End of An Era: New Orleans, 1850-1861

In the decade preceding the Civil War, New Orleans was a boisterous port with one of the most diverse populations in the world. But the city was enjoying a transient heyday, soon to be replaced by devastation and Reconstruction.

During the mid-nineteenth century, commerce, culture, architecture, education, and other important facets of life reached their zenith in the fabled Crescent City. But beneath the outwardly carefree surface, yellow fever and typhus claimed thousands of lives every ye...