Quarter Kaleidoscope
Storytelling Project
This project is underwritten in part by:
Welcome to this collaborative community project by The Historic BK House & Gardens, The Vieux Carré Property Owners, Residents and Associates, and French Quarter Journal.
This digital archive is underwritten in part by a Community Partnership grant from the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation
Joey DiFatta: Generations in the Quarter
More than 125 years have passed since Joey DiFatta’s ancestors found their first home on Bourbon Street - only a block from where he lives now.
~ by Joey DiFatta
Scott Bazenet-Tilton: Layers of Culture
Led by heritage and history, a young New Orleanian comes of age in the Vieux Carré, developing a lifelong love of the French language.
~ by Scott Bazenet-Tilton
Denise Augustine: Divinely Protected in the Tremé
Did the charms cast to protect her as a child in the Tremé help save her life more than thirty years later when she met a serial killer?
~ by Denise Augustine
Eric Burt: Preserve the Artistry
This culture bearer from the cradle grew up in the shadow of “some of the coolest cats around.”
~ by Eric Burt
Frank Perez: The Lost Weekend
An errand to pick up some toilet paper turns into an unexpected encounter in a French Quarter bar.
~ by Frank Perez
Amzie Adams: From Marine to Musician
A young Marine on leave visits New Orleans and winds up at the Wrong Place – only to find the city is exactly the right place.
~ by Amzie Adams
Alicia Renee: aka Blue Eyes
A New Orleans vocalist tells three stories to show how music and the Quarter work magic together, conjuring up the unexpected – and the miraculous.
~ by Alicia Renee aka Blue Eyes
Craig Tracy: Becoming a Quarter Caretaker
An artist housesitting a home with one of the Quarter’s largest courtyards has an unforgettable epiphany: No one owns the French Quarter, we’re just fortunate to be its stewards for a time.
~ by Craig Tracy
~ by Craig Tracy
Margarita Bergen: Dressed to Kill
This spitfire socialite has been enlivening the French Quarter’s social and art scene since she arrived in the 1970s.
~ by Margarita Bergen
Chantell Nabonne: Backstage at the Toulouse Theatre
Growing up in a live French Quarter theatre where your mother stars in a jazz musical – alongside some of the most iconic musicians and performers in New Orleans – leaves an indelible impression.
~ by Chantell Nabonne
Farrow Stephenson: Mona Lisa’s Post-Katrina Smile
The co-owner of Mona Lisa Restaurant on Royal recounts how he and husband Tom Moore took over the reins of the beloved neighborhood eatery in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
– by Farrow Stephenson
Batou Chandler: Always a Quarter Kid
Decades may pass, but if you grew up in the French Quarter, it will always lead you home.
~ by Batou Chandler
CJ Blanda: Seven Decades in the French Quarter
A native New Orleanian, CJ Blanda has called the French Quarter home for more than seventy years, saying the neighborhood is “the heart of my life.”
– by CJ Blanda
Caroline Rowe: My Bourbon Street Village
If it takes a village to raise a child, it might as well be one of the most interesting ones in the country.
~ by Caroline Rowe
Antonio Marino: The Making of a French Quarter Tradition
A Mardi Gras disaster forced a radical change of plans, creating a legendary annual neighborhood street party in honor of St. Joseph’s Day.
~ by Antonio Marino
Jane Lowrance-Neal: Quarter Love
The revelations of Vieux Carré residents in the Quarter Kaleidoscope storytelling project have the power to unlock new understanding - and appreciation of the neighborhood.
~ by Jane Lowrance-Neal
Quarter Kaleidoscope: A Neighborhood History Project
This interactive storytelling project mines the French Quarter’s past – in an effort to sustain its future.
– by Doug Brantley