Oral history interview with Jacquelyn Clarkson, June 9, 2006

Jacquelyn Brechtel Clarkson, a former real estate agent, councilwoman of New Orleans and Louisiana legislator, opens the interview by explaining why she ran for city council. After her time in the legislature, she returned to the council. Her father had been on the council in the 1940s and started the recreation department. She remained in the city during Katrina, working with the mayor from his headquarters in the Hyatt Hotel. Though the city had many rescue workers, they did not have the other help they needed. She praises the work done by the National Guard, police, firefighters and other first responders who had remained within the city. She kept an eye on her district, contacting constituents she knew and then relaying information from them back to the first responders though the rescuers would not allow her to go out in the helicopters. Her family went to Baton Rouge to wait out the storm. In the recent election, she had decided to relinquish her seat and run at large, but lost the race. She has returned to her volunteer work. She is concerned by issues of development and historic preservation post-Katrina.