Archaeology
San Patrice Culture
This entry covers the San Patrice culture during the Late Paleoindian and Early Archaic Periods, 8800–6000 BCE.
Archaeology
Archaeology Index
Archaeology
Archaeology of the New Orleans Area
In New Orleans archaeological explorations span 2,500 years of history
Archaeology
Coles Creek Culture
Once covering most of Louisiana, the Coles Creek culture is known for its distinctive ceremonial mound sites.
Archaeology
Los Adaes
The history of the fort, mission, and settlement of Los Adaes reflects both intercolonial rivalry and cooperation among the Spanish, French, and Native Americans who lived along the border of New Spain and French Louisiana.
Architecture
Architecture IndexArchitecture
St. Louis Cemeteries No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3
Established in 1789, St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 is the oldest cemetery in the city of New Orleans.
Architecture
Cabildo
The Cabildo, one of three eighteenth-century structures that anchor New Orleans's Jackson Square, stands as a visual monument to Spanish rule in Louisiana.
Architecture
Magnolia Mound Plantation
The antebellum Magnolia Mound plantation in Baton Rouge, Louisiana was constructed in the 1790s.
Architecture
Jean Noel Destrehan
As one of the most prominent Mississippi River plantation owners of colonial Louisiana, Jean Noel Destrehan built a prosperous farming operation around the stately River Road manor that still bears his family name.
Art
Art IndexArt
Jan Gilbert
Jan Gilbert is an interdisciplinary artist, curator, and educator from New Orleans.
Art
Adolph Rinck
Adolph Rinck settled in New Orleans around 1840 where he was a successful portrait and miniature painter, art teacher, and sketch artist.
Art
Charles Giroux
Nineteenth century painter Charles Giroux captured lush Louisiana landscapes in small-scale oil paintings.
Art
Jean Despujols
Settling in Shreveport after World War II, French artist Jean Despujols is best known for his paintings of Indochina and World War I.
Business & Industry
Business & Industry IndexBusiness & Industry
Citrus Industry
Louisiana’s citrus industry traces its origins to the early 1700s, but the effects of climate change increasingly threaten its long-term viability.
Business & Industry
Francois Seignouret
Francois Seignouret, a financially successful businessman and investor, became known as one of the greatest cabinetmakers in New Orleans, though there is no evidence that he ever made furniture with his own hands.
Business & Industry
Belle Isle Salt Mine Collapse
Once one of the most productive salt mines in the country, the Belle Isle Salt Mine was the site of numerous deadly accidents.
Business & Industry
Oil and Gas Industry in Louisiana
The oil and gas industry has been a dominant economic engine in Louisiana for well over a century.
Disasters
Disasters IndexDisasters
SS Kentucky Disaster
On June 9, 1865, the SS Kentucky capsized in the Red River south of Shreveport, marking the second deadliest inland maritime disaster in US history.
Disasters
Coastal Restoration
For a state experiencing land loss at an alarming rate, coastal restoration has become an urgent need.
Disasters
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina’s landfall in Louisiana and the subsequent levee failures resulted in one of the worst disasters in United States history.
Disasters
Cheniere Caminada Hurricane
A late-season hurricane struck Cheniere Caminada in early October 1893, becoming one of Louisiana’s deadliest hurricanes.
Folklife
Folklife IndexFolklife
Louisiana Folktales
Louisiana’s folktales have been influenced by Indigenous peoples and the many cultural and ethnic groups that have immigrated to the state.
Folklife
Leather Britches Smith
The legendary outlaw Charles “Leather Britches” Smith is best known for his armed defense of his fellow union members during the Grabow Riot of 1912.
Folklife
Courir de Mardi Gras
The courir de Mardi Gras is the rural celebration of Mardi Gras in Louisiana, usually held in Cajun communities
Folklife
Los Adaes
The history of the fort, mission, and settlement of Los Adaes reflects both intercolonial rivalry and cooperation among the Spanish, French, and Native Americans who lived along the border of New Spain and French Louisiana.
Foodways
Foodways IndexFoodways
Po-Boy Sandwich
The so-called poor boy (po-boy) sandwich originated from the Martin Brothers' French Market Restaurant and Coffee Stand in New Orleans during the 1929 streetcar strike.
Foodways
Elmer Candy Company
Elmer Candy Company, the oldest family-owned chocolate company in the United States, is known for its trio of egg-shaped chocolate confections as well as originating the line of CheeWees savory snacks.
Foodways
Muffuletta Sandwich
The muffuletta–a mammoth sandwich of round sesame bread layered with Genoa salami, ham, mortadella, cheese, and olive salad–is a signature dish of New Orleans.
Foodways
Pralines
The praline, a confection made of sugar and nuts, is a representative dish of the Franco- and Afro-Creole Atlantic diasporas.
Geography
Geography IndexGeography
Florida Parishes of Louisiana
A portion of Louisiana was once the western extremity of colonial Florida
Geography
Fontainebleau State Park
The Fontainebleau State Park bears the name of Bernard de Marigny's sugar plantation, which formerly occupied this site and was itself named after the estate of the French king Francois I.
Geography
Natchitoches Settlement
The Natchitoches settlement, founded in 1714, is the oldest in the Louisiana Territory.
Geography
Freeman and Custis Red River Expedition
An American effort to explore the Louisiana Purchase territory was hindered by a log jam on the Red River and two hundred Spanish troops.
