Sidney John Barthelemy was elected Mayor of New Orleans in May, 1986. He was elected to a second term in 1990.

Born in New Orleans on March 17, 1942, the third of six children, Barthelemy attended Corpus Christi Elementary School and St. Augustine High School. From 1960-1963, in preparation for entering the priesthood, he studied at Epiphany Apostolic Junior College in Newburgh, New York, and then entered St. Joseph Seminary in Washington, D.C., where he received a B.A. in Philosophy and pursued graduate study in Theology.

In 1967, having made the decision not to enter the priesthood, Barthelemy returned to New Orleans and worked as an administrative assistant in the office of Total Community Action. From 1969-1972, he served as Director of the Parent Child Center of Family Health, Inc. During these years he also completed a Masters of Social Work at Tulane University, worked part-time for the Urban League of Greater New Orleans and assisted with various political campaigns.

From 1972-1974, Barthelemy served as Director of the Department of Welfare under the administration of Mayor Moon Landrieu, and in 1974, he was elected to one term in the Louisiana State Senate from District 4, the first African American to serve in that body since Reconstruction. While he served in the Legislature, he also joined Xavier University as Assistant Director of the Urbinvolve Program and as an instructor in the Department of Sociology and became an adjuct faculty member in the Applied Health Sciences Department, Maternal and Child Health Section, of Tulane University.

In 1978, Barthelemy was elected to an At-Large seat on the New Orleans City Council, a position he held for two terms, until his election as Mayor in 1986.

Among the highlights of the Barthelemy administration were the opening of the Aquarium of the Americas, the Riverfront streetcar, and the giant Pic N' Save distribution center in New Orleans East; the visit of the Pope (1987), the hosting of the Republican National Convention (1988) and the NCAA Final Four tournament (1993); the controversial legalization of a single land-based casino and riverboat gambling; the passage of the equally controversial "anti-discrimination" ordinance affecting the membership in Carnival krewes; the unsuccessful pursuit of a recreation park/amusement center for Armstrong Park; and the securing of funding for the new sports arena next to the Superdome.