Pirate" Turns 90

Part of our virtual Tennessee Williams Fest celebration series:

In 1930, French Quarter resident Lyle Saxon cooked up a savory gumbo of fact and fiction that's become a New Orleans classic.

- by John Sledge

Lit Life
Writers & Books

Minrose Gwin

Minrose Gwin: The Flight of Time

Part of our virtual Tennessee Williams Fest celebration series:

The author shares her thoughts about her new award-winning novel, The Accidentals, her creative process, and her life as a Southern writer.

- by Harry Philpott

Stanzas
Poetry Scene

John Warner Smith

Interview: John Warner Smith, Poet Laureate of Louisiana

Part of our virtual Tennessee Williams Fest celebration series:

The state's former Secretary of Labor is now its Poet Laurate. In lieu of hearing Smith speak at the Tennessee Williams Fest this year, we offer this profound and insightful interview.

- by Skye Jackson

Lit Life
Writers & Books

Tennessee Williams at Marti’s Restaurant / ca. 1982. The Historic New Orleans Collection, Gift of Mr. Kemper Brown, acc. no. 2015.0124.

Tennessee Williams and the French Quarter

Part of our virtual Tennessee Williams Fest celebration series:

A look at the famous playwright's complex and lifelong relationship with the neighborhood where he brought "A Streetcar Named Desire" into being.

Bonus: an interactive map of the places Williams lived in the Quarter.

- by Richard Goodman

Libations
cocktail culture

Served Straight Up: The Sazerac

With the right amount of respect, humility and luck, Lady New Orleans will embrace a visitor as one of her own.

- by Kim Ranjbar

Personalities
captivating conversations

Harriette's Hourglass

As she's closing her gallery and packing to move, Harriette Prevatte reflects on four decades spent as a working artist in the French Quarter.

- story and photos by Ellis Anderson

The Eyes Have It
photographers loose in the Quarter

Andrew Simoneaux's Mardi Gras 2020

From Tucks to Barkus to Mardi Gras day in the Quarter to the mounted police's traditional ride down Bourbon Street to end the Carnival season, photographer and French Quarter resident Andrew Simoneaux caught the energy.

Storyboard
photo essays

The 50th Annual Greasing of the Poles

For fifty years, a ceremony involving Vaseline and champagne has served as the official opening to the Mardi Gras weekend.

- by Ellis Anderson

Around the Block
Quarter fixtures

Center, Jeff Semmerling, mask-maker and one of the original artists at the 38-year-old annual Mask Market.

To Live in a Masquerade: Inside the Mask Market

On the weekend before Mardi Gras for the past 38 years, the French Market has hosted one of the most unusual art markets in the country. Meet a few of the makers behind it.

- by Kirsten Reneau

Storyboard
photo essays

Mystic Krewe of Barkus 2020

This quirky canine parade that began in a French Quarter bar in 1993 has become a favorite Mardi Gras fixture that benefits animal rescue groups.

- by Kerry Maloney

Behind the Scenes
insider's POV

The Colors of Kate McNee

Visit with this creator of distinctive Carnival headdresses in her Bywater home and studio, where both colors and ideas are given free reign.

- story by Harry Philpott

Storyboard
photo essays

titRəx Parade 2020

This miniature take-off on the city's mega-parades, titRəx, may be diminutive in size but participants go for satire in a very big way.

- photos by Kerry Maloney

Storyboard
photo essays

Krewe du Vieux Parade 2020

The renowned and raucous punsters of Krewe du Vieux marched this year with "Erection 2020" as their general theme, which gave the sub-krewes infinite opportunities for fun. Followed seamlessly by krewedelusion, FQJ caught the grand show from a balcony at the corner of Royal and St. Ann.

- by Kerry Maloney

Full Plate
Quarter eateries

Recreating an Icon: Irene's

This restaurant beloved by locals moved from a cozy St. Philip Street setting to spacious new quarters on Bienville, bringing along all the original ambiance.

- by Kim Ranjbar

Storyboard
photo essays

Krewe of Boheme Parade 2020

Krewe of Boheme, whose presiding regent is a green fairy representing absinthe, was made up of 18 sub-krewes in 2020. Marching on February 7, it exuberantly wound its way through the Marigny and French Quarter neighborhoods with the theme of "The Soaring Twenties."

