In the late 1800s, New Orleans was known as a city of corruption and sin. Prostitution, thievery and government fraud were rampant. People either avoided the city or visited expressly to partake in these unscrupulous behaviors. By 1897, change was afoot. City official Sidney Story proposed and wrote legislation for a specific area to which the main vice, prostitution, would be confined. While refraining from legalizing prostitution, Story did essentially make it not illegal within the bounds of a sixteen block section of the city. This area became known as Storyville, an affront to the dignified Story who was appalled by the prostitution and lawlessness for which the new area would become famous. His goal in designating the area was to rid the rest of the city of the influence and notoriety of prostitution, but, in the end, New Orleans remained infamous for Storyville just as it was known for rampant vice before (Landau, 1-3).
Navigating
Storyville was easy. Books listing the names of the brothels,
bordellos and cribs as well as the information about the women
working there were distributed to tourists and locals. These helped
to distinguish between cribs, small rooms which basically housed one
woman and a bed, bordellos, the elegant mansions along Basin Street,
and everything in between. They also detailed the women living and
working in each house. Information provided about the women included
their name, age and race (Landau, 27-28).
Working as a prostitute in Storyville would have been a unique experience. In the rest of the United States, prostitution was illegal. Though it was not strictly legalized within Storyville, it was not technically illegal either. Thus, prostitutes could be extremely open about who they were, what they wanted and how they conducted their business. The blue books mentioned above are an example of the transparency that was the norm in Storyville (Landau, 29). A prostitute could work at any number of different establishments, each with their own codes of conduct and manners of business. A simple crib may only have had enough room for a bed and a chair. More typical brothels had multiple rooms, kitchens and other household details. Prostitutes working in a brothel may have lived there as well. Those working from cribs likely lived in an apartment elsewhere. Another option were bordellos. These elegant, large houses were distributed throughout Storyville but were most concentrated in the Basin Street area. From dance parties to music performances, bordellos lent an air of sophistication to Storyville. Many held specific events to appeal to particular tastes. These ranged from racially charged to more glamorously artistic shows.
Storyville
was famous for providing prostitutes of mixed races, sometimes
referred to as octoroons. In fact, interracial prostitution was what
made New Orleans so infamous to begin with. Once Storyville
legislation was passed, this sensation only became more popular.
Storyville drew on a long tradition of complicated mores surrounding
interracial relationships in the American South. Long before
Storyville began, black, Creole and mixed-race women held an alluring
popularity as mistresses for white men. Then, in Storyville, this
continued. Many reports claim that only white men frequented the
saloons, bordellos and cribs. So although a variety of races of women
were present in Storyville, participation was limited to white men
(Landau, 116).
Men of color certainly helped the presentation though. Jazz and blues music gained increasing popularity during the Storyville era. Many of the best and more enduring musicians of these genres were themselves men of color who played in the saloons and bordellos of Storyville. For example, both Jelly Roll Morton and Louis Armstrong gained followings in Storyville that pursued them well after they left New Orleans. Louis Armstrong’s song “Basin Street Blues” is an ode to one of the most magnificent and notorious streets in Storyville (Rose, 81). Some of the most famous houses in New Orleans were on Basin Street including those of Josie Arlington and Lulu White. Arlington named her luxurious Basin Street mansion after herself: the Arlington. Her bordello was full of art and luxury, from fireplaces to crystal. The Arlington was known for its specialty services which catered to distinct sexual tastes. Arlington herself did well from her earnings and, following a fire that decimated her home, retired in 1914, thus escaping the hardships that met many madams when Storyville disbanded in 1917. White was famous for her glamorous Mahogany Hall. In fact, her establishment was so well known that it inspired the jazz song “Mahogany Hall Stomp,” recorded by Louis Armstrong. White is also the subject of a novel, Miss Lulu White de Basin Street, Nouvelle Orleans by the French author Gaston Lachurie. She ran Mahogany Hall until the end of Storyville in 1917 (Rose, 97-99).
Around
1912, Ernest Bellocq, a photographer from New Orleans himself, began
photographing various women working in Storyville. His motives remain
unknown and only some of the photographs have been recovered. To make
matters more interesting, of the photographs found, some have had the
faces scratched out from the negatives. While Bellocq was not the
only one to photograph Storyville, he is the most famous. His
photographs compiled into a book called Storyville portraits won an
award in 1971 and a gallery of photography at Louisiana Tech
University (Masters of Photography).
In November of 1917, Storyville was closed and prostitution again became illegal throughout the entirety of New Orleans. Thus, brothels, bordellos and cribs either returned to underground secrets or closed entirely. New Orleans remained a hub of music, dance and gambling, however, and continued to be well-known for its variety and availability of prostitutes (Rose, 170).
References
Landau, E. (2013). Spectacular wickedness: Sex, race and memory in Storyville, New Orleans. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press.
Masters of Photography: E. J. Bellocq. (n.d.). Retrieved November 28, 2014, from http://www.masters-of-photography.com/B/bellocq/bellocq.html.
Powel, E. A. (2002). "Tales from Storyville." In Archaeology, 55(6), 26. Retrieved from
http://proxy-clarion.klnpa.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=7510939&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Rose, A. (1974). Storyville, New Orleans: Being an authentic, illustrated account of the notorious red-light district. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press
In November of 1917, Storyville was closed and prostitution again became illegal throughout the entirety of New Orleans. Thus, brothels, bordellos and cribs either returned to underground secrets or closed entirely. New Orleans remained a hub of music, dance and gambling, however, and continued to be well-known for its variety and availability of prostitutes (Rose, 170).
References
Landau, E. (2013). Spectacular wickedness: Sex, race and memory in Storyville, New Orleans. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press.
Masters of Photography: E. J. Bellocq. (n.d.). Retrieved November 28, 2014, from http://www.masters-of-photography.com/B/bellocq/bellocq.html.
Powel, E. A. (2002). "Tales from Storyville." In Archaeology, 55(6), 26. Retrieved from
http://proxy-clarion.klnpa.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=7510939&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Rose, A. (1974). Storyville, New Orleans: Being an authentic, illustrated account of the notorious red-light district. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press