Perhaps alone, Natalie Scott proved instrumental
in each of the key forces that revived and shaped
the French Quarter Renaissance.

Natalie Vivian Scott

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Natalie in a charcoal study
by William Spratling, 1922.
The vital factors giving rise to the French Quarter Renaissance of the 1920s were:
  • creation of the Petit Theatre du Vieux Carré (which stirred new uptown interest in the Quarter, 3,000 members by 1922)
  • the Arts and Crafts Club (attracting talented artists and patrons, over 400 locals were enrolled in its Royal Street classes by 1924)

  • the Double Dealer literary magazine (its literary success inspired and attracted great writers to the French Quarter)
  • and the creation of studio apartments in the Vieux Carré for artists and writers (the Quarter in 1919-20 was in semi-ruins, only tenements available).

Natalie Scott proved instrumental in each of these key forces, all created in the early 1920s, that revived and shaped the French Quarter Renaissance.

Drawing of Natalie by William Spratling from the book Sherwood Anderson & other Famous Creoles. The drawing is captioned "Peggy Passe Partout takes a hurdle."
Sherwood Anderson & other famous Creoles; a gallery of contemporary New Orleans, drawn by Wm. Spratling & arranged by Wm. Faulkner, by Spratling, William, 1900-1967, New Orleans, The Pelican Bookshop Press, 1926. [51] p. incl. front., illus. 21 cm. JONES HALL Rare Books (Faulkner/Wisdom), F379.N5 S883

The Double Dealer
Natalie was a founder of the Petit Theatre du Vieux Carré and a staff member and publicist for the Double Dealer. As the fourth largest investor/contributor to the never profitable Double Dealer magazine, Natalie and the small volunteer staff brought stability, talent, enthusiasm and manpower to this unique publication.

Pioneer Preservationist
Recognizing the French Quarter’s architectural and aesthetic value, she risked her meager resources to acquire and restore crumbling historic properties, one being the Court of Two Sisters, making three of her buildings refuges where creative people, artists and writers struggling with little money, could settle in affordable studio apartments in the stimulating heart of the Vieux Carré.  Spratling, Faulkner, and Oliver LaFarge among those who moved in. 

She wrote award winning plays and performed often on stage, published magazine articles and popular cookbooks on New Orleans cuisine.  As she traveled across the world, her newspaper column kept her readers entertained, her activities abroad frequently the subject of front page newspaper stories. 

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updatedSunday, August 07, 2005 04:28 PM
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