Volume XXII, Number 3 Summer 2004 HAIL TO THE CHIEF New Orleans Salutes a Parade of Presidents And They Were Wined and Dined Top to bottom, Menu for a banquet in honor of President- elect William Howard Taft on February 12, 1909, at the Grunewald Hotel (1970.34.1); Menu for a banquet in honor of President William McKinley on May 1, 1901 (1950.41); Menu for a banquet in honor of Teddy Roosevelt on March 11, 1911, at the Grunewald Hotel (1981.322.8) HAIL TO THE CHIEF: New Orleans Salutes a Parade of Presidents rudence and decorum Consider the stash define the office of the from William McKinley’s Ppresidency. But try tell- May 1901 swing through ing that to George Washington. Louisiana—photographs, The Father of Our banquet programs, sou- Country, coated head to toe venir ribbons, and in sugar, once climbed onto mouth-watering descrip- a table during revels at the tions of 11-course feasts. St. Charles Hotel. Thomas The first president to visit Jefferson, not to be outdone, New Orleans during his went skydiving over Lake President William McKinley saluting passing boats in river parade, stereograph, 1901 term in office, McKinley (1989.9i,ii) Pontchartrain. And Ulysses S. spent three days being Grant swigged from a jumbo bottle of visitors. Rest assured that the victor in fed and feted. The president ventured beer while weaving his way down the presidential stakes will return to some formal remarks on trade (and the Canal Street. New Orleans, post-election—if not to benefits, for the port of New Orleans, Impeachable behavior? Scandalous raise cash, then to raise Cain. States- of an “open door policy” with China), hijinks? Hardly. Simply business as men, no less than college kids and but festivity was the real business of the usual in New Orleans. conventioneers, appreciate the allure of day. One man-on-the-street, quoted in Whenever elections draw nigh and the Big Easy. the States, summed up the situation: coffers run low, presidents—and The Historic New Orleans Collec- “E is de g-g-g-r-r-r-eat President of aspirants—hit the road. The long, hot tion houses numerous political those Etats Unis what come to Noo summer of 2004 has spawned thicker- artifacts—broadsides, bills, editorials, Orleans for eat those fine crayfeesh than-usual swarms of campaigners. proclamations—of serious import. Less bisque, yes!” Louisiana has been designated a “battle- weighty, but equally illuminating, are McKinley and his entourage toured ground state,” its venues booked for the menus, postcards, badges, and other the Cabildo, met with a “colored” dele- fundraisers and rallies, its airwaves satu- ephemera that illustrate the lighter side gation from Southern University, and rated with political advertisements. of politics. Among the liveliest are paraded through the flag-draped streets Come November, the campaign will those documenting presidential visits to of the city. “As far as the eye could see,” draw to an end. But not the parade of New Orleans. observed the Times-Democrat, “New Orleans was a shimmering, fluttering, floating bouquet of beauty…by the side of which the glories of Mardi Gras paled into insignificance.” Only one minor mishap—a mix-up over harbor jurisdiction—marred the visit, forcing a brief delay in the “River Parade” and exposing Mrs. McKinley to the midday heat. Nautical misadventures notwith- standing, the president told the press “My Visit Has Been Delightful” and vowed to return soon. Four months later, he was dead, the victim of an assassin’s bullet in Buffalo. Nearly every president since McKinley has fit a New Orleans junket into his schedule. Teddy Roosevelt came for a banquet—and returned for a bear hunt. Dwight Eisenhower came New Orleans welcomes President-elect Taft, photograph by Ernest P. Carriere, February 11, 1909 (1977.10) 2 portrait of the general now hangs in Though dead, and granulated, Washing- The Collection’s galleries. ton still had style; a reporter for the Daily Another military hero, Zachary Picayune enthused over the “exquisite” Taylor, although born in Virginia, execution of the centerpieces. adopted Louisiana as his home. In If Washington was miniaturized for December 1847, fresh off his triumphs his visit to New Orleans, Jefferson was in the Mexican campaign, Taylor was blown up—literally. A fireworks dis- toasted at a “corporation dinner” at the play during the sesquicentennial St. Charles Hotel. A year later, Taylor celebrations of 1953 featured “fiery was tabbed as president—and New portraits” of Louisiana Purchase deal- Orleans bustled to arrange a fitting brokers Jefferson and Napoleon. send-off. An invitation, on file at The (Dwight Eisenhower, who spoke at the Collection, announces a Grand Civic Cabildo but skipped town before and Military Ball to be held January 8, nightfall, made an unlikely third in the 1849, at Armory Hall. To the dismay pyrotechnic trio.) of all, a cholera epidemic forced the And Grant? He really did