Thursday, September 8, 2022

486. Nathalie Dessens

 486. We talk to historian Nathalie Dessens. Natalie is a French historian of Louisiana and French colonialism. Nathalie wrote the book, Creole City: A Chronicle of Early American New Orleans. Nathalie is a professor of American history at the University of Toulouse-Jean Jaurès. "In Creole City, Nathalie Dessens opens a window onto antebellum New Orleans during a period of rapid expansion and dizzying change. Exploring previously neglected aspects of the city's early nineteenth-century history, Dessens examines how the vibrant, cosmopolitan city of New Orleans came to symbolize progress, adventure, and culture to so many.
Rooting her exploration in the Sainte-Gême Family Papers harbored at The Historic New Orleans Collection, Dessens follows the twenty-year correspondence of Jean Boze to Henri de Ste-Gême, both refugees from Saint-Domingue. Through Boze's letters, written between 1818 and 1839, readers witness the convergence and merging of cultural attitudes as new arrivals and old colonial populations collide, sparking transformations in the economic, social, and political structures of the city. This Creolization of the city is thus revealed to be at the very heart of New Orleans's early identity and made this key hub of Atlantic trade so very distinct from other nineteenth-century American metropolises."
  1. This week in Louisiana history. September 10, 1935. Gov. Huey P. Long dies after assassination.
  2. This week in New Orleans history. Rummel High Opens, Monday, September 10, 1962.
  3. This week in Louisiana.
    Natchitoches Meat Pie Festival
    101 Rue Beau Port
    Natchitoches LA 71457
    September 16-17, 2022
    View Website
    Like that staple of the Latin American diet, the Natchitoches meat pie is a crimped half moon hiding a pocket of spiced meat. The official recipe of the meat pie festival, as perfected by resident Gay Melder, offers the particulars. The meat is a mix of ground pork and ground beef—Melder uses a one-to-one ratio—gently seasoned with onions, green bell pepper, green onions, and garlic. You can add a pinch of red pepper flakes along with the salt and pepper, but the classic version is savory, not spicy. The crust is a simple blend of wheat flour, shortening, eggs and milk, deep fried until crisp and served piping hot.
  4. Postcards from Louisiana. Irma Thomas at Jazz Fest.

Listen on Google Play.
Listen on Google Podcasts.
Listen on Spotify.
Listen on Stitcher.
Listen on TuneIn.
The Louisiana Anthology Home Page.
Like us on Facebook.




No comments:

Post a Comment

Please tell us what you think.
Thanks!