Mel Leavitt (né Mahlon Tirre Leavitt) was a

local historian Local history is the study of history in a geographically local context, often concentrating on a relatively small local community. It incorporates cultural history, cultural and social history, social aspects of history. Local history is not mer ...

and

broadcast journalist Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...

that served the

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, market from 1949 until near the time of his death in 1997 at age 70. His 35-year broadcast career was primarily at

WDSU-TV WDSU (channel 6) is a television station in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Hearst Television. The station's studios are located on Howard Avenue in the city's New Orleans Central Business District, Centra ...

, a New Orleans television station.

New Orleans Times Picayune ''The Times-Picayune , The New Orleans Advocate'' (commonly called ''The Times-Picayune'' or the ''T-P'') is an American newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana. Ancestral publications of other names date back to January 25, 1837. The cu ...

obituary by Mark Lorando, August 9, 1997.Baltimore Sun obituary
August 12, 1997. He was the first broadcaster of U.S. Senate Hearings, specifically the

Kefauver Hearings Carey Estes Kefauver ( ; July 26, 1903 – August 10, 1963) was an American politician from Tennessee. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1939 to 1949 and in the U.S. Senate from 1949 until hi ...

, for which he earned the Raytheon Award.Seale Paterson article , accessed November 29, 2011. Leavitt was born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, and began his journalism career as a teenager at the

St. Louis Globe-Democrat The ''St. Louis Globe-Democrat'' was a daily print newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1852 until 1986. The paper began operations on July 1, 1852, as ''The Daily Missouri Democrat'', changing its name to ''The Missouri Democrat'' in 18 ...

. After majoring in journalism at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

in Columbia, he entered the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

where he wrote for '' The Stars and Stripes''. He subsequently began broadcasting for a AAA baseball farm team called the ''

Newark Bears The Newark Bears were an American independent league professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They were a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and, later, the Canadian American Association of Professional Bas ...

''. These broadcasts led to a weekend radio show called ''The Inside of Sports'' for the

Mutual Radio Network The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the golden age of U.S. r ...

. From there, he was hired in 1949 by New Orleans businessman Edgar Stern to work for WDSU-TV, which had recently started broadcast operations. Leavitt's productions earned two

Peabody Awards The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

and a

Freedoms Foundation Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge (now Founding Forward) is an American non-profit, non-partisan, non-sectarian educational organization, founded in 1949. The foundation is located adjacent to the Valley Forge National Historical Park, near Val ...

Award in 1981, as part of his ''Byline Mel Leavitt'' series.Author biography in Mel Leavitt, ''A Short History of New Orleans'', Lexikos Publishing, 1982, . Leavitt's production ''The Ku Klux Klan'' was received an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

in 1965.Four-page citation by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, stated by Google Books, accessed November 28, 2011.
/ref> His production ''The Huey Long Story'' earned a first prize from the

American Association for State and Local History The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) is a non-profit association for state and local history, with a primary focus on history professionals, history volunteers, museums, historical societies, and other history-related organi ...

.Author biography in Mel Leavitt, ''Great Characters of New Orleans'', Lexikos Publishing, 1984, . Leavitt authored three books documenting significant people and events in the history of New Orleans. Additionally, he wrote forewords to cookbooks on New Orleans cuisine, most significantly one featuring the

Creole cuisine Creole cuisine (; ; ) is a cuisine style born in colonial times, from the fusion between African, European and pre-Columbian traditions. ''Creole'' is a term that refers to those of European origin who were born in the New World and have adap ...

of noted New Orleans restaurant The Court of Two Sisters. Leavitt broadcast on other venues in New Orleans, including public broadcasting station

WYES-TV WYES-TV (channel 12) is a PBS member television station in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, owned by the Greater New Orleans Educational Television Foundation. The station's studios are located on Navarre Avenue in the city's Navarre neig ...

, then ABC affiliate

WVUE-TV WVUE-DT (channel 8) is a television station in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network. Owned by Gray Media, the station maintains primary studios on Howard Avenue in New Orleans, with a s ...

, public broadcasting station

WLAE-TV WLAE-TV (channel 32) is an non-commercial educational station, educational independent television station in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The station is owned by the Educational Broadcasting Foundation, a partnership between the Willw ...

, and then independent station WGNO-TV, in addition to NBC affiliate WDSU-TV.''New Orleans Times-Picayune'', article "Who Will Carry the Torch", August 13, 1997. His television series included 30 years as host of ''The Prep Quiz Bowl''. At WGNO-TV, he produced and starred in a 30-minute television magazine show called ''Mel Leavitt's Magazine'', which was subsequently known as ''Real New Orleans''. He co-hosted a series of historical features at WLAE-TV focused on the history of the New Orleans area. Other Leavitt productions include a history-related quiz show called ''Do You Know Louisiana?'', a late-night talk show ''Tonight with Mel'', ''The Wonderful World of Cajuns'', and ''The Battle that Missed the War''. Leavitt married fellow New Orleans broadcast journalist Naomi Bryant.

Books

* Mel Leavitt, ''A Short History of New Orleans'', Lexikos Publishing, 1982, . * Mel Leavitt, ''Great Characters of New Orleans'', Lexikos Publishing, 1984, . * Mel Leavitt, ''New Orleans, America's International City: A Contemporary Portrait'', Windsor Publications, 1990, .

References

External links

*
A photograph of Mel Leavitt
can be viewed on-line. {{DEFAULTSORT:Leavitt, Mel 1927 births 1997 deaths New Orleans television reporters University of Missouri alumni St. Louis Globe-Democrat people Culture of New Orleans