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The Resource The West Bank of greater New Orleans : a historical geography, Richard Campanella

The West Bank of greater New Orleans : a historical geography, Richard Campanella

Creator
Author
Summary
"The West Bank has been a vital part of greater New Orleans since the city's inception. It has been the Kansas, the Birmingham, the Norfolk, Atlanta, Pullman, and Fort Worth of the metropolis that is its breadbasket, foundry, shipbuilder, railroad terminal, train manufacturer, and livestock hub. It had been the Gulf South's St. Louis, in that it had a diversified industrial sector as well as a riverfront, mercantilist, and agricultural economy. It served as a jumping off point to the Western frontier, and a Cannery Row for the estuarine abundance to the south. The West Bank has also been the Queens and Oakland of New Orleans; an affordable, if rather plain, border district, proud but not pretentious, pleasant if not prominent, comfortable with its place even though at times anxious about the grandiloquence of its cross river counterpart. The West Bank is home to some of the most diverse demographics in the region, including many immigrants. It is also home to some of the most locally rooted populations, folks who speak in local accents, who retain old cultural traits with a minimum of pomp and self awareness, and, in some cases, who maintain family ownership of lands held since antebellum times. Richard Campanella is the first to examine the West Bank holistically; most books about New Orleans treat it as a sideshow or an afterthought, if at all. The limited literature specifically about the West Bank has been at the community or jurisdictional level; there are books and monographs, for example, on Algiers, Gretna, and Westwego, and Jefferson Parish as a whole. Various dissertations and government reports have been published on specific West Bank topics and spaces therein. However, Campanella's work is the only comprehensive analysis of the whole sub-region. He positions the West Bank of greater New Orleans front and center, viewing it as a legitimate sub region unto itself, with more holding it together than dividing it into parts. Campanella understands West Bankers to have had agency in their own place making, and he challenges the notion that their story is subsidiary to a more important narrative across the river. The West Bank is not a traditional history of mayoral administrations and important political figures such as Martin Behrman and John Alario. Nor is it a cultural history, paying homage to beloved natives such as Mel Ott and Frankie Ford. Rather, it is a historical geography that is, a spatial explanation of how the West Bank's cityscape came to be: its terrain, environment, land use, jurisdictions, waterways, industries, infrastructure, systems, subdivisions, neighborhoods, and settlement patterns, past and present. Put simply, Campanella's study explains how the map of the West Bank took shape, and it positions the sub region in a broader context by recognizing that many other metropolises have their 'West Banks'"--
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
xv, 388 pages
Note
"Published with the support of a Carol Lavin Bernick Faculty Grant from Tulane University"--Title page verso
Contents
  • Part 1. Landscape formation, Prehistoric to 1860s
  • Sediment upon the sea, people upon the land
  • The colonial imperative
  • Entrepôt for contraband
  • The formation of villages
  • Canals, railroads, ships, and industry
  • Crescendo and calamity
  • Part 2. Landscape transformation, 1870s to 1940s
  • The political chessboard
  • A modern economy emerges
  • The battle for the Intracoastal Waterway
  • Landscape change in three acts
  • Flood, wind, and fire
  • Bridging the banks, draining the swamps
  • Booming times, bombastic visions
  • Part 3. Landscape suburbanization, 1950s to present
  • From subrural to suburban
  • Geographies of ethnicity, race, and class
  • Connecting the Crescent City
  • Troubles wash ashore
  • From suburbia to ethno-urbia
  • Cross-bank relations
  • The West Banks of the world
Isbn
9780807172971
Instance
Label
The West Bank of greater New Orleans : a historical geography
Title
The West Bank of greater New Orleans
Title remainder
a historical geography
Statement of responsibility
Richard Campanella
Creator
Author
Subject
Language
eng
Summary
"The West Bank has been a vital part of greater New Orleans since the city's inception. It has been the Kansas, the Birmingham, the Norfolk, Atlanta, Pullman, and Fort Worth of the metropolis that is its breadbasket, foundry, shipbuilder, railroad terminal, train manufacturer, and livestock hub. It had been the Gulf South's St. Louis, in that it had a diversified industrial sector as well as a riverfront, mercantilist, and agricultural economy. It served as a jumping off point to the Western frontier, and a Cannery Row for the estuarine abundance to the south. The West Bank has also been the Queens and Oakland of New Orleans; an affordable, if rather plain, border district, proud but not pretentious, pleasant if not prominent, comfortable with its place even though at times anxious about the grandiloquence of its cross river counterpart. The West Bank