Representative Adolph Meyer

Adolph Meyer (October 19, 1842 – March 8, 1908) was a Confederate veteran of the Civil War and a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana, serving nine consecutive terms from 1891 until his death in office in 1908. Born into a Jewish family of German descent in Natchez, Mississippi, he would become one of the Jewish members of Congress during a period of significant political and social change in the post-Reconstruction South.

Meyer spent his early years in Mississippi, where his family’s German-Jewish heritage placed them within a small but established Southern Jewish community. Details of his formal education are not extensively documented in contemporary sources, but his later professional activities as a planter and banker indicate that he received sufficient education and training to manage substantial business and financial responsibilities in the years following the Civil War.

During the Civil War, Meyer served in the Confederate Army, where he was assigned to the staff of Brigadier General John Stuart Williams of Kentucky. In this capacity he attained the rank of assistant adjutant general, a staff position that involved administrative, organizational, and operational duties in support of field command. His Confederate service established his standing among white Southern voters in the postwar era and helped shape his later public and military roles in Louisiana.

After the war, Meyer became a planter in Mississippi and later moved into banking in New Orleans, Louisiana, integrating himself into the commercial life of the city. He also pursued a parallel military career in the Louisiana National Guard, in which he rose through the ranks and attained the rank of brigadier general in 1881. This combination of economic influence and military leadership enhanced his prominence in New Orleans and provided a platform for his entry into electoral politics as a Democrat during the late nineteenth century.

In 1890, Meyer was elected as a Democrat to his first of nine consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Louisiana. He entered Congress at a time when the South was solidly Democratic and the nation was grappling with issues of industrialization, regional development, and race relations. Adolph Meyer served as a Representative from Louisiana in the United States Congress from 1891 to 1909, and his service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history. As a member of the House of Representatives, he participated in the legislative process and represented the interests of his constituents, contributing to debates over economic policy, infrastructure, and military and naval affairs. A member of the Democratic Party, he contributed to the legislative process during nine terms in office, remaining in the House continuously from the Fifty-second Congress onward until his death.

Meyer’s most enduring local legacy in New Orleans is associated with his advocacy for federal naval facilities on the west bank of the Mississippi River. General Meyer Avenue in the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans is named in his honor for his efforts in lobbying for a U.S. Naval Yard in that area. The avenue begins as Newton Street in Algiers Point, changes its name to General Meyer Avenue at Behrman Avenue, and continues for approximately four miles, ending at Bennett Street in the Lower Algiers neighborhood. The Adolph Meyer School, established in 1917 on General Meyer Avenue in Algiers, was also named in his honor. Renamed to honor Harriet Tubman in the 1990s, the facility now operates as Harriet Tubman Charter School, one of Crescent City Schools’ charter elementary schools. In 2016, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places; it stands at the southeast corner of General Meyer and Behrman, across from the U.S. Naval Station Algiers Historic District and the city’s Federal City complex.

Meyer served in Congress until his death in office on March 8, 1908, at the age of 65. His passing placed him among the members of the United States Congress who died in office in the early twentieth century. His long tenure reflected both his personal standing in Louisiana politics and the broader stability of Democratic control in the region during that era. Memorial addresses honoring his service were later delivered in the House of Representatives and the Senate, underscoring his role as a Confederate veteran, businessman, state military officer, and long-serving representative of Louisiana in the national legislature.