Queer Places:
Tulane University, 6823 St Charles Ave, New Orleans, LA 70118, United States
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
Metairie Cemetery, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd, New Orleans, LA 70124, United States
Moise Herbert Goldstein Sr. (September 17, 1882 - December 28, 1972) was an influential 20th-century American architect, preservationist, and civic
leader whose work left an indelible mark on the built environment of New Orleans and the wider Gulf South.
Born on September 17, 1882, in New Orleans to Julius Goldstein and Julie Schwartz Goldstein, he was raised in a prominent local family where his father worked in his own father's wholesale merchandise enterprise, Louis Goldstein & Sons.
After completing his early education in the New Orleans public school system, Goldstein pursued higher education in engineering and architecture. He earned a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Tulane University in 1902, where his early passion for local historical structures became clear when he authored a senior prize essay titled "The Architecture of Old New Orleans," which was subsequently published by the university. He continued his studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, completing his Master of Science degree in 1905. Following a brief initial partnership in New Orleans with H. Jordan Mackenzie, Goldstein spent a year abroad as a resident student at the American Academy in Rome, immersing himself in the architectural traditions and history of France, Italy, and Turkey.
Upon returning to Louisiana, Goldstein joined the firm of Diboll, Owen, and Goldstein, practicing there for four years. During this tenure, he designed the Emlah Court Apartment Building in 1913, recognized as the first cooperative apartment unit in New Orleans. According to local lore, Goldstein sketched the initial design for the five-story Beaux-Arts structure on the back of an envelope while visiting the building site with its owner, John Legier Jr.
In 1914, Goldstein established his independent practice, Moise H. Goldstein, initiating a prolific era that produced several landmark structures. Among his ambitious early projects was the luxurious Pine Hills Hotel in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, completed in 1926. In 1929, he completed both the design for New Orleans's Temple Sinai on St. Charles Avenue and the twenty-three-story American Bank Building, one of the city's earliest skyscrapers, celebrated for its Art Deco styling and distinctive golden-colored top lantern.
Goldstein's contributions to higher education architecture were equally extensive. At Tulane University, he designed the Elizabethan-style Science Building (now Dinwiddie Hall) in 1927, followed by the Howard Tilton Library (now Jones Hall) in 1939 and Tilton Hall in 1946. During the 1930s, he conceptualized the original campus design and master plan for Dillard University, alongside the nearby Flint Goodridge Hospital of Dillard University in 1931, continuing to serve as Dillard's campus architect through 1961.
Throughout his career, Goldstein balanced commercial commissions with civic preservation, urban planning, and public service. In 1920, Governor John M. Parker appointed him secretary to the State Housing Commission, reflecting Goldstein's early advocacy for slum clearance and improved housing standards. This commitment culminated in his work on New Orleans's early public housing initiatives, including the Magnolia Street Projects (later the C. J. Peete Projects) in 1935. Between 1929 and 1946, he served on the Audubon Park Commission, directing construction efforts at the Audubon Zoo, supervising the iconic entrance gates on St. Charles Avenue, and utilizing WPA labor and New Deal funding during the Great Depression to construct facilities such as the Merz Memorial Zoo in 1934.
Goldstein was a central figure in regional arts, culture, and professional organizations. As an active voice in the local arts community, he participated in the Arts and Crafts Club of New Orleans, an institution that served as a vital cultural hub during the Southern Renaissance. Within this progressive creative ecosystem, figures associated with the club and the surrounding French Quarter preservation movement formed early networks of social and creative community, including artistic circles that fostered significant historic LGBTQ presence and expression in mid-century New Orleans. His dedication to heritage conservation made him an important figure in early French Quarter preservation efforts, ensuring that historical Creole architectural forms were protected as the city modernized.
Simultaneously, Goldstein prioritized architectural education and professional standards. Alongside Professor William Woodward and Samuel Labouisse, he helped establish Tulane University's separate School of Architecture, where he served as an advisor, led critiques, and established a student prize for measured drawings of historic New Orleans buildings. In recognition of his enduring support for students, Tulane named him "Architect of the Year" in 1952.
On a national level, Goldstein actively served the American Institute of Architects (AIA). He led the Louisiana chapter as president for two years, served as the AIA Gulf States Director from 1936 to 1939, sat on the National Architectural Accrediting Board from 1942 to 1946, and participated in a 1943 national committee focused on architectural design for the United Nations Center. In 1936, the AIA elevated him to Fellowship status (FAIA), later making him a Member Emeritus in 1961. He was also a founding member of the Louisiana Architects Association.
In 1947, Goldstein expanded his firm by bringing in partners Frederick D. Parham and F. Monroe Labouisse, creating Goldstein, Parham, and Labouisse. Over the following decade, the firm designed numerous major civic developments, including the WDSU television studios (1948), McDonogh No. 39 Elementary School (1952), the Moisant International Airport terminal (1952, later Louis Armstrong International Airport), and key components of the New Orleans Civic Center complex—including the New Orleans Public Library main branch, City Hall, Civil Court, and the State Office Building.
Goldstein dissolved the partnership in 1962 to practice briefly alongside his son, fellow architect Louis Allan Goldstein, under the name Moise H. Goldstein; Louis A. Goldstein, Architects. Goldstein retired from active practice in 1963. Married to Lois Goetter Goldstein, with whom he raised their son Louis, Goldstein remained a lifelong resident of New Orleans until his death on December 28, 1972, at the age of ninety. He was laid to rest at Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans.
In 1926 Pelican Bookshop Press, New Orleans, published "William Spratling and William Faulkner, Sherwood Anderson and Other Famous Creoles: A Gallery of Contemporary New Orleans", issued in 250 copies. The “Famous Creoles” (with ages in 1926) were
References:
 Dixie Bohemia: A French Quarter Circle in the 1920s (Walter Lynwood Fleming Lectures in Southern History) Paperback – September 8, 2014 by John Shelton Reed |
Other references:
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