Archaeology
Mississippian Culture
The Mississippian culture spanned from roughly 1050 to 1700 CE
Archaeology
Archaeology Index
Archaeology
Watson Brake Archaeological Site
Watson Brake is a prehistoric Evans culture site in Ouachita Parish dating to 3500–2800 BCE.
Archaeology
Evans Culture
This entry covers the prehistoric Evans culture during the Middle Archaic Period, 6000–2000 BCE.
Archaeology
San Patrice Culture
This entry covers the San Patrice culture during the Late Paleoindian and Early Archaic Periods, 8800–6000 BCE.
Architecture
Architecture IndexArchitecture
Camp Moore
Camp Moore in Louisiana served as the training location for more than 20,000 Confederate soldiers during the Civil War.
Architecture
Afton Villa Plantation and Gardens
Only the gardens and fragments of foundations survive from the fire that destroyed the Afton Villa plantation house in 1963.
Architecture
St. Francis Cabrini Church
Badly damaged by the levee failure following Hurricane Katrina, St. Francis Cabrini Church was demolished despite the efforts of preservation advocates.
Architecture
Emile Weil
Known for the vast range of buildings he designed, Emile Weil played an important role in Louisiana';s architecture in the first third of the twentieth century.
Art
Art IndexArt
Francois Jacques Fleischbein
Though he painted a variety of subjects, German-born painter François Jacques Fleischbein is best known as portraitist who worked in New Orleans between 1834 and 1868.
Art
Dominico Canova
Born in Italy, Dominico Canova spent many years painting frescoes in banks, churches, and private homes in New Orleans and southern Louisiana.
Art
Juan José Calandria and Challis Walker Calandria
Juan José Calandria and Challis Walker Calandria were prominent painters, sculptors, art teachers, and diplomats in New Orleans in the latter half of the twentieth century.
Art
Leslie Staub
New Orleans painter Leslie Staub is best known for her series of Louisiana cultural and political figures rendered in a style reminiscent of Orthodox Church icons.
Business & Industry
Business & Industry IndexBusiness & Industry
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.
Business & Industry
Paul Trévigne
Paul Trévigne, a free man of color, was an editor, teacher, and orator who advocated for civil rights in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Business & Industry
Coastal Restoration
For a state experiencing land loss at an alarming rate, coastal restoration has become an urgent need.
Business & Industry
Strand Theatre
Designed by New Orleans–based architect Emile Weil, the Strand Theatre opened in Shreveport on July 3, 1925.
Disasters
Disasters IndexDisasters
Grabow Riot (Massacre)
Labor union meeting results in death and arrest of timber workers.
Disasters
Hurricane Andrew
After wreaking havoc on Florida, Hurricane Andrew made landfall in Louisiana and caused widespread devastation.
Disasters
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.
Disasters
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
The 2010 BP spill was one of the worst environmental disasters in US history.
Folklife
Folklife IndexFolklife
Rougarou
The rougarou is one of the most well-known figures in South Louisiana folklore.
Folklife
Creole Folktales
Many Louisiana Creole folktales represent a convergence of African and European culture.
Folklife
Blessings of the Fleet
At Boat Blessings, a Catholic priest blesses a community’s shrimp boats before the start of shrimp season
Folklife
Herbert Singleton
Self-taught artist Herbert Singleton created dramatic scenes of the rough New Orleans environment into which he was born, using found objects such as salvaged doors, driftwood, and discarded furniture.
Foodways
Foodways IndexFoodways
Boudin
Boudin is a Cajun sausage made of meat and rice typically consumed with the filling removed from the casing and often squeezed directly into the mouth.
Foodways
Zwolle Tamales
Zwolle tamales, a popular food from northwest Louisiana’s Sabine Parish, trace their origin to the region’s Indigenous cultures.
Foodways
Creole Cream Cheese
Creole cream cheese is a silky, slightly tart cheese used in sweet and savory dishes throughout Louisiana.
Foodways
Avery Island
Located in Iberia Parish, Avery Island, the largest of five salt domes along the Louisiana coast, is the home of the McIlhenny Company, maker of Tabasco brand products for more than 140 years.
Geography
Geography IndexGeography
Sherwood “Woody” Gagliano
Woody Gagliano sounded the alarm on Louisiana’s coastal land loss crisis and worked with his colleagues for decades to remedy the problem.
Geography
Bourbon Street
The origins of the notorious adult playground
Geography
Bayou Teche
Before railroads and highways, Bayou Teche served as an important transportation route deep into the fertile interior of south-central Louisiana.
Geography
Coastal Master Plan
In response to decades of warnings about land loss, Louisiana released its first Coastal Master Plan in 2007.
