Public History Commons^™

"The Freedom To Express Yourself": The National Park Service And The African Diasporic Roots Of Black Dance In New Orleans, Ariel D. Roy

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In partnership with the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, my project entitled “African Dance in New Orleans: The Roots of Black New Orleans Dance” exhibit will focus on the African diasporic roots of Black traditional dance practices within New Orleans’ African American community. This project aims to diversify the public and political expressions of Black dance in New Orleans. It argues that the study of dance forms and practices uncovers narratives and fragments of African and African American cultural history in New Orleans that are impossible to glean from other sources. This thesis will support three modes of African …

A Pelican's Journey To Flight: A Louisiana National Guardsman, The Development Of The United States Army Air Service, And The Human Cost Of Military Innovation, James H. Smith

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

George E. Dicks deployed to the Mexican Punitive Expedition and World War I with the Louisiana National Guard. He recorded his experience in writing and photography, which reside in the Jackson Barracks Military Museum in Chalmette, Louisiana. His memorabilia reflect an officer’s perspective on early military aviation and parallel to the United States military’s experimentation with aviation. Through experimentation, Dicks became an aerial observer in World War I.

This thesis explores George E. Dicks’ memorabilia and how it both represents the development of the American Air Service and the human cost of military aviation with photographic evidence. By representing aviation’s …

“We Won’T Be Silent Anymore”: Enslaved People’S Stories And Symbolic Reparations For New Orleans City Park, Kalie Ann Dutra

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The official history of New Orleans City Park, published in 1982 offers a narrow history of its grounds and land ownership before it opened as a park in 1854. The published text Historic City Park New Orleans contains a two-part narrative. The first narrative tells the identity of Louis Allard, his plantation land, and the mystique surrounding his death. The second narrative focuses on John McDonogh, an enslaver and local legend, his purchase of the Allard Plantation, and his donation of the plantation to the city of New Orleans for the creation of what is now lower New Orleans City …

Ladies First: The Ways Women And Girls Affected Change In The Civil Rights Movement In New Orleans, Terri R. Rushing

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

New Orleans Historical is a project of the Midlo Center for New Orleans Studies in the History Department of the University of New Orleans. This thesis and tour presents and discusses the “Ladies First” tour which contains seven tour stops on New Orleans Historical. The tour chronicles seven women and girls who have advanced the cause of equal rights and justice in the metropolitan region of New Orleans, Louisiana between 1950 and 1975. This thesis examines the work of seven key figures: Rosa Keller, Doratha “Dodie” Simmons, Marie Ortiz, Sybil Morial, and Dorothy Mae Taylor; and participants in the Civil …

Don’T Be Myth-Taken: The Perpetuation Of Historical Myths In New Orleans Tourism, Madeleine R. Roach

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The mythology that surrounds the city of New Orleans is expansive. In a city well known for its ghosts and culture, the tourism industry utilizes stories and mythology to entice tourists to visit the city. However, the perpetuation of myths as historical facts or as actual events to an unknowing public can cause more harm than good to the city and the understanding of its past. This essay utilizes interviews with current New Orleans Tour Guides to examines how the tourism industry in New Orleans presents mythology and historical evidence to tourists. This essay examines tours and tourism materials to …

Trail Of Crumbs: Tracing The Lore, Labor, And History Of Bread-Making In New Orleans, Dana Logsdon

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The cultural, social, and economic development of New Orleans—from a colonial port to an American city—can be traced through its history of bread baking. The public history thesis project, Trail of Crumbs: Tracing the Lore, Labor, and History of Bread-Making in New Orleans, is a tour on the Midlo Center’s digital site New Orleans Historical, mapping the spaces, events, and human stories behind one of the city’s oldest professions. Rooted in a French and Spanish colonial foundation, the bread-making traditions of New Orleans reveal the influence of forces such as the port, immigration, location, and labor. The tour applies …

Army-Navy "E" Awards In New Orleans, Louisiana, Timothy S. Wilson

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis, in conjunction with an interactive digital exhibit, examines the Army-Navy “E” Award as it was applied to military defense industries in New Orleans, Louisiana during World War II. The thesis and the website is available for World War II researchers who are researching wartime manufacturing in New Orleans as well as teachers who are conducting lessons on wartime manufacturing and home-front activities in New Orleans throughout the duration of World War II. A thorough examination of historical records establishes the significance of wartime manufacturing capabilities of New Orleans during World War II by providing an historical narrative of …

Caught Between Land And Sea: West End As A Maritime Lake Community On Lake Pontchartrain, Madison K. Hazen

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

West End has eluded traditional New Orleans history as academics have continued to view the city's history and maritime culture through the Mississippi River. This project looks at the development of West End using the Sintes family and its boatbuilding business as a case study on how generational businesses are affected by tourism, natural disasters, and urban development. This project has used oral histories of the Sintes family to tell their personal story of West End, this terraqueous gap filled with boats, crawfish boils, natural disasters, and human loss, and in doing so, preserved and recorded a part of West …

“New Orleans Never Was Tighter”: Jim Garrison’S Gendered Vice Campaign In New Orleans, 1962-1966, Rebecca L. Poole

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Most historical writing and research on Jim Garrison’s political career focus on his investigation of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination and Garrison’s prosecution of Clay Shaw. Few scholars examine the years prior to the investigation when Garrison served as District Attorney of New Orleans. In 1962, Garrison won the election for District Attorney in part for his pledge to clean up the French Quarter of its lurid reputation. Garrison’s vice crusade targeted mostly women who symbolized the city's colorful reputation. Aided by his office and the vice squad, he raided the French Quarter to arrest prostitutes, strippers, and anyone associated …

