Introducing New Orleans:
Its History, Culture, and People
Below sea level, subject to hurricanes, home of
swamps, alligators, and crayfish, New Orleans presides over the Mississippi
River. Why would Thomas Jefferson
dispatch an envoy to France to purchase this town for the fledgling United
States? How did this town come to be
synonymous with good food, jazz, the French Quarter, and Mardi Gras? Journey with us to the Crescent City, and
celebrate its contribution to America’s past, present, and future. Laissez les bon temps roulez!
The Mighty Mississippi
Lake Itasca, Minnesota., America from the Great Depression to World War II: Black-and-White Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945, American Memory -
Source of the Mississippi River. Lake Itasca, Minnesota., 1939, America from the Great Depression to World War II: Black-and-White Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945, American Memory -
Birds eye view of Louisiana,
Mississippi, Alabama and part of Florida Drawn from nature and lith. by John
Bachmann, 1861, Panoramic Maps, American Memory -
Bullock's journey from New Orleans to New York, in 1827 ..., American Notes: Travels in America, 1750-1920, American Memory
. . . And its levees
§ “Pumping Station No. 6, Metairie, La.”, Built in America, American Memory -
Chalmette, a section of the levee,
Touring Turn-of-the-Century America, American Memory -
§ Oyster luggers at the levee, New Orleans, Touring Turn-of-the-Century America, American Memory -
§ Loading steamer during high water, March 23, 1903, New Orleans, La., Touring Turn-of-the-Century America, American Memory -
§ High water at New Orleans, La. levee, Touring Turn-of-the-Century America, American Memory -
. . . Its Discovery and
Ownership
First the Spanish,
§
Hernando De Soto in “Exploration and Early
Settlement”, Parallel Histories:
Spain, the United States, and the American Frontier, Collaborative
Digital Collections, Global Gateway -
http://international.loc.gov/intldl/eshtml/es-1/es-1-2-2.html#track1
§
“Discovery of the Mississippi: By Ferdinand De
Soto, and his followers, May 1541”, image by Currier and Ives, 1876, found in
“Atlantic and Gulf Coasts”, Parallel Histories: Spain, the United States, and the American
Frontier, Collaborative Digital Collections, Global Gateway - http://international.loc.gov/intldl/eshtml/es-1/es-1-2.html
Then the French,
§
Louisiana,
France in America, Global Gateway - http://international.loc.gov/intldl/fiahtml/fiatheme2c.html
§
Descriptive Maps, France
in America,
Global Gateway - http://international.loc.gov/intldl/fiahtml/fiamaps.html#track1
Then the Spanish,
§
Journal of Captain Harry Gordon, Travels in the
American colonies, ed. under the auspices of the National Society of the
Colonial Dames of America, by Newton D. Mereness., American Notes: Travels
in America, 1750-1920, American Memory -
Then the French,
“Louisiana: Between Planned Reconquest and Abandonment”, France
in America, Global Gateway - http://international.loc.gov/intldl/fiahtml/fiatheme5c.html#track1
Finally, the Americans
§
“Louisiana Purchase: Legislative Timeline,” A Century of
Lawmaking for a New Nation, American Memory - http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/louisianapurchase.html
§
Louisiana Purchase, Today in History - http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/oct20.html
§
Louisiana Purchase, “Before Lewis and Clark”,
Rivers, Edens and Empires - http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/lewisandclark/lewis-before.html
Scroll 2/3s way down – 33rd subheading, Strategic importance of New
Orleans,
To summarize…..
Political Boundaries of North America in the Era of the Louisiana
Purchase - http://international.loc.gov/intldl/fiahtml/map8.html
New Orleans
. . . Its Infancy
Under France
§ Plan of New Orleans the capital of Louisiana; with the disposition of its quarters and canals as they have been traced by Mr. de la Tour in the year 1720, Map Collections, American Memory -
§
Plan de
la ville de la Nouvelle Orléans en l'état quelle étoit le 30 may 1725 ...,
The Colonies, France in America, Global
Gateway - http://international.loc.gov/intldl/fiahtml/fiatheme2.html#track1
Under Spain
La Luisiana cedida al Rei N. S. por S. M.
Christianisima, con la Nueva Orleans, è isla en que se halla esta ciudad.
Construida sobre el mapa de Mr. d'Anville. Por D. Thomás Lopez., Map
Collections, American Memory -
§
Plan showing the boundaries of the great
conflagration of New Orleans on the 21st of March 1788. Map Collections,
American Memory -
Under the United
States
§
Wendell, George Blunt, Bills, accounts, photos,
genealogy, etc..., c.1815-1900., Westward by Sea: A Maritime Perspective on
American Expansion, 1820-1890, American Memory -
§
"Dixie land",
An American Time Capsule: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other
Printed Ephemera...
