New Orleans: Gateway to the Americas
Garden of the Americas, 1957 |
Between 1957 and 1966, monuments to three Latin American heroes (Simon Bolivar, Benito Juarez and Francisco Morazon) were erected on the Basin Street neutral ground between Canal and St. Louis streets. This "Garden of the Americas" was conceived by Mayor Chep Morrison as part of his administration's city-wide beautification project and, more importantly, as a symbol of the ties of friendship between New Orleans and the countries of Latin America.The photograph shows the dedication ceremonies for the Simon Bolivar monument, on the site of the old Southern Railroad Station at Basin and Canal, November 24, 1957. From left to right are Adolfo E. Hegewisch, Chairman of the Bolivar Monument Committee and president of the Bolivarian Society of Louisiana; Dr. Cesar Gonzalez, Venezuelan ambassador in the United States; Dr. Pedro Gutierrez-Alfaro, Venezuelan Minister of Health and Welfare; Mayor deLesseps S. Morrison; and Francisco Pacanins, Consul General of Venezuela in New Orleans. The Juarez monument was dedicated in 1965 and the Morazon statue in 1966.
[Municipal Government Photograph Collection, deLessesps S. Morrison Series]