Government, Politics & Law
Government, Politics & Law IndexGovernment, Politics & Law
Freeman and Custis Red River Expedition
An American effort to explore the Louisiana Purchase territory was hindered by a log jam on the Red River and two hundred Spanish troops.
Government, Politics & Law
Thomas Bolling Robertson
The third governor of Louisiana after its admission as a state, Thomas Robertson served from 1820 to 1824.
Government, Politics & Law
Bernard de Marigny de Mandeville
One of the wealthiest Louisiana residents of his generation, Bernard de Marigny de Mandeville was active in Louisiana politics and lucratively subdivided his New Orleans plantation, creating the neighborhood that still bears his name.
Government, Politics & Law
Leander Perez
Corrupt democratic politician Leander Perez Sr., a staunch segregationist, served as a district judge, district attorney, and president of the Plaquemines Parish Commission Council.
History
History IndexHistory
Rosalie Courteaux
An important woman leader in the Houma Nation’s history, Rosalie Courteaux defended her people against non-Indian encroachment in the nineteenth century.
History
Benjamin Franklin Flanders
During Reconstruction, Unionist Benjamin Flanders was selected as Louisiana’s first Republican governor in June of 1867.
History
Micaela Almonester, Baroness Pontalba
Micaela Leonarda Almonester de Pontalba was the sponsor of landmark architectural complexes in her native Louisiana, as well as in France, her home for sixty-seven years.
History
René-Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle
French explorer Rene-Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle, is perhaps best known for giving the region and ultimately the state its name: Louisiana.
Literature
Literature IndexLiterature
Marcus Christian
Marcus Christian was a Louisiana writer, folklorist, and historian, known as the author of poems which satirize Jim Crow laws.
Literature
Evelyn Scott
Evelyn Scott began her literary career as a poet but expanded into other literary genres, including short stories, essays, novels, memoir, and drama.
Literature
George Washington Cable
The writings of George Washington Cable explored the Creole culture and generated national attention.
Literature
Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams was one of the most important playwrights of the twentieth century.
Music
Music IndexMusic
Bunk Johnson
Bunk Johnson was a trumpeter and one of the leaders of the New Orleans jazz revival in the 1930s.
Music
William Francis
William T. Francis was a versatile musician and composer who lived in New Orleans in the late nineteenth century.
Music
Rap, Hip-Hop, and Bounce Music
Rap, hip-hop, and bounce are musical genres that developed in New Orleans beginning in the late 1980s.
Music
Winnsboro Easter Rock
Held on the Saturday before Easter Sunday, this women-led vigil includes counterclockwise percussive foot movement and call-and-response singing.
Peoples of Louisiana
Peoples of Louisiana IndexPeoples of Louisiana
Anglo-Americans
While Louisiana began as a French colony and its dominant culture remained Creole French well into the nineteenth century, Anglo-Americans began to form a significant minority in region the late colonial period.
Peoples of Louisiana
Tunica-Biloxi Tribe
The Tunica-Biloxi Tribe is one of only four American Indian groups in Louisiana recognized by the federal government.
Peoples of Louisiana
Caddo Nation
Caddo people began to inhabit the Red River valley approximately 2,500 years ago.
Peoples of Louisiana
Filipinos
Louisiana is home to the earliest Filipino American community in the United States.
Religion & Spirituality
Religion & Spirituality IndexReligion & Spirituality
Jimmy Swaggart
Called the "King of Honky Tonk Heaven" by Newsweek in 1982, Ferriday's Jimmy Swaggart was America's most popular televangelist in the 1980s.
Religion & Spirituality
Black Gospel Music
African American Gospel music incorporates elements of both black vernacular and sacred music, including blues, hymnody, spirituals, the folk church, and even popular song.
Religion & Spirituality
Father Paul Du Ru
A Jesuit priest was the first to establish Catholic missions among the Indigenous peoples of the Gulf South.
Religion & Spirituality
King Cake
A round, braided cake consumed during the Carnival season across Louisiana, especially in New Orleans.
Science & Technology
Science & Technology IndexScience & Technology
Cholera in Louisiana
During the nineteenth century, cholera epidemics caused tens of thousands of deaths throughout the state of Louisiana.
Science & Technology
Flint-Goodridge Hospital
Flint-Goodridge Hospital opened in 1896 to serve New Orleans’s Black community and provide medical training for Black nurses and physicians at a time when other hospitals denied services to Black people.
Science & Technology
Coastal Land Loss
The gradual loss of Louisiana’s coastal wetlands is a slow-moving disaster largely set in motion by a series of human interventions in natural processes.
Science & Technology
World War II Industrialization in Louisiana
The United States’ entry into World War II spurred Louisiana’s recovery from the economic doldrums of the Great Depression.
Sports & Recreation
Sports & Recreation IndexSports & Recreation
Tony Canzoneri
Louisiana' Tony Canzoneri secured his place among the boxing elite when he became the second fighter in history to win world championships in three different weight classes.
Sports & Recreation
Joe Martina
In 1924 New Orleans pitcher Oyster Joe Martina led the Washington Senators baseball team against the New York Giants to win the World Series.
Sports & Recreation
Willard Brown
Louisiana-born Willard Brown was a power-hitting star in Negro League baseball before the integration of the major leagues in 1947.
Sports & Recreation
Larry Gilbert
Larry Gilbert played major-league baseball, including in the 1914 World Series, before managing the New Orleans Pelicans.
