by Gary Krist
36 “knowingly conducting an immoral resort …” Official federal charge against Anderson per Vyhnanek, Unorganized Crime, 131.
37 “was of such a character …” Edler’s testimony per the NODI of February 3, 1920, and the NOTP of February 4, 1920.
38 “As the witness recounted this …” as per the NODI of February 3, 1920.
39 “I was never aware of any women …” as per the NODI of February 4, 1920.
40 “rolling their eyes about …” Wilson’s testimony per the NODI of February 4, 1920.
41 “If it please the court …” Verdict per the NODI of February 5, 1920.
42 “I am more glad than I can say …” as per the NODI of February 5, 1920.
43 “It looks like somebody was trying to frame up …” as per the NODI of February 5, 1920.
44 federal government eventually declined to retry … as per the NOTP of June 12, 1920.
45 “must be [one] of those who see no evil …” Vhynanek, Unorganized Crime, 132.
46 voter fraud and violations of the Injunction and Abatement Act … as per the NODI of February 11 and April 3, 1920.
47 “The Tom Andersons …” as per the NOTP of August 5, 1920.
48 they pounded away at the four-term mayor … There is a particularly good discussion of the conflict between Behrman and the reformers in Schott’s “The New Orleans Machine and Progressivism.”
49 “Our city is at a parting of the ways …” as per the NOTP of August 5, 1920.
50 hampered by an illness … Reynolds, Machine Politics, 109–14.
51 he lost by a mere 1,450 votes … Behrman, Memoirs, 314n.
52 THE RING IS SMASHED! … as per the NOTP of September 16, 1920.
53 divest himself of the last major holding … Anderson sells the Arlington to Delsa per the NOTP of July 13, 1921.
54 “The police, it is said …” as per the NOTP of July 13, 1921.
Chapter 21: The Soiled Phoenix
1 speakeasies, illegal gambling dens … For the wide availability of liquor in New Orleans during Prohibition, see Joy Jackson’s “Prohibition in New Orleans: The Unlikeliest Crusade.” For other vice post-1920, see especially Vyhnanek’s Unorganized Crime.
2 improving the city’s infrastructure … A good source for the civic improvements in New Orleans and Louisiana generally is Samuel C. Shepherd Jr.’s “In Pursuit of Louisiana Progressives”; see also Hair, Kingfish, 110.
3 pitches at conventioneers and businessmen … Change in strategy for tourism officials per Stanonis, Creating the Big Easy, 46.
4 “The Crescent City, according to …” Stanonis, Creating the Big Easy, 28–29.
5 “as a monument to the business community” … Stanonis, Creating the Big Easy, 50–51.
6 decamped shortly after the closing of Storyville … Emma Johnson’s departure per Rose, Storyville, 50.
7 Storyville legend has her moving to Europe … Willie Piazza’s later history per Long, Babylon, 2, 213, 223.
8 “I could not do anything wrong …” Landau, “Spectacular Wickedness,” 189.
9 “I am suffering dearly …” Lulu White’s later history per Landau, “Spectacular Wickedness,” 191–93.
10 the saloon next door … White’s 1912 purchase of saloon per Landau, “Spectacular Wickedness,” 182.
11 “Amazon proportions” … White’s later arrests and death per Landau, “Spectacular Wickedness,” 192–96.
12 “So many musicians stopped playing …” Barker, Buddy Bolden, 28.
13 discussing the idea of prohibiting jazz entirely … Leonard, Jazz, 44.
14 The attrition of jazz greats … Departure of musicians per Brothers, Armstrong’s New Orleans, 273.
15 “With the nightmare of constant raids …” McCusker, Creole Trombone, 133.
16 a shadow of its former self … Decline of jazz and nightlife per Morris, Wait Until Dark, 101; Charters, Trumpet Around the Corner, 268, 297.
17 pronounced the town “dead” … Reich and Gaines, Jelly’s Blues, 68.
18 couldn’t seem to stay out of trouble … Armstrong, Satchmo, 121–22.
19 “prettiest and badest [sic] …” Armstrong, In His Own Words, 124–25.
20 “All she knew how to do …” Teachout, Pops, 47.
