Africans in Colonial Louisiana

Transcription

Humanities Perspectives
The Louisiana Endowment
for the Humanities main tains an
extensive collection of awardwinning films at the Louisiana
Humanities Resource Center.
Many of the films and videotapes were entirely or partially
funded by the LEH and received
critical acclaim. Several local films
received national PBS broadcasts
and high medals in international
film festivals.
In addition, the LHRC also
stocks the American Short Story
Series of feature films, Ken Burn's
The Civil War, and other works
funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The LHRC circulates the films
and videotapes to individuals and
groups needing a visual component in their humanities project.
For further information, or to
receive a catalog, call ro write:
Louisiana Humanities
Resource Center
Dr. Jean T. Kreamer
USL Box 40396
University of
Southwestern Louisiana
Lafayette, LA 70504
(318) 231-6781
About Our Cover:
Volume 3, Number 4; Winter 1992
"San Malo's Hiding Place"
was commissioned for the
cover of Gwendolyn Midlo
Hall's book "Africans in
Colonial Louisiana, " excerpted
in this issue. The artist,
Sharon Lewis Hall, was born
in Jamaica and currently lives
in New Mexico. Her
"dreamscape" style is a
combination of Caribbean and
Southwestern art influences.
San Malo was once a Maroon
community of runaway slaves
in what is today St. Bernard
Parish. photo by Michael Smith
John McCrady's Southern Scene ........ 8
Story by Matt Martinez
The South portrayed on the canvasses of New
Orleans artist John McCrady was a deceivingly
simple setting for complex emotional drama. Such
soulful insight on everyday scenes belies his label as
merely a regionalist painter of the 1930s and 40s.
Dance with a Chicken .......................... 16
Stories by Pat Mire and Barry Jean Ancelet, PhD.
Come Mardi Gras, groups of upstanding citizens of
rural Acadiana are transformed into drunken masked
marauders who band together on horseback to
pillage their neighbor's farmsteads for gumbo
ingredients. It's all done in the name of ancient
tradition and an all-around good time .
Africans in Colonial Louisiana .......... 20
Story by Gwendolyn Midlo Hall, Ph.D.
The contributions of Afro-Creole culture to Louisiana
are only now begginning to be recognized . From the
start, survival of French Louisiana was due, not only
to African labor, but to African technology. Rice
farming and indigo processing were introduced to
European masters by their slaves.
Taking Care of Linnie ......................... 28
Fiction by Joanna Leake
Floyd Lloyd Young has troubles beyond the coping
capabilities of pre-adolescence. Yet, he is not only a
survivor but also the savior in a household that is
constantly under the threat of physical abuse.
1993 MEDIA CATALOG ...................... 45
Over 80 video titles to choose from with topics
ranging from the settlement of Filipinos in Louisiana
and the political drama of Huey Long to the history of
jazz and dramatized versions of classic fiction.
Departments
Editor's Comment .... ... ... ... ... .... .......... ... ................ .. ... .... .. ..... .............. ....... 3
Louisiana State Museum ... ..... .. ................... ............. ........ ........ ...... .......... . 8
Chronicle ................ .. .. ... .. .. ........... .. ...... .. .. ...... .... ......... .... .......... ... ... ... ... .... 33
Lagniappe ..... .. .................. ... ... ........ ... .. ........... ... .. .. .... ..... .. ..... ........... ....... 34
Calendar .... ..... ..... .. ... ... ... ... ....... .. ............ ..... .......... ... .... .. .. ...... .. ........ .. ..... 36
Forum Commentary .. ......... .. .... ... ... ...... ....... .. ........ ......... .. .. .. .... ........... ..... 44
Copyright © 1992 louisiana Endowment for
the Humanities, Inc. , all rights reserved.
ISSN 1048-8650
CULTURAL VISTAS is published quarterly;
Spring , Summer, Autumn , and Winte r by
Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities,
Inc .. a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) louisiana corporation . 1001 Howard Avenue, Suite 3110,
New Orleans. louisiana 70113-2065. (504)
523-4352. Annual subscription $9. Single
copy back issues, if available , are $4. A one
year, four- issue subscription is included in
annual Endowmentmemberships; minimum
$25. Subscriptions outside the U.S. add $5
per year.
The Louisiana Endowment for the Humani-
ties is supported by a major grant from the
National Endowment for the Humanities.
The Board of Directors has determined that
the publication of this periodical is necessary in the transaction of the public business
required of the Endowment.
Views ex-
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Willter 1992 / CULTURAL VISTAS
1
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THE LEGACY OF AN AMEruCAN GENIUS
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<250~" of an American Genius, a national lecture
1993
series commemorating ThomasJefferson's varied contributions to American history and culture on the
250th anniversary of his birth.
;.
Spirit
World:
All lectures begin at 7:00 p.m. at 533 Royal Street
Free and Open to the Public
Pattern in the
Expressive
Folk Culture
of AfroAmerican
New Orleans
SPRING SERIES
January 21
February 4
A Day at Monticello
Thomas Jefferson, Gardener
Daniel P. JorMn
Peter Hatch
March 11
March 23
Recipes and Rights:
Jefferson's Manuscript
Collecting and the Origins
of American Independence
Jefferson, the Enlightenment,
and the
Virginia Statute
for Religious Freedom
Jon Kukli1
MerrilLD. Peterson
Catalogue of an exhibition of
photographs of Black religious
ceremonies , Mardi Gras Indians,
and traditional Second Lines by
Michael P. Smith including a
journal ; 120 pages including
black & white and color images.
ISBN 0-9613133-0-7$25.00
(#002)
All Prices Include
Shipping and Handling
The autumn portion of the lecture series includes Lucia Stanton on Jefferson, Slavery, and
-----------
Plantation Life; William Kelso on Thomas Jefferson, Archaeologist?; Dell Upton on Thomas
Jefferson's Architecture; and Clay Jenkinson performing An Evening with Thomas Jefferson.
Guest lecturers for Jefferson at %50: The Legacy of an American Genius are
sponsored by the Library of Congress and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial
Foundation (Monticello) with funding by the National Endowment for the
Humanities, additional support from Barton & Guestier, and local sponsorship by the Historic New Orleans Collection. Host instilutions for the series
are the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts, the
Florida Center for the Book in Fort Lauderdale, the Historic New Orleans
Collection, Humanities West in San Francisco, the Missouri Historical Society
in SL Louis, and the Newberry Library in Cllicago.
Return with payment to:
• LEH, 1001 Howard#3110, N.O., LA 70113.
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LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITJES\ WillieI' 1992
State
Zip
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EDITORS CO:MMENT
Blue Dogs and Unicorns: Valuing Art
Executive Editor
Michael Sartisky, Ph.D.
Managing Editor/Designer
David Johnson
Contributing Editors
Claire Brown
Advertising Manager
Pickslay Jahncke
Contributors
Barry Jean Ancelet, Claire
Brown, Helene Goudeau,
Gwendolyn Midlo Hall, Joanna
Leake, Matt Martinez, Pat Mire,
Chuck Siler
Finance
Kathryn Mettelka, Ph. D.
Editorial Assistant
Sandra E. Willis
LEH Board of Directors
Jerome Salomone, Ph.D.,
Hammond, Chair'
Betty Lee Crain ,
Monroe, Vice Chair
Melinda Bartley, Ph.D.,
New Orleans
Reginald Bess, Ph.D.,
Natchitoches
Vaughan Baker, Ph.D. ,
Lafayette
Thos. Chambers, C.S.C., Ph.D. ,
New Orleans
Glenda Cooper, Shreveport
Jeffery Cowart, Baton Rouge '
Moselle Dearbone, Ph.D. ,
Alexandria '
Randall Feldman, Metairie
Anne Fitzgerald, Alexandria '
Antoine Garibaldi , Ph.D. ,
New Orleans '
James H. Lake, Ph.D.,
Shreveport
Judy Perry Martinez, J.D.,
Metairie '
David Middleton , Ph.D.,
Thibodaux
Jim Montgomery, Shreveport
Stephen A. Moses,
New Orleans
Peggy Prenshaw , Ph.D. ,
Baton Rouge
Andrew Reck, Ph.D.,
New Orleans
Sue Turner, Baton Rouge
Martha Upshaw, Ph.D.,
Monroe
Nathaniel Wing , Ph.D. ,
Baton Rouge
Alma Young , Ph.D.
New Orleans
, Governor's Appointees
Turn the corner on Royal Street and there leaping at your face is a
blue dog, head canted to one side like he was trying as hard as you to
make sense of a color never conceived by god or nature, his yellow
eyes glaring balefully. Only, he isn't alone. Beside him , behind him ,
above him , and around him squat an endless litter of all his sisters and
brothers, cousins, uncles, and aunts , an array of blue dogs repeating
themselves into infinity on the walls and across the window of the art
gallery.
Animal plurals are a fascinating field of linguistic imagination, but I
don 't know what to make of this . Were Royal Street crammed with as
many geese I would know to call them a gaggle, if lions I know to call
them a pride , were they larks, I know to call them an exaltation. But
what do you call all these blue dogs? Well, if the coinage of the phrase is up to me, I guess I'll
call them an aggravation ; that's it: an aggravation of blue dogs.
What, after all , makes art art? Being a disciple of the humanities, I have often marvelled that
while the price of a single Renaissance painting could soar into the tens of millions dollars - the
annual budget of many colleges of liberal arts - I could still buy a copy of Melville's novel Moby
Dick for $4.95 at any bookstore. If a work of art is fundamentally valued for its intrinsic aesthetic
merit, how is it that the value of Melville's art is not decreased one iota whether one copy or a
million exists , but the Mona Lisa would become trite if it graced every living room in America?
The Value of Unicorns
Now of course I understand that a first edition of Moby Dick would sell for thousands of
dollars, not because that version of the novel is a better read than millions of paperbacks, but
by virtue of its rarity - there being only a handful which survived a warehouse fire last century.
Ironically, most collectors' first editions go utterly unread, their pages often remain uncut as
they come from the publisher. Properly speaking , these editions aren 't books, they are commodities. Their value is determined not by any aesthetic quality, but by the marketplace. Like
unicorns, they are valued for their rarity.
Unlike the Greeks, our art does not seek to emulate eternal forms, to capture timeless
qualities of balance and proportion equated with beauty. Neither our poetry nor our paintings
strive to communicate with us. Instead , our art is valued according to its uniqueness, its
individuality, its idiosyncracy. Indeed, who among us has not gazed with the look of a blue dog
at some piece of modern abstraction bent on proving its creator's gift for obscurity, its meaning
opaque as asphalt to the rest of us? Like Mark Twain I believe that people who talk to others
ought to have at least a modest obligation to make sense .
But then again making "sense" isn 't necessarily the point, making "cents" is. How else do we
explain a printmaker destroying his or her plate after producing a limited edition. Clearly the
market value determined by rarity is at least as important as the aesthetic value of the print
itself. Conversely , I marvelled the other day at the discovery of a few paintings of Van Gogh
purchased for $80 at an antique store in Aries where they had languished unvalued for a
hundred years. Now that they have been authenticated as being painted by Van Gogh their
value will soar. Have they suddenly become beautiful , like a fairy tale princess passing from
under a spell , or does materiality possess our aesthetic judgment so utterly that the market for
art supercedes the art itself?
Domesticating the Unicorn
Because he straddles both notions of art - public and unique - most admirable is Mississippi Gulf-coast artist Walter Anderson . During his own lifetime scorned by his neighbors as
"crazy Bob," once his art became discovered and its market value enhanced he has become
enshrined in his very own museum. The muralled room of his hermit's cottage , once forbidden
trespass even by his family, is now the museum 's public centerpiece .
Anderson painted thousands of one-of-a-kind paintings, water colors, and pottery pieces.
But his luminous murals also grace the walls of the Ocean Springs Civic Center, a most public
art. Committed to a public aesthetic , he also designed mass-producible pottery molds and
executed linoleum prints which only age and decay - rather than the artist - have limited in
number, pieces designed intentionally to be accessible to a larger audience.
But nothing is so sure as change , especially where art is concerned. Not long ago I found
myself nearing that Royal Street corner antiCipating a confrontation with that aggravation of
blue dogs. Only, could it be true, now the blue canine was accompanied by scores of red
brethren , the family resemblance unmistakable in the jaundiced eyes. I canted my head to one
side and had to acknowledge the age-old truth : market be damned, beauty must indeed be in
the eye of the beholder.
Michael Sartisky
Editor
Willier 1992 /CULTURAL VISTAS
3
LOUISIANA STATE MUSEUM
The Louisiana State Museum is an agency of
the Department of Culture, Recreation, and
Tourism in the Office of the Lieutenant
Governor; James F. Sefcik, director.
Folklife Festival Will
Celebrate Rural and Urban
Mardi Gras Traditions
A weekend folklife presentation
exploring Louisiana's diverse urban and
rural carnival celebrations is being
presented by the Louisiana State
Museum on January 23 and 24, 1993.
Beggars, Fools and Lords of Misrule:
Louisiana's Multicultural Mardi Gras
Traditions will serve both to increase an
awareness of Mardi Gras in Louisiana as
an historical , culturally rich and varied
celebration and to foster an appreciation
of the people who continue to maintain
their vibrant oral , spiritual , artistic , and
celebratory traditions at carnival time
each year.
Created by the Museum to showcase
carnival customs which are less familiar
than New Orleans celebrations , the
festival will focus on practices, several
ancient in origin , that have found
expression in other corners of the state .
Many of these customs are only now
emerging from obscurity although they
have existed for more than a century.
These unique pre-Lenten traditions
will be presented through informal panel
discussions led by lifetime practitioners of
various urban and rural carnival traditions, hands-on workshops comprised of
carnival arts for children , demonstrations
of the most visually stunning Mardi Gras
rituals, and a not-yet-released film
entitled Dance for a Chicken: Inside the
Prairie Cajun Mardi Gras by folklorist Pat
Mire who explores the variations in the
many rural Cajun Mardi Gras traditions .
In addition, the Museum will exhibit an
insightful collection of rural photographs,
costumes , masks and other paraphernalia which document both the complexity
and continuity of these ancient customs.
All activities will take place at the State
Museum's Old U.S. Mint and are FREE
and open to the public.
A pre-festival evening lecture on
Thursday , January 21, entitled Singing,
Beggars and Outlaws With Whips:
The Cajun and Creole Country Mardi
Gras will set the stage for Louisiana 's
Multicultural Mardi Gras Traditions .
Through slides, personal observations
and the presentation of recent and stillunpublished research , noted folklorist
and scholar Dr. Barry Jean Ancelet will
4
Louis Armstrong was king of the Zulu
krewe in 1947. Members of the presentday social aid and pleasure club will
demonstrate decorating techniques of
their much-coveted coconut throws at
the State Museum's multicultural Mardi
Gras folk festival JanuanJ 23-24.
offer insight into the marked differences
between , and similarities among , the
various Mardi Gras traditions which are
steeped in social parodies , role reversals
and other symbolic expressive behavior.
The workshops , geared specifically for
children , include a New Orleans-style
LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE H UMAN ITIES \ WillIeI' 7992
mask-making session with noted artist
Michael Stark, two Cajun mask and
capuchon (conical cap) making sessions
and a Mardi Gras Indian beading
session .
The panel discussions will allow
members from very diverse communities
throughout south Louisiana to reminisce
about their personal involvements in
carnival as celebrated in areas as varied
as "Tee" Mamou , Gheens and uptown
New Orleans.
Other highlights will include a moderated discussion between noted Mardi
Gras Indian Big Chiefs Larry Bannock
The conical cap used in Cajun Mardi
Gras celebrations stems from the Middle
Ages when commoners mocked nobility.
an integral part of the prairie courir de
Mardi Gras, will witness a demonstration
of this ritual while it is being interpreted
by members of the "Tee" Mamou
community. ''Tee'' Mamou residents will
also teach the audience some of the
authentic Mardi Gras songs and "begging" gestures associated with the ritual
so that they may participate in the
"chase ."
Each day will end with a tasting of
either kingcake or gumbo, both traditional
foods which are served during the
carnival season in both urban and rural
areas of the state. Explanations of the
role of each of these foods in the various
carnival celebrations will accompany the
tastings.
Beggars, Fools and Lords of
Misrule: Louisiana's Multicultural
Mardi Gras Traditions is presented in
part by the Louisiana State Museum
through a grant from the State Division of
the Arts . It is also supported by a grant
from the Louisiana Endowment for the
Photographer and ethnographer Michael
P. Smith will present a slide presentation
at the Carnival folklife festival documenting 25 years of Mardi Gras Indian rituals
in New Orleans.
Humanities, a state affiliate of the
National Endowment for the Humanities.
Project consultants for the event are Pat
Mire, Jane Vidrine and Carolyn Ware. All
activities are free and open to the public;
advance reservations are required for
children 's workshops. For a flier, call the
Museum at 568-6968.
-Helene Goudeau, Education Curator
Coinciding with the multicultural
Carnival festival will be a display of
Mardi Gras costumes designed by
couturiere Larry Youngblood. Below is a
sketch for the King of Carrollton.
and Donald Harrison , Sr. , and photographer/ethnographer Michael P. Smith .
This session , which will include a slide
presentation documenting 25 years of
Mardi Gras Indian rituals , will culminate
with a traditional "performance" between
members of the two Indian gangs.
Members of the Zulu Social Aid and
Pleasure Club will present the story of
Zulu through a slide presentation
featuring images from the early years of
the organization and a coconut-making
demonstration. In addition , audience
members who are both perplexed and
intrigued by the Cajun "chicken chase, "
Willier 1992jCULTU RA L VISTAS
5
Zydeco, Cajun Music and
Carnival Costumes Will be
Showcased at '93 Exhibitions
Exhibitions focusing on
Louisiana folk music and on the
flamboyant costumes of one of
New Orleans' premier Mardi
Gras designers will premiere at
two LSM buildings early in 1993.
Cajun Music and Zydeco, an
exhibition of works by well-known
photographer Philip Gould, will
open on February 4 at the
Presbytere. The traveling exhibit
was created in conjunction with
Gould's new book by the same
name. The vibrant color prints
capture the dynamic, yet traditional , worlds of these unique
folk music forms. Although
many of the photographs
focus on individuals,
both musicians and
devotees ,
collectively the
series
depicts the
spirit, energy and
character associated with this
indigenous music.
Cajun Music and
Zydeco is Gould's
third book. His works
have also been published in magazines such as
Smithsonian, Newsweek,
Fortune and National Geographic
Traveler.
Gould is also represented in several
museum and private collections.
The creations of
another artist,
New Orleans
Louisiana State Museum audience
figures have risen 69 percent over the
same period in 1991. From January
through July of 1992, LSM's total
attendence was 115,558, compared to
68,562 the previous year.
The dramatic surge in audience
numbers can be attributed to several
factors including outreach programming, an emphasis on crowd-pleasing
exhibit themes and more aggressive
marketing. According to Museum
director James F. Sefcik, these
strategies are based on visitor surveys
6
costume designer Larry Youngblood , will
be featured in larry Youngblood
Designs: 45 Years of Carnival Costumes . The exhibition of costume
sketches and costumes will open at
the Old U.S. Mint on January 6. In
addition to exploring the evolution of
Bacchus designs on the occasion of the
krewe's 25th anniversary, the show will
include monarch 's regalia from other
Mardi Gras organizations and span the
artist's forty-five year career.
Youngblood , who has designed for
Bacchus since the krewe began parading
in 1967, has also created costumes for
operas, ballets and musical comedies .
The Youngblood exhibition will
remain on display at the Mint through
June 30. The Museum's permanent
exhibit on the history of Mardi Gras is
also on view at the Mint. Cajun Music
and Zydeco will run from February 4
through March 30 at the Presbytere.
Larry Youngblood's
Carnival costumes capture
the "anything goes" spirit
of Mardi Gras.
1992 Bacchus king and television actor
Gerald McRaney's Youngblood costume
incorporated the krewe's signature grapes
with the attire of a Roman gladiator.
and market
into the interests
and expectations of tourist, local and
statewide populations.
Several recent blockbuster exhibitions
are successfully capturing their target
audience. In the Eye of the Beholder:
Treasures of the louisiana State
Museum, an ecclectic and eccentric
array of artifacts and art that opened at
the the Presbytere in May is drawing
record numbers of locals and tourists
alike. A traveling exhibition, The Earth
Trembles With His Thunder: A Social
History of the American Alligator, is
circulating throughout Louisiana. And a
montage of works by many artists, An
LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMAN ITIES\ Willter 1992
Artistic Sojourn Through the Afrolouisiana Experience, is being shown
in schools and at events statewide.
With the opening of the Museum's
flagship building, the Cabildo, in early
1994, plus plans for several new
exhibits and traveling shows, Selfcik is
optimistic that LSM's audience will
continue to climb. "We're on a roll," he
says. "Our vast collections representing
Louisiana's rich legacy, in the capable,
creative hands of a staff eager to share
this heritage in dynamic ways , guarantee our future growth and prominence."
-Claire Brown and Angela Vachetta
Compendium
One of the largest historical museum
complexes in the U.S. , the Louisiana
State Museum is comprised of eight
historic buildings in New Orleans' French
Quarter. Three of these landmark
properties are currently open to the
public, featuring the following exhibitions:
The Presbytere
751 Chartres Street, Jackson Square
In the Eye of the Beholder: Treasures
of the Louisiana State Museum
Almost 100 years of collecting by the
State Museum is represented in this
fascinating exhibit on view through 1994.
