We hope you're ready to party on today's episode of Travel Through History.
We're waiting from the Bayou to the Boulevard in the deep south of North America to a city
that knows how to have a good time.
It hosts one of the biggest festivals in the country and is well known for its interesting
food, original music, and friendly people.
We're talking, of course, about New Orleans, Louisiana, better known to the locals as Nalans.
The most striking impression in New Orleans is the detailed architecture of old buildings
that anchor this city built on the mighty Mississippi.
First, we'll visit the famous French Quarter to marvel at St. Louis Cathedral, which has
had a front row seat to the city's many changes.
Next, we'll giddy up to Jackson Square, where the Battle of New Orleans hero, President
Andrew Jackson, takes its center stage.
We show you the very place where he became a legend in the War of 1812 at Shalmette
Battlefield, then we take cover at the National World War II Museum, where we find out how
New Orleans played a vital role in the war that changed the world.
Enough war talk.
We came here to party.
We're going to get a taste of the best festival in the world.
Mardi Gras, we take you behind the scenes of some of the most intricate and odd sculptures
in the parade at Mardi Gras World.
So grab your beads and your appetite as we go low in Nola.
That's New Orleans, Louisiana, if you didn't catch on.
On today's episode of Travel Through History.
New Orleans is often called the most unique city in the United States.
Its rich heritage of French, Spanish, Creole, American and French Haitian people have developed
a one-of-a-kind culture unlike any other.
It's the birthplace of jazz, a sultry, free-form expression of music that closely resembles
the culture from which it was born.
Jazz is very important to the city in New Orleans, I believe.
Without jazz, we would not be the character that we have.
Jazz is in all parts of our life here in New Orleans.
New Orleans has also had its share of hardships over the years, from being a major target
during American military entanglements to experiencing one of the country's most devastating
natural disasters.
In the history of deadly storms in the United States, Hurricane Katrina ranks in the top
fives.
Aside from the loss of human life, Katrina caused considerable damage to the city.
New Orleans actually sits below sea level, and walls called levees help keep the waters
of the Mississippi River and link Ponce train in check.
During Katrina, however, the levees couldn't support the storm surge.
We had 13 breaches in nine blocks, so that was basically the whole wall came down.
As we stand right behind me, we see the Katrina Memorial was dedicated in 2006.
The height of those poles is representing the height of the water that we are right
here.
And as we went further back toward the canal, toward the lake, the water got higher.
Despite the extreme damage that Hurricane Katrina caused, many people came together to provide
assistance and rebuild the city and the culture.
The good that came out of Hurricane Katrina is that when you look behind us, you see it's
about 100 sustainable homes that were started by Brad Pitt and the project called the Making
Right Foundation.
And what it did, it allowed the people that lived here before to come back in this area.
New Orleans is a place where you can experience something new all the time, especially when
it comes to food.
The Big Easy is chock full of flavorful dishes like four boys grilled oysters crawfish shrimp
ribbing.
I'm a big shrimp and grit fan, gumbo, cafe and beignets, but it's not just the food that
makes this city unique.
What I love about New Orleans is the culture.
New Orleans is very famous for Bourbon Street, but we like people to experience every aspect
of our city.
Whether it's one of our many restaurants or our art galleries or one of the music clubs
in another area of town.
This is just a great part of the country with great people.
It's an original.
It's very, very different.
All these things culminate to make a really incredible gumbo is where we eat down here
and that's kind of what New Orleans is.
The New Orleans culture is deeply rooted in Catholic traditions.
You can see hints of Catholicism everywhere you look.
And the festivities of Mardi Gras to the football team they call "The Saints."
Those traditions helped build this vibrant culture since the beginning.
So what better way to start our journey than to visit the two buildings that have been
here the longest?
My name is Emily Gagnier-Lumus.
I'm the Director of Archives and Records for the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
The St. Louis Cathedral is right in the center of New Orleans.
It is the icon New Orleans.
When you think about New York, you think about the Empire State Building.
If you think about Philadelphia, you think about the Liberty Bell.
But when you see New Orleans in anything, you see the church first.
It is the iconic structure of the city.
Artwork adorns the interior of St. Louis Cathedral from the murals on the ceiling that
tell the story of Jesus as the shepherd to the stained glass windows on the second floor
that tell the story of the cathedral's namesake, St. Louis.
They're known as King Louis IX of France.
He is best remembered for his work in Catholicism and for leading the seventh crusade in 1248.
A couple of blocks from the St. Louis Cathedral is the old Ursuline convent.
Today, it's the old Ursuline convent museum and it highlights not only the contributions
of the Ursulines but also of the entire archdiocese.
The sisters of St. Ursula, the Ursulines, they began their order in 1535 in France.
They petitioned the king, Louis XV, to come to Louisiana in order to serve the people
here and they did that in 1727.
It is the first place where young girls came to be educated.
They also had the First World Hospital here on these grounds.
The sisters came for those two purposes, educate women and help at the Royal Hospital.
This is the precursor to what today we would call a rubber room or a psych room.
The sisters in helping the sick also help the mentally ill and this is the room that
they did that in.
