“Harnanville?: New Orleans' Early Attempts at a Red-Light District”
Presented by Sally Asher
Before Storyville became synonymous with New Orleans’ vice and nightlife, the city experimented with an earlier—and largely forgotten—attempt to regulate prostitution. In 1892, the City Council passed an ordinance seeking to confine brothels to a designated district, require weekly medical examinations for prostitutes, and fund a new Charity Hospital wing for the “detainment and treatment” of women deemed diseased.
The proposal provoked fierce backlash and inspired an unlikely alliance between society women and sex workers, who joined forces to persuade the mayor to veto the measure. Though short-lived, this failed experiment—sometimes referred to as “Harnanville”—helped pave the way for the establishment of Storyville just five years later.
Join historian and author Sally Asher for a fascinating look at this early chapter in New Orleans’ social history, exploring how reform, resistance, and moral politics shaped the city’s approach to vice and public health.
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Sally Asher is a local writer and photographer. She is the author of multiple books on the history of New Orleans. She has two master’s degrees from Tulane University in English and Liberal Arts (with a concentration in history). Her articles and fiction have appeared in over a dozen publications, and she won the New Orleans Press award for best feature reporting for her article on Storyville. She frequently lectures on New Orleans history through the Louisiana State Museum and has lectured, presented, and moderated panels for the Louisiana Book Festival, Downriver Festival, Bourbon Festival, and the Tennessee Williams Festival. Former president of Save Our Cemeteries, Asher is now a board member of the Preservation Resource Center and is the chair for the committee Save Our Cemeteries. She owns and operates Red Sash Tours that specializes in cemetery tours and has just launched a new podcast called Eat, Drink, and Be Buried, a podcast about New Orleans’ customs, culture, and curiosities.