Eclectic and eccentric best describe the
show which features everything from
Newcomb pottery and Antebellum
furniture to a slave-made quilt and 15th
century maps. Other treasures include
teeth from the horse of P.G.T.
Beauregard, primitive paintings by
Clementine Hunter, Victorian mourning
jewelry, antique surgical instruments, and
a letter penned by Huey Long .
You Didn't Have to Be a Soldier to
Fight: World War II Posters
for the Homefront
A display of posters used to mobilize and
inspire "the folks back home" during
World War II.
Cajun Music and Zydeco
Renowned photographer Phillip Gould's
images of musicians, dancers, nightclubs
and dancehalls explore the traditional ,
and yet dynamic, worlds of these Louisiana music styles.
Uptown New Orleans:
Historic Jefferson City
The heart of uptown New Orleans, a
sprawling area founded in the early 18th
century, is explored in this visually striking
architecture exhibit.
On Louisiana Waters
Historic paintings, ship models, and
riverboat relics chronicle Louisiana's
grand maritime tradition , from the foreverromantic paddle wheelers to modern
freighters .
Zachary Taylor:
The Louisiana President
"Rough-and-Ready" Zachary Taylor's life
as war hero, Louisiana resident, and 12th
president of the U.S. is chronicled through
historic prints , portraits, documents, and
personal effects.
Louisiana Portrait Gallery
The pictures in this ever-changing
exhibition portray many of Louisiana's
famous and not-so-famous residents. All
played important roles in shaping the
state's character.
The Old U.S. Mint
Larry Youngblood Designs:
45 Years of Carnival Costumes
Sketches and mannequins display the
Mardi Gras costumes of fashion designer
Larry Youngblood. January 6-March 30.
Beggars, Fools and Lords of Misrule:
Louisiana's Multicultural
A January 23-24 weekend festival of
workshops , demonstrations and events
celebrating unique rural and urban
Carnival traditions of various ethnic
groups. FREE and open to the public; call
568-6968 for a brochure and schedule.
New Orleans Jazz
Murals, vintage photographs , and
instruments (including Louis Armstrong's ,
first cornet) tell the toe-tapping tale of this
uniquely American music form.
The 1850 House
523 St. Ann Street
Faithfully furnished with items made or
retailed in mid-19th century New Orleans,
the 1850 House shows middle class life
during the most prosperous time in the '
city's history. Self-directed with guide
bookelt, plus some guided tours.
Open Tuesday through Sunday 10 a.m.-5
p.m.; closed legal holidays. Byadmission: Adults $3, Students/seniors $1 .50,
Children 12 years and under FREE.
Dates and exhibitions are subject to
change . Multiple building and group
discounts available. For more information call (504) 568-6972.-:-
400 Esplanade Avenue
Located across from the French
Market at the end of the Riverfront
streetcar line
New Orleans Branch of the U.S. Mint
Mechanical renderings, workman 's tools ,
and coinage are integrated into the Old
Mint's former physical plant in a recentlyenlarged exhibit that chronicles the
landmark's history.
Carnival in New Orleans
It's always Carnival time at the LSM!
Mardi Gras memorabilia and a Carnival
court "tableaux" illustrate the history of
this New Orleans celebration .
Left: Madonna and Child, a cypress
carving by L.M. Bliny and Pierre Petit,
once decorated a New Orleans church
but is now among the historical objects
on view at the "Eye of the Beholder"
exhibit. Right: "You Didn't Have to Be a
Soldier to Fight" takes a sentimental
journey back to the days of ration
stamps, war bonds, and victory gardens.
WillieI'
1992/CULTURAL VISTAS
7
"It might be said that
this environment
inspires a plainer and
more emphatic
expression because
here our elemental
passions exist in an
environment of
simplicity. "
John McCrady's
Southern Scene
Story by Matt Martinez
N
ew Orleans artist John
McCrady once said of his
native South, " It might be
said that this environment inspires a
plainer and more emphatic expression
because here our elemental passions
exist in an environment of simplicity."
McCrady's paintings reflected this
outlook on his surroundings. His
canvasses came alive with dusty
small-town streets and flat delta fields,
rollicking religious services and
romantic French Quarter streetscapes.
Yet, within these everyday settings, he
added an element of
strong emotion.
Taken together, he
recorded what has
been termed the
"Southern scene."
Never political,
always honest, his
paintings reflected the
changes of his
homeland from the
thirties through the
sixties.
Primarily a painter,
McCrady achieved
great success early in
John McCrady's
paintings reflected
his sense of place: the
South, both urban
and rural.
8
LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANlTlES\ WillieI' 7992
his career, earning prestigious art
awards and national press notices
during the 1930s and 1940s. The
accomplished artist was also an art
instructor and founder of the McCrady
Art School which operated in New
Orleans' French Quarter for nearly
forty years.
McCrady is primarily associated
with Regionalism, an American art
movement that flourished between the
world wars that rejected European
influences and reflected the political
isolationist attitude of the times. Yet
McCrady defied classification by
responding against critical evaluation.
The available body of McCrady's work,
produced through forty years until his
death, indicates the artist exercised a
variety of styles and transcended a
single applicable artistic label. Because
his art and career reflected the changing South during his lifetime, McCrady
occupied a unique position in American art history. Often he explained,
"Man has no world to paint but his
own."
Having attended black church services
in this youth, McCrady was inspired
by spirituals. "Swing Low Sweet
Chariot" brought the lyrics of the song
to life on the canvass.
Born to an Episcopal minister and
his wife, McCrady was reared in rural
Louisiana and Mississippi. He
WillieI' 1992/CULTURAL VlSTAS
9
John McCrady's Southern Scene
continued froll1 previous page
attended the University of Mississippi
at Oxford where his father was Dean of
Philosophy and rector of St. Peter's
Church. McCrady illustrated the Ole
Miss Annual in 1932 and moved later
that year to New Orleans to attend art
school.
There among McCrady's first works
was the sensitively-rendered "Portrait
of a Negro" (1933), painted years before
the civil rights era. Nationally recognized art scholar Estill Curtis
Pennington wrote in Downriver:
Currents of Style In Louisiana Painting
1800-1950:
"Portrait of a Negro's marks a new
beginning for the uses of black subject
matter in Louisiana art. For the first time
the naturalistic potential of the person is
fully explored, and some element of dignity
and individual personality is revealed in
the work.
Submitted at the insistence of Mary
Basso (Southern writer Hamilton
Basso's sister who became McCrady's
wife), this portrait launched McCrady's
career.
"Portrait of a Negro" earned
McCrady a scholarship to the prestigious Art Students League in New York
City. While there he received classical
training, including the Old Masters'
multi-stage painting technique, which
McCrady continued to employ. In 1934
the emerging painter returned to New
Orleans where he subsequently attracted both regiona l and national
attention.
"It is not that this land
is so perfect or correct.
It is not that I am a
member of a local civic
group and call this
place 'Eden' ... it is
simply that this is the
land of my associations
and that this simple
truth is a wonderland."
In the 1930s McCrady was commissioned to paint public artworks for
President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Work
Progress Administration. At the same
time McCrady exhibi ted critically
10 LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITlES\ Willter 7992
acclaimed one-man gallery shows in
New York and Philadelphia. Museum
collections from Newark to San
Francisco began to acquire McCrady
paintings.
National print media praised the
artist. In 1937, a TIME reporter wrote
that McCrady was the painting
equivalent of the many writers who
flourished during this interwar
Southern renaissance, later suggesting
he was "the purest example of regional art that turned up during the
year."
Stark Young's New Republic review
and Newsweek magazine both commented favorably on the artist, and
LIFE magazine profiled McCrady and
his art in a five-page color spread
before commissioning him to do "The
Shooting of Huey Long" for the
magazine's historical series.
Right: Graphically detailed down to
the path of the assassin's bullet,"The
Shooting of Huey Long" was commissioned by LIFE magazine. Below: The
"Courthouse Square" at Oxford,
Mississippi is typical of McCrady's
works for public office buildings.
Featured in a LIFE as full-page color
reproduction, McCrady's painting of
the Long assassination exemplified
American Social Realist Painting,
using realistic scenes for political
commentary.
During the 1930s McCrad y' s was
linked to the Regionalist group that
included Midwesterners Grant Wood ,
John Stuart Curry, and Thomas Hart
"Straight to Heaven" was among the
streetscapes McCrady painted during
his tenure as head of his namesake art
school in the French Quarter.
12 LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANlTlES \ Willter 1992
Benton, with whom McCrady studied
at the Art Students League. Though
hailed as the Southern representative
of Regionalism, McCrady resisted
classification. He conveyed these
thoughts in a 1946 letter to his Art
Students League colleague, Clyde
Singer, then Associate Director of the
Butler Institute of American Art at
Youngstown:
"[ never have liked being classed in any
definite school, as lI1y work lias /lluch
AlI1erican Scelle subject lI1atter - but also
plenty of fantasy- and is built on tlie
abstract .. .f have always been interes ted in
the abstract in designing pictures, but
never like to lill/it lI1yself to the abstract ...
f have beell writtell up as a roll1anticist,
and I su ppose that limits me less than any
of the otliers .. . anyway, I will go 011
turning out wliatever pleases me."
McCrady also expressed some
anxiety then about the reception his
paintings (which he called his "children") would receive in an upcoming
one-man show at the Associated
American Artists ga ll ery in New York
City.
That exhibition, which included
representations of African-Americans,
became a turning point in McCrady's
career. The American Communist
party's official newspaper, The Daily
Worker, ca lled it a "flagrant example of
racial chauvinism" and "a n outright
slander of the Negro people."
McCrady, a quiet, sensitive man by
John McCrady made himself into the
fictional Gulliver in a Louisiana
version of Lilliput in "Mr. G. of LaFay-Ette County."
Willia J992 / CULTURAL V ISTAS
13
many accounts, took this
unprecedent, nega tive review
very personally.
Having attended Black church
services in his youth, McCrady
felt that spiritual music was
"religious philosophy crossed
with the legends and myths that
would startle and alarm ...
acquired from the white man
combined with a me taphysical
heritage from the darkness of
Africa ... songs of poetry ... finer
and more philosophica l than
history. "
Close to his heart and soul,
this music inspired McCrady to
create his best efforts, some
named after spiritual songs.
Ironically these uniqu e paintings
incited th e negative review that
pushed McCrady to pursue other
paths.
He stopped painting the rural
religious Black angels that typified
earlier successful works, like
"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot"
(1937), and "Judgment Day"
(1938), which all feature fantastic,
surreal scenes based on McCrady's
reverence of his Black neighbors'
religious faith and spiritual music.
McCrady executed lithographs and
paintings for himself, indu stry, and
individuals. He illustrated Pulitzer
Prize-winner Hodding Carter's Tire
Lower Mississippi (1942 and Floodcrest
(1947). He also contributed to Mllrdi
Gms OilY (1948), a book of illustrations
by McCrady's fellow New Orleans
artists Caroline Durieu x and Ralph
Wickiser.
McCrady received commissions
from the federal government, Standard
Oil Company, and Abbott Laboratories. He painted public murals for the
Amory Post Office in Mississippi; the
Grand Hotel at Point Clear, Alabama;
and the Mount Zion Baptist Church,
the Grace Episcopal Church, and the
Delmonico restaurant in New Orleans.
McCrady's national media attention
diminished in the wake of abstract
ex pressionism , the art movement that
triumphed after World War II. Yet,
McCrady explored modern forms. He
incorporated the then newly developed
"Portrait of a Negro" earned lohn
McCrady a scholarship to the prestigious
Art Studellts League in New York City.
The subject is an uilidentified praline
seller McCrady spotted olle day ill frollt
of the French Quarter's Presbytere.
14
LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES\ Will/er 1992
acrylic paints into his multi-stage work
(outlined in an American Artist
February 1966 article), and he wrote
ex tensively of his philosophy of life
and art. Of his native region McCrady
wrote:
"It is 1I0t tl1l1t tlris IlIlId is so perfect or
correct. it is 1I0t tllllt 11111111 l1lell1ber of 11
locn l civic grollp IIl1d tllllt J ClI ff tlris pillce
Eden' beCIIllse J wish to give tire ill1pressioll
tllllt this colllltry is so Il1llch better thllll
lilly other; it is silllply tlrllt this is the IlIlld
of lllYlIssocilltiollS IIlld thnt this sill1ple
truth is n wOllderllllld. "
The National Institute of Arts and
Letters in 1949 commended McCrady
"in recognition of an unusually fine
artist with a poetic vision of life in the
South."
The painter essentially began the
McCrady Art School in 1942, and it
continued under the widowed Mary
McCrady until the ea rly 1980s. Ultimately McCrady's principal focus, the
French Quarter school tau ght hundreds
of aspinging artists through its forty
year history, d eveloping numerous
commercial artists, art hobbyists, and
"The Parade" shows viewers
the equally wild street scene
and interior of the McCrady art
school where a party is being
held on the second floor while
John McCrady paints a nude on
the ground floor.
former students. The extent of
McCrady's legacy and its importance in the cultural history of the
South is still developing, and wiII
be more completely realized only
with time.
McCrady recently received
further recognition at a New
Orleans gallery exhibition, "The
McCrady Legacy," which explored the artist's influence,
including works by McCrady and
his school's former students.
Concurrently two civic museums
in the South purchased McCrady
paintings this year. .:.
art enthusiasts. Prominent contemporary Louisiana artists taught by
McCrady include Ida Kohlmeyer,
Rolland Golden, Henry Casselli, Alan
Flattmann, Joyce Kelly, and the late
Robert H elmer.
McCrady was a man devoted to his
family, his art, and his
students. His philosophy of
life and art centered on
people. In his voluminous
unpublished writings
McCrady suggested:
"Man's ideals are the
sOllrce of his acJlievell1ents.
His creations are according to
natllre's, for he is a complenlentary part of the vast design
of tile COSI1IOS. 111 a most
limited space, sometillles a
simple piece of paper or a
somewhat large piece of
callvas, he speaks of the thillfis that are 1I0t
so lil1lited. He speaks of sOI1/ethillg like
infil1ity throllgh the ill/ages that reflect alld
sliggest ."
McCrady died Christmas Eve 1968,
but he continues to communicate
through his art, his writings, and his
Matt Martinez is all indepelldent
filll1l11aker frail I Metairie. He
directed John McCrady's Southern Scene, a half-hour doclIlI1entary
produced in 1992 for public television alld
made possible th rollgh a gm n t from the
LOllisiana Endowment for the HlImanities,
The fillll reconsiders McCmdy's art, life
alld illlpact nearly 25 years after his death.
The progmll/ will be aired on LPB Jal1uary
1 at 7 p.lI1. alld on Janllary 3 at 5 p.11l.
McCrady often used an
artistic technique of
blending exterior with
interior as seen in
"Evening Meal."
Will/er
7992/CUL TlJRAL VISTAS 15
Dance
for a
Chicken
Grown men chase
chickens, cross dress
and receive
whippings at Prairie
Cajun Mardi Gras
gumbo runs. It's all a
part of springtime
rituals traced back to
medieval Europe.
Story by Pat Mire
H
ide the chickens and lock the
pantry. On Mardi Gras day in
Acadiana, farmstead coops and
kitchens are likely to be raided by a
drunken band of masked marauders on
horseback out
to beg for - or
steal- all
gumbo ingredients in sight.
Forget the
bead-tossing
and breastbaring rituals
that have come
to symbolize
Mardi Gras in
the "Big Easy."
Rural Mardi
Gras celebra-
The begging tradition at Cajun Mardi
Gras celebrations stems from the
medieval French fete de la quemande.
photo by Maida DwellS
tions of the south Louisiana prairie
differ greatly from their carnival
counterparts in New Orleans or even
Lafayette. Like them, they are preLenten processional festivities steeped in
traditions that harken back to the
springtime fertility rituals of ancient
Europe. But what sets the rural south
Louisiana version of Fat Tuesday apar
16 LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES\ Winter 1992
A farmer tosses a chicken to the crowd
of Mardi Gras runners setting off a
mad chase to grab the prized catch. In
exchange for donating the bird, the
farm owner gets a good laugh.
photo by Barry /emJ Allcelet
tis the fete de La quemande, a medieval
begging ceremony, later influenced by
the frontier heritage of the Louisiana
prairies, that have combined to form the
uniquely Cajun "Mardi Gras run."
A Community of Ritual
Many aspects of the Mardi Gras run
in L'Anse Maigre, a community north
of Eunice, are typical of those throughout Acadiana.
Led by a flag-bearing capitaine,
L' Anse Maigre's colorful and noisy
procession of masked and costumed
men on horseback, followed by beerstocked wagons, troop from house to
house in the countryside asking for
donated food or money in return for
performances of dancing and buffoonery. The run participants are earnestly
employed chasing chickens, the most
valued offering, and they pride
themselves on their ability to collect
enough gumbo poultry to feed the
entire community free of charge.
Cultural Catholicism binds the
community, therefore no one is
offended by the expected farm raids.
Upstanding townsfolk work hard all
year, but they also celebrate life
Winter 1992/CULTURAL VISTAS 17
Dance for a Chicken
continued from previous page
Left: A masker imitates the Mardi Gras
run gesture of supplication at the "Tee"
Mamou-Iota Folklife Festival. Such
fairs have kept tourists occupied in the
cities while locals make their traditional gumbo run in the countryside
with as little outside interference as
possible. photos by Phillip GOllld
abundantly because their faith teaches
them that life has been redeemed. For
them, Mardi Gras day provides the
opportunity to let inhibitions go under
the anonymity of a mask and with the
aid of an endless and liberating supply
of liquor.
At an organizational meeting before
the Mardi Gras run, capitaine Wendell
Manuel instructs his followers: "When
you get to a man's house ... get off that
horse and dance for him and beg to
him ... Do whatever you have to do to
get his chickens or his sausage or his
rice or his money ... Anything we can
do to get the goods for the supper."
Mardi Gras, after all, signifies a
THE CAJUN WILD WEST
In addition to its medieval begging
origins, the course de Mardi Gras
(Mardi Gras run) is also characterized
by the mystique of toughness reminiscent of the days of the American Wild
West. In earlier times, the anonymity of
the masked riders provided an ideal
reckoning ground for quarreling parties
in Cajun communities. Scores were
often settled on this day with bare fists,
knives and even pistols. Additionally,
groups of riders, overwhelmed by the
festival spirit, mildly terrorized many
visited households, forcing women to
dance and sometimes vandalizing
property, either intentionally or accidentally. While the main party distracted
redistribution of wealth. Beneath its
many layers of exotic behavior lies a
serious message of survival which goes
back to pre-Christian festivals and
ancient rites of passage.
continued on page 37
hosts in the front yard, riders sometimes strayed to the back of the house
to steal from the kitchen.
Throughout the nineteenth century
and even into the early part of the
twentieth century, the course de Mardi
Gras could be found in most areas of
French Louisiana from the Mississippi
River to the Texas border. With the
arrival of Americanization and the
"civilizing" effect of new schools and
churches, however, the rowdy celebration was banned from the annual cycle
of Louisiana French folklife in all but a
few die-hard Cajun communities.
-Barry Jean Anceiet, Ph.D.
from the book "Capitaine
voyage ton flag."
Below: Mardi Gras runners charge
chosen farmsteads as soon as their
capitaine has been granted permission
from the homeowner. As the day wears
on many runners are relegated to
pickup trucks due to "drunk riding."
Winter 1992/ CULTURAL VISTAS 19
A
Africans in Colonial
Louisiana
s we move away from a
native, of French or Spanish descent by
either
parent, whose non-alliance with
Eurocentric interpretation
Story by Gwendolyn Midlo Hall, Ph.D.
the slave race entitled him to social
of American culture and
rank . . . there seems to be no more
begin to explore the African roots of
serviceable definition of the Creoles of
all Americans, it is very important to
understand Louisiana Creole culture.
Louisiana that this: that they are the
French-speaking, native portion of the
It is the most significant source of
ruling class." By the nineteenth cenAfricanization of the entire culture of
tury, the mixed-blood creoles of Louithe United States. Normally in the
United States, the word creole refers
siana who acknowledged their African
exclusively to the people and culture
descent emphasized and took greatest
of lower Louisiana.
pride in their French ancestry. They
In eighteenth century Louisiana,
defined creole to mean racially mixed,
enforced endogamous marriage among
the term creole referred to locally born
their own group, distinguished thempersons, regardless of status or race,
and was used to distinguish Ameriselves from and looked down upon
blacks and Anglo-Afroamericans, alcan-born slaves from African-born
slaves when they testified in court
though their disdain stemmed from
and on inventory lists of slaves. They
cultural as well as racial distinctions.
were identified simply as creoles if
Edward Brathwaite, writing about
they were locally born, or creoles of
Jamaica, defined creolization as a
another region or colony if they had been
socio-cultural continuum radiating
born elsewhere in the Americas. The most
outward
from the slave community and
tage and redefined creole to mean excluprecise definition of a creole is a person
affecting
the entire culture in varying
sively white. By the turn of the century,
who was born in the Americas of nondegrees. This definition is relevant for
George Washington Cable, a white LouisiAmerican ancestry, whether African or
the United States as well as for the
anian driven out of his home state because
European. However, due to the racial and
Caribbean. It is especially significant for
of his liberal views on race, wrote that the
cultural complexity of colonial Louisiana,
Louisiana where the slave culture was
term creole came early to " .. . include any
native Americans who were born into slavery early and thoroughly Africanized
very were sometimes described as "creoles"
and the first generation of creole slaves
or "born in the country."
grew up in stable, nuclear families
After the United States took over Louicomposed of African mothers and
siana, creole cultural identify became a
fathers and creole siblings.
means of distinguishing that which was
Almost all the black slaves in
truly native to Louisiana from what
Louisiana either arrived directly
which was Anglo. Creole has come
from Africa between 1719 and 1731
to mean the language and folk culor were their descendants. Twoture which was native to the souththirds of these Africans came
ern part of Louisiana where Afrifrom Senegambia from a limited
can, French, and Spanish influence
number of nations living in a
was most deeply rooted historirelatively homogeneous culture
cally and culturally.
area. The fragmentation of
In Louisiana, the word creole
language and culture communihas been redefined over time in response to changes in the social and
Left: Divination Tray by
racial climate. In Louisiana with the
Arowogun of Osi-Ilorin, carver, of
rise of "scientific" racism during the ninethe Yoruba peoples, Nigeria.
teenth century, Louisiana whites of French
Right:
Asen Altar from the Fon
and/ or Spanish descent rejected the racial
peoples,
Republic of Benin.
openness of Louisiana's past, as well as, in
pll o tos courtesy of New Orleall s Mu se"", of Art
some cases, their own racially-mixed heri-
The chaotic conditions
prevailing in the colony, the
knowledge and skills of the
African population ...
contributed to an
unusually cohesive, and
heavily Africanized
culture in lower
Louisiana: clearly, the most
Africanized slave culture in
the United States.
