 Fall 2005 |
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| Faculty Report | |
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Report on the Cultural Impact of Katrina in Louisiana and Mississippi
by Robert M. Craig |
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See also Faculty Column
New OrleansSince Hurricane Katrina hit in late August, I have mentally walked the streets of New Orleans, calling to mind the topographical locations of such sites as Madame John’s Legacy (1789), Charles Moore’s Piazza d’Italia (1978), and landmark buildings of historic date in between (such as those designed by noted architects James Gallier and James Dakin). Vernacular neighborhoods on both sides of the river were dwarfed by adjacent earthen levees, I recall, and whole neighborhoods had been built in areas I would not know – until the “plug was pulled” – were as low-lying as they are.
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Television news showed disturbing images of flood waters victimizing an entire city. At the same time, some good news soon emerged concerning the relatively dry French Quarter, as well as the Algeria residential neighborhood across the river, and reports described lesser degrees of damage on Canal Street and in the adjacent Garden District, than in many low-lying districts elsewhere in the city.
I found a website that presented a map of New Orleans and then color-coded the flood depths. It was shocking to see so dramatically how much of the city was under 8 feet (first floor) or 16 to 18 feet (eave of roof) of water. So much of the city is characterized by historic architecture and neighborhoods of vernacular Victorians with wood-framed, elaborately ornamented front porches. As an architectural historian, I see much of the physical New Orleans as a 19th-century city filled, street after street and (from high style to vernacular), with structures quintessentially 19th century, especially those uniquely New Orleans “shotguns” with rear second-floor “camelbacks.”
New Orleans’s architectural history, it might be said, almost started afresh as the 19th century opened, setting the stage for an essentially 19th-century place. Two extensive fires, one in 1788 and the other in 1794, devastated the city, destroying hundreds of 18th-century buildings, both businesses and residences. New Orleans and Louisiana were under Spanish rule at the time, although the city, as it then existed, was a relatively crudely built French port and trading post. Nevertheless, it was ennobled by its open [Jackson] square dominated by St. Louis Cathedral (facade 1789-94, by G. Guillemard), and the Cabildo and Presbytery (both 1794-1813). The Presbytery was undergoing a $2 million renovation this past summer. The further development of the cathedral architecture by J. N. B. de Pouilly in 1850, and the building of the Pontalba Apartments (1850s) on the sides of the square, brought even this French Quarter focal urban space out of the colonial era and into the urbane 19th century.
In general, the French Quarter and Garden District escaped the extraordinary flooding we saw televised in other sections of New Orleans. Canal Street flooded, but not nearly as deeply. Patricia Gay, executive director of the Preservation Resource Center in New Orleans reports: “Many of the oldest areas of New Orleans closest to the river – from Bywater down-river of the French Quarter to St. Charles Avenue in Uptown and Carrollton – are intact. Some historic areas north of the French Quarter are also on higher ground and have not incurred the severe and tragic flooding.” The Delta Queen Steamboat (a sternwheel passenger river boat and National Historic Landmark) suffered no damage, as it was cruising well upriver. It will operate out of Memphis for now. “Nonetheless,” Ms. Gay reports, “areas closer to the lake and down-river of the Industrial Canal, including Preservation Resource Center's target area in the historic Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood of Holy Cross, have not fared well in this disaster.”
Since Katrina, art historians internationally have been checking the city maps to remind themselves where important collections are housed, as they try to recall the topography of the sites – for instance, the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Virlane Collection, the Contemporary Arts Center, and the Historic New Orleans Collection. Some reports from cultural institutions and art museums are encouraging.
In New Orleans, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art “came through the storm just fine.”
