Clay Shaw and the Quarter Renaissance
By the 1940s and 50s, the historic buildings in the Quarter were deteriorating, victims of time and neglect. But there was a movement to reverse that trend. One man leading the charge was Clay Shaw, a luminary in the French Quarter in the 1950s and 60s. The wealthy, prominent Shaw took an interest in a burgeoning movement in the French Quarter. Since the 1920s and 30s, the LGBTQ+ community had flocked to New Orleans to find community in an area that welcomed nontraditional lifestyles. As the community moved in, they established culture and hangouts like Café Lafitte in Exile (the oldest gay bar in continuous operation in the United States). Clay Shaw embraced the French Quarter wholeheartedly, and invested his time, money, and passion into renovating the historic buildings in the district.