20 LOUISIANA EN DOWMENT FOR THE H UMAN ITI ES\ Wili ler 1992
continued from previous page
ties associated with the African slave
Islamic Almoravides Empire, which
overthrew the Ghana Empire and united
trade and slavery in the Americas was
limited. It appears that throughout the
Spain, North Africa, and Senegambia
eighteenth century, under Spanish rule
under its political dominance, was
as well as French, Senegambia remained
founded during the eleventh century on
a more important source of slaves in
an island in the Senegal River.
Louisiana than Central Africa. The
Some of the slaves embarked for LouiLouisiana experience calls into question
siana were brought to Goree from the
the common assumption that African
captiverie at Bissau on the Upper Guinea
slaves could not regroup themselves in
coast. But there was a heavy Mande overlanguage and social communities
lay to the culture of Upper Guinea due to
derived from the sending cultures.
the influence of waves of conquerors, imConditions prevailing during the earlimigrants and refugees displaced from the
est stage of colonization molded a creole
north. The Mandinga, founders of the Mali
or Afro-American slave culture through a
Empire, were well established on the Upprocess of blending and adaptation of culper Guinea Coast when the Portuguese
arrived during the
tural materials brought
The concentration of
mid-fifteenth cenby the slaves who were
tury. Both the profirst introduced. The Africans, many of them
portions of particufounding contingent
from the same ethnic
lar African nations
played a strategic role
present in early
since newcomers must group, on relatively few
Louisiana and conadjust to a great extent
estates facilitated the
to the culture and landitions in Africa as
well as in Louisiguage they encounter.
preservation and
ana molded the forIn Louisiana, the
ma tion of Afro-Creimpact of the founding
adaptation of African
ole culture.
African ethnic groups
cultural patterns.
was especially grea t beThe proportion
cause of the pattern of introduction of
of blacks to whites in the French settleslaves. Before the founding of New Orments rose sharply after 1721. The
leans in 1718, French Louisiana was no
African slave trade to French Louisiana,
more than a weak military outpost. With
especially after 1726, resulted not in
the founding of New Orleans and the susfragmentation and demoralization of the
tained efforts of the Company of the Indies
slave community, but instead facilitated
to populate and develop the colony and
the emergence of a particularly coherent,
introduce African slaves, the true colonifunctional, well integrated, autonomous
zation of Louisiana began.
and self-confident slave community. The
close bonds between survivors coming
over on the same slave trade ship has
The Senegambian Source
been noted throughout the Americas, and
While Senegambia means, geographihas been explained as a reinterpreted
cally, the region between the Senegal
form of kinship. There were relatively
and the Gambia Rivers, it was a region
few slave trade voyages. The ship the
of homogeneous culture and a common
slave came off of was often identified
style of history. Three of the principal
when slaves appeared in the Records of
languages, Sereer, Wolof, and Pulaar, are
the Superior Council. Networks of
closely related. The fourth language,
solidarity among the survivors of these
Malinke, is a mutually intelligible
voyages must have been a thickly woven
language spoken by the Mande peoples
web.
to the east. The peoples of the
Senegambia region have lived as
neighbors for many centuries, and there
Reliance on African Labor
has been a steady interchange of people
In the colony at that time, all kinds of
among them. The great medieval
labor, especially skilled labor, was at a
empires, Ghana, Mali, and Songhai were
premium. While the Company of the
founded in the Senegambian region. The
Indies sent skilled workers from France,
few of !hem survived. In the spring of
Osugbo Society Lodge Door Panel of
1721, Bienville wrote, "Death and disease
the Yoruba peoples, Nigeria. photo courtesy
are
disrupting and suspending all
of New Orleans Museum of Art.
operations, and if the famine does not
22 LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES\ Winter 1992
end, all is lost. The best workers are
barrels of rice for seeding which they
dead."
were to give to the directors of the
An enormous amount of labor was
Company upon their arrival in Louisirequired to rescue the capital from the
ana. By 1720, rice was growing in great
swamps and to try to keep the waters of
abundance all along the Mississippi
the Mississippi River at bay. Ships
River and within a few years, rice was
arriving at Balize at the mouth of the
exported to the French West Indies.
Mississippi River had to be unloaded so
Indigo grew wild along the rivers of
they could pass the sandbars and then
Senegambia, where it was processed into
reloaded to continue their voyage to
a vivid, blue dye with which cotton cloth
New Orleans. Docks, warehouses,
was colored. Indigo grew wild in
watercraft, public buildings, churches,
Louisiana as well. In 1712, a settler noted
homes, barns, storage sheds, slave
the existence of wild indigo in Louisiana,
quarters, rice paddies, indigo sheds and
but stated that neither the few Frenchequipment had to be built, maintained,
men settled there nor the Indians
and rebuilt after they were destroyed by
understood its preparation. While it has
floods and hurricanes.
been claimed that techniques for
The survival of French Louisiana was
producing indigo were first introduced
due, not only to African labor, but to Afriby the Jesuits in 1727, this date is too
can technology. The introduction from
late. Experiments began with processing
Africa of rice seeds and slaves who knew
wild indigo in 1721, two years after the
how to cultivate rice assured the only reliarrival of the first slave ships from
able food crop which could be grown in
Africa. It is a reasonable to conclude that
the swamplands in and around New OrAfrican slaves with long experience in
leans. Converting swamps and tidal wetprocessing indigo in Africa first introlands into rice paddies involved complex
duced and applied this technology in
technology. Oryza glaberrima, a species of
Louisiana. It was not the cultivation, but
wet rice, was first domesticated along the
the processing of indigo which required
middle Niger probably during the second
knowledge and skill. One of the skills
millennium B.C., independently of Asian
regularly listed on slave inventories was
rice. There also was
"indigo maker."
a secondary region The Louisiana experience
of domestication
A Cohesive
calls into question the
loca ted between the
Community
Sine-Salum and the
common assumption
The last systemCasamance River
atic census under
which empties into that African slaves could
French rule was
the Atlantic benot regroup themselves
taken in 1731-1732.
tween the Senegal
Africans outnumin
language
and
social
River and the
bered whites in
Gambia River. By
communities derived
lower Louisiana by
the sixteenth cenmore than two to
from the sending
tury,
residents
one. During the
along the Gambia
cultures.
1730s, the white
grew rice in the alpopulation rapidly dwindled because of
luvial soil using a system of dikes which
high mortality, outmigration, and low
harnessed the tides. This wet or swamp
birth
rate. There were few new slaves
rice had a much higher yield than dry rice.
introduced before France abandoned the
A large supply could be grown in a s~all
colony in 1763. The only French slave
area. The transformation of swamps mto
trade ship arriving after 1731 arrived in
rice fields required a great deal of knowl1743,
and reinforced the existing African
edge and skill as well as labor.
ethnic groups brought in during the
The case for the introduction from
formative period. Thus, the focus of
Africa into Louisiana of rice and its
Louisiana creole slave culture was
techniques of cultivation and processing
neither diverted nor diminished by
is a strong one. The captains of the first
newcomers.
two ships which brought African slaves
The cultural impact of the formative
to Louisiana in 1719 were instructed to
contingent
of slaves brought to Louisiana
try to purchase several blacks who knew
was
much
more
than a simple result of
how to cultivate rice and three or four
Mounted Warrior Veranda Post by
Olowe of Ise of the Yoruba peoples,
Nigeria. Carved out of polychromed
wood, circa 1910.
photo courtesy of New Orleaus Museum
of Art
Winter 1992/CULTURAL VISTAS 23
continued frolll previous page
timing, and numbers. French Louisiana
was not a stable society controlled by a
culturally and socially cohesive white
elite ruling a dominated, immobilized,
fractionalized, and culturally obliterated
slave population. The chaotic conditions
prevailing in the colony, the knowledge
and skills of the African population, the
size and importance of the native
American population throughout the
eighteenth century, the geography of
lower Louisiana which allowed for easy
mobility along its waterways and escape
and survival in the nearby, all pervading
swamps all contributed to an unusually
cohesive, and heavily Africanized
culture in lower Louisiana: clearly, the
most Africanized slave culture in the
United States.
The pattern of introduction of black
slaves into French Louisiana contrasts
sharply with that of the English colonies
which became part of the United States.
The early contingent of slaves introduced
into the Chesapeake and Carolina came
from the British West Indies and constituted a relatively small minority. They
The survival of French
Louisiana was due, not
only to African labor, but
to African technology.
The introduction from
Africa of rice seeds and
slaves who knew how to
cultivate rice assured the
only reliable food crop
which could be grown in
the swamplands in and
around New Orleans.
24 LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES \ Willter 1992
were one or more generations removed
from Africa, and spoke English or a
creolized version of English when they
arrived. They spoke a more standard
English than those who came after them,
constituted a small minority, and
interacted fairly freely with their masters
as well as with English servants, and
therefore, " ... The base upon which
African survivals could rest (was
reduced), not simply in speech, but other
elements of culture"
The Gullah dialect, an English-based
creole language, survived only on the
isolated Sea Islands off the coast of South
Carolina and Georgia and was probably
never widely spoken on the mainland by
blacks or whites. The Anglo-American
society into which Africans were
introduced, when they began to come in
significant numbers, was much more
stable than French Louisiana. Thus, the
culture of the United States was most
heavily Africanized from Louisiana after
1803, when the slave plantation system
spread west, New Orleans was the major
entrepot for the entry of new slaves, and
the largest slave plantations of the antebellum south were established in the
state. The massive post-Reconstruction
migration of African-Americans up the
Mississippi Valley spread a partially
anglicized Afro-Creole folk culture
throughout the United States.
In early Louisiana, the uneven
distribution of the newly-arrived
Africans facilitated their cultural
autonomy. There were large concentrations of slaves in the hands of a few
members of the military-bureaucratic
elite which ruled the colony. A secret
agent of the Company of the Indies was
sent to investigate conditions in the
colony. He described Bienville, his
relatives and his Canadian favori tes
living in luxury in fancy houses, with
many slaves obtained with ill-gotten
gain, while most of the white population
literally went hungry and naked. Most
of the white colonists owned either no
slaves, or very few. The concentration of
Africans, many of them from the same
ethnic group, on relatively few estates
facilitated the preservation and adaptation of African cultural patterns. It is,
furthermore, clear that Africans could
not be confined to their masters' estates
and isolated from contact with other
Africans belonging to the same language
community.
In French Louisiana, creole slave
children grew up in tightly knit, nuclear
families headed by both African parents.
The slave family was scrupulously
protected in practice as well as in law.
Mother, father, husband, wife, and
children under age 14 were not sold
separately. The role of parents, and
parenting was even more crucial than in
~:;:;-"~~~~----''':0''=;:-':~;;:'I
contemporary times.
Socialization took place
mainly in the home and
by the family in a
society where educational institutions were
practically absent,
literacy was rare, and
religious institutions
weak.
Despite overwork,
exposure, and inadequate food, the slaves
of French Louisiana
managed to survive
through supplementing
their food with hunting
and fishing, and
because the slave
women of French
Louisiana were quite
fertile. Very few slaves
were imported after
1731. Slaves were never
introduced into French
Louisiana from the
An indigo processing
plant in Guadeloupe.
Slaves, drawing upon
their African farming
technology, made the
wild plant profitable
in Louisiana, thus
saving the fledgling
colony from desertion.
prillt cOllrtesy of the Hi storicnl
French West Indies in significant
numbers. When the Company of the
Indies ruled Louisiana, most ships came
directly from France.
Although substantial numbers of new
slaves came neither from Africa nor
from the French Islands, nevertheless,
the slave population along the lower
Mississippi River settlements from the
mouth of the Mississippi River to Pointe
Coupee increased from 3,630 in 1746 to
4,598 in 1763. Thereafter, there was
probably natural decline due to the
hardships and shortages of war, compensated for by the introduction of new
slaves by British traders during the last
few years of French rule. But due to the
poverty-stricken condition of many
slaveowners during these years, it is
probably unlikely that more than a few
hundred slaves were introduced by the
British before 1763. Aside from the 190
slaves brought from Senegambia in 1743,
the very small contingents of slaves
brought in from the French West Indies,
mainly between 1748 and 1756, and
several hundred slaves, almost surely
Africans, brought in by British traders
during the last years of the French and
Indian War, the slave population
survived because of the fertility of the
women.
The slaves of French
Louisiana very often
kept their African names,
many of which were
Islamic. Some slaves
with French names had
Baraca, an Islamic
religious title, as a
second name. African
names abound in the
lists of slaves and in
judicial records.
Retention of Culture
African religious beliefs, including
knowledge of herbs, poisons, and the
creation of charms and amulets of
support or power, came to Louisiana
with the earliest contingents of slaves.
Society of GII(ld('/OIlP{'
Wi/ Iter 1992/C ULTURAL VISTAS 25
Cere Rice Spoon, Sierra Leone.
pllOto
COllrtesy of Charles Da v is, Da v is Callery of Africnl/ Art
Among the Bambara, all adult, circumcised males know how to make charms.
Le Page du Pratz, who had been
Director of the Company for the Indies
in Louisiana, wrote of the slaves: "They
are very superstitious and attached to
their prejudices and to charms which
they call gris-gris." Reference to gri-gri
is found in New Orleans court records in
1773. Charms ritually fabricated and
worn for protection, as well as charms
intended to harm others, have kept their
African names to the present day. Zinzin,
an amulet of support or power in
Louisiana Creole, has the same name
and meaning in Bambara. Cri-gr1 a
harmful charm, comes from the Mande
word gerregerys. The words wanga and
grigri are still widely used in New
Orleans by speakers of English as well as
by creoles.
Names have a great symbolic
meaning touching the most profound
levels of feelings of identity. Alex
Haley's popular book, Roots, widely
popularized in film and on television,
has received a great deal of attention
throughout the world. One of his most
memorable stories was about Kunta
Kinte, the slave brought from Africa
who was forced to give up his African
name and take an English name, Toby.
If he had been brought to French
Louisiana, he would not have faced this
problem. The slaves of French Louisiana
very often kept their African names,
many of which were Islamic. Some
slaves with French names had Baraca, an
Islamic religious title, as a second name.
African names abound in the lists of
slaves and in judicial records. Those old
Africans who survived into the 1760s
and 1770s still had African names, and
some of their children born in Louisiana
also had African names. During the
Spanish period, many newcomers,
especially those from Senegambia, kept
African names as well.
One of the most widespread, common organizing principles of West
African societies is reverence for the
elders stemming from ancestor worship:
certainly a highly transportable cultural
material. Many of the Africans in French
Louisiana who survived the Atlantic
slave trade and the deprivations of
warfare and famine during their first few
decades in the colony lived to be quite
old. Both of these inventories reflect a
high survival rate among the elderly,
many of whom were married couples,
all of them, with little doubt, old
Africans. Evidently, only the strong
survived the Atlantic crossing and the
ravages of brutalizing labor, warfare and
hunger on the Louisiana frontier. These
survivors lived long, productive lives.
There were only three generations of
slaves brought into Louisiana and born
during the period of French rule. The
presence of African parents and grandparents living on the same estate as their
creole descendants throughout the
French colonial period further
Africanized Louisiana Creole culture.
African slaves had great power and
influence over their children and
grandchildren.
Creole Language
The cultural impact of the Africans
brought to Louisiana during the French
slave trade is engraved upon the very
structure of language as well as the
history of its use. The Louisiana Creole
language was created by the African
slaves brought to Louisiana and by their
creole children. It belongs to a special
language group, the Atlantic Creoles,
which are languages created by African
slaves brought to the Americas. These
languages are markedly similar in
grammatical structure, in pronunciation,
and in literal translations of African
idioms, although the vocabulary was
largely that of the language of the
respective European colonizers.
The vocabulary of Louisiana Creole is
overwhelmingly French in origin, but its
grammatical structure is largely African.
There has been no systematic study of
African words which survived in
26 LOUTSIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE H U MANITIES \ Willie/' 1992
Louisiana Creole. Creolists believe that
all creole languages were created during
the first two decades after the arrival of
African slaves.
The early creation of the Louisiana
Creole language and its widespread use
among whites as well as blacks up until
World War II is strong evidence for the
strength of the African ingredient in
Louisiana Creole culture. The widespread survival of Louisiana Creole until
very recent times and its use by whites
of various social positions as well as by
blacks and mixed-bloods had, no doubt,
a great impact upon Africanizing
Louisiana culture. The Louisiana Creole
language became a vital part of the
identity, not only of Afro-Creoles, but of
many whites of all classes who, seduced
by its rhythm, intonation, humour and
imagination, adopted it as their preferred means of communication. There is
still a significant number of whites who
are monolingual speakers of Louisiana
Creole.
Alcee Fortier published six Compair
Bouki and Compair Lapin tales, as well
as a most remarkable creation myth
The cultural impact of
the Africans brought to
Louisiana during the
French slave trade is
engraved upon the very
structure of language as
well as the history of its
use. The Louisiana
Creole language was
created by the African
slaves brought to Louisiana and by their creole
children.
including the original, Louisiana Creole
version of the famous Tar Baby folktale.
Although Fortier went to great lengths to
trace these stories to medieval France,
their Senegambian origins are clear. A
creation myth conveys a reverence for
all forms of life. God had ordered the
animals not to destroy or eat each other,
but to eat only grass and fruits. "That
was better, because they were all his
creatures and it pained him when they
killed each other; but as quickly as they
would eat the grass and fruits, He, God,
would take pleasure to make them grow
again to please them." But the animals
refused to obey. The lions ate the sheep,
the dogs ate the rabbits, the serpents ate
the little birds, the cats ate rats, the owls
ate the chickens. To stop them from
destroying themselves and to punish
their cruelty, God sent a great drought.
Although drought was a severe
problem in Senegambia, which bordered
the Sahara Desert, drought was never a
problem in Louisiana. On the contrary,
the biblical flood would have been more
appropriate. The Bouki and Lapin tales
are populated by lions and elephants.
Mande folk literature includes the rabbit
and the hyena stories. Stories about the
astute, resourceful rabbit who triumphs
over the stronger, but loudmouthed and
stupid hyena who retained his Wolof
name, were no doubt brought by slaves
coming from Senegambia. The Brer
Rabbit tales collected by Joel Chandler
Harris were Anglicized versions of these
Louisiana Creole folktales of
Senegambian origin.
Louisiana Creole, the language of the
blacks, and folklore in this language,
was widely known, and cherished by
creoles of all colors and classes. Louisiana Creole became the preferred means
of communication of elite white creoles
of Louisiana among themselves. It came
to be looked upon by many of them as
their true native language for it was "far
more native to Louisiana than French
could ever be, and more flexible, being
capable of turns and twists impossible in
French." Until the late nineteenth
Don rice bowl and spoon, Liberia.
plloto cOllrtt'sy of Charles Davis, Da v is Callery of Africll/l Art
century, upper class white creoles spoke
it exclusively until they were 10 or 12
years old. Children had to be weaned
from speaking the language with bribes
and punishments. The Louisiana Creole
language is still spoken by tens of
thousands of people, white as well as
black, in some parts of the state. Sometimes called "black French", "broken
down French", "Gumbo French", or
"mo kuri mo vini," it is presently spoken
by about 60,000 to 80,000 persons: by
50,000 to 60,000 blacks and by 10,000 to
20,000 whites. It is impossible to arrive at
more exact figures because many whites
are bilingual speakers of Creole and
Cajun and are reluctant to admit to the
investigator that they speak "nigger
French." In contrast, the Gullah dialect,
an English-based creole language,
survived in the isolated Sea Islands off
the coast of South Carolina and Georgia
and probably was never spoken by
significant numbers of blacks or whites
on the mainland.
Bambara and other Mande languages,
as well as most West African languages,
are tonal. Rhythm as well as tonality
determine not only the meaning of
individual words, but play an important
role in grammar. Functional tonality has
been identified in a few creole languages. It is possible that the mUSicality
of the Louisiana Creole language which
seduced generations of Louisianians and
probably affected their own speech in
Cajun and English as well as in French is
a non-functional survival of tonality in
African languages.
