Urban Public Space, Privatization, and Protest in Louis Armstrong Park and the Treme, New Orleans
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 2001 Protecting 'Place' in African -American Neighborhoods: Urban Public Space, Privatization, and Protest in Louis Armstrong Park and the Treme, New Orleans. Michael Eugene Crutcher Jr Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Crutcher, Michael Eugene Jr, "Protecting 'Place' in African -American Neighborhoods: Urban Public Space, Privatization, and Protest in Louis Armstrong Park and the Treme, New Orleans." (2001). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 272. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/272 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. 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Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PROTECTING ‘PLACE’ IN AFRICAN-AMERICAN NEIGHBORHOODS: URBAN PUBLIC SPACE, PRIVATIZATION, AND PROTEST IN LOUIS ARMSTRONG PARK AND THE TREME, NEW ORLEANS A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College In partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Geography and Anthropology By Michael Eugene Crutcher, Jr. B.A. University of Kentucky, 1993 M.A. Louisiana State University, 1996 May, 2001 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 3016535 __ ® UMI UMI Microform 3016535 Copyright 2001 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First off, I must thank my family, for standing behind me throughout this process. I have missed all of you terribly over the past seven and a half years. Naturally I need to thank my committee members for seeing me to the end. In addition to Drs. Jackson, Davidson, Earle, and Parent, I feel its import to recognize Dr. Karen Till and Dr. Greg Veeck for helping me get this project off the ground. A special thanks goes out to Dr. Mary Barkley, my mentor and surrogate mother. I also need to thank the Huel Perkins Fellowship Committee and the SREB's Doctoral Scholars Program for funding this endeavor. Thanks to Carlos Deloach for making my stay in New Orleans more affordable, especially toward the end. I also need to recognize friends Gayle Hazlewood, Margie Ortiz and the Rangers and staff of the New Orleans Jazz National Park for introducing me to a wonderful resource. Lastly thanks to all my friends at LSU and in Baton Rouge who helped me out along the way. Of those, Kim, Ivan and Harold stand out. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDMENTS................................................................................ ii ABSTRACT................................................................................................v CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION.................................................................. 1 Historical Overview of Treme .............................................................8 The Armstrong Park Debate ............................................................. 11 Methodology.................................................................................. 15 Organization of Dissertation ............................................................. 16 Conclusion.....................................................................................17 CHAPTER TWO. PREVIOUS APPROACHES TO URBAN PUBLIC SPACE............................................................... 20 Who Constitutes an “Appropriate “ Public? .............................. 24 The Cultural and Political Economy of Public Space ................ 28 Counter-public Spaces .......................................................... 31 CHAPTER THREE - Treme's HISTORICAL BACKGROUND...................... 35 BOUNDING Treme.........................................................................36 Congo Square ................................................................................46 Creole Treme.................................................................................50 Benevolent Societies...................................................................... 58 Performance Traditions ................................................................... 59 Conclusion.................................................................................... 73 CHAPTER FOUR - URBAN CHANGE....................................................... 77 Taming Nature ............................................................................... 79 Civic Center.................................................................................. 83 P ostw ar ....................................................................................... 91 Interstate -10 ............................................................................... 108 Conclusion...................................................................................116 CHAPTER FIVE - ARMSTRONG PARK................................................... 119 Black Politics ................................................................................ 130 Armstrong Park - Phase 1 .............................................................. 135 Armstrong Park - Phase 2 .............................................................. 136 Armstrong Park Corporation .......................................................... 138 Tivoli Revisited............................................................................. 140 Armstrong Park - Opposition .......................................................... 144 Conclusion...................................................................................159 CHAPTER SIX - POST- PRIVATIZATION................................................. 162 National Park Service ................................................................... 163 Centennial Committee......................................................... 165 Theoretical Revision ............................................................ 167 iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Usable Knowledge.............................................................. 168 New Orleans Jazz NHP .................................................................169 Trem6 Today ................................................................................ 182 Coda - Jazzland ........................................................................... 193 Conclusion...................................................................................195 CHAPTER SIX - SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION..................................... 197 Conclusion...................................................................................203 Future Research .......................................................................... 204 BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................................................................... 206 VITA..................................................................................................... 217 iv Reproduced