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The New Orleans Museum of Art likewise survived the hurricane and immediate aftermath (at least as reported by the Times-Picayune on Aug. 31). John Bullard, executive director, says that the museum stayed dry. He has secured a generator to provide climate control, which means the collection will not need to be moved. A New York Times article subsequently reported the museum was “under lock and guard.... It is a jarring sight – two burly men carrying M-16 assault rifles on the marble steps of the New Orleans Museum of Art.... The museum withstood the fury of Hurricane Katrina, suffering little damage and no looting. Its well-regarded collections of French paintings, Japanese prints, African art, photographs and decorative objects survived. So did the artworks in a two-level underground storage area, despite flooding.” Staff removed some sculpture from the sculpture garden before the storm, but a “towering modernist” sculpture, “Virlane Tower” (valued at $500,000), was “reduced to a twisted mess in the lagoon.” Its creator, sculptor Kenneth Snelson, earlier lost an 8-foot artwork on 9/11 when the World Trade Center was attacked.
Richard Pyle with the Associated Press reported on Sept. 7 that the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans was OK. A report two days later indicated the museum store and café were broken into by looters, and some flooding occurred there, but not in the exhibit area.
Priscilla Lawrence, executive director of The Historic New Orleans Collection, reports: “Members of the staff of The Historic New Orleans Collection were able to enter the French Quarter in mid-September with a state police escort. Our buildings and collections are high and dry. Much of the material was moved to a generous and accommodating institution in another part of the state. Because the presence of armed forces is now pervasive, we feel that the museum is extremely secure.”
On Sept. 9, Irene Wainwright described the New Orleans Public Library and the New Orleans City Archives as relatively safe. “Although the majority of our records (as well as the 19th- and early 20th-century records of the Orleans Parish civil and criminal courts) are housed in the basement of the main library, some 18 feet below sea level, the basement remained essentially dry.... The basement sustained no flooding, although there is a very small amount of water in one area, possibly caused by sewer backup. This water caused no direct damage to records themselves.”
New Orleans Notarial Archives suffered extensive water damage and Rainbow International, a restoration and cleaning company, has been hired to salvage historical documents more than 100 years old, including documents from the Civil War and blueprints of the city. The documents will then be sent outside the city to be freeze-dried and preserved by the Munters Corp. The New Orleans Notarial Archives holds 40 million pages of signed acts compiled by the notaries of New Orleans over three centuries. In New Orleans, nearly every property transaction that has occurred since the founding of the city was recorded by, or found its way to, a notary's office. They reside in the only archive dedicated to notarial records in the United States, founded in 1867 when it gathered in the records of colonial and antebellum notaries.
The Association of Children's Museums reported on Sept. 9 that the Louisiana Children's Museum in New Orleans appears to be in good order, according to director Julia Bland. Every building around it had damage, but there was “not a scratch” on the museum.
Long Vue suffered major tree damage, although the house is dry, and no collections were flooded. In the early fall, concerns existed there (as elsewhere throughout the region) about the high relative humidity and mold growth.
Confederate Memorial Hall (Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge after a design by Henry Hobson Richardson) on Lee Circle in New Orleans reported no flooding as of Sept. 2.
At the New Orleans Zoo, the good news is that most of the animals are safe. Sadly, the Aquarium of the Americas lost many of its fish. Penguins, sea otters, rare Australian sea dragons, and a 250-pound sea turtle named Midas – all survivors of Hurricane Katrina – were loaded into crates on Sept. 9 to be airlifted out of New Orleans. It is estimated that it will take a year to reopen the aquarium.
River road and bayous
As of late September, I had no news about the status of the following five houses. Merely reminding ourselves of their location in the path of Katrina helps to emphasize the cultural richness of this region: Ormond Plantation, which claims to be the oldest French West Indies-style plantation in the lower Mississippi Valley; Homeplace Plantation, constructed between 1787 and 1791, and one of the finest and least-altered examples of a large French Colonial-raised cottage (designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970 and located on the west bank of the Mississippi River in St. Charles Parish); the recently refurbished Houmas House, the 1840 Greek Revival mansion that provided the setting for the Bette Davis/Joan Crawford film “Hush Hush, Sweet Charlotte”; Greenwood Plantation, an 1830 Greek Revival Mansion “amid moss-draped oaks more than 150 years old”; and Parlange (1750), in New Roads, which is the most widely published “textbook” example the French Colonial-raised plantation house.