visit Andrew Jackson by Jacques Guillaume Lucien Amans, event’s postponement to January 25. New Orleans during his presidential 1840 (1982.11) By then, Taylor was already en route to term—in the guise of a bug. The Mistick was so enamored of Brennan’s Bananas Washington, for his inaugural. Krewe of Comus scored a Mardi Gras Foster that he requisitioned 11,000 And what of Washington, Jeffer- triumph in 1873 with a torchlit proces- servings for his 1984 inaugural. son, and Grant? Truth be told, sion titled “The Missing Links to George H. W. Bush popped into their visits owe more to artifice than Darwin’s Origin of Species.” For the Arnaud’s, during the 1988 convention, to actuality. occasion, Grant’s visage was grafted for a quiet dinner en famille. And Bill On December 14, 1799, Washing- onto the body of a tobacco grub. As if Clinton feasted on crawfish gazpacho ton passed away at his Mount Vernon that weren’t indignity enough, Rex and catfish pecan meuniere, courtesy of estate. On December 26, 1855, the resuscitated the design in 1997, the Palace Café, in 1996. Keystone Association of New Orleans installing Grant-the-grub on a float and held a banquet at the St. Charles Hotel. plopping a big bottle of beer in his New Orleans, beloved of tourists, A menu card identifies Washington— paws. And there, on his float, we will freely dispenses love in return. For or a sugary facsimile thereof—as one of leave him, bringing up the tail end of inaugurating the tradition of presiden- the “ornamental pieces of confec- our parade of presidents. tial visits, William McKinley will tionary” decorating the dinner tables. —Jessica Dorman always hold a special spot in the city’s heart. But two other, earlier presi- dents—each with Louisiana ties, and each well-represented in The Collec- tion’s holdings—can also claim pride of place. Andrew Jackson, “Defender of New Orleans,” returned to the city on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his great military triumph. Arriv- ing on January 8, 1840, the 72-year-old stepped off a steamboat and continued, by barouche, to the Place d’Armes, where he was saluted by both veterans and civilians. Too frail Invitation to a ball in honor of President- to visit the battlefield at Chalmette, elect Zachary Taylor scheduled for Jackson spent most of his five-day stay January 8, 1849, at Armory Hall resting in a hotel suite at the St. Louis (1956.29) Exchange. He ventured out to lay the cornerstone for his equestrian statue; and he sat, in his chambers, for Jacques Design for a float in the 1997 Rex parade entitled “May Grant return all the presents he got” (1997.39.12) Guillaume Lucien Amans, whose 4 Director of Publications Appointed FROM THE DIRECTOR The board of directors announces the appointment of Jessica In early May, The Collection Dorman as director of publications effective the beginning of and other area museums April. Originally from Connecticut, Dr. Dorman holds a hosted the annual meeting of master’s degree in English and a Ph.D. in the history of Ameri- the American Association of can civilization from Harvard University. She has served as a Jessica Dorman Museums, the most compre- professor of American Studies at Trinity College and Penn State University. As an hensive conference and undergraduate, she was an editor and president of The Harvard Crimson, the daily exposition for museum profes- newspaper of Harvard University. Dr. Dorman’s experience also includes serving as sionals. More than 5,000 national and international assistant editor at Beacham Publishing, an educational publisher in Washington, D.C., attendees met at the Ernest N. Morial Convention and as a manuscripts assistant at the Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe College in Cam- Center and attended functions at sites throughout bridge, Massachusetts. Her publications include Harrisburg’s Old Eighth Ward, with the city. Collection staff served as volunteers, man- Michael Barton (Charleston: Arcadia, 2002), “Muckrakers” in Encyclopedia of the aged hospitality, and entertained visitors at a United States in the Nineteenth Century (New York: Scribner’s, 2001), and “The Arts” wonderfully successful “French Quarter Frolic.” in American Eras: 1878-1899 (Detroit: Gale Research, 1996). Accreditation by the AAM, the foremost asso- ciation for establishing industry standards, is a primary goal of most museums. The Historic New MARK YOUR Orleans Collection first received AAM accreditation CALENDAR in 1978 and had this status renewed in 1988 and 1999. The AAM offers museum professionals The Historic New Orleans Collec- opportunities for training, growth, and networking, tion thereby keeping our institutions viable and respon- sive to our communities. Our participation in the Tenth Annual AAM conference brought us many new ideas and Williams Research Center Sympo- resources that we hope will make The Collection sium even more valuable to each of you.