Queer Places:
Spanish Custom House, 1300 Moss St, New Orleans, LA 70119
Lafayette Cemetery Number 1
New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana, USA
Helen Pitkin Schertz (August 8, 1870 - December 26, 1945) was a Clubwoman,
civic activist, French Quarter guide, writer, harpist. She was prominent in
New Orleans society. Scherts played the lead role in the May 1921 production
of What, Again?, written by Natalie
Scott and Sam Gilmore. Her home
was among the city's oldest, a small plantation house on Bayou St. John built
in the 1730s where she hosted prominent visitors, including playwright Maurice
Maeterlinck and Bertrand Russell.
Her home, the former Spanish Custom House, was among those featured in Natalie's book (illustrated by
William Spratling), Old
Plantation Houses in Louisiana (New York: William Ilelburn, 1927).
Helen Gilroy Pitkin Schertz was born in New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana, the daughter of John Robert Graham Pitkin
(1840–1901) and
Helen Fuller (1848–1871). In 1909 she married Christian Schertz
(1872–1927).
For many years Helen Pitkin Schertz was on the staff of the New Orleans
Times-Democrat, a predecessor of the Times-Picayune. Her novel An Angel by
Brevet appeared in 1904; she wrote a guidebook for the French Quarter during
the 1920s. She founded the New Orleans Spring Fiesta and the Sunshine Society
of Louisiana and was one of the founders of Le Petite Theatre Du Vieux Carre.
My published books:
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- Natalie Scott: A Magnificent Life
Scott, John W.
Pelican Publishing, 2008