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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305. Maida Owens, part 2

305. Part 2 of our interview with Maida Owens about the history of midwives in Louisiana. Maida, the director of the Louisiana Folklife Program , is a cultural anthropologist specializing in Louisiana traditional cultures. Owens has been with the Division of the Arts since 1986, during which time she has worked with organizations and researchers across the state to identify one of Louisiana's most important assets—its traditional folk artists in order to determine the most innovative and effective ways to present Louisiana's folk musicians, storytellers, and craftsmen to Louisiana citizens and the world. She was director of the Louisiana Crafts Marketing Program from 1986 until it ended in 2008.

1. This week in Louisiana history. March 25, 1793. Pope Pius VI established the Diocese of Louisiana.
2. This week in New Orleans history. The caption on the reverse side of this March 24, 1953. "New Orleans traffic, once blocked by obsolete old canal and numerous railroad tracks, now moves smoothly over S. Broad Overpass in center of city. This is one of 11 grade separation structures completed to date in New Orleans' integrated Union Passenger Terminal and grade separation program. Other projects are now now under construction."
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   Louisiana Irish-Italian Parade
   March 24th, 2019
   Clearview Mall
   4436 Veterans Memorial Blvd.,
   Metairie, LA 70006
   504-731-7083
   Website
   In 1983 the first annual Louisiana Irish–Italian Parade rolled on the streets of Jefferson Parish. Bring the family and come celebrate the rich Irish-Italian culture of Louisiana with floats, marching bands, marching clubs, dancers, beads and so much more at the Louisiana Irish-Italian Parade!
   
4. Postcards from Louisiana. Bruce listens to a duet on Royal St.

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304. Maida Owens, part 1

304. Part 1 of our interview with Maida Owens about the history of midwives in Louisiana. Maida, the director of the Louisiana Folklife Program , is a cultural anthropologist specializing in Louisiana traditional cultures.  Owens has been with the Division of the Arts since 1986, during which time she has worked with organizations and researchers across the state to identify one of Louisiana's most important assets—its traditional folk artists in order to determine the most innovative and effective ways to present Louisiana's folk musicians, storytellers, and craftsmen to Louisiana citizens and the world. She was director of the Louisiana Crafts Marketing Program from 1986 until it ended in 2008.

1. This week in Louisiana history. March 17, 1791. Baron de Carondelet de Noyelles is appointed gov.-general of Louisiana.
2. This week in New Orleans history. On Saturday, March 16, 1957, Little Walter and his Fabulous Jukes performed at Dave Brown's Blue Eagle on Felicity at Saratoga Street. Billed as "King of the Harmonica Blues" Little Walter's hits included Midnight Rumble, Blues With a Feeling, Last Night, and  Juke.  The advertising poster for this show announced "Leave all blades and pistols at the door".
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   Metairie Road St. Patrick's Day Parade
   March 17th, 2019
   Old Metairie
   1901 Severn Ave.,
   Metairie, LA 70001
   504-731-7083
   Website
   Founded in 1971, the St. Patrick's Parade of Metairie has been taking to the streets of Old Metairie for more than forty years! The parade consists of over 100 floats and trucks, bands, marching clubs, and all the carrots, cabbages, potatoes and beads you can catch! Bring the family and come celebrate the luck of the Irish at Jefferson Parish's Metairie Road St. Patrick's Day Parade!
   
4. Postcards from Louisiana. Bruce listens to the band at the Krazy Korner Bar on Bourbon St.

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303. Tonja Lee on Women's Healthcare

303. We interview Tonja Lee about women's access to healthcare in Louisiana. Tonja Lee is a sociologist in Baton Rouge and a scholar of women's studies.

