Seymour Weiss
Encyclopedia
Seymour Weiss was a prominent New Orleans hotel executive and civic leader who was a close confidante of the legendary Huey Pierce Long, Jr.
Ironically, Weiss, the most loyal of Louisiana
Longites, bore the same last name as Carl Weiss
, M.D.
, the apparent assassin of U.S. Senator Huey Long.
Weiss, who was Jewish, was born in Bunkie
in Avoyelles Parish to Samuel Weiss, a merchant, and the former Gisella Elias. He was educated in public schools in Bunkie and Abbeville
, the seat of Vermilion Parish. For a time he was a clerk in Alexandria
, the seat of Rapides Parish and the largest city in central Louisiana, in an uncle's department store
. He moved to New Orleans in 1916 to clerk in a shoe store. After the United States' entry into World War I
, Weiss attended officers' training at Camp Gordon, Georgia, but the conflict ended before Weiss finished his training. Thereafter, he returned to New Orleans to resume work as a shoe clerk.
shop at the Grunewald Hotel in New Orleans. In 1924, he became the assistant hotel manager, and in 1928, he was promoted to hotel manager. First built in 1893, and known as the "Grunewald" (for its original owner, Louis Grunewald), the Grunewald opened what has been called the first nightclub
in the United States
, a basement room decorated with fake stalactites called "The Cave", where one could watch dancing chorus girls and listen to Dixieland jazz
that would easily drown out the soothing indoor waterfalls. In 1923, a consortium of local investors purchased the hotel and renamed it "The Roosevelt" in honor of President Theodore Roosevelt
, who had died four years earlier.
In 1931, Weiss was named president of the New Orleans Roosevelt Corp. From 1931–1965, he was the principal owner and managing director of the Roosevelt. The Cave was closed in favor of a larger venue a floor above called "The Blue Room" which became a nationally prominent music venue. Weiss sold the Roosevelt in 1965. It became the Fairmont Hotel until closing following Hurricane Katrina
. In August 2007, Dimension Development Company, Inc, a Natchitoches, Louisiana based hotel development and management company purchased the property, and is currently restoring the building with a scheduled opening date of June 25, 2009. Dimension Development Company Inc, entered into an agreement with the Hilton Corporation to brand the hotel under Hilton's premier Waldorf Astoria collection. The hotel has been rechristened The Roosevelt Hotel by Waldorf Astoria. A grand opening is set for October, 2009. Businessman Sam Friedman of Natchitoches
is heavily involved in the reopening. He is the son of the late Louisiana State Senator
Sylvan Friedman
.
Although he had no children he was uncle to Seymour II and S.J. Weiss. His wife and sister-in-law died in a car accident, leaving behind two widowers, and two motherless children,one thirteen and one three. The father, his brother, took the thirteen year old, S.J., and the grandparents and Seymour took Seymour II. Seymour, his parents, and "Little Seymour" lived in the hotel. Little Seymour married Sally McNulty and fathered Richard, David, and John Weiss (who has since passed away and who's Trust portioned left by Seymour Weiss is currently contested by JPMorgan Trust Division in New Orleans).
Weiss became treasurer of both the Louisiana Democratic
Association and Long's secret political fund. During the Great Depression
, Weiss had control of federal relief funds in Louisiana. He was vice-president of the Win or Lose Corp., a controversial oil company whose structure was devisd by Huey Long. On Long's death, Weiss chaired the Huey P. Long Memorial Commission. Weiss remained active in the Long machine until scandals swept through the organization.
charges. He paid back taxes after the charges were dropped. He was indicted again on tax evasion and mail fraud charges growing out of the "Louisiana Scandals" of the late 1930s. He was convicted and imprisoned for sixteen months between 1940 and 1942, before he was paroled and ordered to pay back taxes. In 1947, he was given a full and unconditional pardon by Democratic President Harry Truman
He was active in the American Hotel Association and was president of the Louisiana Hotel-Motel and the New Orleans Hotel associations. He won statewide awards for hotel management in 1952 and 1957. He was a director of the New Orleans chapter of the American Red Cross, the Chamber of Commerce
, and the International Trade Mart
. In 1968, Weiss chaired the committee for the 250th anniversary of the founding of New Orleans
Weiss was twice married: April 19, 1925, to the former Notie Turner and June 12, 1963, to the former Elva Kimball. He died in Baton Rouge.
