Date of Award
Spring 5-2014
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Degree Program
History
Department
History
Major Professor
Dr. Mary Niall Mitchell
Second Advisor
Dr. Connie Atkinson
Third Advisor
Dr. Michael Mizell-Nelson
Abstract
Margaret Haughery (1813-1882), a widowed, illiterate Irish immigrant who became known as “the Bread Woman” of New Orleans and the “Angel of the Delta” had grossed over $40,000 by the time of her death. She owned and ran a dairy farm and nationally-known bakery, donated to orphanages, leased property, owned slaves, joined with business partners and brought lawsuits. Although Haughery accomplished much in her life, she is commonly remembered only for her benevolent work with orphans and the poor. In 1884, a statue of her, posed with orphans, was erected by the city’s elite, one of the earliest statues of a woman in the nation. This thesis argues that it was Haughery’s willingness to engage in the mundane business practices of the day, including slaveholding, that made her veneration as a benefactress possible. Using acts of sale, property records, wills, newspaper articles, advertisements, and representations of Haughery, this thesis explores the life behind the image of the “Bread Woman.”
Recommended Citation
Luck, Katherine Adrienne, "Finding Margaret Haughery: The Forgotten and Remembered Lives of New Orleans’s “Bread Woman” In the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries" (2014). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 1821.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1821
Included in
Cultural History Commons, History of Gender Commons, History of Religion Commons, Labor History Commons, Social History Commons, United States History Commons, Women's History Commons
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.