Acknowledgements

Metairie was a great place in which to grow up with its small town “feel” and easy access to the city. All but a few parents of first generation “Metairians” (myself included) were born and raised in New Orleans. Most of my neighborhood peers were New Orleans natives because there were few hospitals in Metairie when they were born. Until the late 1950’s most inhabitants of Metairie did much of their shopping, went to theaters, attended high school, and worked in the city. Metairie was the proverbial bedroom community and would be just another American suburb but for its connection to the unique and historic city of New Orleans.

In the New Orleans state of mind we are all from the same place – the same community. We cherish that connection first and foremost and then identify with the microcosms known as faubourgs, neighborhoods, and suburbs which were all the result of the outward growth of New Orleans from the original town square. We are who we are, eat what we eat, love a good time, and talk as we do because we are New Orleanians. In these acknowledgments I’d be derelict in not including these observations and being thankful.

Having said all that, I must add that Metairie does have a history apart from New Orleans (otherwise, this book would not have written) and that researching the modern history of an area is tricky because facts and figures set down in the recent past often conflict. The information found here is, to the best of my knowledge, correct. Photographic sources include the Louisiana Digital Library, the Library of Congress, and the Jefferson Parish Yearly Review: an annual progress report of Jefferson Parish Louisiana. Uncredited photographs are from the author’s collection.

Special thanks to Irene Wainwright, archivist of the New Orleans Public Library for assistance in acquiring the cover image. Invaluable information was generously shared by Chuck Azzarello, Mike Azzarello, Meredith Campanella, Vincent Campanella, Rita Tonglet, Charles B. Dupré, Henry Harmison, Elizabeth Fury, Gene Benefield, John Guignard, Sandra Sporl Middleton, Mary Fury, Lawrence Englert , Maria Vieages, Connie Adorno Barcza, Elizabeth Ohmer Pellegrin, Vern Tripp, Harry Breaux, and Dolly Breaux (I don't know how I could write this book without you).