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A listing of collected artifacts from the estate of Seymour Weiss, donated by his second wife, Elva Weiss, can be found in the Louisiana State University
Collection of "The Seymour Weiss Papers" Inventoried & Compiled by Sunny Stein, the Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections, the Special Collections, Hill Memorial Library, and the Louisiana State University Libraries at Baton Rouge, Louisiana in the Fall of 1999. A listing of contents may be viewed at:
http://www.lib.lsu.edu/special/findaid/s4165.html
Huey Long
Huey Pierce Long, Jr. , nicknamed The Kingfish, served as the 40th Governor of Louisiana from 1928–1932 and as a U.S. Senator from 1932 to 1935. A Democrat, he was noted for his radical populist policies. Though a backer of Franklin D...
Ironically, Weiss, the most loyal of Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
Longites, bore the same last name as Carl Weiss
Carl Weiss
Carl Austin Weiss was a young Baton Rouge, Louisiana physician who assassinated U.S. Senator Huey Pierce Long, Jr. on September 8, 1935.-Baton Rouge doctor:...
, M.D.
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
, the apparent assassin of U.S. Senator Huey Long.
Weiss, who was Jewish, was born in Bunkie
Bunkie, Louisiana
Bunkie is a city in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 4,662 at the 2000 census.Bunkie is the birthplace of jazz drummer Zutty Singleton. Sue Eakin, Louisiana historian and former publisher of the Bunkie Record, resided in Bunkie for most of her life until her death in...
in Avoyelles Parish to Samuel Weiss, a merchant, and the former Gisella Elias. He was educated in public schools in Bunkie and Abbeville
Abbeville, Louisiana
Abbeville is a town in and the parish seat of Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, United States, 150 miles west of New Orleans. The population was 12,257 at the 2010 census...
, the seat of Vermilion Parish. For a time he was a clerk in Alexandria
Alexandria, Louisiana
Alexandria is a city in and the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the principal city of the Alexandria metropolitan area which encompasses all of Rapides and Grant parishes....
, the seat of Rapides Parish and the largest city in central Louisiana, in an uncle's department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
. He moved to New Orleans in 1916 to clerk in a shoe store. After the United States' entry into World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Weiss attended officers' training at Camp Gordon, Georgia, but the conflict ended before Weiss finished his training. Thereafter, he returned to New Orleans to resume work as a shoe clerk.
The Roosevelt Hotel
In 1923, Weiss became the manager of a barberBarber
A barber is someone whose occupation is to cut any type of hair, and to shave or trim the beards of men. The place of work of a barber is generally called a barbershop....
shop at the Grunewald Hotel in New Orleans. In 1924, he became the assistant hotel manager, and in 1928, he was promoted to hotel manager. First built in 1893, and known as the "Grunewald" (for its original owner, Louis Grunewald), the Grunewald opened what has been called the first nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, a basement room decorated with fake stalactites called "The Cave", where one could watch dancing chorus girls and listen to Dixieland jazz
Dixieland Jazz
Dixieland Jazz was a Canadian music television series which aired on CBC Television in 1954.-Premise:The series host was Trump Davidson, a cornet player. He also hosted a radio music series on CBC's Trans-Canada Network.-Scheduling:...
that would easily drown out the soothing indoor waterfalls. In 1923, a consortium of local investors purchased the hotel and renamed it "The Roosevelt" in honor of President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
, who had died four years earlier.
In 1931, Weiss was named president of the New Orleans Roosevelt Corp. From 1931–1965, he was the principal owner and managing director of the Roosevelt. The Cave was closed in favor of a larger venue a floor above called "The Blue Room" which became a nationally prominent music venue. Weiss sold the Roosevelt in 1965. It became the Fairmont Hotel until closing following Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
. In August 2007, Dimension Development Company, Inc, a Natchitoches, Louisiana based hotel development and management company purchased the property, and is currently restoring the building with a scheduled opening date of June 25, 2009. Dimension Development Company Inc, entered into an agreement with the Hilton Corporation to brand the hotel under Hilton's premier Waldorf Astoria collection. The hotel has been rechristened The Roosevelt Hotel by Waldorf Astoria. A grand opening is set for October, 2009. Businessman Sam Friedman of Natchitoches
Natchitoches, Louisiana
Natchitoches is a city in and the parish seat of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. Established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis as part of French Louisiana, the community was named after the Natchitoches Indian tribe. The City of Natchitoches was first incorporated on February...
is heavily involved in the reopening. He is the son of the late Louisiana State Senator
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
Sylvan Friedman
Sylvan Friedman
Sylvan N. Friedman was a Louisiana politician, a rare Jewish member of both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature...