One of the ways in which musicality
is expressed in Louisiana Creole is
through onomatopoeia: words which
imitate sound. For example, in Louisiana
Creole, a bullfrog is called a ouaouaron;
the gabbling of birds is zabotter; a violin
player is a trou/oulou; a bird is a zozo,
from the French word oiseau: but zozo
also imitates the sound of the bird.
Patterns of rhythm and tonality in
Louisiana Creole might be linked to
patterns of musical expression, including syncopation and jazz. It is surprising
that linguists have paid relatively little
attention to the study of rhythm and
intonation in creole languages. Louisiana, which has been part of the United
States for almost 200 years, remains a trilingual state, where Louisiana Creole,
Cajun, and English are all spoken. There
is a linguistic continuum, in which
Creole blends into Cajun, which in turn
is becoming Anglicized.
How do we account for the great
resiliency of the Afro-Creole culture of
Louisiana, its broad impact upon people
of all classes and colors? Its creativity,
intelligence, biting wit, joyfulness,
musicality, poetic strain, reverence for
beauty, make this culture inherently
attractive. But what is most important is
its powerful, universalist trend.
Senegambia had long been a crossroads
of the world where peoples and cultures
were amalgamated in the crucible of
warfare and the rise and fall of far-flung,
trading empires. An essential feature of
the cultural materials brought from
Senegambia as well as from other parts
of Africa was a willingness to add and
incorporate useful aspects of new
cultures encountered. This attitude was
highly functional in a dangerous and
chaotic world. New Orleans became
another crossroads where the river, the
bayous and the sea were open roads;
where various nations ruled but the folk
continued to reign. They turned inhospitable swamplands into a refuge for the
independent, the defiant, and the
creative "unimportant" people who tore
down all the barriers of language and
culture among peoples throughout the
world and continue to sing to them of
joy and the triumph of the human spirit.
Gwendolyn Midlo Hall is consulting
research professor at the University of New
Orleans and professor of history at Rutgers
University. "Africans in C%nial Louisiana" is excerpted from her most recent book
of the same name, copyright 1992, LSU
Press. Printed with permission from author.
Willier 1992 /C ULTURAL VISTAS 27
Taking Care~
of Linnie
Fiction by Joanna Leake
Illustrations by Chuck Siler
The following story is excerpted from F.L. Y. ,
a novel in progress. Pril1ted by permission of
the author.
H
e woke up when it was still dark
outside because he wanted to
check out his new tatoo. He
could see out into the kitchen w here a
blue light from the bar sign across the
street was shining in the window. It was
making weird shadows on the little
mound of snow that had blown in under
the door, a flickering blue glow that
spilled out onto the linoleum floor.
He'd have to wipe it up. Maybe roll up
a towel or some newspaper, plug up the
crack, keep the wind out. Lying in bed,
squinting in the dark he looked at his
hand, right in the webbed space between
his pointing finger and his thumb.
There it was: F.L.Y. - the ink pen tatoo
that stood for his name, Floyd Lloyd
Young. Eddie had done it yesterday
aft~r school wi~h a needle and
a BlC pen. Eddie had done a
good job. Then he had done
Eddie's hand, E.O.H. for
d I
Eddie Otum Hanchie. He'd
tried to make the letters neat,
all the same size. At r e c e s s ·
today he'd find Eddie and see
how it had turned out.
Eddie's brother told them that
ink pen tatoos lasted forever,
ju~t like the re~l ones that
sailors got. Jailhouse tatoos
he called them, like the ones that crooks
made in prison.
He got out of bed, hurrying into his
pants in the cold and feeling around for
his socks. He got dressed quickly in the
dark, thinking how quiet the house
seemed now . No yelling or screaming
or slamming doors. A truck passed by
on the street ou tside. He could hear the
As a young boy Floyd
'
Lloyd Young has to
.h
k
ea Wtt a cran y
mother and a difficult
h
stster. Put t e two
together and he must
•
detonate a ttmebomb
Of violence and abuse.
gears grinding and the tires crunching on the snow. Maybe it was
Raymond, driving off, already gone,
driving to Texas or Detroit or
somewhere really far away. Right, he
thought, you wish . He stood for a
minute listening and watching the
little steamy clouds of his breath in
28 LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES\ Willia 1992
the air. Then he grabbed the blanket
off his bed and went to see Linnie.
Her bed was wet again. He could
smell it out in the hall, something
sharp in the shad ows that bit at his
nose. Linnie didn' t have a room, at
least not a real one. She slept in a little
place off the kitchen, probably a pantry
to look at her asleep. Her hair was
curled out on the pillow, her mouth
open just a little, like maybe she was
smiling. Sometimes she could make
him smile too. When she came to sit by
him on the couch, squinching up right
next to him until he was almost pushed
off the edge. Or when she'd bite off a
piece of her toast and hand it to him
like it was some kind of big deal
present. And Linnie could be funny
too. The way she'd just walk across the
street to the Blue Flame Lounge and
dance to the juke box or the time she
took all the fuzz from the lint filters out
of the trash can at the laundrymat and
rolled it up into a big ball and put it in
her bed. He'd found it when he went
to get her in the morning. She was
lying there with a giant wad of other
people's lint and she'd looked up at
him with her deep eyes, like she'd
pulled off some really hot-shit trick.
"Lookit what I made."
L
or a storage closet once, but now Linnie
used it. There was an old gray and
white bedspread hung on a rope across
the entryway, kind of like a door, but it
didn't close all the way. And there was
no way to lock it. Not that Linnie
cared much anyway. He looked at her
for a minute while she slept. He liked
innie did things like that.
Maybe it was because she wasn't
right, not the way she should be.
Or maybe it was just because she was
Linnie. She was big for her age, solid
with a big, husky voice. She looked
like she could tackle anything. But it
didn't seem to work out that way.
She'd tried school for a while last year.
He had taken her on the bus and
walked her to her class in the morning.
But now she didn't go any more.
"You're too smart for school. You
already know all you need to," he told
her. She didn't care much one way or
the other. She'd be waiting for him in
the afternoon, happy like everything
was fine. Unless it was one of those
bad times. Times she got hurt. It was
always when he was gone. He knew if
he was around it wouldn't happen.
His mama had told him a hundred
times, "You never let nobody lay a
hand, not one finger, on your sister."
He wouldn't let anything happen to
Linnie. He knew that.
Down at the other end of the hall his
mother's door was shut. That meant
Raymond was still around, his rig
parked around the corner. You never
knew when Raymond would show up.
Sometimes he'd be at the kitchen table
when Floyd came in from school.
Smoking his weed and drinking beer
and acting like life was one big party.
Floyd knew about Raymond. About
Raymond and Linnie's bad times,
about the marks on her. He thought
sometimes about how easy it would be,
in the morning like this when everyone
was sleeping. Just a knife from the
kitchen or a pipe wrench from under
the sink. Or even a gun, if he asked
around on the street or over at the
Flame. But then what about his mama.
She would be there, lying right next to
Raymond. She was different when
Raymond was around. A lot of times
things were easier. "Jesus Christ!"
she'd say sometimes when he would
make a crack about Raymond. "Jesus
Christ! Don't nobody in this house
want me to have some laughs. Just
maybe one or two laughs a year? Is
that asking too goddamn much?"
Actually Floyd liked it when she
laughed. Her eyes would get soft and
her face would get nice and crinkly, so
you felt like everything was going to be
O.K. Mama could be funny too.
Sometimes.
It was always hard to wake Linnie
up. She rose up out of sleep like she
was swimming all the way up from the
bottom of the ocean. And then after a
while she'd see him and reach up for
him, her hands still fat and creased the
way they had been when she was a
baby. He peeled off her wet pants and
her pajamas and balled up the sheets
and covers to throw in the corner
where he piled up the stuff to take the
laundrymat. Then he wrapped her up
in the dry blanket from his bed so she
could stay warm while he got her
dressed. Even though he was older,
she was almost as big as he was.
Already she was wearing his bluejeans
from last year. All he had to do was
roll up the bottoms into cuffs so they
wouldn't drag on the floor.
H
e cleaned up the snow and lit
the gas burners and the oven.
The kitchen was beginning to
warm up and there was a pan of water
heating up for making hot chocolate,
the envelopes of cocoa powder already
poured into the cups. He and Linnie
were trying to get some cartoons to
come through the static on the little
black and white T.V. that sat on the
table next to the bottle of Four Roses
Wi ll ieI' 7992 / CULTURAL VISTAS
29
left over from Raymond's visit last
night.
"Y'all hush up. I don't want to hear
no noise out of you." His mother came
into the kitchen. She jerked her head
toward the TV. "Or non e of them mice
yelling and blowing things up."
She was fussing, but Floyd could tell
she wasn't really mad . The hard lines
between her eyes were gone and her
hair, wavy and kind of reddish, was
loose on her shoulders. She was
wearing a new robe, something soft
and black with big flowers on it. Lots
of times Raymond brought her presents, clothes or sometimes things like
earrings or bracelets or stuff to wear to
bed. That always made her in a good
mood. It was part of having some
laughs. And sometimes Raymond
would put Linnie on his lap and tell
Floyd stories about all the places he
went in his truck. Sometimes it was
hard not to like Raymond some, just
for a while, when he was telling his
stories and making Mama laugh.
"You gonna be ready for the bus,
baby?" She liked it tha t he was doing
O.K. in school, that he was happy to go
in the morning. "You got some time for
breakfast though. " She went to the
icebox and took out a carton of milk.
"Jesus, it's like a meat locker in here.
You'd think they built this dump for
Miami Beach for all the heat they give
us,"
There were some eggs and bu tter
and flour out on the counter. "Oh
Lord," his mother was saying. "He
wants pancakes this morning. Can you
beat that? How the hell did I do these
things the last time? See can you find
me the griddle, baby."
Floyd went to dig in the cabinet. It
wasn't a griddle really, just a big old
cast iron skillet. But it was what they'd
used the last time Raymond had a
hankering for pancakes.
L
innie was rocking back and
forth in her chair, singing about
syrup. It was the part about
pancakes she liked the best. Last time
she had half drowned her plate, so that
the pancake looked like a soggy little
island in the middle of the world 's
stickiest ocean. "Syrup, syrup, yea,"
she was singing. And the louder she
sang the harder she rocked, until her
chair was thudding on the cracked
linoleum.
30 LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUM AN ITIES \ Willter 1992
"Shut up!" his mother hissed . Then
she turned her head . It was like most
of the time she didn't really want to
look at Linnie. Unless it got to where
she had to.
He went and stood by Linnie's
chair, holding her down and telling
her to look at what Danger Mouse was
doing on the TV. "Yeah, but I'm a
good girl," Linnie told him.
His mother made some kind of face
at the wall and went back to mixing
pancake batter.
"Come on now, see can you fix up
the table so this place looks halfway
decent. Raymond likes things nice."
Floyd folded up some paper towels
and got four of the good paper plates,
the ones with yellow flowers on the
edges. He lined up a carton milk and a
jar of grape jelly and a plastic bear full
of syrup in the middle of the table.
There was some kind of jangly
music playing while Danger Mouse
ran around on TV. Linnie was singing
to herself, but softly. Traffic was
starting to pick up on the street
outside and the sun was just creeping
in through the window over the sink.
He could hear his mother talking to
herself, the way she did sometimes
when she was trying to get things to
work out.
"O.K. I got this shit all stirred up.
The butter's melting, the table's set.
Just got to go get my face on. Put up
my hair."
She turned to look at him. "You be
my big boy and run down to the corner
and get a newspaper for Raymond, will '
you? He's got to be on the road by nine
and he likes to read the paper, you
know. Get yourself some change out
my pocketbook."
H
e got his coat off the nail by the
door and stepped out onto the
one step leading down to the
sidewalk. The cold air bit at his face,
making his cheeks red and his eyes
water.
'That's my boy." His mother was
leaning out of the door, her new
bathrobe drawn tight around her,
bending down to kiss him, her breath
warm and smokey on his face. "You're
a good kid," she told him. "What the
hell would I do without you?" She
reached out and rubbed her hand
against his cheek. Sometimes when she
looked at him like that he felt like he
could do anything, like he was going to
mow down some army or run a kickoff
back ninety-nine yards, something like
that instead of just going down to the
corner for a paper. "You're the best, you
know that?"
"Sure," he told her and stood up on
his toes. Her face was smooth next to his.
She smelled good, like a flower. He
kissed her, then he sprinted off for the
corner, sending crackles of ice off the
sidewalk behind him.
His hands were cold and it was hard
to fit the right change into the slot at the
machine. He remembered the headlines
said something about a plane crash and
a fire in a catfish restaurant downtown.
Bad news. They had current events at
school next week, but Miss Hodges
wanted stuff about government and the
president. That kind of thing. If
Raymond left the paper at the house he
could look through it after school. There
was plenty of time to find something like
Miss Hodges wanted. He remembered
thinking that as he was walking back,
that there was plenty of time. He was
wondering about that fire, about if you
were a fireman out in the middle of the
freezing night, feeling the wind blowing
on you, if maybe the fire would feel, just
for a minute, like a friend, like something warm and nice that would make
you want to get closer to it.
T
hat's what was running through
his mind when he stood in front
of his door. And before he
opened it, he knew there was something
weird. There was some kind of sound,
not words but a banging and a kind of
animal noise, a panting or grunting. But
not like a sound Danger Mouse would
make. It was the sound that made him
open the door so slow, a little at a time so
that at first he just saw pieces of things.
The table was turned over, the jelly jar
broken on the floor, the T.V. lying on its
side, nothing but snow on the screen and
spurts of static sizzling out. And Linnie
was on the floor too, lying smashed up
against the wall by the ice box. She had
the syrup, the plastic bear, in both hands,
the way a baby would hold a bottle. And
he saw that the bear's head, which was
the top of the bottle, was gone, rolled
over by the sink, and the syrup was
Willlcr1992 jCULTURAL VISTAS 31
Taking Care of Linnie
continlled from previolls page
everywhere, running on the floor and
all over Linnie's face. From somewhere
back in his mind he remembered a time
she had tried to drink syrup, sucking it
from the bear's head . One of those
crazy Linnie things she did. He remembered laughing, just something funny.
Crazy Linnie. And then his eyes moved
up little and he saw the iron,with the
black and blue stripped cord. It was
wrapped around her neck, the plug
flying back and forth in the air. And his
mother was holding it, pulling it tight,
so that Linnie's head jerked crazily, back
and forth like the plug. She was making
the sound, a low, raspy kind of noise,
each time his mother pulled the cord.
And his mother was whispering, a
crazy, hoarse whisper, so she almost
sounded like Linnie. "Making a mess.
Ruining everything. That goddamn
syrup all over the goddamn table."
And all of it stayed quiet. So as not to
wake up Raymond.
A
nd he did it too, the whispering
that was really more sort of like
a scream. "Mama," he begged
her. "I'll clean it up." And he pulled on
her arms, which he had never noticed
before seemed amazingly strong, like
hard steel. And he pulled at her hands
and pried at her hard, steel fingers, and it
was like he wasn't there, like he was
made of smoke. He could see Linnie
find his face, finding him with her deep
eyes and asking him. And then the
skillet, still hot with the butter nice and
golden melted inside, was in his hands.
He never remembered thinking about it
or reaching for it, but there it was, so
heavy he needed both hands to hold it
and he ended up thumping his mama,
hard on the back, so hard that just for a
second she stopped and looked at him
and the oddest thing was her eyes were
like Linnie's. Asking him. But then she
turned away and the cord was yanked
tighter, the plug flying even faster,
Linnie's animal sounds getting wilder
and wilder. And he thumped her again
on the back, so hard that he heard the air
whoosh out when he hit her. But she
didn' t stop. And then he saw Linnie's
lips turning blue and the sound filled up
his head like a wild wind and he swung
the skillet again, hard at the back of his
mama's head.
It didn't take a second until everything was quiet. The wind inside his
head drifted softly away and the animal
noises fad ed into silence. His mama
stood up for a minute, holding onto the
counter top. And for that minute it
seemed like it was all over. That he
could clean up and get ready for school
and Raymond would read his paper and
go take his truck on the interstate. So
that minute hung in the air like a kind of
possibility, a chance for things to go
back to being like they had been. But
then his mother sat down again, slid
down really. And her eyes didn't match
anymore and something seemed to be
sliding out of her face, leaving it slack
and empty, like she wasn't in there any
more. And Floyd stared at her. He was
holding his breath, even though he
didn' t mean to. He felt like he needed to
breathe. He wished for a second that
Raymond would wake up and walk into
the kitchen and then he hoped that he
wouldn't. He stared at her while her
head thunked back gently against the
cabinet under the sink. And he saw her
eyes, the horrible way they didn' t match
VERMILI 0NVILLE
and how there wasn't anything of her
left in her face, and he knew. And then
he made his eyes go to Linnie and even
though he felt like he was turning to
stone, like some kind of paralyzed
statue, he made his hand reach out to
her, wanting to hold her big, fat baby
hands in his. Linnie was looking up at
him. Her color was coming back
already. Even the red marks on her neck
and her face were beginning to fade. She
fixed her deep eyes on him. She looked
once over at her mother, then she turned
back to him. She reached her hand out
at him, one pudgy finger pointing up at
his chest.
"Floyd," she said. Her voice was
thick and low. "Floyd," she told him,
holding her finger out at him like an
arrow pointed at his heart. ''I'm gonna
tell." .:.
Since 1977, Joanna Leake has been teaching
English at the University of New Orleans.
aI1d is currently director of the U 11 iversity's
Creative Writing Workshop.
Learn about
Louisiana's finest
Lafayette, Louisiana USA
authors without
An Aulhentic Living Hislory Village
of Cajun and Creole FolkJife from
1765 - 1890, fealuring Spinning,
Boalbuilding, Fine Baskelry,
Rosary & Fiddle Making,
B1acksmilhing & Olher
Excellenl Crafls of lhe Era'
even opening
a book ...
Amand Broussard House ca. 1790
The Louisiana Literary Map depicts
the scope of Louisiana's contribution to
American Literature. Twelve artistically
arranged portraits highlight the list of
authors and selected works. Th e
colorful , 24" x 36" map is a meaningful
classroom tool and a decorative addition
to any setting.
An Enjoyable Visit for All!
Call or Write Today:
1-800-99-BAYOU or 318-233-4077
P. O. Box 2266, Lafayette LA 70502
To order, contact the Louisiana Library
Association . P.O. Box 3058 , Baton
Rouge , LA 70821. (504) 342-4928. $15
mailed. VISA/Me accepted.
32 LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES \ Willta 1992
LAGNIAPPE
Opportunities or events discussed in
Lagniappe are not LEH projects. Therefore, always double-check the address
and phone number when applying to or
requesting information. The LEH office
has no additonal information of these
items than what is published here, and is
not reponsible for materials sent to us in
error.
Effort Begun to Save New
Orleans' Outdoor Sculpture
The Arts Council of New Orleans, the
Historic New Orleans Collection, and
Preservation Resource Center have
joined forces as the the New Orleans
sponsors of Save Our Sculpture!, a
three-year, nationwide campaign to
identify, assess and ultimately protect
outdoor sculpture throughout the United
States . Over the next year, volunteers
are needed from the greater New
Orleans metropolitan area to identify,
research , document and survey outdoor
sculpture.
SOS!, one of the largest volunteer
projects ever undertaken in the United
States , is a joint project of the National
Museum of American Art at the
Smithsonian Institution and the National
Institute for the Preservation of Cultural
Property. The goal of the effort is to
document and raise public awareness of
outdoor sculpture. In many cases ,
outdoor sculptures have become
neglected and subjected to the ravages
of time , weather, vandalism , and
pollution . SOS! seeks to halt this gradual
destruction. The information gathered
through this project will be entered into a
database at the National Museum of
American Art.
Through SOS! New Orleans, volunteers and the staffs of the sponsoring
organizations will identify outdoor
sculptures during the winter by contacting
area organizations, churches , businesses
and local governments. During the spring
of 1993, volunteers will then be dispatched to conduct on-site surveys of the
sculptures, looking for signs of deterioration. All volunteers will receive training
beforehand so that they can accurately
assess the sculptures' conditions. In the
fall of 1993, the HNOC will exhibit New
Orleans outdoor sculpture at its
Tchoupitoulas Building in the Warehouse
District.
Anyone interested in volunteering for
SOS! New Orleans should contact Lake
Douglas or Claire Wickersham at the Arts
Council of New Orleans, (504) 523-1465.
Meadows Museum Displays
"Before" and "After"
Indochina Painting Exhibit
The Meadows Museum at Centenary
College in Shreveport welcomed home its
famous Indochina Collection after 45 of
the paintings were sent to Texas for
repairs and restoration .
The collection , painted by Jean
Despujols in Southeast Asia during the
1930s had suffered varying degrees of
deterioration , due, primarily , to the
adverse jungle conditions of tropical heat
and humidity in which the canvasses
were painted.
Born in Salles, France in 1886,
Despujols underwent rigorous training as
an academic painter. In 1936 he won an
award from the Societe des Artistes
Coloniaux in Paris to travel to Indochina.
the Societe paid for all his expenses and
his only obligations were to submit an
account of his trip and exhibit his paintings in Hanoi and Saigon . During his
three-year stint in Indochina he produced
some 360 works depicting the exceptionally beautiful land and its richly diverse
cultures .
The cultural , religious , and political
variations of the region have grown out of
the landscape . The Annamite mountain
chain runs north to south to divide the
land, with Vietnam east of the the
mountains and Laos and Cambodia to the
west. As a result Vietnam became a
stronghold of Chinese culture while Indian
civilization established itself in Laos and
Cambodia. The name Indochina refers to
this confluence of two great civilizations of
"Portrait of Pan-Tu-Ki" before and
after restoration. The Meadow's
museum was awarded a $48,000 grant
to have its Indo china collection
treated for decay .
continental Asia.