1. This week in Louisiana history. March 12, 1817. Miss. Steamboat Navigation Co. seized Capt. H. Shreve's boat, the Washington.
2. This week in New Orleans history. "When I wrote and recorded 'Lawdy Miss Clawdy' back in 1952, it marked the birth of rock 'n' roll," said Price, who was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1998. "That song sold millions, and it was the introduction of music as we know it today."   Lloyd Price in an interview with Bill Herald of Examiner.com.  Born one of 11 children of Louis and Beatrice Price in Kenner on March 9, 1933, Lloyd Price had formal musical training in trumpet and piano, sang in his church's gospel choir, and was a member of a combo in high school. On March 9, 2010, his 77th Birthday, in New Orleans, Lloyd Price was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame and on June 20, 2010, Price appeared and sang in season 1 finale of the HBO series "Treme."
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   Black Heritage Festival
   March 9th, 2019
   Lake Charles Civic Center
   900 Lakeshore Dr.,
   Lake Charles, LA 70601
   337-436-9588
   Website
   The annual Black Heritage Festival will be held March 10, 2019 and will feature live entertainment, mouthwatering food, and great family fun. The festival brings together the cultures of Africa and Southwest Louisiana and highlights the best in the community. Celebrating diversity, culture and education, the festival is filled with legendary Zydeco, Jazz, R&B and Gospel performers.
   
4. Postcards from Louisiana. Bruce listens to Doreen the Clarinet Queen on Royal Street.

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302. Christine Koch Harris, part 2

302. Part 2 of our interview with Christine Koch Harris about her dissertation, Liminality in gender, race, and nation in Les Quarteronnes de la Nouvelle-Orléans by Sidonie de la Houssaye. This project examines themes of race, gender, and nation in a series of four novels by nineteenth-century Louisiana author Sidonie de la Houssaye. The series, called Les Quarteronnes de la Nouvelle-Orléans (The Quadroons of New Orleans), is based on the system of plaçage. Plaçage, a system of concubinage in which white men took women of mixed racial heritage (such as “quadroons”) as mistresses, becomes a source of conflict and contradiction in the series. The author sees plaçage as a tragic necessity for some educated and morally “upright” quarteronnes. For others, those quarteronnes depicted as libidinous and avaricious, it is a means of benefiting from the destruction of families from the upper echelons of white society.

1. This week in Louisiana history. March 3, 1964. John McKeithen elected as Governor.
2. This week in New Orleans history. Iberville and Bienville "Discover" the Mouth of the Mississippi. March 2, 1699. The celebration of Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) arrived in Louisiana with two Canadian brothers, Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d’Iberville and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville. Sent by Louis XIV to secure the territory of La Louisiane for France, the brothers’ expedition entered the mouth of the Mississippi on the evening of Monday, March 2, 1699. Their party continued upstream to a spot on the west bank (about 60 miles downriver from present-day New Orleans) and encamped. This was the following day, Tuesday, March 3, 1699, which was Mardi Gras day. In honor of this European holiday, expedition leader Iberville named the site Pointe du Mardi Gras and the connecting tributary Bayou Mardi Gras.
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   Cajun Country Courir de Mardi Gras
   February 9th, 2018 - February 13th, 2018
   Various Locations in Eunice, LA
   Downtown Eunice, 300 S. Second St.,
   Eunice, LA 70535
   337-457-7389
   Website | Email
       This unique five day celebration is not your typical idea of Mardi Gras with beads and doubloons. In fact you won't find these trinkets in sight, but instead, men and women on horseback donned in hand crafted wire masks, tall hats called capuchons, and very distinctive costumes. This one of a kind celebration begins the Friday before Mardi Gras Day, but the main event is the Courir de Mardi Gras procession or "chicken run" which involves chasing a live chicken to collect for a community gumbo, and silliness by revelers all day. Don't wait till Fat Tuesday to join in the fun. Throughout the weeked, experience the town's rural traditions with jam sessions, street dances, cooking demos, Mardi Gras exhibits and a special Liberty Theater show. Les Jeunes and L'il Mardi Gras runs for children are on Sunday as well as an old time boucherie (hog butchering).
       The Eunice Courir de Mardi Gras dates back from when the town was first established in the late 19th century. The Courir was abandoned for a few years during World War II, but in 1946 a small band of riders revived the tradition. Today, the Eunice Courir de Mardi Gras has more than 2,000 participants on the run, and it continues to increase each year.
   
4. Postcards from Louisiana. Bruce listens to the Sidewalk Swingers on Royal Street.

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