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History Daily

Delphine LaLaurie’s Torture Chamber

History Daily

Airship | Noiser | Wondery

History

4.42.1K Ratings

🗓️ 10 April 2025

⏱️ 18 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

April 10, 1834. In the aftermath of a house fire in New Orleans, investigators uncover evidence of horrific treatment meted out to the household’s enslaved servants.


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Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:04.1

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0:06.0

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0:10.6

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0:30.4

Thank you. It's April 10th, 1834, on Royal Street in New Orleans, Louisiana. A horse-drawn fire wagon clatters to a halt outside a burning mansion.

0:35.9

The crew jumps off immediately. But as the others grab

0:39.1

equipment, one middle-aged firefighter doesn't wait, sprinting toward the blaze. He tries the mansion's

0:45.2

front door, but it's locked. He peers in through a window. Flames have taken hold in what looks like

0:50.6

the living room, and the firefighter can hear faint calls for help coming

0:54.4

from inside. But the pleas of the people trapped inside are almost drowned out by the sound

0:59.7

of Ray's voices coming from behind the firefighter. He turns to see a well-dressed woman in her

1:05.2

40s, arguing with one of the other firefighters. The woman is apparently the mansion's owner,

1:10.5

and she's refusing to

1:11.9

hand over the keys. But now, smoke is beginning to seep through the roof. It's clear that if

1:17.4

nothing is done, the flames will spread to nearby buildings, and that would put the entire

1:21.6

neighborhood at risk, so the firefighter takes matters into his own hands. He grabs an axe

1:27.1

from the wagon, and as the woman

1:29.1

continues to argue, he rushes past her to the front door, swings the axe, and smashes through

1:35.0

the law. Then the firefighter covers his mouth and nose, with a last glance back at the

1:40.4

wide-eyed mansion owner, enters the building to search for whoever's trapped inside.

1:48.6

It will soon become clear why Delphine Lollori refused to hand over the keys to her home.

1:54.6

She is abusing her enslaved workers in a torture chamber in her attic.

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