220. Joseph Dunn, part 2

220. Part 2 of our interview with Joseph Dunn, French scholar and activist. Joseph works to keep French alive in Louisiana. He calls French, Spanish, Creole, and Native American languages “heritage” languages and works to preserve them and spread them in Louisiana culture.

1. This week in Louisiana history. August 6, 2016. Famous New Orleans jazz clarinetist Pete Fountain died today.
2. This week in New Orleans history. On August 5, 2011, a federal jury in New Orleans convicted five police officers of myriad charges related to the cover-up and deprivation of civil rights in the Danzinger Bridge shootings. April 20, 2016. Four former New Orleans police officers were sentenced Wednesday (April 20) to prison terms of 7 to 12 years for the brutal shootings of six unarmed civilians on the Danziger Bridge days after Hurricane Katrina, closing the gravest case of police brutality in the storm's aftermath. A fifth former officer was sentenced to three years for his role in a subsequent cover-up of the Sept. 4, 2005, incident. U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt sentenced the five men in federal court, moments after they admitted guilt as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors that was endorsed by the victims' families.
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   Thursdays at Twilight
   Wanda Rouzan and A Taste of New Orleans
   Friday, August 25
   6:00 PM CST
   Venue information:
   Pavilion of the Two Sisters
   (Botanical Garden)
   One Palm Drive
   New Orleans, LA 70124
   504.483.9488
   http://www.garden.neworleanscitypark.com/
   Map venue location
   Admission: $10
   Outdoor concert series featuring New Orleans' musical talent. Mint juleps, wine, beer, soft drinks, water and food are available for purchase. No outside food, drink, or pets are allowed.
   
4. This week in Louisiana books. Katherine Jeffrey, editor of Two Civil Wars, has an event upcoming in August, a Heritage Lecture (sponsored by Preserve Louisiana) at the Old Governor's Mansion in Baton Rouge, Thursday August 10th, 6-8 p.m.  The title is "Finding and Losing History: Lessons Learned from Two Civil Wars."
5. Postcard from Louisiana. David Leonard sings and plays on Royal St.

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219. Joseph Dunn, part 1.

219. Part 1 of our interview with Joseph Dunn, French scholar and activist. Joseph works to keep French alive in Louisiana. He calls French, Spanish, Creole, and Native American languages “heritage” languages and works to preserve them and spread them in Louisiana culture.

  “Il était une fois le français en louisiane.”  
les weeds est partout
le galerie a cassé  
le porte et la chassis  
est open  
je connais pas dire  
falling down  
say croolay ?  
c’est pas comme ça  
mon grandmère
said it  
il était une fois le français en  
louisiane

1. This week in Louisiana history. July 30, 1812. William Charles Cole Claiborne becomes the 1st Governor of the state of Louisiana.
2. This week in New Orleans history. The Carondelet streetcar began its run on July 29, 1866.  This uptown line ran on its namesake street from Canal Street to Napoleon Ave. At its most extensive, it also ran on Freret Street from Napoleon to Broadway, on trackage that eventually became part of the Freret line, and it crossed Canal Street into the French Quarter, pioneering the route of the later Desire line. It ceased on September 7, 1924.
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   Purple Heart Day Ceremony
   August 7th, 2017
   6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
   Bouligny Plaza
   102 W. Main St.,
   New Iberia, LA 70560
   337-365-1428
   Bouligny Plaza
   A Celebration Honoring Soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom and made it home with Flag Ceremony and Harmony of Patriotic Music.
4. Postcard from Louisiana. Musician Maddy Kirgo sings her song "Little Things" on a street in New Orleans. 

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218. Jack McGuire, part 2

218. Part 2 of our interview with Jack McGuire about Earl Long. Jack's new book Win the Race or Die Trying: Uncle Earl's Last Hurrah tells the story of the last year of Long's life and the campaign that he waged and won by sheer force of will. He won the election (and a sizable bet he placed on it) but was dead in just over a week. Win the Race or Die Trying captures the essence of Earl Long by chronicling the desperate, death-defying campaign he waged to redefine his legacy.

