Ernest N. Morial as Mayor of New Orleans

Ernest Nathan Morial (known as Dutch) (October 9, 1929 - December 24, 1989) was a U.S. political figure and a leading civil rights advocate. He was the first black mayor of New Orleans, having served from 1978 to 1986. He was the father of former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial. Image File history File links ErnestMorial. ... Image File history File links ErnestMorial. ... October 9 is the 282nd day of the year (283rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... December 24 is the 358th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (359th in leap years). ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Motto: (traditional) In God We Trust (official, 1956–present) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City Official language(s) None at the federal level; English de facto Government Federal Republic  - President George W. Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence - Declared - Recognized... A politician is an individual involved in politics, sometimes this may include political scientists. ... Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. ... The post of Mayor of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana has been held by the following individuals: Etienne de Boré 1803-04 James Pitot 1804-05 John Watkins 1805-07 James Mather 1807-12 Charles Trudeau 1812 Nicholas Girod 1812 LeBreton Dorgenois 1812 Nicholas Girod 1812-15 Augustin Macarty... Marc H. Morial Marc Haydel Morial (born 1958) is an American political and civic leader and former mayor of New Orleans. ...

Early life and career

Morial was born in New Orleans of Creole ancestry and grew up in the Seventh Ward of New Orleans. His father was Walter Etienne Morial, a cigarmaker, and his mother was Leonie V. (Moore) Morial, a seamstress. He attended Holy Redeemer Elementary School and McDonough #35 High School. He graduated from Xavier University in 1951. In 1954, he became the first African American to receive a law degree from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. He and Israel Augustine, another African American, were admitted to law school together. Morial attended summer school throughout his law school tenure in order to graduate as the first African American. Had he not done so, Augustine by virtue of his name starting with the letter "A" would have entered into the history books as the first African American graduate. The term Louisiana Creole refers to people of any race or mixture thereof who are descended from settlers in colonial Louisiana before it became part of the USA in 1803 with the Louisiana Purchase, or to the culture and Creole cuisine typical of these people. ... The 7th Ward is a section of New Orleans, Louisiana. ... 1867 photograph of Mademoiselle Lecene, an excellent student who was honored as a laureate of the Institute Catholique in that year The Institute Catholique, also known as the Catholic School for Indigent Orphans, was a school founded in the Fauborg Marigny district of New Orleans in 1848 dedicated to providing... Xavier University of Louisiana is a historically African-American Roman Catholic University located off Carrollton Avenue in Mid-City New Orleans, Louisiana. ... 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, generally known as Lousiana State University or LSU, is a public, coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and the main campus of the Louisiana State University System. ... Capitol Building Baton Rouge is the capital of Louisiana, a state of the United States of America. ...

Morial came to prominence as a lawyer fighting to dismantle segregation laws and as president of the local NAACP from 1962 to 1965. He followed in the cautious style of his mentor A.P. Tureaud in preferring to fight for civil rights in courtroom battles rather than through sit-ins and demonstrations. After unsuccessful electoral races in 1959 and 1963, he became the first black member of the Louisiana State Legislature since Reconstruction after being elected in 1967 to represent an Uptown district. He ran for an at-large position on New Orleans City Council in 1969-1970, and lost only narrowly. He then became the first black Juvenile Court judge in Louisiana in 1970. When he was elected to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1974, he was the first black American to have attained this position as well. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), is one of the oldest and most influential hate organizations in the United States. ... Alexander Pierre Tureaud (February 26, 1899 - January 22, 1972) was the attorney for the New Orleans chapter of the NAACP during the civil rights movement. ... The Louisiana State Legislature is the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Louisiana. ... Uptown is a large area of New Orleans, Louisiana. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ... The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following United States district courts: District of Maryland Western, Middle, and Eastern Districts of North Carolina District of South Carolina Western and Eastern Districts of Virginia Northern and Southern Districts of... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ...

In 1955, he married Sybil Haydel. The couple had two sons, Marc Morial and Jacques Morial, as well as three daughters, Julie, Cheri, and Monique. Marc H. Morial Marc Haydel Morial (born 1958) is an American political and civic leader and former mayor of New Orleans. ...

Morial as Mayor

In the election of 1977 he became the first African American Mayor of New Orleans by defeating City Councilman Joseph V. DiRosa by a vote of 90,500 to 84,300. Morial won with 95 percent of the black vote and 20 percent of the white vote, which came mainly from middle and upper class Uptown precincts. He won this election without the support of the major black political organizations like SOUL and COUP. The fourth-place candidate in the primary was deLesseps Story "Toni" Morrison, Jr., liberal son of former mayor deLesseps Story "Chep" Morrison, Sr.. The New Orleans mayoral election of 1977 resulted in the election of Ernest Morial as the first African-American mayor of New Orleans. ... now. ... deLesseps Story Morrison, Jr. ... de Lesseps Story Morrison (1912 January 18–1964 May 22) was a U.S. political figure. ...