is home to some of the most diverse demographics in the region, including many immigrants. It is also home to some of the most locally rooted populations, folks who speak in local accents, who retain old cultural traits with a minimum of pomp and self awareness, and, in some cases, who maintain family ownership of lands held since antebellum times. Richard Campanella is the first to examine the West Bank holistically; most books about New Orleans treat it as a sideshow or an afterthought, if at all. The limited literature specifically about the West Bank has been at the community or jurisdictional level; there are books and monographs, for example, on Algiers, Gretna, and Westwego, and Jefferson Parish as a whole. Various dissertations and government reports have been published on specific West Bank topics and spaces therein. However, Campanella's work is the only comprehensive analysis of the whole sub-region. He positions the West Bank of greater New Orleans front and center, viewing it as a legitimate sub region unto itself, with more holding it together than dividing it into parts. Campanella understands West Bankers to have had agency in their own place making, and he challenges the notion that their story is subsidiary to a more important narrative across the river. The West Bank is not a traditional history of mayoral administrations and important political figures such as Martin Behrman and John Alario. Nor is it a cultural history, paying homage to beloved natives such as Mel Ott and Frankie Ford. Rather, it is a historical geography that is, a spatial explanation of how the West Bank's cityscape came to be: its terrain, environment, land use, jurisdictions, waterways, industries, infrastructure, systems, subdivisions, neighborhoods, and settlement patterns, past and present. Put simply, Campanella's study explains how the map of the West Bank took shape, and it positions the sub region in a broader context by recognizing that many other metropolises have their 'West Banks'"--
Assigning source
Provided by publisher
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Campanella, Richard
Dewey number
976.3/35
Illustrations
  • illustrations
  • maps
Index
index present
LC call number
F379.N56
LC item number
W473 2020
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Neighborhoods
  • ARCHITECTURE / Urban & Land Use Planning
  • HISTORY / Historical Geography
  • HISTORY / United States / State & Local / South (AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV)
  • West Bank (New Orleans, La.)
  • New Orleans (La.)
Label
The West Bank of greater New Orleans : a historical geography, Richard Campanella
Instantiates
Publication
Note
"Published with the support of a Carol Lavin Bernick Faculty Grant from Tulane University"--Title page verso
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Part 1. Landscape formation, Prehistoric to 1860s -- Sediment upon the sea, people upon the land -- The colonial imperative -- Entrepôt for contraband -- The formation of villages -- Canals, railroads, ships, and industry -- Crescendo and calamity -- Part 2. Landscape transformation, 1870s to 1940s -- The political chessboard -- A modern economy emerges -- The battle for the Intracoastal Waterway -- Landscape change in three acts -- Flood, wind, and fire -- Bridging the banks, draining the swamps -- Booming times, bombastic visions -- Part 3. Landscape suburbanization, 1950s to present -- From subrural to suburban -- Geographies of ethnicity, race, and class -- Connecting the Crescent City -- Troubles wash ashore -- From suburbia to ethno-urbia -- Cross-bank relations -- The West Banks of the world
Dimensions
25 cm
Extent
xv, 388 pages
Isbn
9780807172971
Lccn
2019044180
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations (some color), maps (some color)
System control number
  • (OCoLC)1122448304
  • (OCoLC)on1122448304
  • 3090816
Label
The West Bank of greater New Orleans : a historical geography, Richard Campanella
Publication
Note
"Published with the support of a Carol Lavin Bernick Faculty Grant from Tulane University"--Title page verso
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Part 1. Landscape formation, Prehistoric to 1860s -- Sediment upon the sea, people upon the land -- The colonial imperative -- Entrepôt for contraband -- The formation of villages -- Canals, railroads, ships, and industry -- Crescendo and calamity -- Part 2. Landscape transformation, 1870s to 1940s -- The political chessboard -- A modern economy emerges -- The battle for the Intracoastal Waterway -- Landscape change in three acts -- Flood, wind, and fire -- Bridging the banks, draining the swamps -- Booming times, bombastic visions -- Part 3. Landscape suburbanization, 1950s to present -- From subrural to suburban -- Geographies of ethnicity, race, and class -- Connecting the Crescent City -- Troubles wash ashore -- From suburbia to ethno-urbia -- Cross-bank relations -- The West Banks of the world
Dimensions
25 cm
Extent
xv, 388 pages
Isbn
9780807172971
Lccn
2019044180
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations (some color), maps (some color)
System control number
  • (OCoLC)1122448304
  • (OCoLC)on1122448304
  • 3090816

Subject

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