1. This week in Louisiana history. July 23, 1879. New Constitution adopted, capitol moved - New Orleans to Baton Rouge plus (Reunion) constitution abolishes slavery.
2. This week in New Orleans history.  Oretha Castle Haley July 22, 1939 -- October 10, 1987. Oretha Castle was born in Oakland, Tennessee and moved to New Orleans with her parents in 1947. After graduating from Joseph S. Clark High School she enrolled at Southern University in New Orleans where she joined other students in the struggle for civil rights, eventually becoming the head of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in New Orleans. In 1967, Oretha married fellow CORE member Richard Haley.
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   Thursdays at Twilight:
   Wanda Rouzan and A Taste of New Orleans
   Friday, August 25
   6:00 PM
   Venue information:
   Pavilion of the Two Sisters (Botanical Garden) One Palm Drive New Orleans, LA 70124
   504.483.9488
   http://www.garden.neworleanscitypark.com/
   Admission: $10
   Outdoor concert series featuring New Orleans' musical talent. Mint juleps, wine, beer, soft drinks, water and food are available for purchase. No outside food, drink, or pets are allowed.
4. Postcard from Louisiana. The Divazz play and sing on Royal St. behind St. Louis Cathedral. 

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217. Jack McGuire, part 1

217. Part 1 of our interview with Jack McGuire about Earl Long. Jack's new book Win the Race or Die Trying: Uncle Earl's Last Hurrah tells the story of the last year of Long's life and the campaign that he waged and won by sheer force of will. He won the election (and a sizable bet he placed on it) but was dead in just over a week. Win the Race or Die Trying captures the essence of Earl Long by chronicling the desperate, death-defying campaign he waged to redefine his legacy.

1. This week in Louisiana history. July 17, 1795. First bishop of New Orleans, Don Luis Cardenas, arrives in Louisiana.
2. This week in New Orleans history. July 17, 1974 the U.S. Custom House at 423 Canal Street was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   38th Natchitoches / NSU Folk Festival
   July 14th, 2017 - July 15th, 2017
   Prather Coliseum
   Northwestern State University Campus
   220 S. Jefferson St.,
   Natchitoches, LA 71457
   318-357-4332 | 800-259-1714
   Website | Email
   Prather Coliseum
   Northwestern State University Campus
   This two-day,  multi cultural celebration of heritage and folk art features authetic food from different cultures, Cajun music and dancing, demonstrations, unique folk art exhibits inside A/C Prather Coliseum. Both days is full of musical entertainment featuring Zydeco, Rhythm and Blues, Rock, Country and Soul. The festival is host the State Fiddle Championship on Northwestern State University Campus. 
4. Postcard from Louisiana. We listen to street singer Stoker on Royal Street in New Orleans.

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216. Sam Hyde

216. We interview historian Sam Hyde about the Florida Parishes. Sam is a history professor at Southeastern Louisiana University who specializes in Louisiana history, especially the Florida Parishes and West Florida. He has written books on local history: Pistols and Politics: The Dilemma of Democracy in Louisiana's Florida Parishes, 1810-1899 and A Fierce and Fractious Frontier: The Curious Development of Louisiana's Florida Parishes, 1699-2000,

1. This week in Louisiana history. July 9, 1706. Iberville died of Yellow Fever.
2. This week in New Orleans history. Writer Shirley Ann Grau was born on July 8, 1929 in New Orleans.
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   Musical Improvisation Free Class
   Tuesday, July 11
   1:00 PM
   Venue information:
   Sanctuary Cultural Arts Center
   Seraphym Studios
   2525 Burgundy Sy.
   New Orleans, LA 70117
   504.230.9354
   Admission: $10.00 suggested
        Come learn how to improvise in music, express yourself and enjoy the presence of other people!
        Entry is donation-based, with a suggestion of $10 per person. All ages and skill levels are welcome, and no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Participants are invited to bring their own instruments, however a variety of options will also be provided.
        This series is presented by musician and improviser Joey van Leeuwen.
4. Postcards from Louisiana.  The Jackson Square Allstars play "99 Women" in Jackson Square, New Orleans.
   