They were able to help those who were in need by feeding them, by clothing them and by making
sure that they were safe.
The items on display tell the story of the Ursulines, in their journey to Louisiana.
From the initial petition to King Louis XV to allow them to travel to the New World, to
a letter from Thomas Jefferson ensuring the sisters would be able to stay on the property
after the Louisiana Purchase.
There are also several statues that the sisters held dear, one in particular has an interesting
story attached to it.
In 1788, on Good Friday, the city had a great fire.
More than 60% of the entire city burned.
Tradition says that the Ursulines had a small statue that they called Sweetheart.
They put it in the window, the winds changed and this building continued on.
It is one of the only existing buildings to survive that fire when the rest of the French
order was wiped out.
That is why this is the oldest building in the Mississippi Valley.
And that is why today we have it, as an example of the French architecture of Louisiana, when
there are very few examples still left.
Every week we post new episode information to our website, TravelThroughHistory.tv, but
we want to hear even more from our viewers.
So interact with us on our Facebook page as well at facebook.com/travelthroughhistory.
Go ahead, teach us something new.
Catholic traditions connect the people of New Orleans in many ways and are woven throughout
the culture.
But that definitely doesn't stop them from throwing the country's biggest party in the
world's most infamous parade.
Hi, I'm Barry Kern and I'm president here at Mardi Gras World in New Orleans.
Mardi Gras is a celebration.
It predates the city itself.
It came here with the founding of Louisiana and the city of New Orleans, but it also goes
back thousands of years before that and actually predates Christianity.
This was a celebration that was started to compete with the paganistic rites of spring.
Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday.
During the Catholic Lenten season, Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent, a time for fasting
and quiet reflection.
So the people of New Orleans pack in as much fun and feasting as they can right up to the
very last minute.
The difference between a Mardi Gras parade and parades that people might see all over
the rest of the country, all over the world for that matter is in New Orleans, there are
no spectators at a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans.
You're actually the participants.
In New Orleans, you become part of the parade because there's people that are throwing beads
off of the floats and there's people in the crowds that are interacting with those people.
There's a lot of eye contact for the people on the floats.
There's bands.
So when the floats aren't going by and they aren't getting to catch the beads, they've
got bands and the people dancing and having a good time, you've got kids on ladders, kids
on people's shoulders and they're screaming and it's a very interactive thing, it's very
participatory.
It has nothing like, say, some of these other parades that you'll see around the country
where people are sitting down watching.
In 1947, Blaine Kern began building floats for the Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans.
From there, his business expanded, supplying floats and parades all across the country
under the name Blaine Kern Studios.
Mardi Gras world is the working warehouse where these fantastic creations come to life.
Each year we build around 500 different floats that will go in Mardi Gras parades here and
throughout Southeast Louisiana as well, we build floats for parades at Universal Studios
down in Orlando.
We've got parades that go up in Philadelphia for their Thanksgiving Day parades.
We have different cities all over the country and all over the world that actually feature
parades that were built and produced and built by our companies, brought to those other places,
set up, and they're actually operating.
We have parades going on somewhere every day of the year.
There's parades that are going on.
In fact, multiple cities where parades are happening every year on Kern floats.
A tour of the warehouse at Mardi Gras world offers a behind the scenes look at what it
takes to design, sculpt, and build these rolling works of art.
During a tour, you will also see a display of Mardi Gras costume, a historic video, and
a free slice of king cake.
A Mardi Gras tradition plan to spend a decent amount of time walking the studios.
You don't want to miss an opportunity to get some interesting shots, like our producers,
John and Joe.
If you're in New Orleans and you come to Mardi Gras world, it's number one.
It's going to be the most unique tour that you've ever been on, and you're going to see
some of the most unique things.
You need to bring a camera.
You need to be willing to spend a little bit of time, but you'll learn a lot about what
we do.
You'll learn about our culture.
You'll have some good food.
You'll see some fun things.
You'll take some great pictures, and you'll go home.
I promise you, you'll go home, saying it was well worth the price of admission.
New Orleans is not only defined by Mardi Gras with the Catholic Church, there is a vast
storyline of American history that has unfolded up and down the Mississippi River.
I'm Patricia Corral, I'm a park ranger at Chalmet battlefield here in New Orleans.
The Battle of New Orleans was important for a lot of different reasons.
Many historians believe the battle was the birthplace of the American identity.
It was a place where a lot of different cultural groups unified under the leadership of Andrew
Jackson to defend the city of New Orleans from the British.
What is cool about the War of 1812 is that it's the Forgotten War.
It's sandwiched in between the Revolutionary War and between the Civil War, the war between
the States.
And so a lot of people don't know about the Forgotten War, but in fact, it was really
important war because the War of 1812 showed the world that the U.S. was an independent
nation and had become a world power.
New Orleans was an important city to control because of its location at the mouth of the
Mississippi River.
The British knew that if they could capture New Orleans, they would be able to cut off
a major American supply line.
The city of New Orleans is technically about 90 miles from the mouth of the river, but
as you go downriver from New Orleans to the Gulf, there really isn't a lot of dry land
where you can build a city.
