Thursday, February 15, 2018

248. Jeremy Simien, part 2

248. Black History Month. Part 2 of our interview with Jeremy Simien. Jeremy studies the history of Louisiana's Free People of Color. He has also gathered a large collection of their personal possessions, especially pictures and portraits. Les gens de couleur libres were people of variant degrees of African descent who were either born free, liberated, or purchased their own freedom during the antebellum period. In their height, these people of African descent accounted for 1/5th of the population of New Orleans, owned 13 of the property in the Vieux Carré or “French Quarter” and had an 80% literacy rate. This important group consisted of planters, skilled tradesman, inventors and real-estate developers/speculators.
  1. This week in Louisiana history. February 17, 1801. Thomas Jefferson elected 3rd president after tying Aaron Burr and winning the tie-breaking votes in the House of Representatives.
  2. This week in New Orleans history. The New Orleans 1885 Mardi Gras [February 17] was extraordinary. On the streets were large numbers of international visitors connected with the [World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial] Exposition, several Central American Indian groups, and some fifty to sixty Plains Indians from the [Buffalo Bill] Wild West Show, including four chiefs, all of whom were likely on the street in native dress. For [locals of African descent, particularly groups who took to masking as Indians,] Mardi Gras translated nicely into a freedom celebration, a day to commemorate their own history and spirit, to be arrogant, to circumvent the hostile authorities, to overturn the established order, and now and then to seek revenge." From Mardi Gras Indians (Pelican Publishing Company, 1994), by 'Michael P. Smith.
  3. This week in Louisiana.
    Prospect 4 Exhibition "The Batture" by Jeff Whetstone
    February 17-25, 2018
    UNO St. Claude Gallery
    2429 St. Claude Ave.
    New Orleans, LA 70117
    Phone: 504.280.6493
    Website
    The UNO St. Claude Gallery is hosting "The Batture," an exhibit by photographer Jeff Whetstone that explores the economies and ecologies that exist along the banks of the Mississippi River near New Orleans. “The batture is the land the river owns. It is a thin strip of weeds, trees and mud between the edge of the Mississippi River and the tall, hardened levees that contain its floods,” said Whetstone. “The batture is ephemeral. It disappears with the river is high and reemerges when the tide falls, swept and changed. It is a cyclical land, untied to human time and unclaimed; a temporary alluvial wilderness.”
  4. Postcards from Louisiana. Bruce listens to the Big Dixie Swingers on Frenchman Street in New Orleans.
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Thursday, February 8, 2018

247. Jeremy K. Simien, part 1

247. Black History Month. Part 1 of our interview with Jeremy Simien. Jeremy studies the history of Louisiana's Free People of Color. He has also gathered a large collection of their personal possessions, especially pictures and portraits. Les gens de couleur libres were people of variant degrees of African descent who were either born free, liberated, or purchased their own freedom during the antebellum period. In their height, these people of African descent accounted for 1/5th of the population of New Orleans, owned 13 of the property in the Vieux Carré or “French Quarter” and had an 80% literacy rate. This important group consisted of planters, skilled tradesman, inventors and real-estate developers/speculators.
  1. This week in Louisiana history. February 10, 1763. The Treaty of Paris gave Louisiana Colony to Spain.
  2. This week in New Orleans history. The port of New Orleans and the Louisiana Territory west of the Mississippi were ceded to Spain on February 10, 1763, by Article 7 of the Treaty of Paris.
  3. This week in Louisiana. Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, will next be celebrated in Louisiana on Tuesday, February 13, 2018. Included here is a list of highlights of the extensive Mardi Gras carnival season scheduled in Louisiana during 2018, focusing on long-running Krewes and those with widespread appeal. Laissez le bon temps rouler!
  4. Postcards from Louisiana. Bruce listens to the brass band Baby David and the Freeloaders in the Buckshot Bourbon St. Drinkery.
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Thursday, February 1, 2018

246. David Cappello, part 2

246. Part 2 of our interview with David Cappello about his bookThe People's Grocer: John G. Schwegmann, New Orleans, and the Making of the Modern Retail World. The People’s Grocer is a business-based biography of John G. Schwegmann, founder of a legendary New Orleans’ supermarket chain and the most innovative and courageous retailer of the postwar era. Virtually unrecognized in retail history, visionary Schwegmann pioneered the modern big-box concept. Even more important, his 1951 Supreme Court victory over “fair trade” laws played a key role in legalizing discount pricing. A marketer extraordinaire, Schwegmann’s offbeat and controversial ads and shopping bags came to symbolize the Crescent City. As a fierce consumer crusader, his fiery passions ultimately drove him into politics.

