“Storyville was full of entrepreneurism.”
While this observation from Claus Sadlier, founder and CEO of the Storyville Museum at 1010 Conti Street, may not echo the first thought that comes to most people’s minds about New Orleans’ infamous red-light district, it is historically accurate.
“This was a time when women had few entrepreneurial opportunities,” Sadlier continued. “For most women, working meant earning 15 cents an hour in some factory.”
Sadlier knows entrepreneurism when he sees it. A native New Orleanian, Sadler graduated from Brother Martin High School and the University of New Orleans. After obtaining a business degree from Indiana University, he settled in San Francisco in the early 1990s. This was when specialty coffee shops were burgeoning, but mobile hot drink containers were made only from environmentally unfriendly Styrofoam.
Sadlier invented an insulated paper cup, formed a company to manufacture them, and eventually sold it to Dixie Cup for the highest amount ever paid for a paper products company. Several entrepreneurial ventures later, he returned to New Orleans, purchased a home in the French Quarter, and immersed himself in local history.
He also observed the various “history” tours that permeate the Quarter and cringed at their considerable fiction content. Realizing that casual tourists frequently are interested in learning about the city’s background but may not have the appetite for a deep dive at a place like The Historic New Orleans Collection, he hit on Storyville as the ideal way to get people engaged.
“I want to take back a bit of New Orleans history,” said Sadlier. “I want people to know how important New Orleans was. At one point, it was the third-largest city in the United States.”
While New Orleans has been a historical leader in everything from banking to shipping, it has also been prominent in less “mainstream” industries. Sadlier prepared intensely prior to opening his museum — “I read hundreds of books, went to a lot of museums, thousands of hours of research” — and along the way, came across many interesting tidbits:
- New Orleans was once the gambling capital of the U.S., with some 500 licensed casinos in the 1800s. Along with better-known inventions such as jazz, the city was the origin of both poker and craps.
- Between 1810 and 1860, three different red-light districts existed in the city.
- When Storyville was established in 1897, it rapidly became the largest red-light district in America. In its heyday, there was a 100-page directory of women and establishments, complete with corporate sponsors such as Veuve Clicquot champagne and Budweiser beer.
“People hear about Storyville, but they don’t really know what it is,” Sadlier noted. “It’s such a great story, and the museum gives tourists a destination where they can get real New Orleans history.”
The Storyville Museum avoids the obvious cliches and salacious focus to tell the story of the district in the larger context of the city’s founding and growth. Murals on the walls and an exceptional collection of period artifacts help bring the time and place to life. An extensive display of E.J. Bellocq photos, including one previously unpublished, also helps paint the picture. And there is considerable emphasis on the sense of community that permeated Storyville.
“Everybody knew each other, the women, the musicians, the bartenders, even the police,” recounted Sadlier. “They were on the outskirts of society, but they had a real community.”
That this community was so entrepreneurial really resonates with Sadlier, who wants the museum to thrive but also recognizes that it is a passion project that his past successes enable him to undertake.
“Once you make enough money, you have to do things you love,” he said. “I do things I always wanted to learn about. I used the museum as a vehicle to learn a lot, and I hope other people will, too.”
Keith Twitchell spent 16 years running his own business before becoming president of the Committee for a Better New Orleans. He has observed, supported and participated in entrepreneurial ventures at the street, neighborhood, nonprofit, micro- and macro-business levels.
