Date of Award
5-2011
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Degree Program
History
Department
History
Major Professor
Powers, Madelon
Second Advisor
Atkinson, Connie
Third Advisor
Mokhiber, James
Fourth Advisor
Mizell-Nelson, Michael
Abstract
This study examines the political career of Maurice Edwin "Moon" Landrieu from his election to the Louisiana legislature in 1960 to the end of his first term as mayor of New Orleans in 1974. Landrieu was a white southern liberal who vigorously supported the agenda of the civil rights movement. He succeeded in building an unprecedented coalition between liberal, middle-class whites and a large segment of the black community. As the 1970s unfolded, however, he found his coalition increasingly threatened not just by disgruntled white conservatives, which might be expected, but also by angry black radicals of the Black Panther Party. This study argues that Landrieu's firm commitment to opening up political and economic opportunity to all citizens enabled him to keep his progressive, biracial coalition together and to help pave the way for the 1978 election of Ernest "Dutch" Morial, the first black mayor of New Orleans.
Recommended Citation
Straughan, Frank L. Jr., "Phases of a Man Called 'Moon': Mayor Landrieu and Race Relations in New Orleans, 1960-1974" (2011). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 1347.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1347
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.