Despujols moved to Shreveport in the
early 1940s where he lived and worked
the rest of his life, painting portraits until
his death in 1965. His famous collection
was exhibited at the the Smithsonian
Institution and featured in National
Geographic.
In 1969 Algur H. Meadows purchased
the works from Despujols' heirs and
presented them as a gift to Centenary
College, where he had graduated from
law school. In 1976 Meadows created his
namesake museum on campus to house
the collection.
Knowing that professional conservation had been needed for decades , in
1990 the Meadows Foundation of Dallas
awarded a grant of $60,000 to the
Meadows Museum at Southern Methodist University to provide for conservation
of 45 oil paintings from Centenary's
Indochina Collection .
A new exhibit of the paintings, on view
permanently, features "before" photos of
the paintings next to the "after" restored
work. The Meadows Museum is currently
seeking funds for phase two of the
restoration which will allow the remaining
64 paintings to undergo treatment.
The Meadows Museum is open
Tuesday through Friday, 1 to 5 p.m .,
weekends , 1 to 4 p.m. Contact Judy
Godfrey at (318) 869-5026 for details.
Winter 1992 / CULTURAL VISTAS 33
CHRONICLE
Families Read - and TalkTogether in Literacy Program
In the rush of discovering the terrible
consequences of illiteracy, nationally and
statewide, most people have focused on
the problem of reading - and overlooked its wonder and delight.
The LEH has fostered a different kind
of litreacy program , not one designed to
duplicate others. Our family literacy
program is designed to complement other
literacy programs by stimulating families
to practice reading , to become acquainted
with public libraries, and to develop the
basis for humanities education through
reading and discussion prog rams. In
effect, the LEH family literacy programs
encourage active reading and support for
family reading and discussion .
Freeport-McMoRan awarded the LEH
a grant for our family literacy programs in
Orleans and Jefferson Parish in the
spring of 1992. The LEH had already
supporte? two programs in Baton Rouge
c~lIed Pnme Time: Family Reading
Time. These two six-week programs
designed by Elizabeth Bingham and
Dianne Brady for the East Baton Rouge
Parish LI.b rary and the Louisiana Library
Association were pilot projects for literacy
programs that would encourage reading
and discussion groups targeted for at-risk
families that might not otherwise buy
books or use libraries. Accordingly, we
encouraged cooperative efforts of
libraries (including their own learning
centers) , Louisiana's Department of
Family Services Project Independence,
Storyteller Adelia Gautier captivated
at t~e Westbank Regional Library
famtly readll1g program in Harvey.
fam~lies
the Governor's Office of Lifelong Learning, literacy providers , newspapers, and
other potential support organizations . We
want to work with these existing organizations because we want to offer more
children and their families the rewards of
reading .
In the six-week programs , storytellers
like Rose Anne St. Romain in Baton
Rouge or Adelia Gautier (Adelia , Adelia
the Storyteller) dramatically re-create
stories and serve as model readers
captivating children and demonstrating for
parents how they can read to their
children . The storytellers work with
scholars who encourage families to
consider the ideas that are important in
the stories , classic humanities questions:
what is the nature of good and evil? how
can you see beneath a pleasing appearance to what lies beneath? how do you
confront monstrous evil? what is the
function of stories as bearers of cultural
history, morals , beliefs , and aspirations?
Ultimately, we do have to ask whether
a project is worth repeating , and we are in
the process of evaluating these pilot
projects to determine whether we should
continue and develop a turnkey system of
family reading projects that could be
offered statewide. So far our results are
preliminary. One father, who works on
his own literacy skills at the New Orleans
Public Library's Learning Center, told me
that his own reading comprehension
s~ores went up since he began reading to
his children In our program . Librarians at
Jefferson Parish 's Westbank Regional
Library reported that children nagged their
parents to take them to the reading
program even when the parents were too
tired to want to go out in the evening . In
Baton Rouge , the bus driver noted that
families insisted that he drive them home
with the light on inside the bus so they
could read their new books.
After participating in a program in
Jefferson Parish , Dr. Andrew Horton
wrote , "This six week experience has
been one of the most satisfying projects I
have been involved with . Certainly I have
never done anything quite like it! What
have I learned? I think that such a
program gives me as a university based
humanist hope that bridges and connections can be built between the academy
and the public on many, many levels that
are worthwhile for all involved." Dr.
Horton and Dr. Bryant began calling the
GRANTS
Minigrants
The Columbian Contact:
500 Years of Change
#MG-92-046-144
LEH Grant: $1,500.00
Cost Share: $8,407
Sponsor: Louisiana State University-Shreveport
Project Director: John W. Hall, Shreveport
A public forum aimed at increasing knowledge of
Christopher Columbus on the quincentenerary of
his voyage to North America.
Piney Woods Opry: A Cross-Cultural Sharing
of Country and Cajun Music
#MG-92-046-145
LEH Grant: $750.00
Cost Share: $2,400.00
Sponsor: In the Pines, Inc.
Project Director: Pat Flory, Metairie
Live radio broadcast of the the Piney Woods
Opry, an old-time country music show, with an
added program designed to educate listeners
about the shared influences between Cajun and
country music.
Native American Folklife in Louisiana
#MG-92-046-146
LEH Grant: $675.00
Sponsor: Vermilionville
Project Director: Joanna Sternberg, Lafayette
Demonstrations of Native American crafts
foodways , dances and storytelling by folk ~rtists
from several of Louisiana's remaining tribes.
In Search of an Identity
#MG-92-046-147
LEH Grant: $750.00
Cost Share: $631.50
Sponsor: Lafayette Public Library
Project Director: Clara Maynard, Lafayette
Four-week study program of Southern history,
literature and culture through the use of readings,
Videos and scholar-led discussion.
34 LOU ISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANfT fES \ WillieI' 1992
program Kiddie College when they
discussed their family literacy programs
together. Though facetious , the name
does reflect the kind of aspiration all of
us who have worked on family literacy
have for Louisiana's children. We want
to lay the groundwork for them and
their families to become eager and
accompl ished readers who will continuously educate themselves throughout
their lives. If anyone is interested in
working with humanities-based literacy
projects, please call me at the LEH
office: (504) 523-4352.
-Kathryn Mettelka, Associate Director
$7,645 Awarded by the LEH
in 8 Minigrants
Seminar on Arabian Gulf
#MG-92-046-152
Sponsor: Southeastern Louisiana University
Project Director: James R. Penn, Hammond
A seminar for secondary-school educators on the
Arab-Islamic world with special emphasis on the
Persian Gulf.
Lecture by Professor Nechama Tec:
"When Light Pierced the Darkness "
#MG-92-046-154
Sponsor: Holocaust Commemoration Committee
Project Director: Rabbi Harly Karz Wagman,
New Orleans
Lecture by a holocaust survivor on the psychological and social characteristics of Christians who hid
Jews during the Nazi reign over Europe.
Cheniere Hurricane Centennial:
Master Plan to Incorporate the Humanities
#MG-92-046-155
Sponsor: Cheniere Hurricane Centennial, Inc.
Project Director: Windell Curole, Lockport
A series of public programs on the social and
economic history of a unique multicultural wetlands
community destroyed in 1893 by a hurricane.
The African·American Short Story:
Then and Now
#MG-92-046-157
LEH Grant: $400.00
Cost Share: $0.00
Sponsor: Shreve Memorial Library
Project Director: Jeffery L. Salter, Shreveport
A two-hour public seminar on four short stories
written by African-American writers Ralph Ellison,
Richard Wright, James Baldwin and Nikki
Giovanni. The stories will be examined in a
historical, social and cultural context.
'Wen you really deserve it,
sit back and enjoy the pleasures of the Rib Room.
Sip a legendary "wash bucket" martini,
try one of Chef Toups' weekly signature specials
or treat yourself to the best prime rib that money can buy.
Now is the right time to come to the French Quarter ...
because the theater that is Royal Street is in full production
and you can always find a front row seat at the Rib Room.
Free parking at Omni Royal Orleans Garage.
RiB ROOM
R OTI SS ER IE
CoRNER OF ROYAL
& Sr.
E XT RA O R D IN A IRE
LoUIS STREETS I N THE HEART OF THE FRENCH Q UARTER.
(504) 529-7045.
WillieI' 1992 / CULTURAL VISTAS 35
CALENDAR
For additional information, call the
organization listed. All events are
free and open to the public unless
other wise indicated.
America According to Literature:
I The 20th Century
Thursdays, Jan. 28 - March 4
Jefferson Parish Library, 630
West Esplanade Avenue, Kenner
RELIC reading program from 7to 9
p.m. tracing the development of
modern America, from the turn of
the century to present-day. To enroll
call (504) 736-8730.
The World War II and
Vietnam Experiences
Thursdays, April 8 - May 13
Livingston Parish Library
1501 J. Gerald Berrett Boulevard
Plaquemine
RELIC reading program from 6:30 to
8:30 p.m. on life and times during
World War II and the Vietnam
Conflict. To enroll call (504) 6874397.
Eastern Europe and the Soviet
Union: Legacies of
Empires and Revolutions
Tuesdays, Feb. 2 - Mar. 9
Claiborne Parish Library
Haynesville
p.m. tracing the history of the former
Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc.
To enroll call (318) 927-3845.
Vietnam Experiences
Thursdays, Jan. 21- Feb. 25
Winnfield Public Library
204 West Main Street
p.m. on life and times during World
War II and the Vietnam Conflict. To
enroll call (318) 628-9820.
Vietnam Experiences
Tuesdays, Feb. 16 - March 23
Ouachita Parish Library
1800 Stubbs Avenue, Monroe
p.m. on life and times during World
War II and the Vietnam Conflict. To
enroll call (318) 387-1950.
The Third World:
Mirror for Humankind
Wednesdays, Jan. 27 - March 3
Iberia Parish Library, Civic Center
New Iberia
RELIC reading program for adults
from 7to 9 p.m. on life in underdeveloped nations. To enroll call (318)
373-0077.
America According to Literature:
The 20th Century
Thursdays, Jan. 28 - March 4
Rapides Parish Library
411 Washington Street
Alexandria
p.m. tracing the development of
modern America, from the turn of
the century to present-day. To enroll
call (318) 445-6436.
Union: Legacies of
Mondays, March 22 - April 26
Concordia Parish Library
709 North Thrid Street, Ferriday
To enroll call (318) 757-3
I
The Third World:
Mirror for Humankind
Tuesdays, April 6 - May 11
Calcasieu Parish Library
1160 Cypress Street, Sulphur
RELIC reading program for adults
from 7to 9 p.m. on life in underde-
veloped nations. To enroll call (318)
527-7200.
Union: Legacies of
Wednesdays, April 7 - May 12
Lafayette Parish Library
301 West Congress Street
Lafayette
To enroll call (318) 261-5775.
Vietnam Experiences
Livingston Parish Library
Plaquemine
Vietnam Experiences
Jefferson Davis Parish Library
Plaquemine
Islamic Art and Patronage:
Treasures from Kuwait
Through January 10
New Orleans Museum of Art
City Park, New Orleans
NOMA is the final exhibition site for
114 Islamic art treasures from the
collection of the Kuwaiti Royal
Family, widely regarded as the
foremost collection of its kind in the
world. Call (504) 488-2631 for details.
Beggars, Fools and Lords of
Misrule: Louisiana's Multicultural
January 23 -24
Louisiana State Museum
Jackson Sqare, New Orleans
Demonstrations of Carnival
traditions from various ethnic groups
include a Mardi Gras Indian beading
session, a Cajun chicken chase and
Zulu krewe coconut decoration.
Gumbo and king cake served. For
additional information contact
Helene Goudeau at (504) 568-6968.
Tennessee Williams Festival
March 26 - 28
Le Petit Theatre, 616 St. Peter
New Orleans
Lectures, readings and panel
discussions by the country's leading
authors and scholars on a variety of
topics relating to the late playwright
who chose New Orleans as the
setting for many of his great works.
Productions of The Glass Menagerie
and Suddenly Last Summer will be
staged. For complete information,
call the Tennessee Williams/New
Orleans Literary Festival at (504)
897-9762.
Courir de Mardi Gras
February 20
Vermilionville, Lafayette
Staged Mardi Gras gumbo run
through the Vermilionville village , a
recreated 19th century Acadian
bayou community. Call A.J. LeBlanc
at (318) 981-2364 for details.
Culinary History Symposium
January 20 - 23
Hermann-Grima House
820 St. Louis Street, New Orleans
Demonstration of how French foods,
culinary methods and dining
customs not merely endured but
actually prospered in colonial
Louisiana.
Increase Profits in Your
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For more information, call today at (504) 523-4352 or write
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36 LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMA NITIES \ Wil1 ter 1992
Dance with a Chicken
COli lill lied frolll page 19
During this festival where everyone
gives and everyone receives, which
supports the egalitarian values of
Cajun culture, humanity's story of
sharing is told over and over in the
course of the day. In one of mankind's
oldest games of trying to fool your
closest neighbors and best friends,
these masked beggars symbolize
anyone who may be hungry. The idea
is that when they visit someone, those
visited should share. Theft is part of
the tension in the drama of this ritual
play, especially when the runners feel
that a particularly fortunate
homeowner is not giving enough.
Questing songs are performed prior
to the raids. Some communities require
the runners to sing their version of the
song in French, which discourages
outsider participation . But other runs
Mardi Gras provides
the opportunity to let
inhibitions go under
the anonymity of a
mask and with the aid
of an endless and
liberating supply
of liquor.
encourage outsiders to participate.
Tourists have been courted in recent
years, to the d elight of merchants but
to the dismay of traditionalists.
Impact of the Mainstream
The mainstreaming of American
culture has indeed affected the long
isolated Cajun culture. On the "Tee"
Mamou women's run, for example,
traditional mock kidnappings of the
homeowner's children still occur, but
in a less frightening fashion. Many
participants lure the youngsters with
candy and outstretched arms which
demonstrates that their ideas of child
rearing have changed. In years past,
Cajun children were intentionally
scared by the masked runners. For the
smaller children these anonymously
masked individuals served as reminders of the dangers that "lurked out
there" and the value of staying close to
home. For the older ones, Mardi Gras
hastened maturity by teaching them to
Above: Mock kidnappings occur during
the Mardi Gras run to remind younger
children of the dangers that lurk
beyond home, and to hasten maturity
for older children by teaching them to
"face up" to the maskers.
Right: The young dress as the old in a
reversal of the social order at a Mardi
Gras dance following the gumbo dinner
and ending at midnight. pilotos by Peter /olles.
"face up" to the maskers.
Sadly, a couple of runs have almost
turned into trail rides and seem more
interested in returning to town on time
for scheduled parades than fulfilling
the event's original mission. One run
in particular lost its meaning when
their culturally dysfunctional cnpitnil1e
passed up a homeowner standing in
his yard with chicken in hand which is
an inconceivable act to most co mmunities.
Willter 'J992 / CULTUR AL VISTAS 37
(OlltillllCd fro lll prel'ioll'; pnge
Unruly Mardi Gras run participants
are whipped after disobeying the
capitaine's orders or mischievously
skipping a lyric in the questing song.
The punished cry IOlldly"Where's my
brother" prompting tIle innocent to
leap atop their brethren alld endure
tIle final lashings themselves.
1,llOto"y Ha rry
/ ('(11/
A//cl'/I' (
The "Tee" Mamou run (in western
Acadia Parish) was not interrupted
during World War II as it was in most
o ther communities when all able
participants were sent to wa r. Thu s, the
"Tee" Mamou group has maintained
aspects of a very old begging tradition
by u sing a gesture of pointing to the
38 LOUI SIANA ENDOWMENT FO R THE HUM AN ITI ES\ Willter 7992
open palm. Centuries ago this distinguished ca rnival beggars in Weste rn
Europe from impoverished street
begga rs. Recent discovery and observation of the Hathaway Mardi Gras
revea ls similar and possibly older
traditions. They have what they refer
to as "our beggars" who wield rolled
burlap whips and lea d the procession
Above: Two maskers on the Basile
Mardi Gras run beg for gumbo ingredients. pltotos hy Barry /I'nll AI/cell'!
version of the Mardi Gras, participants
walk the entire run and frequently
pretend to flog each other with rolled
burlap sacks, reminescent of the
processions of the flagella tors who
sought to atone for their sins in the
Middle Ages.
Hathaway's ritual beggars are
blackfaced and are the first to approach
a house. They dismount from their
horses and confront the homeowners on
their knees with hats in their hands and
genuinely petition resident members for
charity. This appears to be a vestige of
the poor man's carnival of the Middle
Ages and may even have roots in the
most widely celebrated festival of the
Roman Calendar, the Saturnalia, where
people masqueraded and blackened
their faces.
Role Reversals
alongside the capitaine. Whipping
traditions - ancient in origin and
frightening to outsiders - have been
preserved along isolated pockets of the
Cajun prairie's cultural edge west of
Highway 13. Whipping has its origins
in the pre-Christian festival of the
Lupercalia, or the wolf festival, and was
thought to promote fertility. In Kinder's
With such bizarre rituals being
carried out, it is easy to see why
outside reporters, researchers and
witnesses would invariably focus on
the issues of racism, sexuality, and
alcohol that pervade rural Mardi Gras
runs.
Runners mask in blackface as Ilegres
and Ilegresses. Drunkeness is part of the
game, and men dance with men. Yet, it
is important to understand such
behavior in a cultural context.
Reversing social order and pretending to be black goes much farther back
than the immediate roots of racism in
the South. On the few remaining runs
of the Black Creoles in southwestern
Louisiana, participants frequently
whiten their faces, and the earliest
illustrations of African and Caribbean
carnival include Blacks in white face.
Similarly, men can be seen dressing as
women and women as men. Young
dress as old and old as young, rich as
poor and poor as rich.
Concerning alcohol, many people
forget that Mardi Gras is based on rites
of passage that have for centuries used
mind-altering drugs which loosen
inhibitions and allows participants to
"play the other."
Parodying Current Issues
Communities preoccupied with
preserving cultural continuity in
costume provide the opportunity to
walk back in time but have eliminated
to some measure a core part of Mardi
Gras: its ability to respond to current
issues. In Eunice and Basile, parodying
contemporary events is important. The
social upheaval nature of Mardi Gras
has always presented powerful commentary from the populace. There
Willll'rJ 992/CULTURAL VISTAS 39
colltillllcr! jrolliprelliolls pnge
MARDI GRAS
MALE BONDING
Many Mardi Gras runs are strictly
"males only." Prior to some runs all
participants are frisked . This is as
much to prevent women from infiltrating the ride as to enforce a no weapons rule. Among these riders there
exists the same sorts of freedoms that
one encounters in other exclusively
male groups such as sports teams or
campers. For this occasion , men do
things they would ordinarily not do in
mixed company, such as dance
together, walk arm-in-arm, and
embrace each other. In fact, a popular
costume motif invloves the reversal of
sexual identity by wearing wigs,
dresses and even false bosoms. This
kind of activity happens frequently
among men who have no doubts about
their own identities. The toughest men
can afford to play at being feminine
without arousing any suspicions
concerning their sexuality.
-
Barry Jean Ancelet, from the book
"Capitaine, voyage ton flag.
Above: A vintage photograph of Mardi
Gras run participants in the 1930s
shows a man with a mortarboard, a
rare costume element that mocked
scholars during the Middle Ages.
pilato hy Laurell Pos t
Right: Dancing en masse atop horses is
a sign of masculinity and horsemanship on the Mardi Gras run.
were effigies of Sad d am Hussein a nd
George Bush alongside mod ern
versions of old theme costum es like the
French pl7illllSSe (s trawm an) a nd the
vieille fell/lI1e (old woman) on the 1991
Eunice run. Demonstrating the
frust ra ti on loca l people felt during the
Gulf War, a life-size dummy of
Hussein entitled "So Damn Insa ne"
was hung by the neck with a ca n of
"Bush" beer in his back pocket and was
repeatedly assau lted. Another truck
displayed Hussein's decapitated head
w ith a rooster (an old Ca rni val symbol
of bravery and ma le sexuality) s ta nding over him in triumph .
One of the strongest visual exa mples
of the d ea th a nd regeneration factor
associa ted with Mardi Gras is the
enacting of a birth comple te wi th a
MEDIEVAL INFLUENCES
Reinforcing its medieval origins, the
traditional costumes for the Mardi
Gras run have roots in medieval
dress. In addition to the unavoidable
modern clowns, monsters, and
cartoon characters are the conical
hats (a parody of noble women and
also long associated with dunces or
fools), mitres (in parody of the clergy),
and more rarely, mortarboards (in
parody of scholars and clerics) . Falso
collars and brightly colored costumes
also add to the medieval flavor. Masks
can sometimes preserve ancient
parodies, reversing sexual and racial
roles, casting humans as animals, and
other traditional masking devices.
Other times masks can represent
parodies, reflecting current political
and economic realities as well as
media-driven preoccupations.
Other medieval survivals have
been identified in Kinder, Louisiana's
version of the Mardi Gras. There most
participants walk the entire course ,
frequently pretending to flog each
other with rolled burlap sacks,
reminiscent of the processions of the
flagellators who sought to atone for
the sins of their society during the
plagues of the Middle Ages. There,
also, brief spontaneous plays are
sometimes performed, including "The
Dead Man Revived ," once popular
among the miracle players on the
steps of medieval cathedrals. In this
pre-Arthurian play, one participant
feigns death and his companions
"revive" him by dropping wine or beer
into his mouth.