. . . More than a century later
§
The City of New Orleans,
with Lake Ponchatrain
in the distance, 1885, Panoramic Maps, American Memory -
§
Images of New Orleans,
ca. 1900, Touring Turn-of-the-Century America,
American Memory - http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/detr:@field(SUBJ+@band(Louisiana--New+Orleans+))
§
Images of New Orleans, ca. 1909-1919, Panoramic
Photographs, American Memory - http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/pan:@FIELD(SUBJ+@band(+United+States++Louisiana++New+Orleans++))
§
Images of New Orleans,
America From
the Great Depression to World War II, American Memory - http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/S?ammem/fsaall:@FILREQ(@field(SUBJ+@od1(Louisiana--Orleans+Parish--New+Orleans+))+@FIELD(COLLID+fsa))
§
Maps of New Orleans, Map Collections,
American Memory - http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/S?ammem/gmd:@field(SUBJ+@od1(United+States--Louisiana--New+Orleans))
§
New Orleans, Louisiana,
Built in America,
American Memory - http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/S?ammem/hh:@field(SUBJ+@od1(LOUISIANA--Orleans+Parish--New+Orleans))
143 buildings. Some of note are:
The Cabildo (headquarters for the Spanish
government), on Jackson Square (Place d’Armes) –
§
Presbytere - http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=hhphoto&action=browse&fileName=la/la0000/la0008/photos/browse.db&recNum=0&linkText=-1&title2=Presbytere,%20Jackson%20Square,%20New%20Orleans,%20Orleans%20Parish,%20LA&displayType=1&maxCols=4
§ New Orleans, Louisiana, American Landscape and Architectural Design - http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/alad:@field(SUBJ+@band(Louisiana++New+Orleans))
. . . Its People
French, Spanish, African, German, Irish, Italian, Choctaw
§ New Orleans, Peculiarities in American Cities,
§
Gayarre's
History of Louisiana. [The North American review. / Volume 65, Issue 136, July
1847], The Nineteenth Century in Print: Periodicals, American
Memory – http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/ncps:@field(DOCID+@lit(ABQ7578-0065-3))
scroll to p. 29.
Creoles
§ Lake Ponsey Train or The Creole Girl, California Gold: Northern California Folk Music From the Thirties, American Memory -
Textual transcription of a song. Substitute Lake Ponchatrain and the lyrics make sense.)
§ Sadie, My Creole Lady, Historic American Sheet Music, 1850 – 1920, American Memory -
§ Creole Lover’s Song, African-American Sheet Music, 1850 – 1920, American Memory -
Different definition of Creole – from Caribbean (Carib sea)
Creole Girls, Placquemines Parish, America From the Great Depression to World War II, American Memory -
A Rich Gumbo: food, festivals, and music
Food
§ Dinner given by the City of New Orleans, to the Congressional delegation, at the St. Louis hotel, Friday, Dec. 28, 1866., An American Time Capsule: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera, American Memory - http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/rbpe:@field(DOCID+@lit(rbpe02500300))
§ The Black South in Chicago, American Life Histories, American Memory -
Descriptions of Creole food in N'Yawliens
Festivals
Mardi Gras:
Mardi Gras March, Music for a Nation, American Memory -
Mardi Gras Polka March, Music for a Nation, American Memory -
§ Mardi Gras scenery, Panoramic Photographs, American Memory - http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/pan:@FIELD(SUBJ+@band(+Carnival++))
§ Images of Rex Parade, Touring Turn-of-the-Century America, American Memory - http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/detr:@FIELD(SUBJ+@band(+Carnival++))
§ If Ever I Cease to Love, L. Hovey, 1871, Music For The Nation, American Memory -
Other celebrations
Louisiana, Local Legacies - http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cocoon/legacies/LA/index.html
Music:
§ Creole Slave Dances: The Dance in Place Congo. [The Century; a popular quarterly. / Volume 31, Issue 4, Feb 1886], The Nineteenth Century in Print: Periodicals, American Memory -
Scroll down to below p. 519, II. Grand Orchestra. Describes the instruments used by slaves in Sundays
§ Everybody loves a jass band, African-American Sheet Music, 1850-1920, American Memory -
§ “Jelly Roll Morton and the ‘Frog-I-More Rag’”, American Treasures of the Library of Congress, Exhibitions - http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/tri007.html
§
“London
Blues” by Jelly Roll Morton, American Treasures of the Library of Congress,
Exhibitions - http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/tri128.html