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The Great Southern Babylon

Sex, Race, and Respectability in New Orleans, 1865-1920

Alecia P Long author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Louisiana State University Press

Published:1st Sep '05

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

The Great Southern Babylon cover

With a well-earned reputation for tolerance of both prostitution and miscegenation, New Orleans became known as the Great Southern Babylon in antebellum times. Following the Civil War, a profound alteration in social and economic conditions gradually reshaped the city's sexual culture and erotic commerce. Historian Alecia P. Long traces sex in the Crescent City over fifty years, drawing from Louisiana Supreme Court case testimony to relate intriguing tales of people both obscure and famous whose relationships and actions exemplify the era.

"Storyville has become America's mythic red-light district.... Alecia Long pulls back Storyville's moth-eaten velvet draperies to reveal the district - and the city - with refreshing insight." - Houston Chronicle "A welcome addition to Louisiana, southern, and women's historiography. Highly recommended." - Choice "Long brilliantly charts the historical roots and evolution of the culture of commercial sexuality in New Orleans.... The result is a landmark book all should read." - Darlene Clark Hine, coauthor of A Shining Thread of Hope: The History of Black Women in America"

ISBN: 9780807131121

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

304 pages