-Barry Jean Ancelet, from the book
"Capitaine, voyage ton flag."
Phallic noses on Mardi Gras masks
harken back to the sprillgtime fertility
rituals of medieval Europe. {JllOto /Jy Marl' lIo ...ell
whipped. This latter action forces the
cllpitllil1e to bring false charges on his
mid wife by men dressed as women,
particularly the vieille femme. Such
dramatic skits are performed along the
run.
Possibly the most astounding folk
drama happens in Hathawa y. Here
p articipant bonding and brotherhood
is eminently exhibited when they are
unsympathetically flogged by the
beggars. Flogging is precipita ted by
their skipping a verse in the song,
acting mischievously (which is expected of them), or when the
homeowner pays to have them
troop and to order them punished. This
is reminiscent of Saturnalia's burlesque
king who gave inane orders to his court
of noblem en. Loud cries of ''I'm looking
for some help" and "Where's m y
brother?" from the accused as they are
ord ered to li e face down and take
lashings prompt innocent participants to
crawl over them and relieve their
commrades' sufferances by receiving the
lashings themselves.
Willta 7992/CULTURAL VISTAS 41
Dance with a
Chicken
COli lillIIcd fro II I I'revioll ;; pase
A "Tee" Mamou masker
shows ott a prize catch of the
day. The goal of the Mardi
Gras run is to gather enough
gumbo ingredients to feed the
entire community.
photo IJY P/lilli" GOllld
Yet, all successful runs
have a core group of key
players who have internalized the games rules and
know instintctively what to
do and how far they can push
the boundaries that create the
tension necessary to propel
this disorderly contrivance
towards its appeal for
community equity.
Just Rewards
The Eunice and "Tee"
Mamou Iota Mardi Gras
celebrations are both excellent examples of their respective towns
coming together to d emonstrate
community pride and vitality in their
traditions. Both have planned brilliant
strategies to accommodate the flood of
tourists and neighbors which they have
courted.
Riders are welcomed back into town
as surviving warriors to those
townsfolk who did not participate in
the ordeal but who will surely benefit
at the night's supper and dance. After
the grand procession, most runners
retire to a quiet spot to await their
hard-earned supper, and justifiably
they eat first. Some go home to rest or
take their horses back to the barn
before returning later for the masked
ball which marks the final hours of
revelry before the beginning of Lent.
All festivities stop abruptly at
midnight and many of Tuesday's
rowdiest riders can be found on their
knees receiving ashes on their foreheads on Wednesday.-:-
This article draws IIpOll reasenrcll COlldllcted dllrillg a three-yenr collaborative
effort by Barry Ancelet, Ray Brassiellr,
~~--:-~!Ir:';;P~~=:~~~~40~-;""II~iil':"-~l"-~":}17~~~'-' Carl Lindahl, Pat Mire, Maida
;;
Owens, alld CarolYII Ware that
will will/illate in Pat Mire's
film , Dance for a Chicken:
Inside the Prairie Cajun
Mardi Gras. This collaboratioll
has flleled other resca rch projects
includillg a book on the rural
Mardi Gras by Ancelet and
Lindahl and a dissertatioll all the
wOll1en's rural Mardi Gras by
Ware.
Left: A "negre" whips "Tee"
Mamou Mardi Gras run
participants as they walk
from house to house. The
bizarre ritual derives from
pagan fertility rites. Right:
Masks have been made of
painted wire mesh since the
turn of the century. Cajun
communities usually have
one or two mask artisans.
p"0105 by Phillip Gould
42 LOUISI ANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE H UMANITIES\ Willier 1992
FORUM
The Stepchild Right: The Right to Literacy
by Joy L. Lowe, Ph.D.
The Declaration
of Independence of the
United States
declares that all
men are created
equal and are
"endowed by
their Creator with
certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." While not specifically included as
a "right" in this document, few would
argue that the right to literacy either
makes possible or makes easier the
pursuit of the other, explicitly stated
rights .
The United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) defines a person who is
literate as one "who can both read with
understanding and write a short simple
statement on his everyday life." Based
on this definition , simple being able to
sign or endorse a check would not be , in
itself, literate. Many educators use the
term "functional literacy" to describe the
ability to read , write and understand well
enough to function in the individual's
everyday environment.
In 1991 Congress passed the National
Literacy Act. This act defined literacy as
"an individual 's ability to read , write and
speak English and compute and solve
problems at levels of proficiency necessary to function on the job and in society
to achieve one's goals and develop one's
knowledge and potential. " This law was
enacted to address the serious problems
with literacy faced by so many millions of
adults in our country. It is intended to help
ensure that all adults have the literacy
and basic skills needed to take advantage
of better employment opportunities and to
realize their own human potential.
If there is a general consensus among
the populace that literacy is both and vital ,
then why does the richest and the most
powerful nation on the planet have such a
staggering problem with functional
illiteracy? Recent statistics reveal that
more than thirty million of America's adult
citizens are unable to read and/or write .
Louisiana has the dubious honor of
leading all other states in illiteracy.
Fortunately, there are individuals and
groups in our state who work actively to
lower, if not eradicate , illiteracy in
Louisiana. Some of these groups include
the Louisiana Coalition for Literacy , the
Louisiana Office of Literacy, the Louisiana
State Library,'Operation Mainstream ,
Operation Upgrade, the Volunteer
Instructors Teaching Adults (VITA), the
Capital Area Literacy Coalition , the
Plantation Education Program, the Teche
Literacy Project, and the State Job
Training Coordinating Council.
In 1990, the Louisiana Endowment for
the Humanities sponsored a statewide
conference on literacy theory and
practice . Speakers came from all over the
United States to share information with
leaders of Louisiana and encourage
projects that would help stamp out
functional illiteracy in our state . In 1991,
the LEH and the Louisiana Library
Association joined forces to sponsor the
second statewide conference on literacy
in Kenner. More that one thousand
librarians, literacy advocates and other
interested individuals attended. These
conferences were developed under the
auspices of the Louisiana Literacy Task
Force established in 1988. Literacy
matters in Louisiana now fall under the
province of the Office of Lifelong Learning.
Proponents for literacy programs most
often cite the need for adult literacy
education , and no one would dispute this
very real need . However, there is another
area of need that is not discussed quite
as often when literacy programs are
promoted. Louisiana schools are graduating many students who are functional
illiterates. The state has recognized that
this has been happening in alarming
numbers and has demanded competency
testing at various levels through elementary and secondary school to identify
these students who are "at risk" of leaving
school without these critical skills.
As a college professor of literature, I
have been appalled at the number of
college students who arrive at our
universities requiring basic remediation .
At least these students have another
chance to acquire skills that slipped by
them before. But what about those young
people who do not enter college or who
dropped out of high school? Those
individuals enter an extremely competitive
job market with several strikes against
them--no degree, no diploma, no basic
skills--in a market where many skilled and
educated persons are out of work.
Inability to compete in these difficult
economic times can lead to the very real
44 LOU ISIANA ENDOW M ENT FOR T H E HUMAN IT IES\ Willlcr7992
possibility of unemployment and welfare
rolls, intense frustration , damaged self-.
concept , and in some cases aberrant or
antisocial behavior. Results such as this
can only have a negative impact on the
rest of society.
What can be done to stop the graduation of illiterate students? Certainly we
have begun to address the problem , first ,
by recognizing and admitting that it exists
and , second , by taking action to solve the
problem. Some schools have taken active
roles by attempting to identify illiterate
parents and offer programs that will teach
them along with their children. Studies
have shown for years that parents who
read to and with their children produce
more literate children. Consciousnessraising groups attempt through counseling
to remove the stigma of shame that so
many adults and children feel when
admitting their problem. When parents ,
teachers, students and outside tutors
work together, great strides can be made
toward better skills and better self-image
for all involved.
What can the general public do to be a
part of the solution? Volunteers are
needed at all levels to work with children
and adults in need of help. Training is
available for those who wish to help
others learn to read. Public libraries in
most communities usually have information on how to locate literacy groups in
your area. College degrees are not
needed to be a volunteer. A willingness to
help is the most essential requirement.
Fighting illiteracy seems, on the
surface , to be a "popular cause celebre"
at the moment. You have probably seen
on television both public service announcements and dramatic programs
about the problem . In spite of this , it is still
often difficult to recruit enough volunteers
to help with the scores of those in needed
of aid. It is sometimes difficult to equate
this need with other needs that appear to
be more pressing , such as
homelessness, hunger, and crime. Yet
many times illiteracy fuels these other
pressing needs. Every human being has
the rights declared in the Declaration of
Independence. Every human being has a
right to literacy. Let each of us do our part
to provide that right.
A native of Minden, Professor Lowe
teaches at library science at Louisiana
Tech in Ruston. She is a past president of
the Louisiana Library Association.
Louisiana
Humanities
Resource
Center
• University of Southwestern Louisiana
Winter 1992/1993 MEDIA CATALOG 45
Introduction
Using This Catalog
Through a grant awarded
in 1984, the Louisiana
Endowment for the Humanities (LEH ) established the
Resource Center (LHRC) at
the University of Southwestern Louisiana to archive and
circulate humanities films and
videotapes , most of them
produced under grants from
the LEH or the National
Endowment for the Humanities.
The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities is
the independent, nonprofit
state affiliate of the National
Endowment for the Humanities . It fosters an understanding of human history, culture ,
and values by bringing
together humanities scholars
and the adult public in a
statewide program of humanities projects. The LEH funds
various kinds of projects
including conferences ,
symposia, lectures, debates,
reading and discussion
groups, interpretive exhibits
and catalogues , films ,
videotapes, radio programs,
and teacher institutes. As
Louisiana's "university without
walls," the LEH is virtually the
sole state-wide source of
grant funds for innovative
educational humanities
projects for the adult general
public. Every parish has
benefited directly from LEH
programs. All nonprofit
organizations , such as
libraries, museums, universities, civic groups, fraternal
groups, schools, or hospitals
CONTENTS
and nursing homes may
submit grant proposals. The
LEH offers Resource
Grants, which are accepted
anytime , for the use of films
or other materials drawn from
the LHRC or the Texas
Full grant procedures are
described in the LEH Program Guidelines.
The United States
Congress defines the
humanities as those academic disciplines traditionally
concerned with values,
thoughts, and ideas. This
study includes, but is not
limited to , history, history and
criticism of the arts , archaeology , comparative religion ,
philosophy , linguistics,
modern and classical languages, literature, jurisprudence, ethics, and the
philosophical and historical
approaches to the social
sciences.
This media catalog is
designed for people planning
a humanities project where a
visual or audio component is
needed . All films and videotapes are available for loan
through the Louisiana
Listed in this program are all
films and videotapes produced under grants from the
LEH since 1978. Also
included are other documentary films , such as the NEHfunded American Short
Story Film Series, which can
supplement or serve as the
center of discussion for
humanities programs.
I
The Arts ......... .... .... ... ....... ... .......... .. ...... .... ............. .......... .47
Ethnic Studies ......... ........... ... ............................... ....... .... .48
History .......... ...... ..... .... .......... ............. ............. ..... .... ..... ... 50
Law & Jurisprudence .... .. ..... .............. ... .................. ..... .... .52
Literature .... ........... .... ... ........... ...... ... ... .... .. .. ........... ....... ...52
Social Documentary .............................. .......... ... .. ............ 54
Coming Attractions ...... ........................ .. .. .................... ... ..55
Index ...... .. ........... ..................... ... .. ..... ............................. .56
Order Form .. .. .. .. ...... ...................... .. .... .. ....... ...... .... ........ .. 56
46 LO U ISIANA EN DOWMENT FO R TH E H UMAN ITI ES\ Willier 1992
Catalog Arrangement
The materials in this catalog
are grouped by subject and
arranged alphabetically within
each group. However, the
placement of a project in a
particular subject category
should not limit its use to only
that area. Many materials are
interdisciplinary in nature and
may effectively be used in a
variety of applications or
combinations. Each entry
includes a brief description of
the film or videotape and
information about the
available formats. An alphabetical index by title of all
materials is provided at the
back of this catalog.
Who to Contact
An order request form is
provided on the inside back
cover of this catalog . Photocopy th is form as many times
as needed to request 16mm
films, 3/4-inch videotapes, or
VHS-format videotapes.
Using a copy of this form will
greatly speed the filling of
your request. There is no
charge for the use of these
materials unless damaged or
lost. Forward all material
requests to:
Resource Center
USL Box 40396
University of
Southwestern Louisiana
Lafayette, LA 70504
(318) 231-6781 or
(318) 231-6822
Technical Considerations
Storage: Keep all loaned
materials away from hot,
excessively humid, and
excessively dry areas.
Leaving films and magnetic
tape media in places such as
a car trunk will damage them .
Repair: Do not attempt repair
of videotape or audiotape
cassettes, or splicing broken
films. All repairs are performed by LHRC archivists.
Please enclose a note
detailing the problem when
returning the materials.
Presentation: Prior to your
intended program, be certain
that all necessary equipment
is in good working order and
that you are familiar with its
use. Before the presentation
begins, thread or wind
materials to the beginning of
the actual work, and have
focus and volume adjusted.
While it is not necessary to
completely darken a room ,
film and video will seem
brighter and sharper in a
glare-free and dimmed
setting.
Effectively Using Media
Preview: Despite your
familiarity with a given
subject, always preview an
entire work before presenting
it.
Give reasons: Always give
an audience your reasons for
using a particular media
selection. At times the nature
of your program may be a
specific film or video. However, prefacing any presentation with pertinent questions
helps direct an audience to
important content and
reinforces the film's value.
Acknowledgements
This catalog relies
heavily on the 1985 edition
produced by the Louisiana
Humanities Resource Center
with a grant from the LEH.
Contributing to that issue
were Mrs. Mary Baronet, Mrs.
Julia Ned, Mrs. Cindy Tharpe,
Mrs. Susan Trahan , and the
staff of the University Media
Center and Regional Film
Library of the University of
Southwestern LouiSiana,
Lafayette, Louisiana. Special
thanks is extended to center
director, Dr. Jean T. Kreamer,
for her on-going enthusiasm
and direction of this project ,
and to Herbert Robinson,
Mark Lussier, and Nancy
Baker who wrote, edited, and
designed the 1985 issue. The
1993 issue was edited by
Michael Sartisky and David
Johnson, who was also
responsible for its design .
1993 Edition
Published by the Louisiana
Endowment for the Humanities
Copyright©1993 All rights reserved
ISBN 1-878732-02-1
• Funding provided by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities
The Arts: Art, Architecture and Music
*The Baroness
and Her Buildings
Video: 3/4"
Color; 43 minutes
A spirited account of
Baroness Micaela Almonester
de Pontalba who during the
mid-1800s, weathers a bad
marriage, an attempt on her
life by her father-in-law, the
wrath of the patriarchal
Napoleonic legal codes, and
the mildew and malaria of
early New Orleans. Narrated
in part by the late Senator
Eugene McCarthy, this
documentary also depicts the
Baroness' construction of the
famous Pontalba row houses
in Jackson Square, their
subsequent decline by the turn
of the century, and their
preservation and restoration
beginning in the 1920s.
Copyright 1984.
Director: Christina Vella
Baroque Dance: 1675-1725
Video: VHS
Color; 23 minutes
An introduction to the
social and theatrical dance of
the baroque period and
includes texts, notations, and
graphic illustrations from the
period . Sequences illustrate
the minuet, finger and hand
movements, and techniques of
interpreting baroque notation.
The film concludes with a
performance of a fourmovement ballet in full
costume and masks.
Copyright 1979.
Producer: UCLA Department
of Dance
Director: Allegra Fuller Snyder
Beyond Words:
The Story of
The Southern Review
Video: VHS, 3/4"
Color; 30 minutes
A descriptive history of
one of the nation's top journals
of Southern literature. Tells of
the founding and the long
history the journal has enjoyed
at Louisiana State University.
Includes interviews with
Robert Penn Warren , Walker
Percy, and the founders and
editors of The Southern
Review.
Producer:Peggy Scott Laborde
Director: Danella Hero
Cathedral
Video: VHS
Color; 60 minutes
Based on his awardwinning book, author David
Macaulay hosts this story of
the building and function ing of
a Gothic cathedral in medieval France. Told through
animation , drawn from
Macaulay's distinctive style ,
the film traces the planning ,
construction , and dedication
of an imaginative, but
historically representative
cathedral. Copyright 1985.
Producer: Ray HubbardUnicorn Projects
Director: Larry Klein and
Mark Olshaker
Degas in New Orleans
Video: 3/4"
Color; 28 minutes
Most people are unaware
that Degas spent a great deal
of time in New Orleans, and
this video traces Degas'
sojourn to and long stay in
New Orleans. Narrated by
noted film director Louis
Malle, it looks at the cultural
contexts that helped shape
Degas' artistic production .
Copyright 1978.
Producer: Goldman Prod.
Director: Gary Goldman
Four Women Artists
Video: VHS
Color; 24 minutes
The film introduces four
Mississippi artists: Eudora
Welty , who observes and
comments on her own and
other author's writings ;
Pecolia Warner, who learned
to quilt while sitting under her
mother's quilting frame ; Ethel
Mohamed, who records
episodes in her family's
history in detailed embroidery; and Theodora Hamblett,
who creates bright mosaics of
painted dots inspired by
childhood memories.
Copyright 1977.
Producer: Judy Peiser/
Center for Southern Folklore
Director: Bill Ferris
* Funding provided by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities
*Gottschalk,
A Musical Portrait
Video: VHS (VHS/Beta), 3/4"
Color; 60 minutes
This award-winning
documentary, written by John
Huszar and Kirk LaVine , was
the first program produced for
television on the life and
music of the New Orleansborn Louis Moreau
Gottschalk, a 19th-century
composer of who broadened
the crescent city's creative
heritage to encompass not
only jazz, but classical music.
Although Gottschalk's
blending of jazz rhythms into
classical compositions
received brief international
acclaim during his lifetime,
the composer is little-known
today. The program 's national
broadcast on PBS in March
1987 helped renew interest in
this unique American innovator. Performances by the New
Orleans Symphony Orchestra, and solos by Phillipe
Entremont and Moses Hogan ,
are featured. Narrated by
scholar Robert Offergeld.
Copyright 1987
Producer: FilmAmerica, Inc.,
New York
Director: John Huszar
*In That Number!
The New Orleans Brass
Band Festival
Video: VHS, 3/4"
Color; 60 minutes
A film documentary
which explores the relationship between New Orleans
jazz and brass bands, and
the city's cultural and social
traditions and developments.
Copyright 1985.
Producer: Louisiana State
MuseumlTamra Carboni
Director: Jerry Brock
*Indochina Revisited:
A Portrait By
Jean Despujols
Video: 3/4"
Color; 28 minutes
This documentary
reexamines the sojourn of
French-born painter Jean
Despujols as he traversed
Vietnam , Cambodia and Laos
in 1936-38. Despujols was
selected by the French
government to paint a visual
record of then French
Indochina. Making use of
Despujols' travel journals,
paintings and musical
compositions , the video offers
a glimpse into the past of a
region yet untouched by a
series of wars and revolutions. It is a highly idealistic
view of a diverse and noble
people fired in the eternity of
their beliefs, and the work
embodies the history and
culture of a region now
drastically changed by the
incursion of modern civilization. Copyright 1984.
Producer: Meadows Museum of Art/Willard Cooper
Director: Coconut Grove
Productions
Willter 1992/1993 MEDIA CATALOG 47
Ethnic Studies
'John McCrady's
Southern Scene
Video: VHS, 3/4"
Color; 30 minutes
A documentary on the life
and times of John McCrady,
one of the South's most
influential artists . McCrady's
paintings received national
acclaim in the 1930s and
1940s. His New Orleans art
school operated for over 40
years, yet his legacy remains
largely unknown to the
general public. The documentary surveys his life through
his work and through interviews with several of his
students .
Producer: Choupique
Productions
Director: Matt Martinez
Man in the Renaissance
Video: VHS
Color; 27 minutes
Filmed in Italy, this film
uses visual imagery, music,
and naration to illustrate how
man acquired a new sense of
his own importance as an
individual during the Renaissance. Copyright 1973.
Producer: Norman Kegan/
University of Connecticut
Director: Alessandro Cane
'Music in the Air,
Blues in My Soul
Video: 3/4"
Color; 15 minutes
This brief documentary
examines the life of Robert
Pete Williams, famed
Louisiana bluesman . The
vide o explicates the sources
of Wil liams' musical compositions : the prison term spent in
Angola and the tight-knit
family who supported
Williams during his stay there .
As a biographical document
tracing the troubled life of
Williams , the video successfully provides insights into the
motivations that fueled the
musician's output.
Copyright 1983.
Producer/Director: James
LaRocca
'Mystery of the Purple Rose:
Creole Jazz Pioneers
Film: 16mm;
Video: VHS, 3/4"
Color; 30 minutes
A documentary on the
Black Creole violinist/music
publisher AJ . Pi ron and the
musicians in his orchestra. As
Piron is considered by many
jazz historians to represent
that essential evolutionary link
between ragtime and jazz,
the program explores the
origins of the Creole style and
its enormous influence on
jazz. Actual authorship of the
composition "The Purple
Rose of Cairo" is the mystery
alluded to in the program's
title . Copyright 1988.
