Victor H. Schiro
Encyclopedia
Victor Hugo "Vic" Schiro (May 6, 1904 - August 29, 1992), was an American New Orleans, Louisiana
, politician
who served on the City Council and as Mayor from 1961 - 1970.
, the son of Italian immigrants Andrew Edward and Mary (Pizzati) Schiro. After moving to New Orleans with his parents as a child, Schiro spent his young adulthood in Honduras
and California
, where he worked as a movie extra, and co-managed a Nevada
gold
mine before returning to New Orleans. He worked briefly as an assistant cameraman for Frank Capra
. Having returned to New Orleans in 1928, Schiro became a radio
announcer. In 1932, Schiro married Mary Margaret Gibbes, better known as Sunny Schiro.
Schiro founded his own insurance company and became an active civic leader in the 1940s; he was president of the Young Men’s Business Club. In 1950, he was elected commissioner of public buildings and parks. Under the new mayor-council charter of 1954, Schiro was elected councilman-at-large. When DeLesseps S. "Chep" Morrison, resigned his position as mayor in 1961 to become U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States
, the City Council elected Councilman Schiro, then Councilman-At-Large, as interim mayor. Schiro was subsequently elected to two full terms in 1962 and 1965. Schiro inherited Morrison’s Crescent City Democratic Association, formed as a rival to the Regular Democratic Organization
, but the political machine was deeply divided by the 1962 election, and it declined thereafter.
, who had Morrison's support, and several other opponents in the mayoral primary election of 1962
by stressing his segregationist credentials and tying his opponents to civil rights
causes. A survey of seven selected black precinct
s showed that Schiro received only 3.3 percent of the African American vote in the runoff with Duplantier. Schiro then defeated the Republican
candidate, Elliot Ross Buckley, a cousin
of newspaper
columnist
and magazine
publisher William F. Buckley, Jr.
, of New York City
.
While personally opposed to integration, Schiro was a pragmatist and soon viewed integration as an unfortunate necessity. Business leaders prompted Schiro to deal with integration more effectively than Morrison had in order to preserve the city's reputation and business climate. The opening of integrated schools in 1961 was peaceful, as Schiro used the New Orleans Police Department and U.S. marshals to prevent disturbances. Schiro later dragged his feet on issues such as the appointment of a biracial committee and the hiring of black city employees. He closed public swimming pool
s rather than desegregate them and had the Reverend A L. Davis arrested when the civil rights leader attempted to meet with Schiro in the mayor's office.
Schiro held to a simple governing philosophy, stating that "if it’s good for New Orleans, I’m for it." He expanded the existing criminal justice campus, located at the intersection of Tulane Avenue and Broad Street in Mid-City
, by building a new police and municipal courts complex. His administration presided over rapid suburban-style
growth in the newly-developing Algiers and New Orleans East
districts, and constructed new roads, regional libraries and police and fire stations to accommodate this expansion. Schiro also initiated a code of ethics for city employees. Devoting attention to urban planning
, Schiro helped sponsor the creation of the New Orleans Regional Planning Commission to devise programming for the effective disbursement of federal assistance, got New Orleans included in Lyndon Johnson’s Model Cities Program
, and established NORA, the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority. His widening of the downtown
Poydras Street corridor allowed for substantial new development in the area in the following decades. Schiro's first year as mayor also coincided with the reopening of the World War II-era Michoud Assembly Facility
in New Orleans East to assemble the first stages of the Saturn V
and Saturn IB
rockets. Boeing
and other NASA
contractors hired thousands of highly-paid, highly-skilled workers, briefly helping New Orleans achieve the rates of job growth by then occurring in other, more rapidly expanding Sun Belt
cities. With the steep decline in NASA funding following the early Apollo landings, however, most of these jobs were lost.
Schiro was mayor during Hurricane Betsy
, which flooded the Lower Ninth Ward
and much of New Orleans East in 1965. He was known for his famous statement to the media at the time: "Don't believe any false rumors, unless you hear them from me." He convinced President Johnson to visit the city on the day after the hurricane; Johnson and Schiro visited the Lower Ninth Ward and an emergency shelter. Schiro later travelled to Washington, D.C.
, to lend his support to obtaining congressional legislation that would give storm victims a $5,000 loan forgiveness package. The hurricane hit in the middle of Schiro's 1965 re-election campaign
; though the Times Picayune and others accused Schiro of attempting to politicize the disaster, Schiro won re-election against his main opponent, Councilman Jimmy Fitzmorris
. Also in the running was perennial mayoral candidate A. Roswell Thompson, a taxi
operator and a member of the Ku Klux Klan
.
Mayor Schiro considered the arrival of the New Orleans Saints
professional football team and the beginning of plans to build the Louisiana Superdome
to be two of the foremost achievements of his administration.
