Page 27 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - New Orleans

THE HIST OR Y OF NE W ORLEANS  25

World Trade Center, Rivergate, and One
Shell Square were erected, and several
grand hotels rose up along Canal Street.
In 1967, the city was granted an NFL
(National Football League) franchise.
The 1965 Voting Rights Act changed
the political picture in the city. In 1969,
Mayor Moon Landrieu was elected
primarily thanks to the support of black
voters, and he appointed the first black NASA Saturn rocket, built in the 1960s at the Michoud plant
person to a senior position in his
administration, paving the way for the comply, and canceled their parades. The
election of Ernest N. “Dutch” Morial, the first ordinance was later toned down, and
black mayor, in 1978. Proteus resumed its parade in 2000. In
The early years of the Morial administration 1994, Dutch’s son, Marc Morial, was
benefited greatly from the oil boom, but elected mayor. He served two terms,
by 1986, the bubble had burst, due to the building a powerful political machine for
drop in international oil prices; as a result, the governing of New Orleans. Some
the city’s economy was devastated. economic diversification and the boom in
Meanwhile, the white and the late 1990s helped
middle class flight to the restore prosperity, but the
suburbs, which began in city still suffers from an over-
the 1950s, continued, dependence on both the
leaving parts of tourism and oil industries,
the inner city to the poor. and from the persistent
Morial sought to salvage problems of corruption. In
the city’s fortunes by August 2005, a disastrous
advancing construction on flood caused by Hurricane
the Convention Center, Katrina (see pp26–9) swept
farther developing the into the city, killing more
waterfront, and than 1,400 people, but
encouraging tourism sparing most historic
investment, but racial Millennium celebrations on the neighborhoods. Several
tensions increased, finally Mississippi River years after Katrina, much
spilling over into Mardi remains to be done, but the
Gras. In 1991, the City Council passed a city is steadily recovering, doing what it
stringent anti-discrimination law, refusing has always done best; delivering the
to grant parade permits to all; the Comus, pleasures of food, drink, music, and art to
Proteus, and Momus krewes refused to the many visitors that flock here.

1975 Super- 1980s Oil 1987 Pope 1995 A flood in May 2010 Mitch Landrieu
dome opens boom and John Paul II causes $760 million elected mayor
bust visits the city worth of damage

1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020
1994 Marc
1960 N. O. 1984 Louisiana World Morial elected 2011 The Mississippi reaches
schools are Exposition helps riverfront mayor, age 34 historic flood stages, but the
desegregated development levees hold
by federal 2002 C. Ray Nagin 2005 Hurricane
marshals Pope John Paul II elected mayor Katrina hits the city

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