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| CONSERVATION OF
HURRICANE-DAMAGED HOUSES: SHOTGUN STYLE AND MORE |
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, USA
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| The Seventh Ward |
| The Seventh
Ward is one of the lesser known areas of New Orleans, but
one of the hardest hit by the flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane
Katrina. An old downtown neighborhood that extends from Esplanade
Avenue to Elysian Fields, it is known for its Creole heritage,
Catholic churches, jazz musicians, Mardi Gras Indians, and master
craftsmen. Many of the families have lived in the area for generations—often
in the same house. Historical houses date from the early 1800s
to the 1940s. A large portion of the twentieth-century
homes were built by the plasterers, lathers, roofers, cement
finishers, welders, and carpenters who were responsible for
the celebrated architecture and ironwork in other parts of the
city; after working during the week, they helped each other
build their own homes on the weekends. An exhibit of New Orleans
craftsmanship called “Raised to the Trade” was featured
at New Orleans Museum of Art a number of years ago. (For
a review of the exhibit, see The Best of New Orleans.)
HCN will be helping to restore the following homes and structures
in the Seventh Ward.
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Dobard House (Site
1)
St. Anthony Street |
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 The Dobard brothers - Roy, Leo, Kenneth, and Vernon
- grew up in the Seventh Ward on St. Anthony Street and continued
to live in their family home until Hurricane Katrina flooded the
entire neighborhood.
Vernon is a well-known painter who has created a number of murals
in Catholic churches around New Orleans. His art studio was located
in the back of his house, and work located there received extensive
damage. Mark Baker, an artist who lost his studio and home
to Hurricane Andrew, took action to help artists affected by Katrina.
Mr. Baker has had some of Vernon Dobard's oil paintings restored
and featured them in a show at his Pensicola, Florida gallery,
Imago. With help from volunteers, the Dobard House will once
again be able to serve as a home and art studio.
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Trevigne House
(Site 2)
New Orleans Street |
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|  Barbara Trevigne is a lifelong resident
of the Seventh Ward. She is a social worker, preservationist,
researcher, and performing artist. Currently working on a book
about Marie Laveau, she is also active in the organization Save Our Cemeteries.
Her house was severely damaged in the flood. She has been able
to save some of her research, but her home must be completely
renovated.
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Saloy House (Site
3)
New Orleans Street |
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 Mona Lisa Saloy is an award-winning poet, folklorist,
and director of the creative writing program at Dillard University.
Growing up in the Seventh Ward, “everybody was a character,”
she says. These days she writes “to capture what is
great about us. We need to document who we are, the things we
love.” Mona Lisa renovated her family’s home a few
years ago and now has to begin all over again.
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| The Sixth Ward |
In the 1800s, Tremé
(The Sixth Ward) was a prosperous, ethnically diverse community.
Despite losing its thriving African American business district
to Interstate highway construction, among other demolition and
construction projects, Tremé is still an incredibly rich
community with tremendous cultural roots and an amazing ability
to persevere. It was in Congo Square that enslaved Africans gathered
to drum, dance and exchange news; New Orleans was one of the few
places in the south where enslaved Africans were allowed to congregate.
They were also able to celebrate – and preserve –
the African traditions of dancing and drumming that provided the
foundation for the birth of one of the world’s most beloved
musical forms – jazz.
The Sixth Ward is home to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation
and to the Mahalia Jackson Performing Arts Center, among many
other significant cultural sites.
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Willi Mae’s
Restaurant & Home (Site 4)
St. Anne Street |
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|  Known as Willie Mae's Scotch House, a corner tavern
where neighbors gathered for a drink, this business has grown
into an award-winning restaurant famous for its soul food. Willie
Mae Seaton opened a tavern around 1957, and by 1972, she had
converted the front of her double shotgun house into a seven-table
restaurant. With the help of her daughter, and later her son
and granddaughter, she has developed an exceptional menu of
“country-come-to-town” dishes that gets rave reviews. In 2005, her unpretentious neighborhood restaurant
received a James Beard Foundation Southern Wines & Spirits
of NY America's Classics Award; the awards recognize "four locally
owned and operated regional restaurants that have withstood
the test of time and are beloved in their community".
Until the hurricane, Willie Mae worked at the stove each weekday,
and at 89 years old is eager to get back to what she loves.
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| Holy Cross Neighborhood/Ninth
Ward |
The Holy
Cross neighborhood is a portion of the Lower Ninth Ward, wedged
between the levees of the Industrial Canal and the Mississippi
River. Today it is a predominately African American neighborhood
composed of primarily middle to low income families over generations.
The Holy Cross neighborhood was listed on the National Register
of Historic Places in 1986, and in 1990 it was given a Local Historic
District designation.
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Rockwood House
(Site 5)
Flood Street |
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| Ms. Rockwood is a long-time Holy Cross
resident and retired school teacher and principal. She serves
on the neighborhood association board and is a community mainstay.
With the help of volunteers, she would very much like to return
to her beloved home built in 1893. |
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Calhoun/McCormick
Studio and Home (Site 6)
Flood Street |
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This project differs from HCN’s other historic preservation
projects. Two historic structures built prior to 1900 collapsed
on this site – one a residence and the other an old
storefront building used as a studio and gallery for the two
professional photographers who lived here. Both taught community
photography classes and held exhibitions here. Years of work
were lost, some of which was featured in publications such
as Reflections in Black.
 Building materials, including wide cypress
boards, are being salvaged from the site and the owners are
determined to rebuild, using the new studio to showcase the
architectural history of the 9th Ward. HCN is partnering with
Architecture for Humanity to see that this important community
home and business is rebuilt.
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| If you have additional questions
or have information for us, please contact us at workshops@heritageconservation.net
or call +1 303-444-0128.
If you would like to help with the repair and preservation
of hurricane-affected areas but are unable to attend the workshop,
you can still participate by supporting our conservation efforts
with a tax deductible donation to HCN. Donations will be used
in a variety of ways - to sponsor a participant, to provide
materials needed for conservation work, or to provide teaching
materials for participants, just to name a few.
We have partnered with Groundspring.org to make it easy and
safe for you to donate online:
If you would prefer to mail in a gift, please use our donation form.
Photos this page are
courtesy of Jay Edwards, Professor and Director of the Fred
B. Kniffen Cultural Resources Lab, Louisiana State University
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"I like the hands-on
aspect and seeing the results of the work. It’s
preservation in action"
Mark Slater
Historical Architect |
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