This week
This week in history: Six died in the Rault Center fire
On Nov. 29, 1972, a fire engulfed the top floors of the Rault Center, a 17-story high-rise office and apartment building in New Orleans, claiming the lives of six people. According to a Times-Picayune article published the following day, a fire was reported at 7:30 a.m. in a dressing room on the 16th floor but…
Past weeks
This week in history: Baseball player Johnny Wright was born
Johnny Wright, the second Black baseball player signed to a major league-affiliated team, was born in New Orleans on November 28, 1916. Though he entered the minor leagues shortly after Jackie Robinson, Wright never made it to the majors, and his career is often overlooked. Wright grew up in the Lafitte Housing Project and attended…
This week in history: Oscar James Dunn, Louisiana’s first Black lieutenant governor, dies
On Nov. 22, 1871, Oscar Dunn, Louisiana’s first Black lieutenant governor, died. Dunn was among a number of Black men in the South who had gained power after the Civil War and during the Reconstruction era. Dunn was born into slavery in 1822, though his stepfather purchased his freedom a decade later. As an adult,…
This week in history: Paul ‘Polo’ Barnes, jazz saxophonist and clarinetist, is born
Jazz musician Paul “Polo” Barnes was born on Nov. 22, 1901. Barnes was a well-known saxophone and clarinet player who performed with some of the early originators of jazz, including Joseph “King” Oliver and Jelly Roll Morton.