Renowned author and playwright Tennessee Williams moved to New Orleans in 1939, shortly after graduating college at the age of 28. Williams became part of New Orleans’s gay elite, frequenting establishments such as Cafe Lafitte, and the city of New Orleans came to inspire much of his writing. Over the course of his time in New Orleans, Williams lived in several different properties in the French Quarter, but it was in this apartment on St. Peter Street that, inspired by the sounds of the Royal St streetcar that he could overhear from inside, he wrote his famous play A Streetcar Named Desire, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize.

New Orleans streetcar No. 952, built in 1923, the same model of streetcar that ran on the Desire Line, which went by Williams’s apartment.

This address was one of several places in New Orleans where renowned American playwright Tennessee Williams once lived. Although he only lived here a short time, it was in this apartment that Williams began to write his famous play A Streetcar Named Desire. The actual apartment that Williams lived in is no longer here, but the back staircase he used to access his living quarters still remains.

Tennessee Williams's Apartment

Starting at the statue of Ignatius J. Reily and Hotel Monteleone, the infamous hangout of many New Orleans writers, this short walk includes a pair of museums and several landmarks including the former homes of Tennessee Williams and William Faulkner. Be sure to also use Clio to see other New Orleans literary landmarks such as the George Washington Cable House.  

Easy to miss for those who are unaware of this small statue and its history, the Ignatius J. Reilly statue shows a sloppy and manic-looking man standing outside the former D.H Holmes building. In John Kennedy Toole's famous book "A Confederacy of Dunces," Reilly's character wanders around the city running into a variety of colorful people. He is posted outside the building now, seeming to study the crowd of people for signs of bad taste in dress, and waiting for his mother. The statue is often thought to have been removed, but it gets moved inside during Mardi Gras season and other times to avoid the potential of damage. Toole's mother got his famous book published eleven years after his suicide. Toole was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for literature posthumously.

This bronze figure of Ignatius J. Reilly was dedicated in 1996 and pays homage to one of the greatest satirical novels, "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole. The statue was located here because it was the location of D.H Holmes Department Store, which is the setting in the book. The former New Orleans department store is now home to Hyatt Centric hotel.  

Ignatius J. Reilly Statue

Sometime
around 1880, Sicilian shoemaker, Antonio Monteleone made his way to New
Orleans.&nbsp; He immediately set up a cobbler’s
shop along the Rue Royale and by 1886 had earned enough money to purchase a
small, 64-room hotel.&nbsp; It was from this
humble beginning that the now famous Hotel Monteleone sprang.&nbsp; Antonio soon acquired the adjacent Commercial
Hotel and thus began a long history of expansions.&nbsp; In 1903 he added 30 more rooms.&nbsp; In 1908, he acquired an additional property
and changed the name from the Commercial Hotel to the Hotel Monteleone. 

Antonio died
in 1913 and the hotel was passed to his son, Frank.&nbsp; Frank continued the hotel’s expansion with
200 rooms in 1928 and then demolished the original hotel to make room for the
current, Beaux-Arts style hotel with guest, ball, and dining rooms.&nbsp; Frank died in 1958 and control of the hotel
passed to his son, Bill.&nbsp; The hotel’s
last major expansion took place in 1964 with the addition of more floors and
the Sky Terrace with rooftop swimming pool and cocktail lounge.&nbsp; The hotel is currently owned by Bill’s son,
William Jr. and has been since Bill died in 2011, making the Hotel Monteleone
one of the last family owned and operated hotels in New Orleans.&nbsp; 

Perhaps even
more than its rotating bar, the Hotel Monteleone is best known for its ability
to attract superstars of the literary world.&nbsp;
The long list of writers who have stayed here include: Ernest Hemingway,
Tennessee Williams, William Faulkner, Truman Capote (who claimed, in jest, to
have been born at the hotel), Eudora Welty, Sherwood Anderson, Lyle Saxon, Winston
Groom, Anne Rice, Stephen Ambrose, and John Grisham.&nbsp; It is due to this rich literary history that
the hotel received its literary landmark status in 1999, one of only three
hotels in the country so honored (New York City’s Plaza and Algonquin Hotels being
the other two).

