In New Orleans, Reviving the Memory of a Forgotten Chinatown

In the 19th century, New Orleans was home to one of the "very few genuine Chinatowns" in the South, according to geographer Richard Campanella. By the 1870s, Chinese laborers recruited by Louisiana planters moved to the city in search of opportunities. They opened laundry businesses and groceries, carving out a space for themselves in the stretch that is now the city's central business district.

But by the 1930s, the neighborhood had completely dissolved. Only a few photographs of the buildings there (like the one below) survive. The enclave now only exists in the stories its inhabitants passed on to their children and grandchildren, most of whom live elsewhere.