Morial was a polarizing figure as mayor of New Orleans. Possessing a confrontational and abrasive personality, Morial was often accused by critics of being pompous, arrogant, and vindictive and ruthless towards his political opponents. Morial and his supporters countered that he was a confident and decisive leader and that he was being held to a different and harsher standard than previous white mayors with a similar style.

Morial waged long-standing political battles with the City Council, led by his archrival Sidney Barthelemy, and with COUP, Barthelemy’s political organization. He built a powerful patronage machine using unclassified city employees and used it to defeat opponents in the State Legislature - including Hank Braden, Louis Charbonnet, and Nick Connor - by personally sponsoring little-known challengers. Mayor Sidney Barthelemy Sidney John Barthelemy was the mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana from 1986 to 1994. ...

In his first term, Morial faced a sanitation workers’ strike and a police strike which led him to cancel the 1979 Mardi Gras parade season. The police union wagered, among its membership, that a strike coinciding with Mardi Gras would force the city's hand in securing many of their demands; but Morial refused to give in, and was supported by leaders of many of the city's Carnival Krewes. The New Orleans krewes either canceled their parades that year or moved them to suburbs in other Parishes. Morial’s hard-line stance towards the police strikers was epitomized by his Napoleonic stand where he placed his arm inside his coat and stood in a characteristic Napoleon pose at the announcement that he was cancelling Mardi Gras. Revelers, Frenchmen Street, Faubourg Marigny. ... A Krewe is an organization that puts on a parade and or a ball for the Carnival season. ... For other uses, see Napoleon (disambiguation). ...

Morial committed the city to affirmative action in hiring city workers and introduced hiring quotas involving private city contractors. The proportion of black employees on the city's workforce increased from 40% in 1977 to 53% in 1985 under Morial’s tenure. Under Morial’s administration the number of black officers in the NOPD was increased to make up one third of the force, but continued incidents of police brutality – most notably the police killing of four blacks in Algiers in 1980 – damaged Morial’s reputation in the black community. Morial was also responsible for getting federal UDAG and Model Cities funding for several major developments, including Canal Place and the Jax Brewery development in the French Quarter. He continued to support previous mayor Moon Landrieu’s emphasis on tourism, but also tried to diversify the ecomomy by developing the Almonaster-Michoud Industrial District in New Orleans East. However, the Louisiana World's Fair, held in 1984, was widely regarded as a financial failure. Maurice Edwin Moon Landrieu (born July 23, 1930) is a former judge, mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana, and United States secretary of housing and urban development. ... Eastern New Orleans is a large section of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. ...

After serving two terms as mayor, he was prevented by the City Charter from seeking a third term. He twice tried to convince voters to change the Charter to allow him to run again but both proposals were soundly defeated. In his last months as mayor, he surprised political observers by seeking a City Council seat for District D. His unexpectedly poor showing in the Council primary led to his withdrawal from the runoff.

Morial’s political strength did not end after he left City Hall in 1986. He considered running for mayor again in the election of 1990, and his sudden death in 1989 during the election campaign influenced Mayor Barthelemy’s re-election, since he died before he could endorse an opponent. The New Orleans mayoral election of 1990 resulted in the reelection of Sidney Barthelemy to a second term as mayor of New Orleans. ...

Morial’s legacy

The City of New Orleans renamed its convention center, which spans over 10 blocks, the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in 1992 for the late New Orleans mayor. The convention has been a major economic engine for the city's large tourist industry and in 2005 became a highly publicized national symbol when it served as a makeshift evacuation center in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center is a collection of buildings in New Orleans, Louisiana. ...

In 1997, the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center posthumously honored Morial with the dedication of The Ernest N. Morial Asthma, Allergy and Respiratory Disease Center. The facility is Louisiana's first comprehensive center for the education, prevention, treatment and research of asthma and other respiratory diseases. "Dutch" suffered and eventually died from complications associated with asthma.

Morial was a former General President of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans. Alpha Phi Alpha (ΑΦΑ) is the first intercollegiate fraternity established by African Americans. ... Because of technical limitations, some web browsers may not display some special characters in this article. ... The terms fraternity and sorority (from the Latin words frater and soror, meaning brother and sister respectively) may be used to describe many social and charitable organizations, for example the Lions Club, Epsilon Sigma Alpha, Rotary International, Ordo Templi Orientis or the Shriners. ...

Sources

Biographical Dictionary of American Mayors, 1820-1980. Greenwood Press, 1981.

DuBos, Clancy. “As an opponent, he had no equal.” Gambit Weekly, January 1, 1991.

Hirsch, Arnold and Joseph Logsdon. Creole New Orleans: Race and Americanization. LSU Press, 1992.

Johnson, Allen, Jr. “The Morial Years: Highs and Lows.” New Orleans Tribune, May 1986.

Whelan, Robert K., Alma Young, and Mickey Lauria. Urban Regimes and Racial Politics: New Orleans during the Barthelemy Years. UNO, 1991.