Government, Politics & Law
Government, Politics & Law IndexGovernment, Politics & Law
Reconstruction
The post-Civil War period in US history is known as the Reconstruction era, when the former Confederacy was brought back into the Union.
Government, Politics & Law
Chep Morrison
DeLesseps "Chep" Morrison was best known for his opposition to the powerful Long family in Louisiana.
Government, Politics & Law
Pierre Le Moyne, sieur d’Iberville
Pierre Le Moyne, sieur d’Iberville, Canadian soldier and explorer, is often described as the founder of the first permanent French settlement in Louisiana.
Government, Politics & Law
Zachary Taylor
President Zachary Taylor, a shrewd businessman and land speculator, owned a plantation near Baton Rouge that he called home after the 1820s.
History
History IndexHistory
Cruikshank Case
With the 1876 Cruikshank Case decision, the US Supreme Court restricted rights protected under the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments.
History
Sam Houston Jones
Louisiana Governor Sam Jones promised an honest government following the corruption scandals surrounding the Long administrations.
History
Pralines
The praline, a confection made of sugar and nuts, is a representative dish of the Franco- and Afro-Creole Atlantic diasporas.
History
Native American Mounds
Louisiana boasts some of the most significant Native American earthen monuments in North America and ranks second only to Mississippi in the number of mound sites.
Literature
Literature IndexLiterature
Robert Penn Warren
Poet, critic, novelist, and US Poet Laureate Robert Penn Warren is best known for his novel "All The King's Men", inspired by the life and death of Louisiana governor Huey Long.
Literature
Grace King
New Orleans novelist and historian Grace King made the city and state of her birth an abiding theme in her work.
Literature
Lyle Saxon
Lyle Saxon published articles, short stories, books of creative nonfiction, and one novel; he also directed the Louisiana branch of the Federal Writers Project.
Literature
Loujon Press
Loujon Press was an avant-garde operation in 1960's New Orleans that was a pioneer of high-quality, independent publishing.
Music
Music IndexMusic
Alcide Pavageau
Alcide "Slow Drag" Pavageau was an early jazz guitarist, string bassist, and dancer from New Orleans.
Music
Edward "Noon" Johnson
Edward Noon Johnson was a New Orleans musical personality, multi-instrumentalist, and inventor.
Music
Ernie Cagnolatti
Ernie Cagolatti was a trumpet player in the the New Orleans jazz scene for much of the twentieth century.
Music
Dave Oxley
Dave Oxley was a traditional jazz and early rhythm and blues drummer from New Orleans.
Peoples of Louisiana
Peoples of Louisiana IndexPeoples 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
Vietnamese
Vietnamese Americans are one of the newest major ethnic groups in Louisiana
Peoples of Louisiana
Creoles
The term "Creole" has long generated confusion and controversy. The word invites debate because it possesses several meanings, some of which concern the innately sensitive subjects of race and ethnicity.
Peoples of Louisiana
Houma Nation
The United Houma Nation claims approximately 17,000 members and continues to keep Native American traditions alive from their tribal center in Lafourche Parish.
Religion & Spirituality
Religion & Spirituality IndexReligion & Spirituality
Cypress Grove Cemetery
The Cypress Grove Cemetery in New Orleans has a monumental entrance gate suggesting a triumphal passage from one world to the next.
Religion & Spirituality
Henriette Delille
Henriette Delille was a free Afro-Creole woman who founded sodalities, or religious sororities, for women of African descent that dedicated themselves to the care of the poor, the enslaved, and free people of color.
Religion & Spirituality
St. Peter Street Cemetery
Thousands of New Orleans’s eighteenth-century residents are interred at the site of the St. Peter Street Cemetery in the French Quarter.
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
Coastal Restoration
For a state experiencing land loss at an alarming rate, coastal restoration has become an urgent need.
Science & Technology
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.
Science & Technology
Cholera in Louisiana
During the nineteenth century, cholera epidemics caused tens of thousands of deaths throughout the state of Louisiana.
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
Kent DesOrmeaux
In 1989, jockey Kent Desormeaux's 598 first place finishes set the record for most wins in a single season.
Sports & Recreation
Eddie Delahoussaye
Horse racing jockey Eddie Delahoussaye won five Triple Crown races and is a member of the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame and the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.
Sports & Recreation
Bill Russell
Born in Monroe, Bill Russell was the first African American coach in the NBA and a vocal member of the civil rights movement.
Sports & Recreation
Roland Hymel
Roland Hymel was an archery champion at Loyola University who also won a contest to name the New Orleans Saints football franchise.
