Mayor Martin Behrman records

Collection

Identifier: CA-AA-Behrman

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

As in all of the pre-1936 Mayor's papers, the Behrman papers have been reconstructed from fragments previously unprocessed or dispersed in subject files kept in the Official Vertical File. The records are arranged alphabetically by name of corporate or individual correspondent. Correspondence marked with clear filing notes is filed according to the subject designated in the note and arranged chronologically therein.

Relatively few records have survived from the 16 years of Behrman's first tenure; those extant consist mainly of in-coming correspondence from city, parish, or state agencies, neighborhood civic groups, public officials, and private citizens. Among the agencies represented most fully are the City Engineer and the Public Belt Railroad Commission. Included in the file for the New Orleans Board of Health is material concerning the 1905 yellow fever epidemic (the last major epidemic to occur in New Orleans) and its aftermath; additional letters from individuals offering assistance or donations during the epidemic are filed by name of correspondent or in the file "Citizens' Yellow Fever Committee." Correspondence from the New Orleans Progressive Union (a forerunner of the Chamber of Commerce) forms another substantial file. Individual correspondents include President Theodore Roosevelt, Governor Newton C. Blanchard, Senators Samuel McEnery and Murphy J. Foster, Eleanor McMain, Rudolph Matas (in "M" Miscellaneous folder), Isidore Newman (in "N" Miscellaneous), Kate Gordon (in "National American Woman Suffrage Association"), and Sophie B. Wright.

The records in the second series, covering Behrman's final term, are more substantial than those in the first series, although they too are fragmentary. Among the agencies covered most fully are the City Attorney, the Isaac Delgado Central Trades School, the Louisiana Highway Commission, and the Board of Commissioners of the Orleans Levee District. Substantial files also exist for the New Orleans Association of Commerce and the International Trade Exposition. Individual correspondents include Governor Henry L. Fuqua, Senator Joseph E. Ransdell, Governor Alfred E. Smith of New York, Dr. Rudolph Matas, Edgar B. Stern (in "L" Miscellaneous), several Louisiana congressmen, and the mayors of a number of American cities.

Dates

Creation: 1904-1929

Creator

Behrman, Martin, 1864-1926 (Person)
Office of the Mayor (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

Available to registered researchers by appointment.

Requesting Materials

Materials Request Guidelines

Conditions Governing Use

Reproduction or use of materials is prohibited without the permission of the City Archives & Special Collections. Please review the Archives' Permission to Publish note.

Biographical / Historical

Martin Behrman was Mayor of New Orleans for nearly 17 years, longer than any other mayor in the city's history, serving four consecutive terms (1904-1920) before his defeat by reform candidate Andrew McShane. He was re-elected in 1925, but died 9 months into his fifth term.

Behrman was born in New York City but came with his parents to New Orleans as an infant. Orphaned early, he worked as a clerk and sales representative for several produce and grocery firms before entering politics as a ward worker for the Regular Democratic Organization during the 1888 gubernatorial campaign of Francis T. Nichols. Prior to his election as Mayor, he held minor elective and appointive offices (including President of the Board of Assessors and State Auditor) and rose to power as leader of the city's 15th ward (Algiers, where he lived for most of his life).

Behrman's machine administration was responsible for considerable improvements in city services and facilities (including sewer and water systems, drainage, streets, the port, and public schools and public health facilities). It was during Behrman's tenure that the Public Belt Railroad was developed, the 1912 City Charter changed the city council to the commission form, and Storyville closed.

Extent

3 Linear Feet (6 cartons.)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

The records are 6 cartons, primarily correspondence, arranged in two series of 3 cartons each, the first covering Behrman's first four terms (1904-1920) and the second, his brief final term (May 1925-January 1926).

Related Materials

Letterbooks with copies of outgoing correspondence have been preserved with the Office of the Mayor records. Request the volumes available for the dates associated with each individual mayor for more information, as well as additional records from that mayor's tenure.