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Today in New Orleans History |
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November 20
Ernest "Doc" Paulin was born in Wallace, Louisiana, in St. John the Baptist Parish on June 22, 1907 to a Creole French speaking family. Paulin's father played the accordion. Edgar Peters, his uncle, was a trombonist.
Paulin relocated to nearby New Orleans in his youth. He was active on the city's music scene since the 1920s and continued
performing marching in long parades into the 1990s. His non-Union band gave many young musicians their start in playing professionally. Paulin
had 13 children, six of whom played music professionally, starting in their father's band. His sons continue to have one of
the city's better known brass bands, the Paulin Brothers Band. Son Rickey Paulin, a clarinet player, was displaced to Houston by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Paulin's band was featured in Always for Pleasure, an award-winning documentary about New Orleans culture. Paulin recorded in the early 1960s with Emile Barnes on Icon Records, and in 1980
his brass band made an LP released onFolkways. He also performs
on the CD by his sons' 1996 Paul Brothers Jazz Band The Tradition Continues. Paulin
died in suburban Marrero on November 20, 2007 at the age of 100. (Wiki)
On November 20, 1882, William J. Behan (1840-1928) became the 41st mayor
of New Orleans, a position he held until April 28, 1884. During the Civil War, Behan had served the Confederate States
in the Washington Artillery where he rose in rank to major. He was also a Captain of the
Mistick Krewe of Comus.
Earling Carothers "Jim" Garrison, born in Denison, Iowa on November
20, 1921, was the District Attorney of New Orleans from 1962 to 1973. He is best known for his
investigations into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and his unsuccessful prosecution of businessman
Clay Shaw. He died on October 21, 1992. Jazz clarinetist and saxophonist Achille Joseph Baquet, born in New Orleans on November 15, 1885,
was an early musician on the New Orleans jazz scene. His father, Theogene Baquet, led the Excelsior Brass Band. His
brothers, Harold and George, were both musicians. He learned clarinet from Luis Tio, and played with the Original Dixieland
Jazz Band, Papa Jack Laine's Reliance Brass Band, and the Happy Schilling Dance Orchestra. Baquet's credits as a composer
include "Why Cry Blues", written with Jimmy Durante. He is also thought to have co-written "Livery Stable Blues"
with Yellow Nunez. He died on November 20, 1956 (or 1955). Baseball's Forgotten Man On March 5, 1946, on page 9, a two paragraph Associated Press article appeared on the Times-Picyaune
sports page. It read: Sanford, Fla., March 4. -- Baseball
broke a precedent of long standing today when Shortstop Jackie Robinson and Pitcher John Wright, two Negro athletes, reported
for spring training with the Montreal Royals, Brooklyn's farm club in the International League. Before
an uninterested gathering of seven spectators, Robinson and Wright went through the routine practice motions in a drill that
failed to create as much excitement as a daily battle between the "Blues" and the "Greens" at Rickey University."
Robinson went on to earn great fame. Wright has been mostly forgotten. And the
introduction of black players to major league baseball was anything but "routine" (the word used to describe their
first practice together in the above article). Born in New Orleans on November 28, 1916, John Richard
"Johnny" Wright graduated from McDonough 35 in 1935 and pitched for the New Orleans Zulus at age 17 in 1936.
The Zulus were a local professional team which provided entertainment with high-jinks which have been compared to the Harlem
Globe Trotters. In 1937 played professionally in the Negro League for the Newark Eagles, the Atlanta Black Crackers (1938),
the Pittsburgh Crawfords (1938), Toledo/Indianapolis Crawfords (1939-40) and twice with the Homestead Grays (1941-43, 1945).