Also during his administration, formal government-sponsored studies were undertaken to evaluate the feasibility of relocating New Orleans' international airport
to a new site, contemporaneous with similar efforts that were ultimately successful in Houston (George Bush Intercontinental Airport
) and Dallas (Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport
). This attempt got as far as recommending a site in New Orleans East
; a man-made island was to be created south of I-10
and north of U.S. Route 90
in a bay of Lake Pontchartrain
. However, by the early 1970s it had been decided to expand the current airport instead of constructing a replacement.
in 1988.
In 2001, Schiro was posthumously inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame
in Winnfield
.
, shortly before his own death, had then New Orleans Mayor Schiro made "honorary mayor" of New Orleans Square
, a part of Disneyland
, the theme park in California. Schiro, in turn, made Disney an honorary citizen of the real New Orleans.
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
, politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
who served on the City Council and as Mayor from 1961 - 1970.
Early life and political career
Schiro was born in Chicago, IllinoisIllinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, the son of Italian immigrants Andrew Edward and Mary (Pizzati) Schiro. After moving to New Orleans with his parents as a child, Schiro spent his young adulthood in Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
and California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, where he worked as a movie extra, and co-managed a Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
mine before returning to New Orleans. He worked briefly as an assistant cameraman for Frank Capra
Frank Capra
Frank Russell Capra was a Sicilian-born American film director. He emigrated to the U.S. when he was six, and eventually became a creative force behind major award-winning films during the 1930s and 1940s...
. Having returned to New Orleans in 1928, Schiro became a radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
announcer. In 1932, Schiro married Mary Margaret Gibbes, better known as Sunny Schiro.
Schiro founded his own insurance company and became an active civic leader in the 1940s; he was president of the Young Men’s Business Club. In 1950, he was elected commissioner of public buildings and parks. Under the new mayor-council charter of 1954, Schiro was elected councilman-at-large. When DeLesseps S. "Chep" Morrison, resigned his position as mayor in 1961 to become U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States
Organization of American States
The Organization of American States is a regional international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States...
, the City Council elected Councilman Schiro, then Councilman-At-Large, as interim mayor. Schiro was subsequently elected to two full terms in 1962 and 1965. Schiro inherited Morrison’s Crescent City Democratic Association, formed as a rival to the Regular Democratic Organization
Regular Democratic Organization
The Regular Democratic Organization , or Old Regulars, or the New Orleans Ring, is a conservative political organization based in New Orleans. It has existed for 130 years and as of 2006 is still active. The symbol of the RDO is the rooster...
, but the political machine was deeply divided by the 1962 election, and it declined thereafter.
Schiro as mayor
Schiro acquired a reputation for calm, quiet leadership during the turbulent 1960s. However, like his predecessor Chep Morrison, Schiro was an avowed segregationist. He defeated racial moderate Adrian G. DuplantierAdrian G. Duplantier
Adrian Guy Duplantier, Sr. , served from May 31, 1978, until his death as a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana...
, who had Morrison's support, and several other opponents in the mayoral primary election of 1962
New Orleans mayoral election, 1962
The New Orleans mayoral election of 1962 resulted in the election of interim mayor Victor Schiro to his first full term as mayor of New Orleans.- Results :First Democratic Party Primary, January 27, 1962...
by stressing his segregationist credentials and tying his opponents to civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
causes. A survey of seven selected black precinct
Precinct
A precinct is a space enclosed by the walls or other boundaries of a particular place or building, or by an arbitrary and imaginary line drawn around it. The term has several different uses...
s showed that Schiro received only 3.3 percent of the African American vote in the runoff with Duplantier. Schiro then defeated the Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
candidate, Elliot Ross Buckley, a cousin
Cousin
In kinship terminology, a cousin is a relative with whom one shares one or more common ancestors. The term is rarely used when referring to a relative in one's immediate family where there is a more specific term . The term "blood relative" can be used synonymously and establishes the existence of...
of newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
columnist
Columnist
A columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....
and magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
publisher William F. Buckley, Jr.
William F. Buckley, Jr.
William Frank Buckley, Jr. was an American conservative author and commentator. He founded the political magazine National Review in 1955, hosted 1,429 episodes of the television show Firing Line from 1966 until 1999, and was a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist. His writing was noted for...
, of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
While personally opposed to integration, Schiro was a pragmatist and soon viewed integration as an unfortunate necessity. Business leaders prompted Schiro to deal with integration more effectively than Morrison had in order to preserve the city's reputation and business climate. The opening of integrated schools in 1961 was peaceful, as Schiro used the New Orleans Police Department and U.S. marshals to prevent disturbances. Schiro later dragged his feet on issues such as the appointment of a biracial committee and the hiring of black city employees. He closed public swimming pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
s rather than desegregate them and had the Reverend A L. Davis arrested when the civil rights leader attempted to meet with Schiro in the mayor's office.
