New Orleans Madams, Saints & Sinners Walking Tour

Explore the sacred and scandalous sides of New Orleans on a guided walking tour of its moral history. Hear historically grounded stories of the people who shaped the city, with an approach that neither glamorizes nor condemns their lives.

• Learn from guides with ancestral ties to New Orleans, including descendants of madams and sex workers
• Hold an authentic Blue Book, a directory associated with Storyville
• Discover how early jazz connects with the city's histories of religion, race, class, and gender

Itinerary

1. Who Needs Saving? - Begin inside a former nineteenth-century bordello and introduce central questions about sin and salvation.
2. Norma Wallace - Explore Norma Wallace’s rise, connections, and legacy through the twentieth century.
3. Josie Arlington & Lulu White - Examine Storyville, the Blue Books, and themes of power, exploitation, and reinvention.
4. Vice, Temperance & Moral Reform - Walk the French Quarter discussing drinking, gambling, prostitution, and reform movements.
5. From Ballroom to Convent - Discover how the Orleans Ballroom became a convent and school and how places gain new chapters.
6. Sin, Penance & Return - Consider the religious meaning behind Carnival and Lent and ideas of indulgence and repentance.
7. Who Gets to Be Saved? - Learn about Henriette Delille and the Sisters of the Holy Family while discussing race and vocation.
8. Faith Beyond Categories - Explore Marie Laveau’s Catholic life and Louisiana Voodoo and spiritual coexistence.
9. Gallatin Street & Bricktop -Visit the former Gallatin Street vice district and the story of Mary Jane “Bricktop” Jackson.
10. Salvation & the Final Conversation - End near St. Louis Cathedral considering forgiveness, care for the marginalized, and who defines salvation.

What's Included

• Licensed local guide
• Follow-up email with more information and photos

Important details

• Ages 18+ only. The tour discusses sex work, violence, and racial history.
• Not recommended if you have mobility issues. The final stop is not accessible to wheelchairs or scooters.
• Arrive 15 minutes before the tour begins.