Specific information, however, was obtained by contacting the house or from newspaper reports regarding other landmark houses.
Beauregard House, the 1830 plantation at Chalmette battlegrounds 7 miles down river from New Orleans’ French Quarter, experienced 45 inches of flood water, lost part of its roof, and has suffered water damage to sections of its walls.
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Fort Massachusetts (Gulf Islands National Sea Shore): “Storm surge flooded and damaged fort: earthen berm damaged, large granite blocks dislodged and in moat, interior filled with mud and debris several inches thick... reconstructed lighthouse destroyed,” according to the National Park Service.
Laura Plantation (1805) writes to the author: “Laura, a Creole plantation, survived Hurricane Katrina with no damage to any of the historic Creole buildings. All of the plantation staff is safe and accounted for.”
Destrehan Plantation (built in 1787 originally of West Indies architecture, but later renovated to the then-popular Greek Revival Style), said to be the oldest documented plantation house left intact in the lower Mississippi Valley, appears to have survived the hurricane with little structural damage to the house and outbuildings. A few shingles blew off roofs, lots of trees are down, and there was still no electricity for weeks after the storm. But Destrehan remains.
Shadows-on-the-Teche in New Iberia, La., (owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation) suffered no damage, according to Pat Kahle, director.
Nottoway in White Castle, La., is an Italianate 1859 mansion considered the largest antebellum residence in the South. It was built by John Hampton Randolph of Virginia and is sited long the Mississippi River. House administrators tell me they are open for B&B business: “... Nottoway Plantation home escaped Hurricane Katrina with no damage at all! ... While we did not suffer any structural damage to any of our buildings, small limbs and leaves covered much of our grounds.”
Evergreen Plantation describes itself as the most intact plantation complex in the South with 37 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, including 22 slave cabins. Evergreen's original French Creole farmhouse was completely remodeled in 1832 by Pierre C. Becnel. Evergreen joins Mount Vernon and Gettysburg in being granted landmark status for its agricultural acreage. Today, Evergreen Plantation remains a privately owned, working sugar cane plantation, although it is open to the public by appointment. In a letter to the author, Renee Natell writes: “I am pleased to tell you that Evergreen suffered no damage to any of its buildings. The only damage was broken tree limbs. We did lose a couple of trees on the grounds, however, none were lost in the allee.”
From San Francisco Plantation, general manager Mira K. Fontenot writes: “ I am ... happy to report that the Plantation has weathered the storm with only some minor cosmetic damage, along with some downed trees and garden destruction.... While we have a little to do to clean up our area, I am happy to say … we are open for regular business. We will not let this keep us down. As the saying goes, ‘The show must go on.’”
And, in a letter from Madewood Plantation, a similar good report: “Everyone at Madewood is OK. The home was not damaged.” Madewood is a circa 1840-48 Greek Revival mansion and was part of a sugar plantation.
Throughout these inquiries, I continued to recollect a time from years ago, standing with my back to a high Mississippi River levee, looking down a long row of live oaks at a sight of memorable romance – Oak Alley. I especially wondered about those noble live oaks (planted before 1718!), which formed a vista and defined a place so romantically southern that Oak Alley provides the setting for some 200 to 250 weddings each year. I am happy that, according to the Sept 7 edition of Houma Today: “Oak Alley Plantation, Louisiana’s most visited antebellum house museum, was spared from the wrath of Hurricane Katrina and is opening its doors to be fully operational today. Despite the widespread destruction in southeastern Louisiana, the mansion, buildings and famed oaks suffered no damage.” All this is remarkably good news, but contrasts with stories emerging from other locations in the region.
Non-coastal Mississippi
The state capital in Jackson, Miss. – certainly not a coastal site – sustained 90 miles per hour winds. A third of the copper roof blew off The Old Capitol Museum of Mississippi History, and water then poured into an exhibit area and a storage room. Staff worked to move artifacts from one side of the building to the other, but there are hundreds (if not, more) wet artifacts and some that are completely ruined.
