Bitsie Werlein

Bitsie Werlein was the last president of the famed Werlein’s For Music in New Orleans. When its doors closed in 2003 it was the nation’s oldest operating music retailer. The company was established in 1862 during the Civil War when the Union Navy blockaded New Orleans harbor. During her years as president the company experienced the great home organ boom of the 1970s and the synthesizer popularity of the 1980s. Bitsie was interviewed on the very day the store closed for the last time.