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13
Apr 14

Catching up

The weekly post with extra pictures. And, this week, we’ll wrap up the many days of interesting tidbits from New Orleans.

Like this door:

And, nearby, these door handles:

And also, this street performer. “Hey, what do you do?” I balance.

You know you’ve been thinking about that peanut butter and bacon burger. I have to, but not in an obsessive way. I liked it, I don’t feel the need to have another, but I’m pleased with the memory:

Mirrors reflecting mirrors reflecting mirrors in the Sheraton. This reminds me of all the bad things we saw in the 1970s.

And, on the way home, there’s the Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama, just outside of Montgomery. The billion dollar plant opened in 2005 and employs 3,000 people. Secondary industry tied to the plant put another 5,500 or so to work.

Successes at that plant convinced Hyundai to drop more money into a Kia plant, just 75 miles or so away across the line in Georgia.

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12
Apr 14

Washington Artillery Park

This is a gun guarding over the Mississippi River, just off Jackson Square, standing in honor of the Washington Artillery, the 141st:

It is a still-active unit, which first drew colors in 1838 (though the unit has an unrecognized pre-history) in the Louisiana Army National Guard. It is the Louisiana Guard’s oldest unit, in fact. It is also the oldest artillery outfit in the nation outside the original 13 colonies. There’s something special about that gun, one of the unit’s original four-pounders.

The Washington Artillery received its regimental flag in 1846 after serving under Zachary Taylor in the Mexican–American War. Four companies of the regiment served in the Army of Northern Virginia and a fifth for the Army of Tennessee. Domestically they worked floods, yellow fever outbreaks and labor riots. World War I ended with the 141st still training in France, but their sons earned a Presidential Unit Citation for the Washington Artillery in World War II. In Europe they saw 463 days of combat and fired 150,871 rounds during 7,004 missions and occupied 108 positions. The modern guardsmen saw action in 2004 through 2005 and in 2010, in Baghdad.

Many of the members were still in Iraq when Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. They rotated back and a detachment immediately went to work in rescue efforts here at home and ultimately worked with state and local police to combat looting and other crimes in the New Orleans area. They patrolled at home for an astounding three-and-a-half years. Many of their own homes and their barracks, were flooded in the storm.

Battles? You name it, they’ve been there. In the Civil War they were at both battles at Bull Run, Shiloh, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Atlanta, Appomattox and many more. In World War II they fought in Algeria, Tunisia, Anzio, Po Valley, Rome, Sicily, Normandy, the Ardennes and Germany. Sgt. Lee Godbolt, the last member of the unit to have died in the line of duty, was killed in Iraq in 2005.

Their coat of arms has both the growling tiger and a pelican tending the nest of chicks.

Their unit motto, perhaps the best ever: “Try us.”

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11
Apr 14

Wandering through Jackson Square, New Orleans

On our first day in New Orleans we walked up to Jackson Square. Here’s the statue honoring the general and president:

I posted a few more photos from the square last week. We’ll just assume you’ve heard of him. The sculpture, by Clark Mills was installed in 1856. Mills did a life-cast of Abraham Lincoln’s head. He is famous for several Jackson sculptures. He also cast the Statue of Freedom, which sits atop the U.S. Capitol.

Here are some things that Wikipedia tells you that the local signage doesn’t:

(It) was the prime site for the public execution of disobedient slaves during the 18th and early 19th centuries. After the 1811 German Coast Uprising, three slaves were hanged here. The heads from their dismembered bodies were put on the city’s gates.

In the Reconstruction era, the Place d’Armes served as an arsenal. During the insurrection following the disputed 1872 gubernatorial election, in March 1873, it was the site of the Battle of Jackson Square. A several-thousand man militia under John McEnery, the Democratic claimant to the office of the Governor, defeated the New Orleans militia, seizing control of the state’s buildings and armory for a few days. They retreated before the arrival of Federal forces, which re-established control temporarily in the state.

He lost to William Pitt Kellogg, a Republican from Vermont, a friend of Lincoln’s, who was viewed as one of the first carpetbaggers.

On the square are the Pontalba Buildings, which were built by Micaela Almonester, Baroness de Pontalba. This is a great story. I’m condensing from Wikipedia:

Micaela Almonester, a wealthy New Orleans-born aristocrat, was one of the most dynamic personalities of that city’s history.

