Marietta Herr Interview

Marietta Herr started her activism in 1971 when she became the environmental chairperson for the New Orleans League of Women Voters. One of the first issues she worked on as the chairperson was coastal erosion bringing the issue to the attention of both state and national public officials. She was also involved in the creation of Mayor Dutch Morial’s “environmental breakfasts.” An issue the group addressed and won was preventing gypsum from being dumped into the Mississippi River. She and her co-hart Mildred Fossier were also instrumental in preserving Bayou Sauvage—the largest urban wildlife refuge in the United States. She also successfully worked to have more than three thousand acres added to the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve. She has been active for over fifty years in the League of Women Voters. She is currently the chairman of the Deutschef House Diamond Chor. Audio interview with Marietta Herr for Women Pioneers of the Louisiana Environmental Movement by Peggy Frankland, conducted by Jennifer A. Cramer, Director of the T. Harry Williams Center for Oral History. Copyright: Louisiana State University Special Collections.