  1. This week in Louisiana history. February 3, 1753 Kerlerec arrives to take over Louisiana Colony
  2. This week in New Orleans history. Mardi Gras/Carnival Day can fall on any Tuesday between February 3 and March 9 (depending on the date of Easter).
  3. This week in Louisiana.
    57th Annual Saddle Tramp Riders Club, Inc.
    Traditional Cajun Courir de Mardi Gras Run
    Come Celebrate this Cajun Tradition with us on Feb 10th & 11th, 2018 in Church Point, LA. 
    For up to the Minute Updates on our Event Visit us at:
    For More Info Call 337-227-8023   
  4. Postcards from Louisiana. Bruce listens to the Big Dixie Swingers on Frenchman Street in New Orleans. 
  5. Postcards from the Resistance. The Louisiana branch of the Poor People's Campaign is holding a news conference in Baton Rouge on Monday, February 5, 9:30-10:30 am at the Louisiana State Capitol Building.

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Thursday, January 25, 2018

245. David Cappello, part 1

245. Part 1 of our interview with David Cappello about his book  The People's Grocer: John G. Schwegmann, New Orleans, and the Making of the Modern Retail World. The People’s Grocer is a business-based biography of John G. Schwegmann, founder of a legendary New Orleans’ supermarket chain and the most innovative and courageous retailer of the postwar era. Virtually unrecognized in retail history, visionary Schwegmann pioneered the modern big-box concept. Even more important, his 1951 Supreme Court victory over “fair trade” laws played a key role in legalizing discount pricing. A marketer extraordinaire, Schwegmann’s offbeat and controversial ads and shopping bags came to symbolize the Crescent City. As a fierce consumer crusader, his fiery passions ultimately drove him into politics.
  1. This week in Louisiana history. January 27, 1730 Jean Paul
    LeSueur leads 500 Choctaw Indians against the Natchez Indians
  2. This week in New Orleans history. On January 28, 2013 the
    Loyola Avenue streetcar line opened, running for 0.8 mi on
    Loyola Avenue in the Central Business District from New
    Orleans Union Passenger Terminal (UPT) to Canal Street. The
    total length of the Loyola Avenue Line is 1.6 miles.
    Construction started in August 2011, and the line was opened
    in time for New Orleans' hosting of Super Bowl XLVII.
  3. This week in Louisiana.
    Tabasco: A Burlesque Opera
    Saturday, January 25-28
    2:30 PM CST
    Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre
    616 St. Peter St.
    New Orleans, LA 70116
    Phone: 504.522.2081
    Website
    This 1894 opera centers on a Middle Eastern pasha who
    craved spicy food. Enraged by the blandness of fare provided
    by his royal kitchen, the pasha threatened to chop off the
    head of his French chef (actually a masquerading Irishman).
    The chef frantically searched the city for seasonings and ran
    into a blind beggar who gave him a mysterious potion. The
    concoction turned out to be Tabasco brand pepper sauce. Its
    piquant flavor satisfied the pasha and saved the day.
  4. Postcards from Louisiana. Bruce listens to the Percy
    Harrison Band on Royal St. in New Orleans.
  5. Postcards from Louisiana. Bruce and Stephen talk to Debbie
    Hollis and Lindsay Brown at the Women's March in Shreveport on
    January 20, 2018.
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David Cappello
The Percy Harrison Band

