Final Beginnings

2019 ◽  
pp. 189-227
Author(s):  
Jean H. Baker
Keyword(s):  
New Orleans ◽  
Yellow Fever ◽  
West Point

Chapter 6 covers the last three years of Latrobe’s life. After being released from debtor’s prison, he moved to Baltimore. There he completed two major works—the Catholic Basilica and the Merchants Exchange, the latter the cause of a bitter conflict with another expatriate, fellow architect Maximilian Godefroy. Again lacking sufficient commissions, he moved to New Orleans to complete the municipal waterworks that he expected would make him rich. He died of yellow fever before its completion. His wife Mary discovered that Latrobe had put all his available money into the unfinished waterworks, leaving her and the children destitute. Their son John, in his final year at West Point, left school to support his family

scholarly journals “We Would Ride Safely in the Harbor of the Future”: Historical Parallels between the Existential Threats of Yellow Fever and Sea Level Rise in New Orleans and Norfolk

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 331-335
Author(s):  
Morris W. Foster ◽  
Emily E. Steinhilber
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
New Orleans ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Yellow Fever ◽  
First Century ◽  
Climate Resilience ◽  
Sanitary Reform ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
And Sea Level

AbstractThe nineteenth-century experiences of yellow fever epidemics in New Orleans and Norfolk present historical parallels for how those cities, and others, are experiencing existential threats from climate change and sea level rise in the twenty-first century. In particular, the nineteenth-century “sanitary reform” movement can be interpreted as a model for challenges facing twenty-first-century “climate resilience” initiatives, including denialism and political obfuscation of scientific debates as well as tensions between short-term profit and the cost of long-term infrastructure investments and between individualism and communitarianism. The history of sanitary reform suggests that, at least in the United States, climate resilience initiatives will advance largely on a regional basis through extended local debates around these and other challenges until resilient infrastructure and practices are taken for granted, much as sanitary waterworks and sewers are today.

Weak Whites: Yellow Fever in Three Nineteenth-Century Louisiana Novels

2020 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-55
Author(s):  
Robin Anita White
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
New Orleans ◽  
Yellow Fever ◽  
Woman Writer ◽  
George Washington ◽  
George Washington Cable ◽  
The Third ◽  
Nineteenth Century Novels ◽  
The Voice

Since the eighteenth century, yellow fever has had a racialized history in New Orleans and elsewhere in the Americas stemming, in part, from the disease’s origins in West Africa. There was a misconception that blacks were less likely to fall victim to the disease. This article establishes the theories around contagion and susceptibility, showing that whites, especially foreigners, were thought to be at greater risk for what was called the “Strangers’ Disease.” It then analyzes three nineteenth-century novels about New Orleans wherein yellow fever plays an important role. Two of the novels are quite well known: The Grandissimes: A Story of Creole Life (1880) by George Washington Cable and Chita: A Memory of Last Island (1889) by Lafcadio Hearn. The third novel, Amitié et dévouement, ou Trois mois à la Louisiane (1845) by Camille Lebrun, although virtually forgotten, is especially important as it represents the voice of a French woman writer whose views on race differ from those of the two other authors.

The Builder and the Priest

2018 ◽  
pp. 115-142
Author(s):  
Jason Berry
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
New Orleans ◽  
Yellow Fever ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
Church Law ◽  
The City

Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe, an architect who had previously worked in Washington D.C. before running afoul of President Madison, arrived in New Orleans with his family in 1819 after his son Henry’s death. Latrobe was surprised by many things in the city, including the racial and cultural diversity, the dances in Congo Square, African funeral customs, and the cruel treatment of slaves. He documented much of what he saw in his journal and drawings. Latrobe died on September 3, 1820 from yellow fever, leaving behind a widow and an unfinished waterworks construction for the city. General Lafayette visited New Orleans in 1825 as part of his tour of America, and the city funded a lavish reception for him. Antonio Sedella’s indifference to church law throughout his long tenure led to more clashes with the Vatican, who tried and failed to oust him a second time in 1815. Sedella died on January 19, 1829, receiving a grand state funeral and leaving behind a lasting legacy. His death began the slow transition from a Church in solidarity with slaves to one attached to white supremacy and the cause of the Confederacy.

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