What Did The International Trade Mart Under Clay Shaw Do?

In my biography of Clay Shaw, Man of a Million Fragments: The True Story of Clay Shaw, I go into great detail on the origin of the International Trade Mart, its intended purpose, its activities, its ups and downs over the years, and Clay Shaw's part in them.

The International Trade Mart was part of a quite unified city-wide effort to increase trade through the Port of New Orleans. International House, its sister organization, was also an important part of that, as was the Free Trade Zone, where shippers could send goods that could escape tariffs, if only temporarily in some cases. The City of New Orleans government agencies were involved as well, as were the Chamber of Commerce, major shipping lines, and other large business entities.

It could appear to an outsider as if the International Trade Mart had a murkier side, and of course that comes up frequently in any discussion of Clay Shaw. The book outlines what he did, and what the Mart did. It is ultimately up to the reader to draw his or her own conclusion.