Lulu White  Lulu White (Lulu Hendley, ca. 1868 – August 20, 1931) was a brothel madam, procuress and entrepreneur in New Orleans, Louisiana during the Storyville period. An eccentric figure, she was noted for her love of jewelry, her many failed business ventures, and her criminal record that extended in New Orleans as far back as 1880. White's exact date of birth is unknown. She was born on a farm near Selma, Alabama, but claimed to be an immigrant from the West Indies. Publicity from about 1906 claimed that she was 31 years old; however, she may have actually been somewhat older. She was of mixed race and enjoyed, for a time, an affluence rare for Creoles of color. In 1906, she ran into financial difficulties leaving her destitute, and moved to California. She commuted back and forth between California and Louisiana several times over the course of her career and kept a high profile until the demise of Storyville. Jazz historian Al Rose sought documentation of her death, and believed that she died at the residence of former madam Willie Piazza in 1931. However, a teller at the National Bank of New Orleans reported that, in 1941, White made a withdrawal. Otherwise, little information about her post-Storyville life is known. Until forcible closure in 1917, White ran a sumptuous 'Octoroon Parlour' known as Mahogany Hall, located at 235 Basin Street.. The four-story house reportedly cost $40,000 to build (about $1 million in 2008 dollars). In 1929, the structure sold for $11,000. According to publicity of the time, Mahogany Hall housed 40 women. The official brochure for the house also stated that it had five parlors (one of which was a 'Mirrored Parlor') and fifteen bedrooms, each with its own adjoining bathroom. Famous Storyville photographer E. J. Bellocq's surviving photographs of the house attest to its abundance of elegant furnishings, huge chandeliers and potted ferns. The building housed several expensive oil paintings, Tiffany stained glass windows and other works of art. Other pamphlets featured photographs and biographies of each of the 'Octoroon' girls. They also contained a supposed picture of Miss White, but it was actually another picture of Victoria Hall, one of the Octoroons. Aside from Miss Hall, other known residents of Mahogany Hall included Emma Sears ("The Colored Carmencita"), Clara Miller, Estelle Russell, Sadie Reed and Sadie Levy.