So New Orleans is it, it's the place where you can regulate trade that comes up and down
the river.
The British were hoping to cut off this trade, which would have had a severe impact on the
U.S.
But they met with fierce opposition from an unlikely army.
General Andrew Jackson took command of the defenses, 5,000 soldiers from several of the
western states and territories, as well as a little naval assistance from a pirate named
Jean Lafitte.
Lafitte and Jackson agreed to work together in exchange for a U.S. pardon for Lafitte's
men captured during a previous raid.
Working together they squared off against over 7,500 British soldiers in what became
the great Battle of New Orleans and a deciding victory for the U.S.
The Battle of New Orleans made Andrew Jackson famous because against the odds, he was able
to defend the city of New Orleans from the British.
A lot of people look at his troops as a ragtag army, his troops that came down from Tennessee,
his Tennessee militia had already followed him in other battles and they had given him
the nickname Old Hickory because of his strength and his charismatic personality.
A visit to shout net battlefield lets you walk in the footsteps of the soldiers that fought
in the Battle of New Orleans.
Self-guided walking tours, monuments and specialized videos in the Visitor Center helps to paint
the picture of what life was like in the early 1800s.
The battle is also a main stop for many of the riverboat tours that depart from the city
of New Orleans.
The river is a great way to experience history while spending time in the Big Easy because
she has a few secrets hidden within.
We'll discover one of those secrets coming up after the break.
The by-use and waterways of Louisiana provide a backbone for the culture and cuisine of New
Orleans.
But during World War II, this geography proved to be the key element and an essential strategy
that helped the allies to victory.
My name is Kenneth Hoffman.
I'm Director of Education at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana.
This is the nation's World War II Museum.
London has its own World War II Museum.
Moscow has a World War II Museum.
This is the World War II Museum for the whole country.
And so if you are from Iowa, if you are from California, if you are from New Hampshire, anywhere
you're from, you're going to see something about your state, your community's contribution
to winning this war because this is really all of our story, all of our history.
But why was New Orleans picked to host the United States National World War II Museum?
The answer has its roots in navigating the shallow shores of the mighty Mississippi River.
The reason the museum is in New Orleans is because of a couple of men.
Our founder is Dr. Stephen Ambrose, who is a very famous historian here in New Orleans.
He was the biographer of President Eisenhower.
When Eisenhower said, "I see you live in New Orleans," did you know Andrew Higgins?
And Dr. Ambrose said, "No, he passed away before I moved to New Orleans."
And Eisenhower said, "That's too bad.
He's the man who won the war for us."
Before World War II, the United States military really didn't have an effective way to get
our soldiers and Marines onto enemy shores.
So here in New Orleans, a boat designer and boat builder named Andrew Higgins came up
with a new kind of landing craft.
It's a smallish boat, it can hold about 36 men at a time, and it has a ramp in the front
that comes down.
All the men, when the boat lands on the beach, the ramp comes down and the men can all run
off in about 19 seconds with their packs on their backs, with their weapons ready to
go, and we built thousands of these little boats here in New Orleans that were then shipped
all over the world to be used to help win World War II.
So we're really proud here in New Orleans of our contribution to the Victorian World
War II.
The National World War II Museum has a rich collection of military artifacts that explores
the war that changed the world.
Our main exhibit hall has a wonderful history of World War II up through D-Day, but you
can see exhibits about the home front, exhibits about how the war started, Pearl Harbor, exhibits
about how we planned for the D-Day invasion, this major battle that helped us beat the *****.
When you're done exploring the main exhibit hall, take a trip next door to the brand new
U.S. Freedom Pavilion, where you can get up close and personal to some original aircraft
used in World War II.
There are five airplanes hanging from the ceiling.
We have a B-17 bomber, a B-25 bomber.
We have a P-51 Mustang with a red tail, just like the Tuskegee airmen flew in World War
II.
There is a submarine exhibit here that you actually get into this mock-up of a submarine.
You get to turn the dials, you get to throw the levers, and actually be a crew member
on the last mission of the USS Tang, which was the most successful submarine in U.S.
history.
The vehicles and aircraft tell an important part of the story of World War II, but this
museum has a few other secrets that you don't want to miss.
One of my favorite things on our collection is our Enigma machine.
Everyone used codes in World War II to send secret messages, and the Germans were some
of the best at it, and they had a very complicated machine, called an Enigma machine, and the
British and the Americans, scientists and mathematicians and cryptologists worked very
hard to decode the German Enigma codes.
We did.
We figured out how to break the codes, but in order to break the codes, we had to invent
the world's first computer.
There's some lessons here at the World War II Museum.
Our world today is the way it is, in a lot of ways, because of the science and technology
that came out of World War II, and the computer being developed to break the Enigma codes is
a great example of that.
New Orleans is one of the most distinct towns that the United States has produced.
They embrace their culture, music, food, and each other.
The experience, the many artifacts and monuments, from battles that remind us that the big easy
actually grew up kind of hard.
If you're looking for intricate historical architecture, delicious food, incredible music
and festivals, we hope you take a stroll down the streets of New Orleans, a U.S. city with
a ton of character.
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