21 one particularly ugly fight … Armstrong, Satchmo, 163–79.
22 offer to play on one of the Streckfus Brothers’ excursion riverboats … Armstrong, Satchmo, 181; Brothers, Armstrong’s New Orleans, 250.
23 “What are all those tall buildings?…” Armstrong, Satchmo, 191.
24 began playing with a small ensemble … Armstrong playing at Anderson’s per Brothers, Armstrong’s New Orleans, 261.
25 “I had made up my mind …” Armstrong, Satchmo, 226.
26 Oliver sent him a telegram … invitation to play Lincoln Gardens gig per Teachout, Pops, 60.
27 “I jumped sky-high …” Shapiro and Hentoff, Hear Me Talkin’ to Ya, 103.
28 “four years of torture and bliss” … Teachout, Pops, 47.
29 a funeral in Algiers … Teachout, Pops, 62.
30 “It seemed like all New Orleans …” Armstrong, Satchmo, 228.
31 “a living, a plain life …” Teachout, Pops, 62.
32 “My boyhood dream …” Armstrong, Satchmo, 240.
33 nine years later … Armstrong’s return visit per Teachout, Pops, 62.
34 “all decent, self-respecting citizens …” Stanonis, Creating the Big Easy, 106.
35 maintaining pressure on the new administration … Stanonis, Creating the Big Easy, 112.
36 didn’t rest on the eugenics issue … Gordon advocating for state sterilization law per Carrasco, “Gift House,” 323.
37 “When Jean was convinced …” Carrasco, “Gift House,” 311.
38 proved to be an inept politician … McShane and ODA coalition collapse per Reynolds, Machine Politics, 216.
39 winner was none other than Martin Behrman … Martin Behrman’s return per Reynolds, Machine Politics, 216–23.
40 out of politics—and out of the vice business … Details of Tom Anderson’s later history (including all quotes) are mainly from Succession of Anderson.
41 Irene was in fact the issue of a legal marriage … The 1880 US Census lists Thomas and Emma Anderson living together at 253 St. Louis Street.
42 remarked on the startling resemblance … Judge’s remarks on family resemblance per Succession of Anderson.
43 the night of December 9, 1931 … For story of Anderson’s death, see the NODS and NODI of December 10, 1931.
44 “Mr. Anderson …” Quotes from obituaries in the NOTP, NODI, and NODS editions of December 10 and 11, 1931.
45 tried to reinvent New Orleans yet again … New Orleans troubles in the 1930s per Souther, Parade, 3.
46 restored as an intriguing holdover … For the restoration of French Quarter, see Ellis’s Madame Vieux Carre; also Souther, Parade, 7–8.
47 something to be revived and promoted … For the jazz revival, see Stanonis, Creating the Big Easy, 195–234; Souther, “Birthplace,” 42–48.
48 forced to stay at a “colored hotel” … Stanonis, Creating the Big Easy, 239.
49 “still shackled by the iron grip …” Souther, “Birthplace,” 66.
Afterword: Who Was the Axman?
1 Monfre’s killer was another ex-New Orleanian … For Esther Albano’s slaying of Joseph Monfre, see the NOTP and NODI editions of December 15 through 17, 1921.
2 “I grabbed my revolver …” is from the NOTP of December 16, 1921.
3 investigators noticed a pattern … Police compare Monfre’s prison admissions and releases to axman crimes per the NOTP of December 15, 1921, and the NODI of December 16, 1921.
4 the paper ridiculed the theory … as per the NODI of December 16, 1921.
5 records are “muddled” … McQueen on Monfre’s prison records in McQueen, Ax man, 51.
6 If I were to hazard a guess … My speculations at the end are based
principally on the Police Homicide Reports and the newspaper reportage of the crimes published in the days after they occurred; much misinformation was introduced by reporters (for example, that the Pipitone murder was an ax crime) in later articles about the axman phenomenon.