The writers
who have stayed at the hotel, and others, have used it as a backdrop in over
170 novels, short stories or plays.&nbsp; This
list includes: Tennessee Williams’ The
Rose Tattoo and Orpheus Rising,
Rebecca Wells’ Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya
Sisterhood, Stephen Ambrose’s Band of
Brothers, and Ernest Hemingway’s short story Night Before Battle.&nbsp;Eudora Welty's The Purple Hat, helped immortalize the Carousel Piano Bar and Lounge. The hotel now includes suites named after its famous guests: Capote, Faulkner, Hemingway, Weltey, and Williams.&nbsp;The
hotel is claimed, by some, to be haunted, especially the 14th floor…or
is that the 13th as, with many hotels, there is no 13th
floor to choose from within the elevator. The hotel has also been used as a shooting location for the films:&nbsp;Double Jeopardy, Glory Road, Retirement,&nbsp;The Last Time, and&nbsp;12 Rounds.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;

The only high-rise building located in New Orleans’ French Quarter, the Hotel Monteleone, in one form or another, has stood at the corner of Royal and Iberville Streets since 1886.  Over the years, the original Hotel Monteleone was expanded until it was razed to make room for the current iteration in 1954.  It now contains 600 guest rooms, to include 50 suites.  It is also home to New Orleans’ only rotating bar, the Carousel Piano Bar and Lounge and numerous literary luminaries have graced its halls, rooms, and lounges over the years.  It is a member of Historic Hotels of America and was deemed an official literary landmark by the Friends of the Library Association in 1999.