Libraries in Mississippi: According to Sharman Smith, state librarian of Mississippi, (as reported by Mary Wegner, State Library of Iowa): “The new State Library of Mississippi building in Jackson, which is scheduled to open this year, was undamaged by the storm. “The damage south of Jackson in Mississippi is terrible, almost incomprehensible, with the full extent of the destruction not yet known. The storm surge along the Mississippi coast was about 40 feet, and the destruction extends from the beach about 90 miles inland. At least 10 libraries are known to have been completely lost...” The library at Bayou La Bayre, Ala., is reported completely destroyed.
Reports from the Natchez, Miss., National Historical Park indicate no known collections damage. At Melrose, a backup generator supplied continuous power to the furnished exhibits in the mansion. The separate collections storage facility lost power, but it was restored within 36 hours. William Johnson House lost power only for two hours.
In southern Mississippi, Rosemont Plantation in Woodville, circa 1810, (the family and boyhood home of Jefferson Davis) lost power for three days and lost water for two, but reports no damage to the historic structure, and utilities were restored.
Americanists among us certainly link William Faulkner to Mississippi (although we may not know well the state’s geography). The reader will be comforted to know that Oxford, Miss., (the Mecca for Faulkner scholars) is well inland in the northern part of the state. Rowan Oak, Faulkner’s home, suffered no hurricane damage.
Coastal Mississippi: Biloxi, Gulf Port, Pass Christian, and Ocean Springs
Although given less media attention than New Orleans, the story in the Gulf Coast region is one of devastation. “On Mississippi’s coast, it is estimated up to 300 historical buildings were lost and close to 900 were damaged,” according to Ken P'Pool, historic preservation division director for the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. The current question is whether overly zealous FEMA bulldozer operators will sweep away wholesale what Katrina damaged, including historic properties that are reparable.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis’ home in Biloxi, Beauvoir (1853), lost precious archived documents from its presidential library. The house itself is a good example of a “raised cottage” typical of early Gulf Coast architecture, and its design is credited with the survival of the house. Built on slightly elevated ground, the main structure of the house stands 12 feet off the ground on brick piers, allowing floodwaters to surge through. Indeed, floodwaters did push many of Beauvoir’s artifacts out into the mud, where some of them were stolen. Beauvoir's front gallery was ripped off, and the first floor was badly damaged. That’s where many of the valuable artifacts were secured prior to the storm.
“All is not lost there," said Ken P'Pool, but part of the roof is torn away, windows are smashed, and the back portion is crumbling. Elsewhere on the Beauvoir property there was worse destruction. The Sun Herald in south Mississippi reported: “The library pavilion, where Jefferson Davis penned ‘The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government,’ the Hayes Cottage, Soldier's Home Barracks replica, Confederate Soldier's Museum, gift shop and director's home were totally destroyed,” and the Presidential Library lost its first floor. The good news is that the second-floor reference library of the Presidential Library survived, and two small cottages and a barn in the back of the property were untouched by flooding.
The Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, built in 1860, where Jefferson Davis was a member of the Vestry, was destroyed. Following Katrina, the congregation met on lawn chairs and stools.
With respect to other Biloxi museums and structures, I have obtained the following information:
The Wall Street Journal reported on Sept. 2: “Photographs of the Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art in Biloxi, Miss., showed that a dislodged casino barge crushed part of an addition designed by Frank Gehry that had been a year from completion.” The Pleasant Reed House (a museum of African-American history and on the site of the Ohr Museum) was destroyed except for the chimney. The rest of the collection is safe, including the Ohr pots that have been moved to the Mobile Museum of Art.
The New York Times and the Mississippi Heritage Trust have reported that the 1856 Tullis-Toledano Manor in Biloxi is gone. The Tullis Slave Quarters, circa 1860, and the Crawford House, circa 1850, were also destroyed.