Schiro held to a simple governing philosophy, stating that "if it’s good for New Orleans, I’m for it." He expanded the existing criminal justice campus, located at the intersection of Tulane Avenue and Broad Street in Mid-City
Mid-City New Orleans
Mid-City is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Mid-City District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: City Park Avenue, Toulouse Street, North Carrollton and Orleans Avenues, Bayou St. John and St. Louis Street to the north, North Broad...
, by building a new police and municipal courts complex. His administration presided over rapid suburban-style
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
growth in the newly-developing Algiers and New Orleans East
Eastern New Orleans
Eastern New Orleans is a large section of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. Developed extensively from the 1960s onwards, it was originally marketed as "suburban-style living within the city limits", and has much in common with the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans...
districts, and constructed new roads, regional libraries and police and fire stations to accommodate this expansion. Schiro also initiated a code of ethics for city employees. Devoting attention to urban planning
Urban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
, Schiro helped sponsor the creation of the New Orleans Regional Planning Commission to devise programming for the effective disbursement of federal assistance, got New Orleans included in Lyndon Johnson’s Model Cities Program
Model Cities Program
The Model Cities Program was an element of United States President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society and War on Poverty. The ambitious federal urban aid program ultimately fell short of its goals....
, and established NORA, the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority. His widening of the downtown
New Orleans Central Business District
The Central Business District is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the French Quarter/CBD Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Iberville, Decatur and Canal Streets to the north, the Mississippi River to the east, the New Orleans Morial...
Poydras Street corridor allowed for substantial new development in the area in the following decades. Schiro's first year as mayor also coincided with the reopening of the World War II-era Michoud Assembly Facility
Michoud Assembly Facility
The Michoud Assembly Facility is an 832-acre site owned by NASA and located in New Orleans East, a large district within the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Organizationally, it is part of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center...
in New Orleans East to assemble the first stages of the Saturn V
Saturn V
The Saturn V was an American human-rated expendable rocket used by NASA's Apollo and Skylab programs from 1967 until 1973. A multistage liquid-fueled launch vehicle, NASA launched 13 Saturn Vs from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida with no loss of crew or payload...
and Saturn IB
Saturn IB
The Saturn IB was an American launch vehicle commissioned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for use in the Apollo program...
rockets. Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
and other NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
contractors hired thousands of highly-paid, highly-skilled workers, briefly helping New Orleans achieve the rates of job growth by then occurring in other, more rapidly expanding Sun Belt
Sun Belt
The Sun Belt or Spanish Belt is a region of the United States generally considered to stretch across the South and Southwest . Another rough boundary of the region is the area south of the 36th parallel, north latitude. It is the largest region which the U.S government does not recognize officially...
cities. With the steep decline in NASA funding following the early Apollo landings, however, most of these jobs were lost.
Schiro was mayor during Hurricane Betsy
Hurricane Betsy
Hurricane Betsy was a Category 4 hurricane of the 1965 Atlantic hurricane season which caused enormous damage in the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana. Betsy made its most intense landfall near the mouth of the Mississippi River, causing significant flooding of the waters of Lake Pontchartrain into...
, which flooded the Lower Ninth Ward
Lower Ninth Ward
Lower Ninth Ward is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. As the name implies, it is part of the Ninth Ward of New Orleans. The Lower Ninth Ward is often thought of as the entire area within New Orleans downriver of the Industrial Canal; however, the City Planning Commission divides this...
and much of New Orleans East in 1965. He was known for his famous statement to the media at the time: "Don't believe any false rumors, unless you hear them from me." He convinced President Johnson to visit the city on the day after the hurricane; Johnson and Schiro visited the Lower Ninth Ward and an emergency shelter. Schiro later travelled to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, to lend his support to obtaining congressional legislation that would give storm victims a $5,000 loan forgiveness package. The hurricane hit in the middle of Schiro's 1965 re-election campaign
New Orleans mayoral election, 1965
The New Orleans mayoral election of 1965 resulted in the re-election of Victor Schiro to his second full term as mayor of New Orleans. No runoff was needed, as Schiro received over 50% of the vote.- Results :Democratic Party Primary, November 6, 1965...
; though the Times Picayune and others accused Schiro of attempting to politicize the disaster, Schiro won re-election against his main opponent, Councilman Jimmy Fitzmorris
Jimmy Fitzmorris
James Edward "Jimmy" Fitzmorris, Jr. , is a New Orleans businessman and civic leader who was the Democratic Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana from 1972–1980...
. Also in the running was perennial mayoral candidate A. Roswell Thompson, a taxi
Taxicab
A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
operator and a member of the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
.
