149. LaKisha Simmons, part 2

149. LaKisha Simmons interview, Part 2.  Author of Crescent City Girls. “What was it like to grow up black and female in the segregated South? To answer this question, LaKisha Simmons blends social history and cultural studies, recreating children's streets and neighborhoods within Jim Crow New Orleans and offering a rare look into black girls’ personal lives. Simmons argues that these children faced the difficult task of adhering to middle-class expectations of purity and respectability even as they encountered the daily realities of Jim Crow violence, which included interracial sexual aggression, street harassment, and presumptions of black girls’ impurity.” LaKisha Michelle Simmons is assistant professor of global gender studies at the University at Buffalo, SUNY. She specializes in Black gender history, history of sexuality, childhood, and cultural geography. 

1. This week in Louisiana history. March 26, 1804. The Louisiana Purchase was divided at the 33rd parallel into two parts, the District of Louisiana and the Territory of Orleans.
2. This week in New Orleans history. March 26, 1912. Mistrial for Annie Crawford. The 28-year-old woman was on trial for the poisoning of her 24 year-old sister Elise. Elise had been ill for quite some time before her death.  The Crawford family had lost three family members within the past 15 months. On June 25, 1910, another sister, Mary Agnes Crawford died suddenly -- the cause of death was attributed to Acute Meningitis.  Three weeks later on July 15 her father, Walter C. Crawford passed away -- the cause of death was allegedly Uremic Poisoning.  Two weeks after that, on July 29 her mother died -- it was thought that she also succumbed to Uremic Poisoning.  Upon the death of Elise suspicions were raised that the family might have been victims of murder.
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   Louisiana Crawfish Festival
   March 31st, 2016 - April 3rd, 2016
   Sigur Center grounds
   8245 West Judge Perez Drive, Chalmette, LA 70043
   504-329-6411
   Website
   Sigur Center grounds
   Sample your way through more than 30,000 pounds of crawfish, served boiled, fried, baked, over pasta, and more! Live music, rides and crafts.
   $5.00 entry fee

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