The Sept 3 edition of the Baltimore Sun reported that in Bay St. Louis, Miss., part of the courthouse collapsed.
The Clarion-Ledger reported that the Maritime and Seafood Industry Museum in Biloxi was gutted.
Regarding the Marine Life Oceanarium in nearby Gulfport, Miss., the Baltimore Sun reported on Aug. 31 that there is an empty space where the aquarium used to be.
The Dantzler House in Biloxi, which had just been remodeled to house a Mardi Gras museum, was destroyed according to an Aug. 31 report on TheDay.com. National Pubic Radio, broadcasting on Sept 7, described the house as “pulvarized by the hurricane.”
A local resident told the American Association of State and Local History (AASLH) that the Pass Christian (Miss.) Historical Society building is “totally blown away.”
USM Gulf Coast Research Lab’s herbarium (30-year, 5000-plus specimen collection) was completely flooded and mostly destroyed by Katrina, according to marine botanist Patrick Biber.
National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition reported on Sept. 18 on the loss of the Walter Anderson artist colony in Shearwater. “Since the 1920s, a family of artists has made their home at Shearwater, a complex overlooking Mississippi’s Biloxi Bay. Perhaps most famous is the late Walter Inglis Anderson, known for vibrant watercolors of Gulf Coast landscapes. His two brothers were potters, and a fourth generation of the family carries on the Shearwater pottery tradition. Hurricane Katrina swept through Shearwater, taking out nine family homes and six other buildings, and severely damaging a pottery workshop that had been in operation since 1928. Some of Walter Anderson's work is housed at an Ocean Springs, Miss., museum that survived the storm. But the family’s treasured private collection – full of writings, paintings, and linoleum blocks – was kept at Shearwater in a special vault. And it didn't fare as well.” The Mississippi Heritage Trust Web site shows the Walter Anderson House “washed off its piers, but still remains intact.”
In Ocean Springs, Miss., at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, when the Coast Guard permitted access to collections on Sept. 15, it was reported the collections had flooded. Efforts are under way to assist with recovery of herbarium and hazardous tree and debris removal. At the Gulf Islands National Seashore, the storm surge flooded exhibits and museum collections at the Davis Bayou Visitor Center. The Museum Emergency Response Team is stabilizing collections, which were moved to the National Park Service Southeast Archeological Center and Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve. Frozen archives will be shipped and treated off-site.
And finally, in Ocean Springs, Miss., two “architectural gems” by Frank Lloyd Wright, built when he worked for Louis Sullivan, are now lost. The 1890 wood frame vacation cottages, clad in cyprus-shingle siding, were constructed for architect Sullivan himself and for his friend James Charnley (for whom Wright designed a house in Chicago the following year, now the headquarters of the Society of Architectural Historians). Sullivan fell in love with the Gulf Coast and the beauty of the natural landscape, and a 1905 Architectural Record description of the veranda of the Sullivan bungalow speaks of “great clusters of white wisteria hanging from the roof” and the view “across the stretch of water of the bay glittering with countless gems beyond the ransom of kings.”
When Katrina hit Ocean Springs, the Louis Sullivan House was “vaporized,” according to its owner, and Louis’s “paradise, the poem of spring, Louis’s other self” (as he wrote in "An Autobiograpy of an Idea") was simply gone. Next door, the James Charnley House, also by Wright, was severely damaged, with both house and guest house knocked off their piers, perhaps salvageable say some, but at considerable expense. Post-Katrina images may be viewed at www.mississippiheritage.com/HurricaneKatrina by clicking on the link titled “Hurricane Katrina's Impact on Historic Structures in Mississippi.”
Merely three years ago, accompanied by a Gulf Coast area scholar Phil Oszuscik (a colleague from the University of South Alabama), I visited both houses, and, for many years at Georgia Tech, I have included them in lectures on Frank Lloyd Wright. They are among Katrina’s major 19th-century architectural losses.
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Last updated: January 4, 2006