- photos by Ellis Anderson

Boho Back Pages
offbeat history

The John Street Theatre, where Suzanne performed the first ballet in New York.

Danseuse du Roi - The Life of Suzanne Vaillandé Douvillier

A mysterious dancer in the early 1800s mesmerized crowds and caused consternation by cross-dressing and challenging social norms.

by Michael Warner

Boho Back Pages is sponsored by Hines Hall

Storyboard
photo essays

Chewbacchus Parade 2020

Chewbacchus rolled for the tenth year, celebrating with a parade that glowed brighter than any birthday candles.

- by Ellis Anderson

Rainbow History

Dixie's, Yuga and Gay Carnival

The first gay Mardi Gras pioneers powered through many challenges - including a police raid on the fifth annual Krewe of Yuga ball, where nearly 100 men were arrested.

- by Frank Perez

Quarter Notes

Bourbon Street and the Baptist Preacher

Tag along with this sharp-eyed Southern writer, her widowed aunt and a very unlikely guide on a 1960s trip to Bourbon Street.

-by Rheta Grimsley Johnson

Transformations
restorations in progress

The Beauregard-Keyes House restoration: the tip of the iceberg phase

For years, unseen structural issues have been addressed at the popular house museum, but now work's progressed to the Chartres Street facade, where delightful hidden details are coming to light.

- by Ellis Anderson

Lit Life
Writers & Books

Faulkner House Books: The Next Chapter – A Conversation with Joe DeSalvo

The carefully considered passing of the torch at this legendary French Quarter bookstore insures the literary light will continue to burn.

by Scott Naugle

Passing a Good Time
with Nan Parati

Clint Maedgen at the 2019 Newport Folk Festival, photo by Douglas Mason

Preserving Preservation at the Hall

Even beloved traditions can benefit from an evolutionary kick in the pants - at least according to one long time Preservation Hall fan.

- by Nan Parati

French Quarter Events
curated roster

Neighborhood Happenings

Ever dream of having all French Quarter events listed in one place? Neighborhood denizens, here's your answer! You'll find art openings, lectures, parades, galas and lots, lots more!

Plus, you'll find Margarita's Top Shelf - pics from her favorite events from past weeks and upcoming "don't miss" happenings.

- by Margarita Bergen

Storyboard
photo essays

Krewe Joan of Arc 2020 Parade

Self-described as a "short, family-friendly parade — quirky, whimsical and spiritual," Joan of Arc's parade exemplifies all those qualities.

- by Ellis Anderson

Game Day
A Fan's Notes

Dear Science at the Backspace Bar

A low-stakes Saints game on an unseasonably hot December day leads to thoughts of the future in this Chartres Street bar.

- by Layth Sihan

Domicile
neighborhood living

From Victorian Pair to Spare

If you're expecting Aunt Beulah's decor when you walk inside this French Quarter cottage built in 1895, you'll be in for a big surprise.

- by Rheta Grimsley Johnson

It's a Living
unconventional entrepreneurs

Going to Pots in New Orleans

Floyd McLamb: a sharecropper's child from North Carolina turned high-powered French Quarter businessman reflects on the "high cotton" days in the neighborhood.

-by Andrew Cominelli

Game Day
A Fan's Notes

Harry's on Sunny Chartres Street

A bright December afternoon, a nail-biting match-up, and a tile on the barroom floor marking a marking more than a mere memory.

- by Layth Sihan

Behind the Scenes
people who make it all work

Three generations of the Natchez calliope.

The Music Woman on the Steamboat Natchez

Few get to meet the woman who plays the most unusual - and loudest - instrument in New Orleans. French Quarter Journal goes behind the scenes and up top of the Natchez to watch Debbie Fagnano in action.

- story by Rheta Grimsley Johnson

Quarter Beat
music scene

photo courtesy estate of Leigh Harris

She Had a Song to Sing

Beloved by her "Dawlin' New Orleans," Leigh Harris was renown for both her powerhouse talent and her life affirming spirit.

