A native Hoosier, Joseph Woodson "Pops"
Whitesell was part of a New Orleans group of bohemian writers
and artists living and working in the French Quarter in the
1930s and 1940s. Born in Libertyville, Indiana, Feb. 11, 1876
he began teaching himself how to take photographs at age 17.
He came to New Orleans 1918; settled in 1921 at an apartment
and studio at 726 St. Peter St. behind what is now the well-known
jazz club Preservation Hall and by the 1940's ranked among the
top ten salon exhibitors in the world; among his famous portrait
subjects; Wayman Adams, Sherwood Anderson, Sinclair Lewis, Lyle
Saxon, Erle Stanley Gardner. His fame led to a one man exhibition
at Smithsonian Institution of 58 of his photographs in 1946.
He never married and died Feb 18, 1958.
Sources: Dalt Wonk, "Pops
Whitesell", DIXIE, Nov. 29,1981. NEW ORLEANS ITEM, Dec.
29, 1957. TIMES-PICAYUNE, obituary, Feb. 20, 1958; Feb. 12,
1978 and Louisiana State Museum
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