Powell penned the introdution the this recently reissued edition.
The Federal Writers' Project was established in 1935 as part of Federal #1, a program to provide work relief for artists and professionals under the Works Progress Administration. During the next eight years, the project produced over a thousand books and pamphlets on local history, folkways, and culture, in addition to the multi-volume American Guide Series. The Louisiana project, whose publications included books on both New Orleans and the whole state, was directed by novelist and historian Lyle Saxon, author of Fabulous New Orleans and Children of Strangers. He was one of only four state project directors to remain in office for the duration of the Federal Writers' Project itself.