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215. Katherine Bentley Jeffrey

215. We interview Katherine Bentley Jeffrey, editor of Two Civil Wars: The Curious Shared Journal of a Baton Rouge School Girl and a Sailor on the USS Essex. Two Civil Wars is both an edition of an unusual Civil War era double journal and a narrative about the two writers who composed its contents. The initial journal entries were written by thirteen-year-old Celeste Repp while a student at St. Mary’s Academy, Immediately following Celeste's prettily decorated pages a new title page intervenes, introducing “An Abstract Journal Kept by William L. Park, of the U.S. gunboat Essex during the American Rebellion.” Park’s diary is a fulsome three-year account of military engagements along the Mississippi and its tributaries, the bombardment of southern towns, the looting of plantations, skirmishes with Confederate guerillas, the uneasy experiment with “contrabands” (freed slaves) serving aboard ship, and the mundane circumstances of shipboard life. Very few diaries from the inland navy have survived, and this is the first journal from the ironclad Essex to be published.

1. This week in Louisiana history. July 1, 1731. The Company of the Indies gave up its charter of Louisiana Colony.
2. This week in New Orleans history. One of the lengthiest and most violent transit railway strikes the nation ever experienced began in New Orleans on July 1, 1929. Although an agreement was reached in August, the union members did not agree to go back to work until October.
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   Celebration on the Cane
   July 4th, 2017
   10:00 am - 11:00 pm
   Riverbank Stage
   781 Front Street,
   Natchitoches, LA 71457
   318-352-2746 | 800-259-1714
   Website | Email
   Riverbank Stage
   The day begins around 10 a.m. with children's activities and live musical entertainment at 6 p.m. with spectacular firework show over Cane River Lake at 9 p.m. over the Cane River Lake in historic Downtown Natchitoches, Louisiana. Event is FREE and open to the public. Bring blankets or lawn chairs. No ice chests allowed.
4. Postcard from New Orleans. Bruce listens to a song played by Dennis Journey, who was singing on the corner of Royal St. and Toulouse St. in New Orleans.

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Dennis Journey

214. Tyler Bridges. Long Shot.

214. We interview Tyler Bridges, co-author of Long Shot. This recent book is the story of Louisiana’s 2015 race for governor — but the story of John Bel Edwards’ improbable victory over David Vitter holds lessons for candidates and voters in all 50 states. It’s an inconceivable and sometimes hysterical odyssey that unfolds against the unique backdrop of Louisiana’s back roads, bayous, barrooms, and ballrooms.
     Tyler Bridges and Jeremy Alford, two veteran political reporters in Louisiana, take readers deep into the inner workings of the Edwards and Vitter campaigns. To document this unforgettable ride, they interviewed more than 100 of the people who cut the deals, launched the attacks, and even played both sides. Clancy DuBos, one of the state’s foremost political analysts, brought his tremendous knowledge to bear as he edited the book.

1. This week in Louisiana history. June 25, 1868. FL, AL, LA, GA, NC & SC readmitted to US following the Civil War.
2. This week in New Orleans history. Upstairs Lounge Fire. June 24, 1973. Twenty-eight people died at the scene of the sixteen-minute fire, and one died en route to the hospital. Another 18 suffered injuries, of whom three died. The arson was never solved, and it remained the largest hate crime against gay people until the Orlando shooting at the Pulse nightclub on June 12, 2016.
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   ComedySportz
   Saturday, July 1
   8:00 PM
   Venue information:
   NOLA Comedy Theater
   5039 Freret St.
   New Orleans, LA 70115
   504.231.7011
   http://www.nolacomedy.com
   Admission: $10 adults, $8 children
   Two teams of comic improvisers compete for points, based upon audience suggestions. Rated "E" for Everyone.
4. Postcard from Louisiana. Sheryl St. Germain reads her poem, “Getting Rid Of The Accent.”

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