Micaela was the only surviving child, and after her parents died she stood for a big inheritance. Her arranged marriage (though Micaela was in love with an impoverished man) moved her to France. Her father-in-law tried to steal away that large inheritance, shooting her four times, point-blank, with dueling pistols. She survived. He killed himself that same night. Eventually she was able to leave her husband. Ultimately she fled France as the revolution there got underway. She returned to New Orleans, saw the property had basically become a slum and she continued her father’s work there when the place was still known as the Place d’Armes.

When she had arrived back in the U.S. Jackson sent his own carriage, and Secretary of State Martin Van Buren, to pick her up. Maybe that’s why she helped finance the statue of Jackson, and helped rename the square after the New Orleans hero.

She turned the square into the modern gardens. While landscaping, she apparently threatened the mayor with a shotgun after he tried to prevent her from tearing down two rows of trees. She returned to France to be near her oldest son. When her estranged husband fell ill she took care of him until she died in 1874, at 78.

We ate in a restaurant inside one of her buildings. The back of the menu had a bit of her story. It was written in such a way that made you think there was more to it. Maybe that’s why there was a play, an opera and several novels written about her life.

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10
Apr 14

We just wandered by this square in New Orleans

This is a part of the Louisiana Supreme Court, which sits in Judge Fred Cassibry Square.

The square is more interesting, as it is named after Fred James Cassibry, who served as a judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana from 1966 until 1987. The Mississippi native attended Tulane during World War II and was a star athlete there before law school. He cruised on a destroyer in the Pacific during the war. When he came home he got a job with the NLRB and then created a private law practice. He served as a city councilman in the 1950s. His obit says:

With little support from his colleagues, Mr. Cassibry fought Morrison for an investigation of the scandal-ridden Police Department, which was later found to have an organized system of payoffs from illegal lottery operators, horse-racing bookies and houses of prostitution.

In a recent interview, Mr. Cassibry recalled how he was criticized at the time for discussing what he called the police chief’s “intimate relationship” with whorehouse madams. “He sued me,” Mr. Cassibry said. “But when I called him for a deposition, he dropped the suit.”

He was a district judge, too:

After he was elected to a Civil District Court judgeship in 1960, Mr. Cassibry continued to make waves, warning lawyers who tried to talk with him about cases they had in his court. “When they called me, I told them if they mentioned the name of the suit, I was going to go over and beat hell out of them,” he said. “They stopped calling.”

President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated Cassibry to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. He sat there from 1966 until 1987. He returned to private practice and was appointed to the Louisiana gaming commission “where his outspoken style saw him clash repeatedly with the rising gaming interests.

Given what you’ve already learned about him from those three paragraphs of his obituary, what do you think has to happen for people to make note of your outspoken style in Louisiana?

The historic marker on the square reads:

Fred J. Cassibry (1918-1996), U.S. Navy WWII veteran, served on the New Orleans City Council, Orleans Civil District Court, U.S. District Court, E.D. La., and the Louisiana Economic Development and Gaming Corporation. Throughout his 40 years of public life, Judge Cassibry personified the definition of a dedicated public official. He never forgot he was a servant of the people. Square dedicated by 1999 La. Acts 708.

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9
Apr 14

A few pictures from Mobile

About this time last week we were passing through Mobile on our way to New Orleans. As promised, we’re just going to be getting by for a few days here with pictures from that trip.

This is the General W.K. Wilson Jr. Bridge on I-65 across the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta just outside of Mobile. Built during the Carter administration, the bridge marks 6.08 miles of your travels over the delta, which apparently makes it the 10th longest bridge in the nation. Wilson was with the United States Army Corps of Engineers after several distinguished WWII postings and was a Mobile resident. He was said to be one of the first people arguing for a high-level bridge that would not impede waterway development. Wilson died in 1985 and is buried at Arlington. His father, who retired a major general, is also buried there. His son, who retired a Colonel, was placed there in 2008 as well.

This is apparently a Mexican restaurant and margarita bar. So the sign is the best thing going on here on Dauphin Street.

Two cargo loaders at the state docks on the Tensaw River. You can see them on Google, right here.