With the Grays, Wright pitched in the Negro Leagues World Series of 1942, '43, and '45. In 1943. Wright had a 25-4 record
before entering the Navy during World War II where he played on the the Great Lakes Naval Station and the Floyd Bennett Air
Field teams. Wright
was on the roster on March 17, 1946, when Robinson started at shortstop for the Royals in an exhibition game against their
parent club the Dodgers, the first step in breaking baseball's color barrier. While Robinso was able to channel any
adversity into a drive to achieve excellence, Wright began faltering. In his first appearance, against Syracuse, Wright
entered in relief. He gave up 4 runs and 5 hits over 3.1 innings. The next time on the mound Wright pitched in Baltimore,
the southern-most city in the International League, and a hostile environment for black players. He entered in the sixth
inning behind by five. He retired the side and finished the game without giving up a hit. In general, however, during
his six weeks with the club, he was used sporadically and often suffered from control problems. On May 14, he was demoted
to the Class-C Trois Rivieres (Quebec) Royals of the Canadian-American League. The Dodgers immediately replaced Wright
on the Montreal roster with Roy Partlow, another black pitcher. Wright went 12-8 with Trois Rivieres, plus winning
the deciding game of the championship series. At the end of the season, Wright barnstormed with Robinson's "All-Star"
squad. Wright rejoined the Grays for 1947, making the All-Star team and winning eight games. He retired after
the 1948 season, moved back home, and spent the rest of his working life at the National Gypsum Company. "I'm sure
most of his co-workers at the gypsum plant never even knew he was a ballplayer," said Walter Wright (no relation),
president of the Old-Timers Club who played and followed baseball for most of his 84 years. Wilmer Fields, a teammate with
the Grays, said: "John never talked much about his experience with the Dodgers. He was a happy-go-lucky person who
was in the wrong place at the wrong time." Jackie Robinson's temperament was better suited to handle the cruelties
and indignities suffered by the first black men to play in the big leagues. He wrote in his autobiography, "Shortly
after Branch Rickey had signed me for Montreal, he had signed John Wright, a black pitcher, for the farm club. Johnny was
a good pitcher, but I feel he didn't have the right kind of temperament to make it with the International League in those
days. He couldn't withstand the pressure of taking insult after insult without being able to retaliate. It affected his
pitching that he had to keep his temper under control all the time. Later I was very sad because he didn't make the Montreal
team.
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German Born Charles Wirth (1851-1936) came to New Orleans in 1864 and in 1916 developed Wirth Place -- a two-block
street between Freret and Magnolia Streets near Nashville Avenue. He also owned Wirth's Grocery Store on Magazine Street.
He later became the president and major stockholder of the Standard Brewing Company, a member of the city council, and president
of the German Protestant Orphan Asylum for 18 years. 
Robinson, Wright Have First Spring Workouts
On November 20, 1835 a young Irish-born woman, her husband, and young daughter arrived in New Orleans on the ship Hyperion.
They had left their home in Baltimore because they were advised that his health might improve in the southern climate.
He died shortly thereafter and, within months of his death, the beloved baby girl also died. Margaret Haughery was a
23 year-old illiterate, uneducated, penniless, childless widow in a city she barely knew. Her life had been touched
by great loss before. At the age of nine her parents died. She is often quoted as saying, after losing her baby, 'My
God! Thou hast broken every tie. Thou hast stripped me of all. Again I am all alone' 
In 1880, Margaret acquired a bakery at 70 through 78 New Levee Street which grew into one of the largest in the city.
As before, the first products went to the orphans, the rest was sold. Working in partnership with the Sisters of Charity,
Margaret fed not only orphans but the city's needy adults. She generously supported St. Theresa's Asylum, St. Elizabeth's
Asylum, St. Vincent's Infant Asylum and other similar institutions. It has been estimated that, while living, she donated
an estimated $600,000 to charitable endeavors. In addition, she personally cared for yellow fever victims, widows, homeless
men, pregnant teenagers, Confederate Veterans, and anyone who sought her help. 
She became known, during her lifetime, as “The Bread Woman of New Orleans". A century and a quarter later,
we know her as simply "Margaret" and are reminded of her life devoted to children by the statue at Margaret Park
in front of the old orphanage. The story of the statue attests to how beloved she was by so many. Almost immediately after
her death an executive committee was formed and headed by George Horter to raise funds for a memorial. Rich and poor
contributed and the $6000 needed to make it a reality was soon collected. Alexander Doyle, who was working on the Robert
E. Lee statue for Lee Circle, was commissioned to design Margaret's statue. His model was sent to Italy, where the monument
was carved in fine Carrara marble. In keeping with Margaret's frugal personal lifestyle, Doyle portrayed her sitting in her
favorite plain wooden chair, clothed in a simple dress and shawl. Her left arm is draped lovingly around a young boy
whose face reflects his love for her. Those who knew her, were astounded by its likeness. 