Producer: WYES-TV ,
New Orleans
Director: Peggy Scott Laborde
'Steel Dreams
Video: VHS
Color; 16 minutes
This documentary
profiles Louisiana steel
sculptor AI Lavergne . The
cinema verite style of this film
shows Lavergne throughout a
wide variety of processes in
the creation of his work.
Copyright 1985.
Producer: Louisiana Public
Broadcasting
Director: Charles Bush
'Up from the Cradle of Jazz
Video: 3/4", VHS
Color; 30 minutes
This lively and informative video traces the development of New Orleans jazz
music by focusing on two
musical families : the Lasties
and the Nevilles. From
interviews with family members, still photographs, and
voice-over narration emerges
an understanding of the
relationship between family
and artistic production , place
and sound . An attempt is
made to locate these familial
traditions within the larger
structure of jazz music and
African-American cultural
traditions.
Copyright 1980.
Producer: New Orleans
Video Access Center
Director: Jason Berry
'Alligator Hunters:
A Louisiana Legacy
Video: VHS, 3/4"
Color; 60 minutes
Initially televised by
Louisiana Public Broadcasting, this video documents the
time-honored tradition of
alligator hunting by men and
women in the marshes of
Vermilion Parish .
Copyright 1986.
Producer: Islands of the
Marsh Productions , Inc.
Director: Gerald Sellers
'Cajun Crossroads
Video: VHS, 3/4"
Color; 60 minutes
Originally aired on
WLAE-TV , New Orleans , this
documentary accurately
portrays a culture that is
popular without being well
understood. The range of
Cajun lifestyles is recorded
from bayou and prairie , urban
center to oil rig , white-collar
offices to waterways of
farmers and fishermen. Prior
studies of Cajuns considered
the impact of the oil boom ,
but this one goes further by
considering how both the rise
and fall of the oil industry
have changed south Louisiana culture . Copyright 1987.
Producer: WLAE -TV , New
Orleans/Peggy Scott Laborde
Director: Karen Snyder
'Red Beans & Ricely Yours:
Satchmo in New Orleans
Video: 3/4"
Color; 60 minutes
A television documentary
profiling the primary social
and musical influences of the
New Orleans years on jazz
legend Louis Armstrong .
Locations , historic visuals ,
and recordings will shed new
light on the development of
jazz. Copyright 1990.
Producer: WYES-TV ,
New Orleans
Director: Peggy Scott Laborde
48 LOUIS IANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMAN ITIES\ Willier 1992
*Calvin Peter Thompson
Video: 3/4"
Color; 28 minutes
During the development
of black cultural and political
consciousness in the midtwentieth century, especially
in the rural regions of central
Louisiana, the church played
a major role. The story of one
man, the Reverend Calvin
Peter Thompson, as he
became a leading force in the
black struggle , offers a critical
assessment of this development. As an educator and
clergyman , Reverend
Thompson overcame social
and economic hardship to
provide a model for succeeding generations of black
Americans. Copyright 1979.
Producer: W. Belmont
Townsend Foundation
Director: Tom Whitehead
*The Creole Controversy
Video: 3/4"
Color; 30 minutes
This documentary film
explores the history and
misconceptions surrounding
the Creole identity and use of
the term . Interviews with
three scholars who claim
Creole ancestry are featured.
Copyright 1989.
Producer: WYES-TV , New
Orleans/Peggy Scott Laborde
*Dancing the Shrimp
Video: 3/4"
Color; 60 minutes
Louisiana , a state widely
known for its French-AfricanCreole culture , was also a magnet for Filipino immigrants. The
first settlers from the Phillipines
were maritime deserters who
jumped from Spanish galleons
plying the Gulf of Mexico. Many
took up shrimping , eventually
establishing Manila Village , a
community on the shores of
Barataria Bay. The experiences
of recent arrivals are also included.
Producer: Magic Lantern Films
Director: James and Isabel
Kenny
*The Fork in the Mississippi:
Bayou LaFourche
Video: 3/4", 1/2"
Color; 20 minutes
A traditional voice-over
narration documentary of life
as it has developed along one
of Louisiana's major bayous.
This video traces the French
roots of the area and captures much of the color of
bayou life, including sleepy
southern mansions, attractive
Cajun cottages , festive ' fete
do-dos' (Cajun festivals
including dances) , boat
building , the blessing of the
fleets, and a decoy duck
carver. The development of
the off-shore oil industry is
linked to the sudden changes
in a way of life that had
remained basically unchanged for two centuries . A
work of touristic and social/
cultural interest for a broad
audience. Copyright 1978.
Producer: Nicholls State
University
Director: Ron Simoral
*Franco-Americans
of Louisiana:
A Cultural Kaleidoscope
Video: 3/4"
Color; 55 minutes
In the first half of this
video, Allegra Roach and
Mike Comeaux ask seven
people from a cross-section
of Louisiana to comment on
what it means to be Creole or
Cajun , and why efforts are
being made to preserve the
French language in Louisiana. Following is a panel
discussion moderated by
Charles Zewe . In light of the
preceding interviews, four
eminent folklorists discuss
their definitions for Creole
and Cajun . Copyright 1980.
Producer: LA State
Department of Education
Director: Allegra Roach and
Mike Comeaux
*Hands That Picked Cotton:
Black Politics in The Rural
South
Video: 3/4", 1/2"
Color; 60 minutes
This documentary honors
the 20-year anniversary of
the Voting Rights Act of 1964,
and affords viewers a rare
opportunity to analyze the
impact this landmark legislation has had on voters and
politicians in rural Louisiana
and Mississippi . More
important, the film chronicles
the growth (and frustrations)
of a new-found political
consciousness among
previously disenfranchised
people attempting to make
their voice heard through the
system . The film analyzes the
disappointments and problems facing several black
candidates as they seek entry
into the historically whitedominated political arenas in
both states. Copyright 1984.
Producer: Alan Bell
Director: Paul Stekler
*Huit Piastres Et Demie
($8.50)
Video: 3/4"
Color; 60 minutes
As an episode from the
history of Louisiana's Cajuns
is recounted , the viewer gains
a rich understanding of Cajun
life. The Shrimp War of 1938,
a series of strikes during
which shrimpers sought
higher selling prices , involved
most of the Gulf and Atlantic
coast fleets . The fishermen of
Golden Meadows, a Louisiana village , waged one such
strike. Their efforts have
become a subject for storytelling , an oral tradition by
which Cajun culture has been
kept alive for several centuries. Entirely in Cajun French
with English subtitles , the
reenactment of the strike is
performed by the residents of
Golden Meadows, many of
whom remember the event
itself. The video immerses the
viewer in Cajun attitudes,
making an implicit plea for the
preservation of Cajun culture.
Producer: Cote Blanche
Productions
Director: Glen Pitre
*Islands of Saints and
Souls
Video: VHS, 3/4"
Color; 30 minutes
A documentary about the
development of ethnic
Catholicism in New Orleans.
Holiday traditions, such as
the maintenance of family
tombs on All Saints Day,
altars and bread baking on
St. Joseph~ Day, and
cabbage-throwing during the
Irish Channel parade on St.
Patrick's Day are explored .
The story behind the creation
of St. Expedite is also
explained.
Video Access Center
Director: Neil Alexander
*Multi-Image Presentations
on Afro-American History
Video: VHS/Beta
Color; 75 minutes
These five videotapes
are recorded versions of
audio/slide shows that focus
on the history and culture of
African-Americans , as well as
other ethnic groups in
Louisiana. The first tape
details the Amistad Research
Center, the largest American
ethnic history archive and the
only major archive in Louisiana of international scope.
The final four videotapes
document the history of
blacks and race relations in
the state from colonial times
to the present. The presentations make excellent use of
paintings, prints and photographs augmented by voiceover narration and musical
interludes. Copyright 1984.
Producer: Amistad Research
Center
*The Road To Las Vegas:
A Black Perspective
Video: 3/4"
Color; 30 minutes
America's expansive
space has always encouraged the migration of men
and women seeking a better
way of life, as immortalized
by Horace Greeley's urge to
go west. This video follows
the movement of black
families from Tallulah ,
Louisiana , and Fordyce,
Arkansas , to Las Vegas ,
Nevada, as they search for
greater economic security
and personal liberty. Using
oral histories, still photographs and archival materials
to depict the families'
struggles , the work pays
homage to American opportunity, but also reminds us that
the forces of poverty and
Wi nter 1992/1993 MEDIA CATALOG 49
History: Louisiana and Southern
racism help shape the lay of
the land. Copyright 1984.
Producer: KLVX-TV,
Las Vegas
'Something Nobody Else
Has: The Story of Turtle
Trapping in Louisiana
Video: VHS, 3/4"
Color; 28 minutes
The trapping of turtles
has proven one of Louisiana's
most lucrative natural
industries and the kernel of
an entire subculture. This
enterprise and some of the
economic, anthropological
and historical ramifications
are rendered through footage
of trappers in action, still
photographs , and interviews
with trappers, chefs and
scholars. These speakers
suggest that the gradual
erosion of the trapping
industry has significantly
impoverished Louisiana's
culture. Important questions
are raised about the impact
the exploitation of turtles has
had not only on nature but on
society itself. Copyright 1984.
Producer/Director: Lee Aber
'View from the Stoop
Video: VHS, 3/4"
Color; 28 minutes
An affectionate look at
the disappearing art of stoopsitting and catching the
breeze. Stoop-sitting is as old
as the stoops themselves,
and gives the participants a
front row seat for Mardi Gras
celebrations. Struggling to
make a comeback, the stoop
culture exists in an outdoor
living room which provides the
socializers a place to share
memories, gossip, and visits
with friends. Copyright 1982.
Video Access Center
'Yes Ma'am:
Household Domestic
Workers in New Orleans
Video: 3/4"
Color; 57 minutes
An in-depth look at the
profession of domestic
service, where workers often
consider themselves a part of
the family. Injustices are
examined , and the impor-
tance of religion in the lives of
domestic workers is explored.
The old order is contrasted
with the new, in which the
more militant members of the
profession have formed the
Household Technicians of
Louisiana union .
Copyright 1979.
Producer: VNV Communic.
Director: Gary Goldman
You Can't Judge a Book
by Its Cover:
Sayings from the Life of
Junebug Jabbo Jones
Video: VHS
Color; 30 minutes
Narrated by Julian Bond,
the film offers a rare glimpse
into the process of creating a
one-man theatrical production. The show is based on
the mythical storyteller
Junebug Jabbo Jones,
created by John O'Neal , and
is the result of O'Neal and
other activists' experiences
during the civil rights movement. In Junebug , O'Neal
transforms himself into 24
characters or voices in order
to illustrate the triumphs and
frustrations of an average
black man during the period
of 1940 through the 1960s.
Copyright 1989.
Producer: George King
Director: Steve Kent
'Zydeco: Creole Music and
Culture in Rural Louisiana
Video: 3/4"
Color; 60 minutes
Out of the Cajun tradition
of story-telling has grown
some of the most distinctive
music of the nation. The term
"creole" as applied here
means individuals of diverse
ancestry including French,
Spanish, Cajun , AfricanFrench , African-American ,
Indian, and German. The
video uses community-wide
expressive forms to illuminate
Creole social identity as it
connects with and diverges
from other thriving ethnic
groups.
Copyright 1983.
Producer: Center for Gulf
South History
Director: Nicholas Spitzer
50 LOUISI ANA EN DOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES\ Winter 1992
'Among Brothers:
Politics in New Orleans
Video: VHS, 3/4"
Color; 60 minutes
Focusing on the New
Orleans mayoral race of
1986, this documentary tracks
the rise of the new black
urban politics that emerged as
political cleavages developed
within the black community .
These events are closely
considered within the context
of urban ethnic political
history. Copyright 1987.
Producer: Center for New
American Media
Director: Paul Stekler
The Civil War
Video: VHS
Color; 60 minutes each
The award-winning , fullscale film history of the
terrible conflict that tore the
country apart and defined us
as a nation . Five years in the
making by film maker Ken
Burns, this profound documentary film series movingly
and vividly represents the
entire sweep of the war
where two percent of the
American population died.
The set consists of nine tapes
with a comprehensive
Teacher's Guide, Civil War
map, Timeline poster, and an
Index of People , Places , and
Events. Each of the following
episodes is available individually as well: 1861-The Cause ;
1862-A Very Bloody Affair;
1862-Forever Free; 1863Simply Murder; 1863-The
Universe of Battle; 1864Valley of the Shadow of
Death ; 1864-Most Hallowed
Ground; 1865-War is All Hell ;
and 1865-The Better Angels
of Our Nature.
Copyright 1990.
Producer: Florentine Films
Director: Ken Burns
*Dawn 's Early Light:
Ralph McGill and the
Segregated South
Video: VHS, 3/4"
Color; 60 minutes
A multi-state grant
supported this documentary
on the life and times of Ralph
McGill, long time editor of the
Atlanta Constitution , who was
influential in the fight for civil
rights and against racial
segregation in the South.
Copyright 1986.
Producer: South Carolina
Educ. Television Network
Director: Kathleen Dowdey/
Jed Dannenbaum
'The Ends Of The Earth:
Plaquemines Parish,
Louisiana
Video: 3/4" , 2 cassettes
Color; 65 minutes
The saga of the Perez
family and how their political
wheeling and dealing has
affected Plaquem ines Parish .
Included are interviews with
Judge Leander Perez, whose
total control of the Parish led
him to make deals that
bordered on the dishonest.
Clips of Leander Perez, Jr.
and Chalin Perez are also
presented, as are interviews
with voters and prominent
residents of the parish. The
documentary, which reveals
how poverty existed alongside
wealth in a state stricken with
political tyranny, describes
what happened to a forgotten
parish rocked by the oil
discovery of 1933.
Copyright 1982.
Producer: The Center for
New American Media
Director: Andrew Kolker
*He Must Have Something
Video: 1/2",3/4"
Color; 90 minutes
This documentary - the
humanities answer to
Hollywood's JFK - uses
archival footage and interviews with those involved in
the trial of New Orleans
businessman Clay Shaw, the
only person ever prosecuted
in connection with the
assassination of President
John F. Kennedy. Historian
Michael Kurtz of Southeastern Louisiana University
provides a thoughtful critique
and factual perspective of
Oliver Stone 's grossly
distorted portrayal of the trial
that set off a national campaign to descredit attorney
Jim Garrison's hypothesis and
defend the Warren
Commission's report on the
assassi nation.
Producer: WLAE-TV, New
Orleans
Director: Steve Tyler
*Huey Long
Film: 16mm; Video: 3/4"
Color; 90 minutes
By examining the
appearance of Huey Long on
the national scene, this
documentary attempts to
reveal the character of
Louisiana and America during
a period of economic and
political crisis. It sees the
emergence of Louisiana's
self-proclaimed "Kingfish" as
part of a reaction against the
economic and political forces
of exploitation that characterized the state's history since
the Civil War. Long , who
improved public education ,
built roads and bridges , and
expanded and improved the
quality of public health
services, almost overnight
lifted Louisiana out of a state
of near feudalism into the
modern world. But his
achievement, founded upon a
political philosophy that made
him a virtual dictator of
unprecedented powers, had
ominous implications for both
the state and for Long
personally. Funded under
grants from the NEH , The
Corporation for Public
Broadcasting , Friends of
Louisiana Public Broadcasting, Greater Washington
Educational Television , and
the LEH .
Copyright 1985.
Producer: RKB/Florentine
Films, Richard Kilberg
Director: Ken Burns
*La Pharmacie Francais
Video: VHS, 3/4"
Color; 30 minutes
A documentary centering
on the Historical Pharmacy
Museum in New Orleans,
including the early history of
the pharmacy in Louisiana ,
the significance of the
museum building (where the
nation 's first licensed pharmacist operated in 1823), and
archaeological finds in the
building's courtyard.
Copyright 1986.
Producer: Loyola University,
New Orleans
Director: Robin Kotchan
*Long Shadows
Video: 3/4"
Color; 60 minutes
This work focuses on the
persistent legacy of the Civil
War still affecting the American psyche. Several issues
growing out of the war have
entrenched themselves in the
deepest strata of our culture :
the rights of dissenting
minorities, the convergence of
business and national
concerns , and the urbanization of our society, to name a
few. The project was funded
by the NEH , the LEH , and 10
other humanities councils.
Copyri ght 1985.
Producer: James Agee
Film Group
Director: Ross Spears
*Louisiana Boys:
Raised on Politics
Video: 1/2", 3/4"
Color; 60 minutes
This documentary takes
a humorous look at the
colorful , Byzantine, and often
unorthodox political culture of
Louisiana - a state which
has produced the likes of the
legendary Huey Long , his
brother Earl (who was
committted to an insane
asylum during his last term) ,
Jimmie Davis (who sang his
farewell address to the
legislature), the slick fourtime-elected Edwin Edwards,
as well as reactionary figures
such as David Duke and
Plaquemines Parish 's
Leander Perez.
American Media
Director: Paul Stekler, Louis
Alvarez , Andrew Kolker
*Uncle Earl
Video: VHS, 3/4"
Color; 60 minutes
This documentary
combines archival footage ,
still photographs, and
contemporary reminiscences
in a review of the troubled
and troubling political career
of Earl K. Long , brother and
successor of Huey Long , who
fulfilled many of the promises
made by Huey's Share-OurWealth Program. The
program's premiere on
Louisiana Public Broadcasting
marked the 25th anniversary
of Long's death. Copyright
1986.
Broadcasting
Director: Rick Smith
Winter 1992 / 1993 MEDIA CATALOG 51
Law and Jurisprudence
'Angola: Society's Nemesis
Video: 3/4"
Color; 58 minutes
An historical survey of the
Louisiana State prison at
Angola and the status of the
prison system in Louisiana
today, including the history of
atrocities and brutalities
leading to Angola's identification in 1975 as the bloodiest
prison in America. The slavelabor aspect of the convict
lease program and the inmate
guard system are identified
as part of why Angola is
called Alcatraz of the South.
The second half of the
program. Questions regarding
the future of Angola's inmates
are probed. Copyright 1980.
Producer/Director: Thom Wolf
'Jury Duty:
Criminal Proceedings
Video: 3/4"
Color; 25 minutes
This video documents
one day in the life of a citizen
who has been called for jury
duty in a criminal proceeding.
Producer: Video Enterprises
Director: John Korbel
'Louisiana Prison: Angola
Video: 3/4"
Color; 27 minutes
An eye-opening and
dramatic portrayal of life
inside the crowded Angola
Prison . Among the topics are
the exploitation of inmates,
brutality, and the "fresh-fish "
orientation to the electric
chair. Changes , both good
and bad , are examined, and
the inmates are given voice.
Based on the book "Politics
and Punishment" by Dr. Mark
T. Carleton. Copyright 1983.
Producer: Innovative Films
'Rape By Any Name
Video: VHS, 3/4"
Color; 60 minutes
This documentary
explores the subject of
acquaintance rape , and how
the judicial system deals with
the act. Copyright 1990.
Broadcasting
Directors: Angelique
Lastrapes & Wade Hanks
Literature
'Which Governs Best
Video: 3/4"
Color; 60 minutes
Using New Orleans as a
test case , this ambitious
video produced for television
examines the role that
government plays in the lives
of three families from different
socio-economic groups.
Among the issues presented
are the questions surrounding
the government's proper
domain, accountability and
responsibility .
Copyright 1986.
Producer: Institute of Human
Relations/Loyola University,
New Orleans
Director: Eddie Kuntz
'Your Day in Court:
A Civil Proceeding
Video: 3/4"
Color; 20 minutes
A civil court case is
traced from initial discussions
with lawyers, through the
court process, to the appeals
process. Steps necessary for
a materially injured party to
follow in Louisiana's civil court
system are detailed.
Producer: Paulette Holahan/
Louisiana Supreme Court
Director: John KorbelNideo
Enterprises Inc.
'Your Louisiana Courts:
How They Work
Video: 3/4"
Color; 23 minutes
This is a basic and
practical explanation of how
the Louisiana judicial system
works . It delves into the
history and touches on the
philosophy of Louisiana law
while portraying the civil law
tradition . Noting the differences of the Louisiana judicial
system from other states, the
video ponders the French and
Spanish roots of Louisiana's
courts to reveal its combination of canon and civil law.
The procedures of a civil trial ,
how laws are made in
Louisiana, and the levels of
the court system are explained.
Producer: Paulette Holahan/
Louisiana Supreme Court
Director: John KorbelNideo
Enterprises Inc.
52 LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE H UMANITIES \ Willier 1992
Almos' A Man
(by Richard Wright)
Film: 16mm
Color; 39 minutes
A black, teenage farm
worker - Dave - persuades
his mother to give him part of
his earnings for a used hand
gun . While timidly practicing
with it, he accidentally kills a
mule. Consequently, his
father demeans him in front
of the landowner, who
demands that he work 25
months to pay for the animal.
At nightfall, armed with vague
notions of manhood and
independence, Dave retrieves
his gun and hops aboard a
passing train . LeVar Burton is
featured. NEH American
Short Story Series.
Copyright 1983.
Producer: Perspective Films
Distributor: Coronet Instructional Films
Barn Burning
(by William Faulkner)
Film: 16mm, 2 reels
Color; 41 minutes
Tommy Lee Jones and
Shawn Wittington are
featured in this story of a
family of tenant farmers in the
rural South. Any disagreement with the landowners
provokes the head of the
family to commit acts of
destruction against his
employers. His son must
choose between his aversion
to playing the accomplice in
his father's violent and hatefilled deeds and his desire to
win his father's acceptance.
NEH American Short Story
Series. Copyrig~ 1983.