Mayor Schiro considered the arrival of the New Orleans Saints
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....
professional football team and the beginning of plans to build the Louisiana Superdome
Louisiana Superdome
The Mercedes-Benz Superdome, previously known as the Louisiana Superdome and colloquially known as the Superdome, is a sports and exhibition arena located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA...
to be two of the foremost achievements of his administration.
Also during his administration, formal government-sponsored studies were undertaken to evaluate the feasibility of relocating New Orleans' international airport
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport is a Class B public use international airport in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is owned by the City of New Orleans and is located 10 nautical miles west of its central business district. The airport's address is 900 Airline Drive...
to a new site, contemporaneous with similar efforts that were ultimately successful in Houston (George Bush Intercontinental Airport
George Bush Intercontinental Airport
George Bush Intercontinental Airport, is a Class B international airport in Houston, Texas, serving the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area, the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the United States. Located north of Downtown Houston between Interstate 45 and U.S. Highway 59...
) and Dallas (Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport
Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is located between the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, and is the busiest airport in the U.S. state of Texas...
). This attempt got as far as recommending a site in New Orleans East
Eastern New Orleans
Eastern New Orleans is a large section of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. Developed extensively from the 1960s onwards, it was originally marketed as "suburban-style living within the city limits", and has much in common with the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans...
; a man-made island was to be created south of I-10
Interstate 10
Interstate 10 is the fourth-longest Interstate Highway in the United States, after I-90, I-80, and I-40. It is the southernmost east–west, coast-to-coast Interstate Highway, although I-4 and I-8 are further south. It stretches from the Pacific Ocean at State Route 1 in Santa Monica,...
and north of U.S. Route 90
U.S. Route 90
U.S. Route 90 is an east–west United States highway. Despite the "0" in its route number, U.S. 90 never was a full coast-to-coast route; it has always ended at Van Horn, Texas. A short-lived northward extension to U.S...
in a bay of Lake Pontchartrain
Lake Pontchartrain
Lake Pontchartrain is a brackish estuary located in southeastern Louisiana. It is the second-largest inland saltwater body of water in the United States, after the Great Salt Lake in Utah, and the largest lake in Louisiana. As an estuary, Pontchartrain is not a true lake.It covers an area of with...
. However, by the early 1970s it had been decided to expand the current airport instead of constructing a replacement.
After City Hall
After his two terms as mayor, Schiro returned to selling insurance at his Victor Schiro Insurance Company. After a campaign for the position of state insurance commissioner in 1975 when he polled 16 percent of the vote against the incumbent Democrat Sherman A. Bernard, Schiro continued selling insurance until he suffered a strokeStroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
in 1988.
In 2001, Schiro was posthumously inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame
Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame
The Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield, Louisiana, highlights the careers of more than a hundred of the state’s leading politicians and political journalists. Because three governors, Huey P. Long, Jr., Oscar K...
in Winnfield
Winnfield, Louisiana
Winnfield is a city in and the parish seat of Winn Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,749 at the 2000 census. It has long been associated with the Long faction of the Louisiana Democratic Party and was home to three governors of Louisiana.-Geography:Winnfield is located at ...
.
Trivia
In 1966, Walt DisneyWalt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
, shortly before his own death, had then New Orleans Mayor Schiro made "honorary mayor" of New Orleans Square
New Orleans Square
New Orleans Square is a themed land found exclusively at Disneyland, though a similarly themed area can be found within Tokyo Disneyland's Adventureland. Based on 19th-century New Orleans, it was the first new land to be added to Disneyland after the park's opening. The land was opened to the...
, a part of Disneyland
Disneyland Park (Anaheim)
Disneyland Park is a theme park located in Anaheim, California, owned and operated by the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts division of the Walt Disney Company. Known as Disneyland when it opened on July 18, 1955, and still almost universally referred to by that name, it is the only theme park to be...
, the theme park in California. Schiro, in turn, made Disney an honorary citizen of the real New Orleans.
Sources and external links
- Victor H. Schiro collection at Tulane University
- Biographical Dictionary of American Mayors, 1820-1980. Greenwood Press, 1981.
- Fairclough, Adam. Race and Democracy: The Civil Rights Struggle in Louisiana, 1915-1972. University of Georgia, 1995.
- Haas, Edward F. "Victor H. Schiro, Hurricane Betsy, and the 'Forgiveness Bill.'" Gulf Coast Historical Review, Fall 1990.
- Hirsch, Arnold and Joseph Logsdon. Creole New Orleans: Race and Americanization. LSU Press, 1992.
- Parker, Joseph B. The Morrison Era: Reform Politics in New Orleans. Pelican, 1974.
- Pope, John. "Former Mayor Victor H. Schiro is dead at 88." New Orleans Times-Picayune, August 30, 1992.