While scurrying down Canal Street, Scrim got hungry. He knew exactly where to go—Ruby Slipper! This popular restaurant serves up a delicious menu, but what makes it even more special is its pet-friendly food options. Scrim picked up his pace to check it out. Just as he arrived at 1001 Canal Street, a feathered friend greeted him—Dodie the Dove. After spotting Scrim, Dodie flew down from her perch atop one of the lamp posts on Canal Street to have a chat with him.

Scrim was happy to meet a new friend, and the two of them hit it off right away. As we all know, doves are very non-threatening and peaceful birds, and Dodie had an interesting story she wanted to share with Scrim about the history of the building that houses Ruby Slipper.

The three-story building was built circa 1900, and its current Art Deco appearance dates to an extensive 1930s remodel for the McCrory’s five-and-dime store, Dodie recounted. The building’s Art Deco facade remains intact, but many of its interior features have been lost or modified over the years. Shoppers on Canal Street frequented this store, not just for the wares and the reasonable prices, but for the fact that they could also get a bite to eat at the counter—a counter that made history.

In 1960, this McCrory’s was the site of a lunch counter sit-in during the Civil Rights movement. After an initial sit-in organized by the New Orleans Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) at the Woolworth’s at 1039 Canal St. (that building has since been demolished), four students—Rudy Lombard, Oretha Castle, Cecil Carter, Jr., and Sydney Goldfinch, Jr.—sat down at McCrory’s segregated whites-only lunch counter and asked to be served together. The group was arrested, and an appeal of their convictions went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in Lombard v. Louisiana. The court’s decision overturned the arrests and was a major victory for the Civil Rights movement.

Scrim was so fascinated by the story that he forgot that he was hungry. Dodie continued to tell him about how she got her name. “I am named after Doratha “Dodie” Smith-Simmons, a longtime New Orleans civil rights activist,” she said.

In the 1960s, Smith-Simmons was jailed several times for participating in sit-ins, picketing, and other nonviolent direct actions. In addition to her pivotal work in the Civil Rights movement, Smith-Simmons has also contributed to the cultural fabric of New Orleans as a founding member of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. She currently spends her time speaking about her involvement with New Orleans CORE and the Civil Rights movement.

Dodie presented Scrim with a yellow rose—a symbol of friendship—and they paused to take in the beauty of a garden, awakened by seeds of change. There were irises, one of five varieties native to Louisiana that are not found anywhere else in the world; coneflowers, known as echinacea, native flowers used for healing teas, balms, and tinctures; and poppies, best known from a pivotal scene in The Wizard of Oz. Joining Dodie and Scrim were other doves, including the now-famous four friends who met at the former McCrory’s lunch counter to have a cup of coffee.