Thursday, January 18, 2018

244. Pearson Cross

244. We interview Pearson Cross. Pearson served as Head of the Political Science Department at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette from 2009 to 2014, and as Chair of the Council of Department Heads from 2012 to 2014. He is now Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. His principal areas of teaching are State and Local politics, Southern and Louisiana politics, and Religion and politics. He is a frequent commentator on political issues at the national, state and local level. Dr. Cross received his B.A., from San Francisco State University in 1985 and his Ph.D. from Brandeis University in Massachusetts in 1997. He has published on topics including redistricting, elections, white supremacy, southern political culture, and the Louisiana Judiciary. He is currently working on a book about Bobby Jindal and the politics of education reform in Louisiana. 
  1. This week in Louisiana history. January 20, 1980 Terry Bradshaw (Louisiana), Pittsburgh Steelers, QB, named Superbowl XIV MVP.
  2. This week in New Orleans history. Photographer John Norris Teunisson, born in Pike County, Mississippi on January 20, 1869, moved to New Orleans 1892. Teunisson had a long career as a photographer in New Orleans. His photographs were widely reproduced during his lifetime in tourist guides to New Orleans, in newspapers, and as postcards.
  3. This week in Louisiana. Ochsner presents the 5th Annual King Cake Festival on January 28, 2018 – a celebration benefiting babies and children at Ochsner! Held in Champions Square, join us to taste king cakes from the finest bakeries, enjoy live music and support pediatric programs!
    The King Cake Festival is FREE and open to the public.
  4. Postcards from Louisiana. Bruce listens to the Big Dixie Swingers on Frenchman Street in New Orleans.
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s://archive.org/details/244PearsonCrosshttps://archive.org/details/244PearsonCross



Thursday, January 11, 2018

243. Steven Rowan, part 2

243.  Part 2 of our interview with Steven Rowan. Steven talks to us about two works with the same title: Mysteries of New Orleans, one written by Baron von Reizenstein in German and the other by Charles Testut in French. Steven has generously allowed the Louisiana Anthology to add his translation of Testut's books to our site, along with a chapter from Reizenstein on lesbian love in New Orleans, the earliest work on explicit homosexuality in Louisiana literature.
  1. This week in Louisiana history. January 13 1818 Noah Ludlow opens St. Philip Street Theatre.
  2. This week in New Orleans history. Danny Barker born January 13, 1909. African-America Creole guitar and banjo player, songwriter, composer, singer, author, historian, teacher, storyteller, humorist, actor, painter.  Jazz Hall of Fame member.  Recipient of the National Endowment of the Arts Music Master Award and numerous other honors.  Played on more than 1,000 records of Jazz, Swing, Blues, Bebop, and Traditional.  Husband of legendary singer Blue Lu Barker.
  3. This week in Louisiana.
    The Superior Jazz Trio
    Sunday, January 14
    11:30 AM CST
    Venue information:
    Superior Seafood and Oyster Bar
    4338 St. Charles Ave.
    New Orleans, LA 70115
    Phone: 504.293.3474
    Website
  4. Postcards from Louisiana. Bruce meets violinist Tanya Huang playing on Royal St. in New Orleans. 
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Thursday, January 4, 2018

242. Steven Rowan, part 1

242. Part 1 of our interview with Steven Rowan. Steven talks to us about two works with the same title: Mysteries of New Orleans, one written by Baron von Reizenstein in German and the other by Charles Testut in French. Steven has generously allowed the Louisiana Anthology to add his translation of Testut's books to our site, along with a chapter from Reizenstein on lesbian love in New Orleans, the earliest work on explicit homosexuality in Louisiana literature.
  1. This week in Louisiana history. January 8 1815. The Battle of New Orleans took place.
  2. This week in New Orleans history. January 6, 1870. Twelfth Night Revelers - 2nd N.O. Carnival Krewe Comus, New Orleans’ first Mardi Gras krewe, was so successful with its parade and ball that a group of enthusiastic, Carnival-struck Orleanians decided it was time to increase the enjoyment of the celebration by forming a second Carnival krewe. The name chosen was Twelfth Night Revelers, representing 12 days after Christmas (also known as Little Christmas), January 6, the official starting day of the Carnival season.
  3. This week in Louisiana.
    The Louisiana Fur and Wildlife Festival
    Honoring the Fishing Industry
    January 12-13, 2018
    Downtown Cameron, Louisiana!
    Honored as one of the Top 20 Events in the Southeast for the third year running! We applaud our great group of volunteers with the tremendous insight on keeping our festival being named as one of the Top 20 Events in SWLA year after year. Thank you to the patrons/fans of the festival who continue to partake in the activities year after year.
    Phone: 337-540-9449
    Website
  4. Postcards from Louisiana. Bruce listens to the Big Dixie Swingers on Frenchman Street in New Orleans.
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