Hotel Monteleone

The Royal Street Complex Includes:<ul><li>Merieult House</li><li>Counting House</li><li>Maisonette</li><li>Williams Residence</li><li>Townhouse</li><li>Louis Adams House</li><li>Creole Cottage</li></ul><h4>Merieult House</h4>This main front building, which today houses the Williams Gallery, Louisiana History Galleries and the museum shop, occupies land that has been in continuous use from the early days of the colony in the 1720s.Dating back to 18th century, the entire block belonged to the French Crown and was the site of workmen’s barracks and the king’s forges. Later, when the land was subdivided, a private dwelling was constructed on the Royal Street lot but destroyed by the great fire of 1788. In 1792, Jean François Merieult, a prosperous merchant and trader, purchased the property on Royal Street and began construction on the building that would survive the fire of 1794. Merieult’s Spanish colonial house was remodeled in the 1830s by the Cuban firm of Lizardi Brothers, commission merchants and international bankers. The Merieult House today still preserves the style of the 1830s renovation.<h4>Counting House</h4>A Grand Greek revival room used for meetings, seminars, receptions, and exhibitions began life as colonial warehouse. The two-story building borders The Collection’s main courtyard and is named for the banking activities conducted by the Lizardi firm on this site in the 19th century.It originally built as a warehouse by Jean François Merieult in 1794–95. A 20th-century renovation revealed that material from a previous warehouse had been incorporated into Merieult’s building. Today small hideaways in the room’s columnns reveal small French bricks and ventilator grills dating from the early colonial warehouse.<h4>Masisonette</h4>Across the courtyard from the Counting House, the three-story Maisonette features wooden galleries and railings. This service wing, situated on Merieult’s original purchase, was constructed over an earlier structure that was built at the same time as the Merieult House in the 1790s. Archives, dated February 22, 1819, show a warehouse on this site. Today the Maisonette houses staff offices but can be admired from the Courtyard.<h4>Williams Residence</h4>One of the main attractions of the Historic New Orleans Collection, is named for Kemper and Leila Williams and the 1940s and 50s decor remains the same as when they lived there. Tours of the residence are offered daily.Built in 1889, almost 100 years after the Merieult House, the residence is an Italianate, two-story brick house with galleries. The history of the property dates to Jean François Merieult, but it was Jean Baptiste Trapolin who built his house at the rear of the lot and purchased contiguous land fronting on Toulouse Street. The residence, surrounded by three courtyards, is often described as a hidden house.<h4>Townhouse</h4>The townhouse is a newer addition to The Collection, acquired in 1980. The Townhouse is home to The Collection’s photography department and staff offices. Dating from the 19th century, this two-story brick building replaced an earlier Creole townhouse. The balconies and the columnns are typical late 19th century design and the window openings replicate portions of the earlier Creole townhouse.<h4>Louis Adam House</h4>Louis Adam built the early two-story masonry house at 722 Toulouse Street in 1788. In the 1970s, the house was restored to its original Spanish colonial style to include a wood gallery and high-pitched, tiled roof. In the 1930s, it was opened to boarders, and for a short time the young playwright, Tennessee Williams, lived high up in a garret room, which can be toured today.<h4>Creole Cottage</h4>This double cottage at 726-728 Toulouse Street is now a workspace of the exhibition preparation department. It was purchased by The Collection 1990. During the summer of 1991, an archaeological dig revealed evidence of all the structures that existed prior to the house now on the site:<ul><li>French barracks from the 1720s</li><li>Structure burned in the fire of 1788</li><li>Residence from the period 1790 to 1820</li><li>Debris related to the existing cottage that was built around 1830</li></ul>The philanthropist Thomy Lafon bought the cottage in 1876 and willed it to the Society of the Holy Family.In addition to its massive collection of New Orleans-related maps, photographs, surveys and other documents, the Historic New Orleans Collection contains a number of collections of rare or otherwise specialty materials-Tennessee Williams Collection: In 2001, THNOC acquired the largest private collection of Tennessee Williams materials anywhere in the world from collector Fred Todd. In addition to the many typescripts and manuscripts of works such as A Streetcar Named Desire and The Glass Menagerie, there are dozens of playbills, as well as signed first editions of Williams’ plays and other works, unpublished letters, a myriad books about Williams, translations of his work, film scripts, and photos of Williams with friends and associates. The more rare items include notes on the filming of The Rose Tattoo, an operatic version of Summer and Smoke, a play-script for a western, a prose-poem to lover Frank Merlo, and numerous promotional materials and memorabilia from Baby Doll, including the film script with notes from director Elia Kazan and some of Williams’ own financial records. Additionally, the Historic New Orleans Collection publishes the Tennessee Williams Annual Review, the only regularly published journal devoted exclusively to the works of Tennessee Williams. It is available in print and electronically.: William Russell Jazz Collection:The William Russell Jazz Collection is an extensive collection of jazz memorabilia including musical instruments, records, piano rolls, sheet music, photographs, books and periodicals. It traces the development of jazz in New Orleans and follows the movement of musicians to New York City, Chicago, California and beyond. It encompasses notes from Mr. Russell’s research, audiotapes, programs, posters, correspondence, films, business cards, notes, clippings, and scrapbooks. Large portions of the collection focus on the lives of Manuel "Fess" Manetta, Bunk Johnson, and Jelly Roll Morton. The collection also features materials on brass bands, ragtime, gospel music, and William Russell’s own compositions. William C. Cook War of 1812 in the South Collection:The William C. Cook collection focuses on the War of 1812 in the South, particularly the Creek War, the war in the Gulf of Mexico, and the Battle of New Orleans. Major General Andrew Jackson, military commander during these events, is well represented, and the collection also includes various important U.S. Army and militia documents, as well as materials concerning the participation of the southern Indian tribes and manuscripts from the British perspective. Also present are related materials concerning the War of 1812 in the South from a later date, the largest single grouping of which contains campaign materials from the 1828 presidential election. These principally focus on the 1815 execution of the six militia men that were most dramatically executed in the infamous "Coffin broadsides." Clarence John Laughlin Collection:THNOC also maintains the substantial Clarence John Laughlin collection, which contains film negatives, transparencies, photographs and prints spanning the decades from the 1930s to the 1980s, taken both by and of Laughlin. The collection documents Laughlin's life and work throughout both New Orleans and the world. Germans in New Orleans:The Williams Research Center contains an abundance of materials relating to New Orleans' German settlers, organizations, music, businesses, and rural German enclaves. The collection includes an assortment of prints, photographs, postcards, letterheads, maps, sheet music and other objects. The J. Hanno Deiler Papers contain hand-written and typescript drafts of the historian’s major books, articles, and speeches, as well as a number of genealogies of Louisiana-German families. Sugar Bowl archives:Prior to 2007 the Sugar Bowl maintained its archives at the Louisiana Superdome. However, the Superdome was damaged by Hurricane Katrina, and though the archives were undamaged, the Bowl decided the archives needed a more suitable home, and thus donated the materials to the Collection.