Bernice Bobs Her Hair
(by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
Film: 16mm, 2 reels
Color; 48 minutes
A member of the preflapper generation , Bernice is
transformed from a reticent
ugly duckling into a successful , sought after vamp by her
manipulative cousin Marjorie.
Shelley Duvall plays Bernice,
who becomes so adroit at
social cliches and conven-
tions that she wins the hearts
of all Marjorie's suitors. When
trapped into bobbing her hair,
however, Bernice loses her
new-found beauty. Her
revenge gives the story a
delightful , ironic twist. NEH
American Short Story Series.
Copyright 1983.
The Blue Hotel
(by Stephen Crane)
Film: 16mm, 2 reels
Color; 55 minutes
The time is the 1880s.
An alien arrives in a small ,
moody town in Nebraska. He
anticipates the wild west of
the dime novels--and parlays
that antiCipation into his own
death. As fear and antagonism mingle to produce an
atmosphere of fateful
expectation , a card game
sets off accusations, and
events that follow point to a
timeless theme : the complicity of every person in his or
her own fate and the fate of
others. NEH American Short
Story Series. Copyright 1983.
Boswell for the Defense
Video: VHS
Color; 90 minutes
In this historical story by
Mark Harris, James Reid ,
accussed of stealing 19
sheep , was defended by
Scottish lawyer and writer,
James Boswell, perhaps best
known as the biographer of
Samuel Johnson. The story
explores the question of
Reid's guilt and the larger
question of the quality of
justice in 18th century
Scotland.
Copyright 1983.
Producer: Howard Sayre
Weaver/BBC
Director: Roderick Graham
The Displaced Person
(by Flannery O'Connor)
Film: 16mm, 2 reels
Color; 58 minutes
The displaced person is
a conscientious , but driven
Polish refugee , who arrives
with his family at a Georgia
farm in the late 1940s. An
elderly priest has arranged for
the family 's placement but,
obsessed with preaching his
scriptures, does not succeed
in integrating the refugees
with the farm dwellers.
Suspicion and hostility grow
until all are brought together
in a tragic act of complicity.
Featured are Irene Worth and
John Houseman. NEH
Copyright 1983.
The Golden Honeymoon
(by Ring Lardner)
Film: 16mm, 2 reels
Color; 52 minutes
Teresa Wright and
James Whitmore star in the
poignant comedy about an
elderly couple who take a
winter vacation in St. Petersburg , Florida in the 1920s.
There they discover that 50
years of marriage do not
prevent the stirring of old
jealousies or diminish the
chances of an even deeper
love. NEH American Short
Story Series. Copyright 1983.
The Greatest Man
In The World
(by James Thurber)
Film: 16mm
Color; 39 minutes
The first man to fly solo
and non-stop around the
world is an illiterate, incorrigible lout, and attempts by
news reporters and high
government officials to
present him as a hero fail
dismally. Featured are Brad
Davis and Carol Kane . NEH
Copyright 1983.
I'm A Fool
(by Sherwood Anderson)
Film: 16mm
Color; 38 minutes
A young man's job, his
relationship with his coworkers and his desire to
impress those around him
mark his passage to adulthood. In this film , Ron
Howard plays Andy, a swipe
doing manual labor on the
Ohio racetrack circuit in the
early 1900s. When Andy
meets a beautiful woman at
the track, he tries to impress
her by exaggerating his
position in life . When the
young lady reveals her
fondness for him , Andy is
trapped--afraid to win her with
the truth . NEH American
Short Story Series.
Copyright 1983.
The Jilting of
Granny Weatherall
(by Katherine Anne Porter)
Film: 16mm, 2 reels
Color; 57 minutes
Geraldine Fitzgerald
portrays a matriarch who, on
her death bed , struggles to
resolve tormenting memories
of a past she had long since
buried. Lois Smith is featured
as her daughter. NEH
Copyright 1983.
The Jolly Corner
(by Henry James)
Film: 16mm
Color; 43 minutes
Spencer Brydon returns
to New York 35 years after
fleeing the Civil War. At once
repelled and lured by American lust for profit and power,
he wonders who he would
have been had he never left
for Europe. On one of his
frequent visits to the haunted
house of his youth , he
encounters his other identity
- and the possibilities this
knowledge permits him. NEH
Copyright 1983.
'The Joy That Kills
Film: 16mm, Video: 3/4"
Color; 60 minutes
This film is an interpretation of Kate Chopin's "The
Story of an Hour" which
focuses on the mental
liberation experienced by the
heroine, Louise Mallard, upon
hearing a mistaken report of
her husband's death . The
work explores the relationship
of this "happily married
couple" and climaxes with
Louise's collapse as she
confronts the return of her
supposedly dead husband .
An in-depth exam ination of
one woman's repression by
the constraining social attitudes
found in the patriarchal South of
the 19th century.
Copyright 1984.
Producer: Cypress Films, Inc.
Director: Tina Rathbone
Kate Chopin's
Story of an Hour
Video: VHS
Color; 24 minutes
Set in Victorian New
Orleans, the film is the
retelling of a brief and final
episode in the short life of
Mrs. Louise Mallard and has
been characterized as a
poignant insight into Chopin's
personality. Copyright 1982.
Producer: Ishtar Films
Katherine Anne Porter:
The Eye of Memory
Video: VHS
Color; 56 minutes
The early life and work of
author Katherine Anne Porter
are the subject of this film
portrait, which first aired as
part of the PBS American
Masters series . Includes
interviews with Eudora Welty
and Robert Penn Waren
among others.
Producers: Patricia Perini/
Calvin Skaggs-KERA-TV,
Director: Ken Harrison
The Man that
Corrupted Hadleyburg
(by Mark Twain)
Film: 16mm, 2 reels
Color; 40 minutes
The mantle of a small
town 's self-righteousness is
torn from Hadleyburg when a
visiting stranger concocts a
scheme to test the honesty of
the town 's leading citizens.
Featured are Robert Preston,
Fred Gwynne , Tom Aldredge ,
and Frances Sternhagen .
Series. Copyright 1983.
The Music School
(by John Updike)
Film: 16mm
Color; 30 minutes
A contemporary writer
struggles during a 24-hour
period to find a focus in his
life. Religion and technology,
contemporary violence and
social change all emerge in
vivid images--as do the fragile
moments of joy the writer
enjoys when he takes his
daughter to music school.
Series. Copyright 1983.
Parker Adderson,
Philosopher
Film: 16mm
Color; 39 minutes
Parker Adderson is a
captured Yankee spy whose
facile philosophy and flippant
concern for life arouse a
Confederate general 's
instincts for sham. The harsh
reality of his impending
execution brings abrupt
character changes in
Adderson , and a vicious
battle in the general's tent
ensues. Finally, there is a
maudlin execution at midnight--in violation of all honor
codes . Copyright 1983.
Winter 1992/ 1993 MEDIA CATALOG 53
Social Documentary
Paul's Case
(by Willa Cather)
Film: 16mm, 2 reels
Color; 55 minutes
This film centers on a
romantic young man who
drops out of high school in
turn-of-the-century Pittsburgh
and journeys to New York
City. Copyright 1983.
Rappaccini's Daughter
(by Nathaniel Hawthorne)
Film: 16mm, 2 reels
Color; 57 minutes
Kristoffer Tabori and
Kathleen Beller are featured
in this tale of 18th century
Italy and a young man's
romantic entanglement with a
beautiful yet forbidden young
woman in a poisonous
garden. Copyright 1983.
The Sky Is Gray
(by Ernest Gaines)
Film: 16mm, 2 reels
Color; 47 minutes
A young black farmboy's
visit to the dentist in a small
Louisiana town marks the
dawning of his social and self
awareness. Olivia Cole,
Cleavon Little, and James
Bond III star. Copyright 1983.
Soldier's Home
(by Ernest Hemingway)
Film: 16mm
Color; 42 minutes
Harold Krebs is a soldier
returned home following the
greeting of heroes at the
conclusion of World War I.
Wanting only to live his life
simply--to avoid lies and
complication--he struggles to
make sense of the past and
to face the uncertainties
ahead.
AIDS: Plague, Panic and
the Test of Human Values
Video: VHS
Color; 30 minutes
The Maine Humanities
Council held a conference in
May 1987 to explore the way
societies have responded to
grave threats to the public
health. Condensed in this
videotape are highlights of
the conference's discussions-led by scholars, health and
community leaders, and
public officials--concerning
the public alarm, private
fears, and rising tide of policy
proposals surrounding AIDS.
Among those featured are
writer and critic Susan
Sontag, and David Herlihy,
Professor of History, Brown
University. Copyright 1988.
Producer: Maine Humanities
Council
Editor: Polly Wilkinson
"Anything I Can Catch:
The Handfishing Story
Color; 30 minutes
The historical, cultural,
and ecological significance of
the regional tradition of
handfishing is explored.
Never before studied indepth, handfishing has a
place in the cultural history of
southwest Louisiana. Copyright 1990.
Producer: Cajun French
Music Association , Inc.
Director: Patrick Mire
"Backlash: Race and the
American Dream
Video: 1/2",3/4"
Color; 60 minutes
Through in-depth
interviews, this documentary
explores the resurgence of
racism in politics across
America, focusing on Louisiana and the political platform
of David Duke. Examined are
Duke supporter's fears that
they are no longer part of the
American Dream, while
Duke's critics explain how he
uses minorities and the poor
to inflame and manipulate
voters .
Broadcasting
Director: Bess Carrick
54 LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES \ Wi nter 1992
*From the Wake of the Bow
Video: 1/2",3/4"
Color; 58 minutes
This documentary
profiles a Louisiana tradition-the art of boat building.
Rapidly disappearing, boat
building is traditionally handed
down from generation to
generation . This film is an
attempt to preserve an
important legacy for future
generations. Copyright 1990.
Producer: WLAE-TV,
New Orleans
Director: Barbara Sillery
*Louisiana Health Care
Video: VHS
Color; 15 minutes
A still photo with voiceover documentary which
explores the historical and
ethical roots of the Charity
heath care system. Discussion of the current status of
Louisiana health care is
presented. Copyright 1987.
Producer: League of Women
Voters of Louisiana
Director: Robin Rothrock
*Men of the Ring: Boxing
Legends of New Orleans
Film; Color; 60 minutes
This film traces the
development of professional
boxing in New Orleans from
the late 19th century , when
the city became the capital of
American prizefighting ,
through the 1960s, when its
prominence in the boxing
world faded to obscurity. Men
who helped establish boxing's
fame and shame are introduced, and an assessment of
the sport's place in New
Orleans' political , social,
racial, economic, and criminal
arenas is presented . Copyright 1989.
Producer: WLAE-TV , New
Orleans
Director: Kathleen Mulvihill
·Our Land Too
Film: 16mm;
Video: VHS, 3/4"
Color; 57 minutes
A film documentary of
the development of the
sharecroppers' union founded
by H.L. Mitchell in the rural
South of the 1930s. The lives
of small farmers, strawberry
growers, dairymen , fishermen , and sugarcane plantation workers are portrayed in
this multi-state project.
Copyright 1987.
Producer: Southern Tenant
Farmers Union , Inc.lLandon
McCrary
Director: KPI Kudzu Film and
Video Productions
*Portraits of Aging
Video: VHS, 3/4"
Color; 42 minutes
"Accept life as it comes ,"
says a retired man who
spends much of his time
raising and caring for bees.
He is one of eight individuals
in this upbeat video who are
facing the last quarter of their
lives with hope, courage ,
imagination, love, and a
sense of friendship. The
perceptions of an aging
female narrator are cleverly
mixed with glimpses into
these eight lives. The retirees
range from a philosopher
busy on a new book, to a
black ex-pro ball player, to a
woman with artificial knees
who learns to dance again. A
touching portrait of triumph
suitable for all ages and all
groups. " Don 't ever say you
can't," says one character in
this rare glance at the rich
possibilities of aging.
Copyright 1978.
Producer: Fred W. Miller
Director: Bill Wadsworth
"To the Best of Our Abilities
Video: 3/4"
Color; 28 minutes
The opening of Benjamin
Franklin High School in New
Orleans was an early attempt
to offer gifted youngsters an
environment in which their
natural and cultural talents
could flourish to the best of
their abilities. Via interviews
with several graduates, this
video returns to Benjamin
Franklin a decade later to
determine whether success
or failure has marked this
grand experiment's efforts to
surpass other public schools.
Copyright 1984.
Producer/Director: Fred
Schultz
Working With Einstein
Video: 3/4"
Color; 60 minutes
During the period of his
life in which he wrestled with
the unified field theory,
Einstein associated himself
with four young physicists/
mathematicians. These men
are brought together twentyfive years after Einstein's
death to reminisce about
Einstein the man. Each
discusses the personality and
accomplishments of their
teacher and associate. At the
end of the personal and
sometimes funny recollections, time is allotted for
questions from the audience.
Copyright 1979.
Producer: Blackwood Prod.
Director: Michael Blackwood
*Yeah, You Rite!
Video: 3/4"
Color; 28 minutes
Underscoring the
uniqueness of the spoken
word in New Orleans, this
video takes its viewers on a
linguistic tour of the dialects
found in various districts of
the city. The program offers
insights into language as a
force for social cohesion while
also addressing its role in the
stratification of society.
Highlighted are the historical
circumstances that shaped
New Orleans speech , and the
cultural ramifications of the
city's linguistic differences.
American Media
Director: Louis Alvarez ,
Andrew Kolker
COMING A TIRACTIONS
The following LEH-funded
films were still in production
at press time . They should
currently be joining circulation . Contact the LHRC for
any additional information .
Bloodline in Ink: The Life
and Work of Ernest Gaines
Video: VHS, 3/4"
Color; 60 minutes
A profile of one of
Louisiana's finest novelists.
Gaines is best known for his
novel "The Autobiography of
Miss Jane Pittman which was
remade for telvision.
Broadcasting
Director: Rick Smith
Dance for a Chicken: The Prairie Cajun Mardi Gras
Video: 1/2",3/4"
Color; 60 minutes
A documentary of rural
Cajun Mardi Gras rituals , delving
deeply into the Cajuns' symbolic
world to demonstrate the social
and religious signficance of this
traditon. The film presents rural
Mardi Gras in a balanced and
coherent fashion, giving accurate historical background and
cultural interpretation .
Producer: Liberty Cultural Association
Director: Patrick Mire
Goin ' to Chicago
Color
A documentary film
profiling the mass migration of
African-Americans from the
rural South to the urban North.
Focus is on the economic,
political , and social change in
the South, and the "myths" of
the new South. This project is
supported by several southern
humanities councils .
Producer: Center for the
Study of Southern Cultural/
University of Mississippi
Director: George King
Home Sweet Home
Video: 1/2", 3/4"
Color; 60 minutes
A history of the controversial yet successful utopian
community Llano del Rio. the
documentary traces the
cooperative's origins in
California and its move to and
subsequent 22-year history in
Louisiana.
Television
Director: Beverly Lewis
John Lewis and the Civil
Rights Movement
Video: 1/2", 3/4"
Color; 60 minutes
This documentary will
explore the history of the Civil
Rights Movement from the
perspective of Georgia
Congressman John Lewis who
was at the center of the
struggle and many related
historical events.
Producer: Center for Contemporary Media
Director: Jed Dannenbaum
Award Winners
Many of the media projects
which the LEH fully or
partially funded garnered
critical acclaim. Several
projects received prizes or
special showings in a variety
of categories at diverse film
and video festivals. The
following list offers Louisiana
the best in independently
produced films and videos,
making our wealth of active
film-makers and videographers one of the state's
primary cultural resources.
Alligator Hunters:
A Louisiana Legacy
Certificate of Commendation,
American Association for
State and Local History.
Statewide PBS Broadcast.
Among Brothers:
Politicians in New Orleans
Red Ribbon , American Film
Festival , Broadcast on PBS.
Anything I Can Catch:
The Handfishing Story
Certificate of Commendation ,
Backlash: Race and the
American Dream
Award of Merit, American
Association of State and
Local History, Broadcast on
PBS.
Cajun Crossroads
Association for State and
Local History. Statewide PBS
Broadcast.
The Creole Controversy
Certificate of Commendation ,
Ends of the Earth:
Plaquemines Parish
Blue Ribbon , History, American Film Festival; Gold
Medal , History, Houston
International Film Festival;
National PBS Broadcast;
National Video Festival;
American Film Institute.
Winter 1992 / 1993 MEDIA CATALOG 55
Gottschalk,
A Musical Portrait
National PBS broadcast;
Association for State and
Local History. Statewide PBS
Broadcast.
The Joy that Kills
Third Place , Red River Film
Festival ; National PBS
Broadcast, "American
Playhouse ;" First Place,
Hemisfilm Festival. Statewide
PBS Broadcast.
Hands that Picked Cotton:
Black Politics in the Rural
South
National PBS Broadcast; First
prize in two categories , San
Francisco Film and Video
Festival ; Statewide PBS
Broadcast.
Louisiana Boys:
Raised on Politics
Award of Merit, American Association of State and Local
History, Broadcast on PBS.
Huey Long
Silver Baton, Independent
Production category , 45th
Alfred I. Dupont-Columbia
Awards. National theatrical
tour and PBS broadcast.
Huit Piastres et Demie
Honorable Mention , Festival
of New Works, Contemporary
Arts Center; Finalist, Modern
Language Film Festival;
Featured Work, Festival de la
Rochelle.
Indochina Revisited: A
Portrait by Jean Despujols
CINE Golden Eagle; Gold
Medal , American Film
Festival: Gold Medal,
International Film and Video
Festival; First Place , Red
River Film Festival ; First
Place, San Francisco Film
and Video Festival; Statewide
PBS Broadcast.
Island of Saints and Souls
Bronze Award , Houston
International Film Festival
Mystery of the Purple Rose:
Saga of Creole Jazz Pioneers
First Place , Feature Television category, Press Club of
New Orleans; Certificate of
Commendation , American
Local History.
Red Beans and Ricely
Yours: Satchmo in
New Orleans
Local History.
Uncle Earl
1986 Southern Education
Television Association Award
for excellence in public
television programming.
View from the Stoop
Third Prize , Vera Cruz Video
Festival ; 7th Atlanta Film and
Video Festival; Tyneside Film
Festival of London .
Yes Ma'am:
Household Domestic
Workers in New Orleans
First Prize , American Film
Festival ; Statewide PBS
Broadcast.
Index to Films and Videos
Afro-American History, 48
AIDS , 54
Alligator Hunters, 48
Almos ' A Man , 52
Among Brothers, 50
Angola: Society's Nemesis, 52
Anything I Can Catch , 54
Backlash , 54
Barn Burning, 52
Baroness and Her Buildings, 47
Baroque Dance , 47
Bernice Bobs Her Hair, 52
Beyond Words, 47
Blue Motel , The, 52
Boswell for the Defense , 52
Cajun Crossroads , 48
Calvin Peter Thompson , 49
Cathedral , 47
Civil War, The, 50
Creole Controversy, The , 49
Dancing the Shrimp, 49
Dawn 's Early Light, 50
Degas in New Orleans, 47
Displaced Person , The , 53
Ends of the Earth, The , 50
Ernest Gaines, 55
Fork in the MiSSissippi , The, 49
Four Women Artists , 47
Franco-Americans of Louisiana, 49
From the Wake of the Bow, 54
Goin' to Chicago, 55
Golden Honeymoon , The , 53
Gottschalk, A Musical Portrait, 47
Greatest Man in the World , 53
Hands That Picked Cotton , 49
Huey Long , 51
Huit Piastres Et Demie, 49
I'm A Fool , 53
In That Number l , 47
Indochina Revisited, 47
Islands of Saints and Souls, 49
Jilting of Granny Weatherall , 53
Jolly Corner, The, 53
Joy That Kills, The, 53
Jury Duty, 52
Katherine Anne Porter, 53
La Pharmacie Francais , 51
Long Shadows , 51
Louisiana Boys, 51
Louisiana Health Care, 54
Louisiana Prison: Angola, 52
Man in the Renaissance , 48
Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg, 53
Men of the Ring , 54
Music in the Airl , 48
Music School , The , 53
Mystery of the Purple Rose , 48
Our Land Too , 54
Parker Adderson, Philosopher, 53
Paul 's Case , 54
Portraits of Aging , 54
Rape By Any Name , 52
Rappaccini 's Daughter, 54
Red Beans & Ricely Yours , 48
Road to Las Vegas, The, 49
Sky Is Gray, The, 54
Soldier's Home, 54
Something Nobody Else Has , 50
Steel Dreams, 48
Story of an Hour, 53
To the Best of Our Abilities , 54
Uncle Earl , 51
Up From the Cradle of Jazz, 48
View From the Stoop , 50
Which Governs Best, 52
Working With Einstein , 55
Yeah , You Rite! , 55
Yes Ma'am , 50
You Can't Judge a Book, 50
Your Day in Court, 52
Your Louisiana Courts , 52
Zydeco, 50
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produced people with ideas and energy who changed the face of the na .
A free and open exchange of ideas was a key ingredient in the building of
Louisiana's unique cultural heritage.
For the past 20 years, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities has
provided Louisiana citizens with thousands of opportunities for exploring
and appreciating this celebration of ideas.
The LEH invites your help in bringing this discussion of ideas to all
citizens of Louisiana. Exploring the world of ideas is what the Humanities
is all about: history, literature, philosophy, the law, languages, archaeology-the analysis of our past and future.
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To help Louisiana citizens join in this exploration of ideas, the LEH
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Africans in Colonial Louisiana

Transcription

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