N orma Wallace, a name that evokes intrigue and fascination, was a prominent figure in New Orleans during the early and midth century. As a powerful and resourceful madam, she operated a network of brothels that thrived despite the constant threat of law enforcement. Beginning in , she would operate brothels for the next 45 years, a span that has not been beaten in the history of New Orleans.
Norma Lenore Badon was born in , and little is known about her early life. She entered the world of prostitution at the age of 14 following a trip to Memphis, TN.
It was in Memphis that she met the man, a handsome bootlegger named Andy Wallace, whose last name she would take despite never marrying him. Wallace impressed Norma by apologizing with a seven-carat diamond. Memphis was as wide open as New Orleans was in the early s with prevalent gambling and bootlegging. Norma came across her first hustling girls at the Gayoso Hotel.
She was immediately captivated by them. As the closure of Storyville, the legalized red light district in New Orleans, loomed in , much of the prostitution had already begun to migrate the few blocks back into the French Quarter where it historically thrived. And, this is the French Quarter that Norma returned to in Bertha had worked under Josie Arlington and had opened her own house in the French Quarter before Storyville was closed.
But, Norma decided early on that she was not going to be a streetwalker herself. She made one final trip to Memphis to give it a go there. Book your own private tour and learn more about the fascinating history of prostitution in New Orleans.