.
Although he had no children he was uncle to Seymour II and S.J. Weiss. His wife and sister-in-law died in a car accident, leaving behind two widowers, and two motherless children,one thirteen and one three. The father, his brother, took the thirteen year old, S.J., and the grandparents and Seymour took Seymour II. Seymour, his parents, and "Little Seymour" lived in the hotel. Little Seymour married Sally McNulty and fathered Richard, David, and John Weiss (who has since passed away and who's Trust portioned left by Seymour Weiss is currently contested by JPMorgan Trust Division in New Orleans).
Loyal to Huey Long
Weiss became a political booster of Huey Long, whom he met during the 1928 gubernatorial campaign. Long made the Roosevelt Hotel his New Orleans headquarters. It was said that Weiss made sure Long never got lost in the hallways and byways of the large hotel. Weiss was the closest of friends and a regular golfing partner with Long. He was easily considered an "insider at Long's right hand." Weiss was present at the bedside of Long when he died from internal infection contracted during the assassination attempt.Weiss became treasurer of both the Louisiana Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Association and Long's secret political fund. During the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, Weiss had control of federal relief funds in Louisiana. He was vice-president of the Win or Lose Corp., a controversial oil company whose structure was devisd by Huey Long. On Long's death, Weiss chaired the Huey P. Long Memorial Commission. Weiss remained active in the Long machine until scandals swept through the organization.
Weiss imprisoned for tax evasion
In 1934, Weiss was indicted by a federal grand jury in New Orleans on tax evasionTax evasion
Tax evasion is the general term for efforts by individuals, corporations, trusts and other entities to evade taxes by illegal means. Tax evasion usually entails taxpayers deliberately misrepresenting or concealing the true state of their affairs to the tax authorities to reduce their tax liability,...
charges. He paid back taxes after the charges were dropped. He was indicted again on tax evasion and mail fraud charges growing out of the "Louisiana Scandals" of the late 1930s. He was convicted and imprisoned for sixteen months between 1940 and 1942, before he was paroled and ordered to pay back taxes. In 1947, he was given a full and unconditional pardon by Democratic President Harry Truman
Weiss as civic leader
Weiss was a member of the New Orleans Zoning Board and commissioner of the municipal fire and police departments between 1932 and 1936. He was also president of the board of commissioners of the Port of New Orleans from 1933–1938.He was active in the American Hotel Association and was president of the Louisiana Hotel-Motel and the New Orleans Hotel associations. He won statewide awards for hotel management in 1952 and 1957. He was a director of the New Orleans chapter of the American Red Cross, the Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
, and the International Trade Mart
International Trade Mart
The International Trade Mart is an organization promoting international trade and the Port of New Orleans.The World Trade Mart was chartered in 1945, first opened its doors in 1948, and in 1985, merged with International House to form the World Trade Center New Orleans, a private, non-profit...
. In 1968, Weiss chaired the committee for the 250th anniversary of the founding of New Orleans
Weiss was twice married: April 19, 1925, to the former Notie Turner and June 12, 1963, to the former Elva Kimball. He died in Baton Rouge.
"Seymour Weiss" appears in these books
- at least 25 references in Huey Long Invades New Orleans: The Siege of a City, 1934–36 by Garry Boulard (Author)
- at least 25 references in Huey Long (Vintage) by T. Harry Williams (Author)
- at least 25 references in Louisiana Hayride by Harnett Kane (Author)
- 4 references in Deep Politics And The Death of JFK by Peter Dale Scott (Author)
- 4 references in The Wizards of Armageddon (Stanford Nuclear Age Series) by Fred M. Kaplan (Author)
- 4 references in Those Swinging Years: The Autobiography of Charlie Barnet by Charlie Barnet (Author), Stanley Dance (Author)
- 3 references in The Wonderful Era of the Great Dance Bands (A Da Capo Paperback) by Leo Walker
- 3 references in Gerald L. K. Smith: Minister of Hate by Glen Jeansonne
- 2 references in Myself Among Others by George Wein (Author)
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A listing of collected artifacts from the estate of Seymour Weiss, donated by his second wife, Elva Weiss, can be found in the Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
Collection of "The Seymour Weiss Papers" Inventoried & Compiled by Sunny Stein, the Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections, the Special Collections, Hill Memorial Library, and the Louisiana State University Libraries at Baton Rouge, Louisiana in the Fall of 1999. A listing of contents may be viewed at:
http://www.lib.lsu.edu/special/findaid/s4165.html