NOLA Life Stories

On September 15 of 1970, rising tensions between the New Orleans Police and the Black Panther Party came to a head in a 20-minute shootout. The police arrived at the Desire public housing development armed in a war wagon to evict the Panthers. Malik Rahim was there. In this edition of NOLA Life Stories, Malik speaks about how he joined the Panthers and remembers the showdown in Desire.  

As part of the NOLA Resistance project, The Historic New Orleans Collection has recorded conversations with several former members of the Congress of Racial Equality. New Orleans CORE became the center of the civil rights movement here, driven by the leadership of a few visionary organizers. Dave Dennis was one of those people, though his relationship with the movement began a bit unconventionally.

When Ruby Bridges walked through an angry crowd to attend her newly integrated school in 1960, there was a white girl sitting in another empty classroom down the hall. Pam Foreman attended William Frantz Elementary School during this first year of integration. Her mother, Nyra, remembers the experience vividly. In this edition of NOLA Life Stories, we hear from Nyra about what was going through her mind during that turbulent time. 

During the Vietnam War, New Orleans became a safe haven for scores of refugees fleeing the communist regime. The Historic New Orleans Collection has been collecting oral histories from many of these new Americans. Community leader Tony Tran was one of these individuals. He tells us about coming of age during the rise of the Viet Cong -- and his long journey to New Orleans -- in this edition of NOLA Life Stories. 

The civil rights movement witnessed students becoming teachers as they propelled social change. New Orleanian and lifelong activist Raphael Cassimere was a student leader who eventually became a professor of history. In this edition of NOLA Life Stories, Dr. Cassimere chronicles his experiences as the local chapter president of the NAACP Youth Council.

This NOLA Life Stories interview was conducted by Mark Cave for The Historic New Orleans Collection and produced for WWNO by Sarah Holtz.

School desegregation was a major turning point of the civil rights movement, especially here in New Orleans. In this edition of NOLA Life Stories, we meet Tessie Prevost-Williams. She was one of The McDonogh Three, the young African-American girls who integrated their elementary school in the 9th Ward in 1960. Tessie describes her memory of that first morning on the way to school. 

The Historic New Orleans Collection has embarked on a project to record oral histories from activists of the civil rights movement. In this edition of NOLA Life Stories, we hear from Doratha Smith Simmons, who spent years spreading the philosophy of non-violence at sit-ins throughout the Deep South.

50 years ago, the Saints opened their first regular season game. The team has come a long way since those early days at Tulane Stadium. No one knew this better than the late Dave Dixon. In this edition of NOLA Life Stories, Dave shared how a small group of local fans helped bring professional football to New Orleans.

Today, the Audubon Zoo is treasured by residents and visitors alike. But it wasn’t always that way. When the mayor assigned Ron Forman to remake the Zoo, it presented a formidable challenge. In this edition of NOLA Life Stories, Ron takes listeners through the evolution of the Zoo, and describes the arrival of a certain white alligator 40 years ago.

Long before the women's liberation movement of the Sixties and Seventies, Marian Mayer Berkett became the first female lawyer in Louisiana. As a law student in the 1930s, the Baton Rouge-native became accidentally entrenched in the turbulent era that was Huey P. Long’s reign as governor. Mrs. Berkett passed away this June at the age of 104, and in this edition of NOLA Life Stories, we share this remembrance of her time in Huey P.