Queer Places:
Spanish Custom House, 1300 Moss St, New Orleans, LA 70119
Lafayette Cemetery Number 1 New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana, USA

Helen Pitkin Schertz (August 8, 1870 - December 26, 1945) was a Clubwoman, civic activist, French Quarter guide, writer, harpist. She was prominent in New Orleans society. Scherts played the lead role in the May 1921 production of What, Again?, written by Natalie Scott and Sam Gilmore. Her home was among the city's oldest, a small plantation house on Bayou St. John built in the 1730s where she hosted prominent visitors, including playwright Maurice Maeterlinck and Bertrand Russell. Her home, the former Spanish Custom House, was among those featured in Natalie's book (illustrated by William Spratling), Old Plantation Houses in Louisiana (New York: William Ilelburn, 1927).

Helen Gilroy Pitkin Schertz was born in New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana, the daughter of John Robert Graham Pitkin (1840–1901) and Helen Fuller (1848–1871). In 1909 she married Christian Schertz (1872–1927). 

For many years Helen Pitkin Schertz was on the staff of the New Orleans Times-Democrat, a predecessor of the Times-Picayune. Her novel An Angel by Brevet appeared in 1904; she wrote a guidebook for the French Quarter during the 1920s. She founded the New Orleans Spring Fiesta and the Sunshine Society of Louisiana and was one of the founders of Le Petite Theatre Du Vieux Carre.

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