Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans?

This post was authored by Nanette Gibbs, Business Reference Librarian in the Science, Technology, and Business Division.

Just about every weekend throughout the year, New Orleans finds a way to celebrate an event or tradition. 2017 is no exception, with festivals such as the New Orleans Oyster Festival, French Market Creole Tomato Festival, Louisiana Cajun-Zydeco Festival, Essence Fest, Running of the Bulls, Bastille Day, Tales of the Cocktail Festival, WWII Air, Sea & Land Festival and many more.

Three photographs one is a poboy, one a serving of crawfish with an ear of corn, the last of an alligator coming out of the water — A French fry po-boy, crawfish boil, and an alligator in the Honey Island Swamp. Photo by Nanette Gibbs.

The 2018 TriCentennial

Photograph of a Higgins boat on a rail flatbed with workers walking around — Higgins shipyards, New Orleans, Louisiana. Ramp boats on railroad cars. FSA/OWI Collection, John Vachon photographer (1943) //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8d39865

2018 marks the Tricentennial of New Orleans. While the city of New Orleans is gearing up to celebrate this important milestone of 300 years, the Science, Technology and Business Division will have a series of blog posts and displays in the Adams Reading Room commemorating the ‘city that care forgot.’ It’s worthwhile to mention that New Orleans has been known by additional phrases of endearment, such as ‘Queen City of the Inland Sea’, ‘The Paris of America’, ‘The City Where Cookery is King’, and ‘The Big Easy’. A series of rotating monthly exhibits featuring our collections will tell the story of New Orleans with emphasis on the culture, to include its history, people, food, music, business and industries. As an example, we will include a display on the production of the Higgins boat, produced in New Orleans during WWII and considered essential to the war effort, as it was designed specifically for amphibious landings.

“Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans”

This song from 1946, with words by Eddie DeLange and music by Louis Alter*, has lyrics that can bring tears, engage you with its rhythmical swing, and, all at once, remind you of another time. Whether it’s Louis Armstrong, Rosemary Clooney, or even your own voice, memories of the Big Easy will certainly flow when you hear it.

The Tricentennial book of ‘Memories of New Orleans’

close up of a smiling mannequin head in the window — Photo by Nanette Gibbs.

Photograph of a serving of 3 bignets covered in powered sugar — An order of beignets. Photo by Nanette Gibbs

We recognize that New Orleans can mean various things to different people and we are inviting y’all to participate in our first ever “Memories of New Orleans” book by providing your recollections of this very special city in the United States. Whether you currently live there or are an ex-pat, you remember eating a beignet and drinking a café au lait or riding the streetcar, we would like to include your thoughts about the city in a special memory book that will appear both online and on display in the Adams Reading Room beginning in January of 2018. You may do this at the end of this Blog post in the ‘comments’ section. As with other comments, the Library’s Comment and Posting Policy applies.

Modern photograph of a streetcar number 951 with open windows and people sitting in them — New Orleans streetcar. Photo by Nanette Gibbs.

* Note: The original link was to a later item. This is the information for the original composition: Delange, Eddie and Louis Alter. Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans. New York: Edwin H. Morris & Company, 1946. 5 p.

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