Founded in 1966 by General L. Kemper Williams and his wife Leila, the Historic New Orleans Collection (HNOC) is a museum, research center, and publisher dedicated to preserving the history and culture of New Orleans and the Gulf South. The organization has restored seven architectural treasures between its Royal Street Complex and the Williams Research Center and on Chartres Street. Its four exhibition spaces—the Williams Gallery, the Louisiana History Galleries, the Boyd Cruise Gallery, and the new Laura Simon Nelson Galleries for Louisiana Art—faithfully depict the multicultural stories of the region, from permanent displays exploring the evolution of Louisiana to rotating exhibitions showcasing history and fine art. Researchers—dedicated scholars and casual history buffs—can access THNOC’s materials through the Williams Research Center. 

The Historic New Orleans Collection 

William Cuthbert Faulkner (September 25, 1897-July 6,1962) was a Nobel prize-winning writer from Oxford, Mississippi. He is best known for his books set in the fictional Mississippi Yoknapatawpha County. Novels set in this county include As I Lay Dying and The Sound and the Fury. Faulkner created the word Yoknapatawpha by combining two Chickasaw words, yocona and petopha, meaning, “split land.” This fictional county is based on Lafayette County, the area in Mississippi where Faulkner spent most of his life.Although Faulkner is heavily identified with Mississippi, he was residing in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1925 when he wrote his first novel, Soldiers' Pay, after being directly influenced by Sherwood Anderson to attempt fiction writing. Anderson also assisted in the publication of Soldier's Pay and of Mosquitoes, Faulkner's second novel, by recommending them both to his own publisher. The miniature house at 624 Pirate's Alley, just around the corner from St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans, is now the premises of Faulkner House Books, where it also serves as the headquarters of the Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society.In 1949, Faulkner became the only Mississippi-born Nobel laureate after accepting the Nobel Prize for literature. The award was given to Faulkner for “his powerful and artistically unique contribution to the modern American novel.” Faulkner used part of his Nobel Prize money to establish a fund to support up and coming fiction writers. This later became the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. He also used his prize money to create a scholarship fund for the education of African-American teachers at Rust College in Holly Springs, Mississippi. On August 3, 1987, the United States Postal Service (USPS) issued a stamp in his honor. Interestingly, Faulkner once worked as the University of Mississippi’s Postmaster. In 1923, he wrote a resignation letter to USPS that read, “As long as I live under the capitalistic system, I expect to have my life influenced by the demands of moneyed people. But I will be damned if I propose to be at the beck and call of every itinerant scoundrel who has two cents to invest in a postage stamp. That, sir, is my resignation.” Faulkner's House is now a bookstore, Faulkner House Books. It is dedicated to Faulkner with books by and on him, many rare and collectible.

This building was completed in 1840 and is best known for the 1920s, when it was the home of William Faulkner. It was here where Faulkner wrote his first novel in 1925, Soldiers’ Pay. Faulkner's novel tells the story of an aviator returning home to Georgia after World War I. The original home was built for another famous person, the widow of Jean Baptiste LaBranche. Her home was built upon the ground where the French Colonial prison once stood.

