[Dixielandjazz] Storyville

[drjz]

Thanks Pat. Actually the next line in my book is, "Alderman Story was
horrified when the area was christened Storyville." I'm sure he would have
been happier if it had been known only as "The District."
Fred

Patrick Cooke wrote:

> >>>>Apart from that, the finesse displayed by Alderman
> Story in crafting his successful ordinance is to be admired.<<<<
>           Alderman Story was quite distressed about the fact that the
> district came to be named after him.
>           Pat Cooke
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "drjz" <drjz@bealenet.com>
> To: <dixielandjazz@ml.islandnet.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, August 13, 2002 11:04 PM
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Storyville
>
> > To suggest in the discussion of Storyville that New Orleans passed a law
> > "legalizing prostitution within a certain area" is inaccurate. As I
> > wrote in the "Introduction" to my book, Jazz and Death, Medical Profiles
> > of Jazz Greats - "At an 1897 meeting of the New Orleans Common Council,
> > Sidney Story proposed that prostitution should be illegal without
> > (outside) a limited area of the city: 'That from the first of October,
> > 1897 it shall be unlawful for any public prostitute or woman notoriously
> > abandoned to lewdness, to occupy, inhabit, live or sleep in any house,
> > room, or closet situated without the following limits.' This quaint
> > phrasing silenced opposing moralists, as prostitution was not legal
> > within the city's boundaries." The "limits" were those streets that
> > enclosed the part of the city "wherein prostitution was to be permitted
> > but not actually legalized", as Herbert Asbury so aptly stated in his
> > book, The French Quarter.
> >
> > Al Rose, in his most admirable book, Storyville, New Orleans, wrote that
> > "the ordinances did not actually legalize prostitution in the District.
> > This conclusion, though technically correct, is misleading."
> > Unfortunately, this point of view has led to even more misleading
> > statements, such as Storyville being an "area for licensed prostitution"
> > (Clayton and Gammond. The Guinness Jazz Companion), and "there were
> > probably between 1,500 and 2,200 registered prostitutes in Storyville"
> > (Tirro, Jazz. A History), the implication being that registration bore
> > governmental status. The only semblance of a prostitutional register was
> > contained in the famous, or infamous and most decidely unofficial, Blue
> > Book. Although all this may seem somewhat pedantic, Storyville's
> > formation was a significant event in the evolution of jazz, and deserves
> > factual presentation. Apart from that, the finesse displayed by Alderman
> > Story in crafting his successful ordinance is to be admired.
> > Fred Spencer
> >
> >
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