The French Quarter of New Orleans and its famous Bourbon Street receive millions of visitors each year and are the subjects of both scholarly study and the popular imagination. Bourbon Street’s history of striptease has largely been untouched by scholars. In the post-World War II period, nightclubs featuring striptease entertainment drew the attention of reform-minded city and police officials, who attempted to purge striptease from the city’s historic district in an effort to whitewash the city’s main tourist area and appeal to potential outside economic industrial opportunities. Through news articles, correspondence, tourism brochures, and published reports, this thesis explores how striptease endured on Bourbon Street despite various reform campaigns against it and shows that striptease was an integral part of the New Orleans tourist economy in the postwar period.
","abstract_html":"<p>The French Quarter of New Orleans and its famous Bourbon Street receive millions of visitors each year and are the subjects of both scholarly study and the popular imagination. Bourbon Street’s history of striptease has largely been untouched by scholars. In the post-World War II period, nightclubs featuring striptease entertainment drew the attention of reform-minded city and police officials, who attempted to purge striptease from the city’s historic district in an effort to whitewash the city’s main tourist area and appeal to potential outside economic industrial opportunities. Through news articles, correspondence, tourism brochures, and published reports, this thesis explores how striptease endured on Bourbon Street despite various reform campaigns against it and shows that striptease was an integral part of the New Orleans tourist economy in the postwar period.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Milner, Lauren E"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.A.","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"History","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Atkinson, Dr. Connie","Mizell-Nelson, Dr. Michael","Goss, Dr. Andrew"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012-12-15T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2012-12-15T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:29:47Z","subjects":["New Orleans","Striptease","Burlesque","Bourbon Street","Nightclub","French Quarter","Reform","Post-World War II","Social History"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1601","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Atkinson, Dr. Connie","Mizell-Nelson, Dr. Michael","Goss, Dr. Andrew"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Milner, Lauren E"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["History"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.A."]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["New Orleans","Striptease","Burlesque","Bourbon Street","Nightclub","French Quarter","Reform","Post-World War II","Social History"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1601"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The French Quarter of New Orleans and its famous Bourbon Street receive millions of visitors each year and are the subjects of both scholarly study and the popular imagination. Bourbon Street’s history of striptease has largely been untouched by scholars. In the post-World War II period, nightclubs featuring striptease entertainment drew the attention of reform-minded city and police officials, who attempted to purge striptease from the city’s historic district in an effort to whitewash the city’s main tourist area and appeal to potential outside economic industrial opportunities. Through news articles, correspondence, tourism brochures, and published reports, this thesis explores how striptease endured on Bourbon Street despite various reform campaigns against it and shows that striptease was an integral part of the New Orleans tourist economy in the postwar period.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["“Respectably Dull”: Striptease, Tourism and Reform in Postwar New Orleans"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Atkinson, Dr. Connie","Mizell-Nelson, Dr. Michael","Goss, Dr. Andrew"],"dc:creator":["Milner, Lauren E"],"dc:description.abstract":["The French Quarter of New Orleans and its famous Bourbon Street receive millions of visitors each year and are the subjects of both scholarly study and the popular imagination. Bourbon Street’s history of striptease has largely been untouched by scholars. In the post-World War II period, nightclubs featuring striptease entertainment drew the attention of reform-minded city and police officials, who attempted to purge striptease from the city’s historic district in an effort to whitewash the city’s main tourist area and appeal to potential outside economic industrial opportunities. Through news articles, correspondence, tourism brochures, and published reports, this thesis explores how striptease endured on Bourbon Street despite various reform campaigns against it and shows that striptease was an integral part of the New Orleans tourist economy in the postwar period.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1601"],"dc:subject":["New Orleans","Striptease","Burlesque","Bourbon Street","Nightclub","French Quarter","Reform","Post-World War II","Social History"],"dc:title":["“Respectably Dull”: Striptease, Tourism and Reform in Postwar New Orleans"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["History"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.A."]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:29:47Z"}