"Luxury, Inequity, and Yellow Fever documents in photographs and words two of the most beautifully restored historic homes in New Orleans' French Quarter: the Hermann-Grima House and the Gallier House. Built in 1831 and 1860, these museums connect us to the New Orleans of the mid-19th-century--a romantic, decadent and mysterious time, a time filled with wealth, culture, slavery, oppression, hurricanes, and disease. Side by side with the affluence of antebellum luxury was an astoundingly stratified society of groups within groups, and with distinctions of race, sex, nationality, religion and social standing that were as intricate as any caste system. Finally, the city's environment, including unforgiving weather, sickly swamp conditions and rampant urban growth, created a dramatic backdrop. The Hermann-Grima and Gallier Historic houses actively tell the story of the men who built them and the challenges they faced, the Free People of Color and the immigrants who were the craftsmen creating the amazing interiors, and the enslaved workers who ran the day-to-day business of the homes. The houses are owned by The Woman's Exchange, whose mission is to make a difference in historic preservation by restoring and maintaining the Hermann-Grima & Gallier Historic Houses and interpreting their contribution and place in New Orleans"--Provided by publisher.