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Dryades Street Market: Where Black New Orleans shopped [1]

['Tammy C. Barney', 'More Tammy C. Barney', 'Verite News']

Date: 2024-04-03  

The Dryades Street Market used to be the place to shop for Black people in New Orleans.

Founded in 1849 in Central City, the market was “second in size only to the Canal Street Commercial District,” according to New Orleans Historical. “Dryades shopkeepers also allowed African-American consumers some freedom from the worst aspects of Jim Crow racial discrimination practices along Canal Street.”

The market, located on what is now Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard, included Kaufman’s Department Store, opened in 1919; Handelman’s Department Store, opened in 1922; Leidenheimer Baking Company, founded in 1896; Joann’s Chubby and Husky Shop; and Weidig Hardware.

By the 1950s, the market had 200 shops, according to the Louisiana Weekly, run by Jewish people, Black people, Germans and Italians.

In a blog post titled “A brief history of Central City, the forsaken heart of New Orleans,” Mike Scott said that “business owners of all shades and backgrounds operated the scores of shops that lined the bustling Dryades Street …throughout the late 18th century and well into the 20th century. Central City, once just empty land, had become one big demographic melting pot. That, however, was about to change.”

In 1960, Black people provided 90 percent of the business on Dryades. However, the white owners refused to hire Black people for anything other than janitorial positions. Starting that spring, Black shoppers boycotted Dryades stores for months until white owners agreed to employ Black workers.

That success led to the market’s demise. Competing with white flight and indoor shopping malls, Dryades Market collapsed in the 1980s, leaving the area inundated with blight and poverty.

Today, a few businesses – ​​Café Reconcile, Ashe Cultural Arts Center and the Southern Food and Beverage Museum – are part of revitalization efforts.

“There’s hope among business people and residents of Central City that momentum can be maintained,” Scott wrote, “and it’s hard not to hope along with them.”

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[1] Url: https://veritenews.org/2024/04/03/dryades-street-market-where-black-new-orleans-shopped/

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