Faulkner House- Historical Marker

<div>Sherwood Anderson was an American novelist and short story writer, known for subjective and self-revealing works. Self-educated, he rose to become a successful copywriter and business owner in Cleveland and Elyria, Ohio. In 1912, Anderson had a nervous breakdown that led him to abandon his business and family to become a writer.</div><div> </div><div>At the time, he moved to Chicago and was eventually married three more times. His most enduring work is the short-story sequence Winesburg, Ohio, which launched his career. Throughout the 1920s, Anderson published several short story collections, novels, memoirs, books of essays, and a book of poetry. Though his books sold reasonably well, Dark Laughter (1925), a novel inspired by Anderson's time in New Orleans during the 1920s, was the only bestseller of his career. Beginning in 1924, Sherwood and Elizabeth Prall Anderson moved to&nbsp;New Orleans, where they lived in the historic Pontalba Apartments (540-B St. Peter Street) adjoining&nbsp;Jackson Square&nbsp;in the heart of the&nbsp;French Quarter. For a time, they entertained&nbsp;William Faulkner,&nbsp;Carl Sandburg,&nbsp;Edmund Wilson&nbsp;and other writers, for whom Anderson was a major influence. Critics trying to define Anderson's significance have said he was more influential through this younger generation who he influenced than by his own works.Anderson referred to meeting Faulkner in his ambiguous and moving short story, "A Meeting South." His novel&nbsp;Dark Laughter&nbsp;(1925) drew from his New Orleans experiences and continued to explore the new sexual freedom of the 1920s. Although the book is now out of print (and was satirized by&nbsp;Ernest Hemingway&nbsp;in his novella&nbsp;The Torrents of Spring), it was a bestseller at the time, the only book of Anderson's to reach that status during his lifetime.</div><div>Sherwood Anderson's best known work is the novel "Winesburg, Ohio" but in all he wrote 27 works, seven of which were novels. Before his writing career got started&nbsp;he worked in advertising and owned his own company,&nbsp;Anderson Manufacturing. The stress of business life and the fact that making money for its own sake was not his passion caused him to have a nervous breakdown. He left the business industry to focus on writing. However, he did use his business experience for the rest of his life, buying two independent newspapers and serving as business manager&nbsp;and editor for both. Anderson was also a playwright, poet, and political journalist. Tragically, he died in Panama of peritonitis after accidentally swallowing a toothpick.&nbsp; </div>

During the 1920 great American author Sherwood Anderson (1876-1941) hosted literary salons at this location. Many future literary giants came here including Gertrude Stein, William Faulkner, and Carl Sandburg. Anderson played a large role in helping jumpstart their careers. The marker was placed here in 1998 by the Friends of Libraries USA and Friends of the New Orleans Public Library. 

Historical Marker: Literary Landmark - 540 St. Peter

The Chartres St. house was built in 1826&nbsp;by Francois Correjolles, one of the first native-born Americans to gain success as an architect. He built the house for Joseph Le Carpentier. It was Joseph Le Carpentier's grandson, Paul Morphy, who became the main character of future occupant's, Frances Parkinson Keye's, book&nbsp;The Chess Players: A Novel of New Orleans.&nbsp;In 1857, Paul Morphy was more than the champion of the Grand Tournament at the First American Chess Congress--he dominated, winning ninety-seven out of one hundred games! While the fictional account makes Morphy a Confederate spy during the Civil War, there is no evidence to suggest any reality in this piece of the story. Le Carpentier sold the house to John Ami Merle in 1833. Merle then became the first Consul of Switzerland to New Orleans in 1838. However, due to financial troubles, the Parish Court for the City of New Orleans ordered the sale of much of Merle's assets, including the house. Thus the house passed into a new family's hands, who would carry the house through the civil war. Widow Josephine Laveau Trudeau purchased the house in 1841. The house passed from Mrs. Trudeau to her daughter and then to her daughter's daughter, who lived in the house during the civil war. General P.G.T. Bureaugard never owned the Chartres St. house, but he did&nbsp;&nbsp;honeymoon there&nbsp;with this second wife, Caroline Deslonde Bureaugard, while he and his sons rented the house. The house continued to pass hands until in 1904, it was purchased by Corroda Giacona. The Giacona's operated a wholesale liquor store, which made headlines, when a murder occurred in its back gallery. During the first half of the 20th century, the house suffered severe disrepair and neglect. Not yet treasured for its unique history and architecture, the house served as a homeless shelter at one point and later for Alcoholics Anonymous. Finally, Frances Parkinson Keyes purchased the house in 1945 and began attempting to restore it to reflect the era in which Bureaugard and his sons would have rented the house. She then wrote her famous book on Paul Morphy, previous occupant and champion chess player.

Built in 1826, the Chartres Street house is named after two of its most famous former occupants: Confederate General Pierre Gustave Toutant (P.G.T.) Beuregard and American author Frances Parkinson Keyes. However, over several generations, many other notable Americans also lived in this historic house, including a world chess champion and a Swiss consul. Additionally, the house was at various points used for a liquor business (during which a famous murder occurred), a home for homeless men, and Alcoholics Anonymous. With its rich and diverse history, the home tells an interesting story of New Orleans.

French Quarter Literary History Walking Tour

Tennessee Williams's Apartment

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources