400 Years of French Presence in Louisiana

400 Y e a r s
of
Fr e nc h Pr e se nc e
in
L ou isi a n a
tre asures from the Bibliothèque nationale de Fr ance
tHE HISTORIC NE W ORLEANS COLLECTION
NEw Orle ans, Louisiana
M arch 3 – June 2
2007
400 Y e a r s
of
Fr e nc h Pr e se nc e
in
L ou isi a n a
treasures from the Bibliothèque nationale de Fr ance
B
efore it took form on a map, Louisiana lived in the French imagination, its boundaries
traced by desire. At the dawn of the seventeenth century, North America beckoned explorers
and sparked dreams of empire. Ships departed from French ports bearing soldiers and sailors,
missionaries and chaplains, hydrographers and cartographers.
The early explorers chronicled the largely unexplored and little understood world of Louisiana
in journals, drawings, and maps. The circulation of these materials in France marked the
beginning of a centuries-long dialogue across the Atlantic. French settlers struggled to possess
and portray Louisiana, hoping to both find and establish their place in the New World. From
highly accurate views of the colonies to the most whimsical fantasies, the French story of
Louisiana was initially told in the language of the mother country.
Eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Louisiana history is dominated by political struggle—
but as France, Spain, Great Britain, and eventually the United States jockeyed for control of
the territory, a unique culture was developing. By the time of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803,
the way of life established by the Lower Mississippi Valley’s French-speaking inhabitants was
viable enough to withstand the Anglicization prevalent in the rest of the territory.
Relocated to Louisiana, Acadians and émigrés from St. Domingue increased the French
presence, but also reflected the unique fusion of cultures born of France but reared in the
Americas. Louisiana’s fine and decorative arts, music, and architecture emerged from an
acculturated society built on a strong French foundation—enriched by infusions of African,
Native American, Spanish, Caribbean, German, and Anglo-American cultures—to become a
distinctive part of America’s cultural mélange.
opposite page: Detail, Poême en ver s by Jean François Benjamin Dumont de Montigny
By the twentieth century, Louisiana had established its own identity as a vibrant locale, and
the cultural exchange with France now flowed in two directions. No Louisiana export of the
twentieth century was more enthusiastically received in France than jazz. No longer a child
reflecting the glories of its mother country, Louisiana offered its own treasures to France.
I
n late August 2005, Louisiana was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Among the first to
respond were our French friends. French Consul General Pierre Lebovics escorted French
Ambassador Jean-David Levitte through the streets of New Orleans less than a month after
the storm—and within two months, French Minister of Culture and Media Renaud Donnedieu
de Vabres arrived with senior staff to assess the situation. These were just the first of several
official visits of representatives of the French government. By late September 2005, as part of
the recovery effort, France pledged to send an assortment of extraordinary documents and
artifacts relating to Louisiana—many never before displayed to the public—for an exhibition
at The Historic New Orleans Collection. We would like to thank the Minister of Culture and
Media, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Ambassador, the Consul General, the President
and the Director of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and their staffs for their exceptional
generosity, as well as the Board of Directors of the Kemper and Leila Williams Foundation for
making this exhibition a reality.
– Alfred E. Lemmon and Gilles-Antoine Langlois, Curators
Carte de l’A mérique sep tentrionale…, ca. 1681; manuscript map with watercolor,
attributed to Claude Bernou, courtesy of Bibliothèque nationale de France, Cartes et
plans, SH Pf 122, div. 2, p0, Rés
This mural map documents the principal colonial territories acquired by the French between 1676 and 1680 in the
Great Lakes region. It marks out not only the lands identified by the voyages of Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet
in 1673, but also the French forts Conti (Niagara), Miami (Michigan), and Crèvecoeur (Illinois) constructed by
René Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle during his first explorations of the region.
—
2
Découverte du cour s du Mississipi et de l a Louisiane, 1699; engraving, by an unknown
maker, courtesy of Bibliothèque nationale de France, Estampes et photographie, Vd 21, t. 3
This is the only known illustration of the Louisiana colonization voyage by naval officer and explorer Pierre
Le Moyne, sieur d’Iberville. On the Gulf Coast, Iberville established Biloxi and then Mobile, the first French
settlements in the Louisiana colony (or la Louisiane), so named by La Salle in honor of Louis XIV. The inscription
notes that natives in the region loved the sun, an affection that might naturally ally them with the Sun King.
Pl an de l a Nouvelle Orle ans, ca. 1718; manuscript plan with watercolor, by Paul de
Perrier, courtesy of Bibliothèque nationale de France, Cartes et Plans, Ge DD 2987 (8826)
This magnificent, unrealized plan for a fortified New Orleans has been attributed to Parisian noble Paul de
Perrier, the first chief engineer assigned by the Company of the Indies to serve in Louisiana. After receiving his
appointment in April 1718, but before departing France, Perrier or one of his assistants may have commenced the
detailed plan of an oval fortified city—conforming to orders from the Company of the Indies to establish it at a site
farther away from the Gulf of Mexico, near Manchac. The city depicted in the plan is roughly eight times larger
than the plan eventually adopted for New Orleans.
—
3
Ballet du temple de l a paix, by Jean-Baptiste Lully, Paris: Christophe Ballard, 1685, courtesy
of Bibliothèque nationale de France, Musique, Vm2 89A
This ballet by Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632–1687), an Italian-born composer who became Louis XIV’s favored
musician, was performed for the first time in October 1685. The ballet is based on a libretto by Philippe Quinault
and praises France’s growing influence by illustrating the submission of various peoples to the Sun King. Basques,
Bretons, Americans, and Africans are presented in succession; a chorus of American “sauvages” strikes a particularly
original note, with dancers dressed in costumes designed by Jean Bérain, dessinateur de la chambre et du cabinet
de Roi.
Le Triomphe de l’A mour , from Recueil génér al des oper a ..., by Jean-Baptiste Lully,
Paris: Christophe Ballard, 1714; vol. 3, courtesy of Bibliothèque nationale de France,
Bibliothèque-Musée de l’Opera, Liv 18 (R 12 [1–8])
Based on a libretto by Isaac Benserade and Philippe Quinault, Lully’s ballet Le Triomphe de l’Amour premiered in
January 1681 and included “two Indian women” and an “Indian man” in the cast.
Histoire du Che valier de s Grieux e t de M anon Le scaut, vol. 7 of M émoire s et
Avantures d ’un homme de qualité, by Antoine François Prévost d’Exiles, Paris, 1731,
courtesy of Bibliothèque nationale de France, Réserve des livres rares, Rés. p Y2 2451 (7)
Although Antoine François Prévost d’Exiles (1697–1763) never set foot in America, he situated portions of his
novel Histoire du Chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut in Louisiana. Published in 1731, the adventures of a
crook and a courtesan provoked scandal, enjoyed consequent success, and have since inspired films, operas, and a
ballet. Manon’s lover, Des Grieux, describes the young town of New Orleans as “nothing but a collection of a few
mean cabins” surrounded by a wild and uninhabited countryside, but later praises the city—“Anyone who wants
to taste love in all its sweetness…should come to New Orleans.”
—
4
Poême en ver s, ca. 1744; manuscript, by Jean François Benjamin Dumont de Montigny,
courtesy of Bibliothèque nationale de France, Bibliothèque de l’arsenal, Ms 3459
This long poem chronicles the author’s adventures in Louisiana and provides particularly insightful commentary
on the Natchez Wars. Dumont, the son of a magistrate, was born in Paris in 1696. Having served in Canada, he
came to Louisiana in 1719 and traveled widely throughout the colony, returning to France in 1737. The manuscript
is interesting not only for its nearly 5000 verses but also for its maps, plans, and surveys, drawn and colored by the
author in a primitive style.
—
5
Tr aité d ’a mitié et de commerce entre l a Fr ance et les Etats -Unis, February 6, 1778;
Paris, courtesy of Archives du ministère des Affaires étrangères, Paris, Traités, Etats-Unis,
17780012
France closely followed the events leading up to the American Revolution. Popular opinion favored the rebels,
but official support was far from certain when Benjamin Franklin—the first U.S. diplomat—arrived in Paris
in December 1776. Franklin would spend ten months in France before Versailles showed any serious interest in
engaging in the American war. Negotiations picked up following the successful campaign of 1777 and culminated
in the Treaty of Amity and Commerce. Signed in Paris on February 6, 1778, it was the first U.S. treaty with a
foreign power.
Registre d ’imm atricul ation du consul at de Fr ance à l a Nouvelle- Orlé ans, 1914–
1935; register, by the French Consulate, New Orleans, courtesy of Archives diplomatiquesNantes, La Nouvelle-Orléans, consulat, série C, 3*
The Registers of the French Consulate constitute a precious source of information concerning French immigration
to Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Thanks to these registers—often supplemented with
photographs—the faces, names, family situations, ages, origins, and professions of French immigrants in New
Orleans are recorded for posterity. Data was frequently recorded several years after an individual moved to the area.
For example, Jean Labernadie, a native of Vidouze (Hautes-Pyrénées), did not register until 1917, even though he
was married in 1895 in New Orleans and his son, Arnold, was born two years later.
—
6
L a R e v u e N è g r e av e c S i d n e y B e ch e t ( s a xo ph o n e s o p r a n o) au Th é ât r e d e s C h a m p s E lys é e s , ca. 1925; photograph, by an unknown photographer, courtesy of Bibliothèque
nationale de France, Audiovisuel, Fonds Charles Delaunay, boîte 28, page 27
Paris’s infatuation with African culture had been evident since the late 19th-century minstrels of Montmartre’s
bohemian nightclubs and the rise of l’art nègre in the early 1900s. But the fascination reached new heights in
October 1925, when La Revue Nègre was staged at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. The performance featured
some 30 African-American dancers and musicians, including Josephine Baker (who made her memorable Paris
debut) and New Orleans native Sidney Bechet. The show’s scenery designer, Michel Covarrubias, created two
riverboats, the Memphis and the Natchez. In front are the Charleston Steppers, and behind them is dancer Louis
Douglas. Standing in the background are the musicians: (from left) Daniel Doy, Henry Goodwin, Ernest “Bass”
Hill, Percy Johnson, Bechet, and Joe Hayman.
Musiciens de l a Nouvelle- Orlé ans, 1947; photograph, by Henri Cartier-Bresson, courtesy
of Bibliothèque nationale de France, Estampes et photographie, Ep 130 (7) fol. (HCB 219)
For much of the 20th century, Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908–2004) defined—if not invented—the use of the 35mm
camera for purposes of artistic expression. In a photographic career that covered seven decades, the Frenchman
traveled the world in search of “the decisive moment.” His photographs were widely published in the popular
picture magazines of the mid-20th century, although the term “photojournalism” tends to define his work too
narrowly. In 1947, the year that this photograph was made in New Orleans, Cartier-Bresson and several other
photographers founded the Magnum picture agency, which still operates today.
—
7
C l u b d u V i e u x C o l o m b i e r . S i d n e y B e ch e t, C l au d e Lu t e r e t s o n o r ch e s t r e , 1952;
poster, by Pierre Merlin, courtesy of Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arts du spectacle,
AFF 31828
Sidney Bechet developed as a jazz artist in his home of New Orleans but found greater celebrity in France. He first
toured Europe in 1919 as a teenager playing the clarinet with Will Marion Cook’s Southern Syncopated Orchestra.
After two years with Cook, Bechet broke away from the group to work in England and France with a ragtime
band led by Benny Payton. He toured the U.S. and Europe throughout the 1920s, and it was during this period
that he transitioned to the soprano sax, the instrument with which he is most associated. Bechet struggled during
the 1930s, but renewed interest in New Orleans music late in the decade improved his status. Fans eagerly greeted
his return to Europe in 1949, after a near 20-year absence. In 1951 he moved permanently to Paris, where he was
revered as a show-business celebrity.
Un tr a mway n o m m é D é s i r a m è n e Te nn e s s e e Wi llia m s à Par i s , 1949; press clippings,
courtesy of Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arts du spectacle, Rsupp 2767
Playwright Tennessee Williams enjoyed success but also courted controversy both in the United States and abroad.
His quintessential New Orleans play, A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), has come to emblematize the city with
its interplay of the genteel and the brutal. The 1949 premiere of Streetcar in Paris sent shock waves through the
theatrical community. Le Figaro reported “stripteases, bizarre morbidities, riots, drunken orgies, poker parties,
shriekings, eroticism…obscenities and rapes, with just a bit of sexual deviation tossed in for good measure.” All in
all, it added up to “the greatest sensation the American theater has ever given France,” according to the Parisian
theater manager. Small wonder, given that no American play had ever been accorded a costlier production.
L a Poupée de chair , 1956; poster, By an unknown artist, The Fred W. Todd Tennessee Williams
Collection, The Historic New Orleans Collection (2001-10-L.1)
The film Baby Doll, directed by Streetcar’s American stage and film director, Elia Kazan, opened to audiences
worldwide in 1956. It was derived from the Tennessee Williams play Tiger Tail, itself an adaptation of his short
story turned one-act play 27 Wagons Full of Cotton. Starring Karl Malden, Carroll Baker, and Eli Wallach, the film
stirred controversy worldwide and was condemned by the Legion of Decency for its strong sexual content. This
poster advertises the French-language version, La poupée de chair.
—
8
The Historic New Orleans
Collection gratefully
acknowledges the following
institutions and individuals,
whose generosity made Four
Hundred Years of French
Presence in Louisiana possible.
Ministère de la Culture et
de la communication
Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres,
Ministre de la Culture et de la
communication
Marie-Frédérique Bergeaud,
Adjointe au chef du département
des affaires européennes et
internationales
Ministère des Affaires
étrangères
Philippe Douste-Blazy, Ministre
des Affaires étrangères
Jean-David Levitte, Ambassadeur
de France aux Etats-Unis
Pierre Lebovics, Consul gènèral
de France à la Nouvelle-Orléans
Debbie de la Houssaye,
Attachée artistique, Consulat
de France à la Nouvelle-Orléans
Jean Mendelson, Directeur
des Archives du ministère des
Affaires étrangères
Isabelle Richefort, Chef du
département des Archives
historiques
Pierre Vidal, Directeur de la
Bibliothèque-musée de l’Opéra
Antoine Coron, Directeur de la
Réserve des livres rares
Alfred E. Lemmon, Director,
Williams Research Center, The
Historic New Orleans Collection
Monique Choudey, Directeur du
département Philosophie, histoire
et sciences de l’homme
Gilles-Antoine Langlois, Lecturer
in History and Urban Studies,
Université de Paris XII
Jean-François Foucaud,
Directeur du département
Littérature et art
Isabelle Giannattasio, Directeur
du département de l’Audiovisuel
Thierry Sarmant, Directeur
adjoint, département des
Monnaies, médailles et antiques
Michel Dhénin, Conservateur
général des bibliothèques,
département des Monnaies,
médailles et antiques
Cécile Coutin, Conservateur
