306. Viola Fontenot, part 1

306. Part 1 of our interview with Viola Fontenot about her memoir, A Cajun Girl's Sharecropping Years. Viola is a sharecropper's daughter. Spanning from 1937 to 1955, Fontenot describes her life as the daughter of a share-cropper in Church Point, Louisiana, including details of field work as well as the domestic arts and Cajun culture. The account begins with stories from early life, where the family lived off a gravel road near the woods without electricity, running water, or bathrooms, and a mule-drawn wagon was the only means of transportation.

1. This week in Louisiana history. March 31, 1807. St. John the Baptist Parish created (one of original parishes).
2. This week in New Orleans history. Delta Air Lines, Inc., DC-8, N802E, operating as Flight 9877, crashed during a landing approach to Runway 1 at New Orleans International Airport, Kenner, Louisiana, on March 30, 1967. Five crewmembers and an FAA observer were fatally injured. This was a training flight with no passengers aboard; however, impact occurred in a residential area and 13 persons on the ground were also killed.
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   Water/Ways Smithsonian Exhibit
   February 24th, 2019 - April 6th, 2019
   10:00 am - 4:00 pm
   Jeanerette Museum
   500 E Main Street,
   Jeanerette, LA 70544
   337-276-4408
   Website | Email
   The Jeanerette Museum Board of Directors, in cooperation with Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities (LEH), will examine water as an environmental necessity and an important cultural element as it hosts “Water/Ways,” a traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street (MoMS) program. “Water/Ways” will be on view Feb. 24 through April 6 at the Jeanerette Museum located at 500 E. Main Street on the corner of Main St. and Moresi Alley, Jeanerette, LA.
   
4. Postcards from Louisiana. Bruce listens to a saxophone player in the French Quarter.

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