- by Dar Wolnik

Quarter Beats
music scene

Something About Gina Forsyth

With a wicked sense of humor, stellar instrumental skills and a voice that stirs listeners, this singer-songwriter hits all the heart notes.

- by Rheta Grimsley Johnson

Game Day
A Fan's Notes

Cosimo's Champions

Catching the Saints' game at a classic neighborhood bar in the French Quarter with new friends, mystery shots and a dog named Sweet Potato.

- by Layth Sihan

Boho Back Pages
offbeat history

The mansard roof of the Cabildo burned in the 1988 fire. Photo courtesy Louisiana State Museum

Up From the Ashes: Rebuilding the Cabildo

Fire is the mortal enemy of the city's oldest neighborhood, but in the case of the 1988 Cabildo inferno, dedicated preservationists prevailed in the end.

by Michael Warner

Boho Back Pages is sponsored by Hines Hall

Quarter Notes
guest columnists

Harry Connick Jr. and James Carroll Booker III at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Photograph by Michael P. Smith ©The Historic New Orleans Collection, 2007.0103.4.714.

The Bay St. Louis Booker

On November 8, 1983 - 36 years ago this week - legendary New Orleans pianist James Booker passed on. While his legacy grows even stronger in the city, recent interviews with Bay St. Louis family members give details about Booker's early life on the Mississippi coast - and explain why "the Bay" became one of his touchstones.

- by Edward Gibson

St. Peter Street Sketchbook
creators to know

Craig Tracy's Body of Work

The French Quarter artist ushered body painting into the realm of fine art while maintaining his artistic freedom, but there's more to come.

- by Grace Wilson

Storyboard
photo essays

This Time They Won

The brainchild of performance artist Dread Scott, a two-day reenactment of the 1811 slave rebellion culminates in a march through the French Quarter - and a contemporary victory in Armstrong Park.

- by Rheta Grimsley Johnson
- photos by Ellis Anderson

The Eyes Have It
photographers loose in the Quarter

Kerry Maloney's French Quarter

Kerry Maloney:
I really want people to know the Quarter is a place where real people live. It's a place where misfits from all over come and find each other. We take care of each other, we are family. I wanted to show folks a very typical day in the quarter. Here's what I saw outside my door Monday, September 30.

Storyboard
photo essays

King Toffa IX Visits the Vieux Carré

West African monarch, His Majesty King Toffa IX, visits the French Quarter as part of a United States tour.

- by Ellis Anderson

Around the Block
longtime Quarterites

It's All Good for Hotel Al

After working fifty years at the French Quarter's famed Hotel Monteleone, Al Barras has become an institution - and the subject of an award-winning documentary.

- story by Kirsten Reneau

Storyboard
photo essays

The 67th Annual Red Mass

Photographer Kerry Maloney captures the pageantry of the 67th annual Red Mass on Monday, October 7. The centuries old tradition offers up prayers at opening of the judicial year for all those in the legal profession .

Full Plate
Quarter eateries

Café Cour: A Taste For History

Rooted in Cuban traditions, the fledgling neighborhood bar has garnered national recognition and won a loyal local following.

- by Reda Wigle

Quarter Beats
music scene

Arséne DeLay: Engaged with Home and Adding a Verse

A member of the musical Boutté family, Arséne DeLay uses her true voice as a performer, a songwriter - and a community activist.

- by Christopher Romaguera

What's in Store
neighborhood shopping

Alquimie New Orleans: More Studio Than Boutique

For 23 years, textile artist Kate Beck has shown her extraordinary clothing designs at Jazz Fest. Now she has a year-round showcase on Royal Street where she's conjuring up more luscious wearable art.

- by Grace Wilson

Quarter Notes
guest columnists

Author Richard Goodman, photo by William Widmer

Blood Type FQ

A New York writer finds that a year of French Quarter living has left him with an undiminished devotion for the neighborhood.

- by Richard Goodman

Rainbow History

Go Your Own Way: the Life of Barbara Scott

Barbara Scott blazed her own trail as a politician, restaurateur, hôtelier, artist, preservationist, gerontologist, feminist - and social justice warrior.

- by Frank Perez