en chef des bibliothèques,
département des Arts du
spectacle
Catherine Hofmann,
Conservateur des bibliothèques,
département des Cartes et plans
Anne Storelli, Bibliothécaire,
département des Arts du
spectacle
Jérôme Cras, Conservateur
en chef du Patrimoine, Centre
des Archives diplomatiques
Brigitte Robin-Loiseau, Service
des Expositions extérieures
Cyril Chazal, Chargé de la
communication, département
de la Reproduction
Jean-Noël Jeanneney, Président
Société de Géographie
Agnès Saal, Directrice générale
Jean Bastié, Président
Jacqueline Sanson, Directrice
des collections
Magnum Photos
Thierry Grillet, Délégué
à la diffusion culturelle
Catherine Rouvière, Chargée
des expositions collectives
Lucien Scotti, Directeur
des affaires européennes
et internationales
New Orleans
Museum of Art
E. John Bullard, The Montine
McDaniel Freeman Director
Freeport-McMoran
Foundation
Cynthia M. Molyneux, President
Bruno Blasselle, Directeur
de la Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal
Louisiana Supreme Court
Thierry Delcourt, Directeur du
département des Manuscrits
Pascal F. Calogero Jr.,
Chief Justice
Catherine Massip, Directeur
du département de la Musique
Hélène Richard, Directeur du
département des Cartes et plans
John E. Walker, President
Charles Snyder
Fred M. Smith
John Kallenborn
Priscilla Lawrence, Executive
Director
John H. Lawrence, Director
of Museum Programs
Exhibition Graphics and Design
Nathalie Léman, Responsable
du service des Expositions
extérieures
Noëlle Guibert, Directeur du
département des Arts
du spectacle
Mrs. William K. Christovich,
Chairman
Ines Villela-Petit, Conservateur
du Patrimoine, département des
Monnaies, médailles et antiques
Annie-France Renaudin,
Chef du Centre des Archives
diplomatiques
Sylvie Aubenas, Directeur par
intérim du département des
Estampes et de la photographie
Board of Directors
Warren J. Woods, Collections
Manager
Anne Legrand, Chargée du fonds
Charles Delaunay, département
de l’Audiovisuel
Michel Amandry, Directeur
du département des Monnaies,
médailles et antiques
The Historic
New Orleans Collection
Olivier Loiseaux, Conservateur
des bibliothèques, département
des Cartes et plans
Isabelle Nathan, Chef de la
conservation des Traités
Bibliothèque
Nationale de France
Exhibition Curators
Law Library of Louisiana
Carol D. Billings, Director
Jason Kruppa, Library Manager
Steve Sweet
Terry Weldon
Scott Ratterree
Mitchell Long
Exhibition Staff
Pamela Arceneaux
Viola Berman
Siva Blake
Jan White Brantley
Mark Cave
Teresa Devlin
Jessica Dorman
Mary Lou Eichhorn
Elizabeth Elmwood
Larry Falgoust
Maclyn Hickey
Teresa Kirkland
Goldie Lanaux
John Magill
Howard Margot
Anne McCall
Mary Mees
Keely Merritt
Toy O’Ferrall
Dr. Harry Redman
Elsa Schneider
Rebecca Smith
Jude Solomon
Sally Stassi
Jason Wiese
Brochure Design
Alison Cody
Front and Back Covers: Jeton de l a Compagnie des Indes, ca. 1717; gold, by an unknown
maker, courtesy of Bibliothèque nationale de France, Monnaies, médailles et antiques,
sans cote
A small number of gold tokens were produced upon the launch of John Law’s Company of the Indies, to be given
to the Company’s directors and primary investors. The front of the token (pictured on the front cover) depicts a
scene of abundance on the banks of the Mississippi: a figure, holding a cornucopia, is borne aloft by two Indians.
On the back, the motto Honor non Pretium (“glory, not wealth”) serves as a reminder of the moral underpinnings
of the colonization effort. This particular token was meant for the king himself, to be featured prominently in
his collection.
Exposition réalisée avec
le concours exceptionnel
de la Bibliothèque nationale
de France
Additional support provided by Freeport-McMoRan Foundation
The Historic New Orleans Collection
533 Royal Street New Orleans Louisiana 70130
(504) 523-4662
Visit the collection online at www.hnoc.org