Acknowledgments
My family sometimes accuses me of choosing book topics based on where I want to spend time doing research, and in the case of Empire of Sin, there’s more than a little truth to the charge. New Orleans, as anyone who knows it can attest, has a kind of insouciant charisma that no other American city can replicate, and the prospect of immersing myself in such a place was undeniably appealing. An unexpected bonus was discovering that so many of the caretakers of the city’s history—whether native-born New Orleanians or transplants—had an insouciant charisma all their own, not to mention a willingness to share their expertise that made my job a whole lot easier.
I’d first like to thank Irene Wainwright and the staff of the Louisiana Division/City Archives at the New Orleans Public Library. Irene and her crew (including Cheryl Picou, Christina Bryant, Greg Osborn, Nancy Aloisio, Stephen Kuehling, and Yvonne Loiselle) fielded countless questions, unearthed numerous old documents and court transcripts, and resuscitated many a reluctant microfilm printer for me over the years. A special hat-tip goes to Yvonne and to Wayne Everard, former head of the Louisiana Division, for reading and commenting on the finished manuscript.
I had plenty of help Uptown as well. At Tulane, particular thanks go to Bruce Raeburn, director of the rich and valuable Hogan Jazz Archive, as well as the archive’s knowledgeable and always companionable staff—Nicole Shibata, Lynn Abbott, and Alaina Hébert. Also at Tulane, Leon C. Miller, Ann E. Smith Case, Sean Benjamin, Jeffrey A. Rubin, and the staff of the university’s Louisiana and Special Collections earned my gratitude for numerous acts of kindness and scholarly guidance.
Down in the French Quarter, I owe thanks to the entire staff of the Williams Research Center at the Historic New Orleans Collection, but in particular to Mark Cave, Daniel Hammer, Eric Seifert, Jennifer Navarre, and Bobby Ticknor. Eddie Gonzales, Deputy Clerk of the Louisiana Supreme Court, was instrumental in locating and making available the full transcript of the Anderson succession trial, one of the most critical (and difficult to locate) documents I needed for this project. Meanwhile, up toward Lake Pontchartrain, Florence M. Jumonville and the staff of Special Collections at the University of New Orleans were also extremely helpful.
For various assistance, guidance, and other favors, I’d also like to thank Sheila Lee of the Louisiana Newspaper Project at LSU; the staff of the library at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans; organized-crime expert Richard Warner; Kathy and Kevin Laborde; author Emily Epstein Landau; restaurateur Joanne Clevenger; the staff of the Mormon Family Research Center in Kensington, Maryland; and (for reasons too complicated to outline here) President Wallace D. Loh, Timothy Hackman, and Patricia Steele of the University of Maryland. Special mention must go to Richard Campanella of Tulane, whose brilliant work in the past and present geography of New Orleans greatly enhanced my understanding of the city. And as always, thanks to my pal Lisa Zeidner for her keen editorial eye.
I’d also like to express appreciation to the friends I’ve made in New Orleans, especially writers Moira Crone and Rodger Kamenetz, historian Judith K. Schafer, and lawyer Tim Schafer (who is a great-grandson of Thomas C. Anderson). And probably my biggest debt is to Alecia Long, author of the superb book The Great Southern Babylon, reader of the finished manuscript, and someone I’m now proud to call my friend. How I will miss dinners in New Orleans with Alecia.
At Crown, I feel incredibly lucky in my wonderful new editor, Domenica Alioto, who stepped in when my former editor, the similarly wonderful Sean Desmond, left the company midway through the project. Thanks, too, to Molly Stern, Dyana Messina, Stephanie Knapp, and many others at Crown. A big fist-bump as usual goes to my friend and agent, Eric Simonoff at William Morris Endeavor, and to his assistant, Kate Barry.
Finally, as ever, I owe the deepest thanks to my family—my wife, Elizabeth Cheng Krist; my daughter, Anna Krist; and, yes, even Lily, my constant and delightful canine companion during the long days of writing this book.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
GARY KRIST has written for the New York Times, Esquire, Salon, the Washington Post Book World, and elsewhere. He is the author of the New York Times bestselling City of Scoundrels and the acclaimed The White Cascade, as well as several works of fiction. He has been the recipient of the Stephen Crane Award, the Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and a Lowell Thomas Gold Medal for Travel Journalism.