Black Expressions Of Dillard University: How One Historically Black College Pioneered African American Arts, Makenzee Brown

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The proposed public history project, Within These Walls (WTW), will be one component of a larger exhibit produced by Dillard University’s, Library Archives and Special Collections entitled The Star Burns Bright: History of Dillard’s Theatrical and Musical Arts, Faculty and Students. WTW will focus on Dillard’s historic African American faculty, students and alumni who became prominent painters, musicians, writers, actors and directors among them Adella Gautier, Randolph Edmonds, Ted Shine Frederick Hall, Theodore Gilliam, and Brenda Osbey. This exhibit will also highlight the many art programs, across genres, offered at the university between 1935 and 1970. This exhibit will demonstrate …

Pride Of Missouri: The Adventures Of Missouri Farm Boys In 1940s World Conflict, Haley K. Heil

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In collaboration with the Museum of Missouri Military History, an exhibition for the 203^rd Coast Artillery Battalion (Anti-Aircraft) housed in the National Guard Headquarters exhibit case will be on display March 2020 through April 2020 in Jefferson City, Missouri. The exhibit will show the Missouri men deployed for military service, newspaper articles the men wrote, and objects the men brought back from the time of service. The paper is a historical narrative essay about the mobilization of the 203^rd Coast Artillery Battalion (Anti-Aircraft) during World War II, and from the research, a physical exhibit and an online exhibit …

A Red River City During War: Shreveport, Louisiana's Experiences During World War Ii, Katelyn N. Woodel

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This project provides research that details Shreveport, Louisiana’s experience during World War II. A physical exhibit at the Spring Street Museum and a digital exhibit display Shreveport’s World War II history, based on research conducted for this thesis. Based on a combination of archival collections, and Shreveport Times articles, the project tracks Shreveport communities and the contributions to war efforts from the broader community and local industry. Shreveport’s involvement in World War II began with the Louisiana Maneuvers in 1941. Support for the war continued with heavy metals manufacturing such as the production of shells at the J.B. Beaird Company …

"To Cement The Bond Of Friendship":The Joan Of Arc Statue In New Orleans, 1958-2020, Megan A. Miller

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents a study of the importance of statuary related to historical memory and influence focusing on the Joan of Arc Statue in New Orleans, Louisiana. Gifted to the city in 1958 and installed in 1972 officially in the wake of Charles de Gaulle’s visit, the Joan of Arc Statue has been the subject of controversy and a costly reinstallation in the French Quarter. This thesis, using primary evidence from court cases, interviews, and newspapers, traces Joan’s significance and use as a site of memory and link between France and the City of New Orleans.

Her People And Her History: How Camille Lucie Nickerson Inspired The Preservation Of Creole Folk Music And Culture, 1888-1982, Shelby N. Loyacano

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Over the twentieth century, Camille Lucie Nickerson excelled in her multi-faceted career as an educator, musician, and interpreter for the advancement of musical education for generations of black students in New Orleans and at Howard University in Washington D.C. Nickerson devoted herself to furthering her musical education through private instruction with her father, Professor William J. Nickerson. She then graduated with a diploma from Southern University and with a B.A. and M.A. in music from Oberlin College. Nickerson’s leadership in musical associations on a local and national level enhanced her ability to reach audiences of all ages through her performances. …

Dr. Tichenor’S ‘Lost Cause’: The Rise Of New Orleans’S Confederate Culture During The Gilded Age, Granville R. Morris

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Serving three times as president of the Cavalry Association, Camp Nine of the United Confederate Veterans (UCV), George Tichenor was instrumental in forging Lost Cause ideology into a potent social force in New Orleans. Though more widely remembered in New Orleans for his antiseptic invention, his support of Confederate monuments, Confederate activism, and his wife Margret’s role as vice-president of a chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) are lesser known aspects of Tichenor’s life in New Orleans. This paper examines the cultural changes taking place in New Orleans that allowed Tichenor to become a leader of the Lost …

Arnold Hirsch Collection Of Ernest N. 'Dutch' Morial Oral History Interviews, 1987: A Finding Aid, Jenidza N. Rivera

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This finding aid of interviews is drawn from the Arnold R. Hirsch Collection at the Amistad Research Center. Between 1987 and 1994, historian Arnold Hirsch interviewed New Orleans’ first black mayor, Ernest Morial, and others related to that crucial era in New Orleans political history. This collection consists of 37 audiocassettes tapes that contain oral history interviews conducted by Arnold Hirsch with various New Orleanians who were active in city government and political activism. This project-based thesis covers the research and construction of the finding aid completed for this collection during an internship at the Amistad Research Center, as well …

In Response To Totalitarianism: The Hawkish Cold War Foreign Diplomacy Of The Europeans Kissinger And Brzezinski During American Détente, D'Otta M. Sniezak

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Despite historians describing the 1970s as a time of détente, both National Security Advisors that dominated America’s foreign policy pursued harsh stances against the Soviet Union. Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinski sabotaged peace talks in order help the United States keep its edge against the other world superpower. Most historians point to the similarities between these two men, but what is most often left out of the narrative is that both men witnessed persecution at the hands of totalitarian governments: Kissinger by the Nazis and Brzezinski by both the Nazis and the Soviets. This influence is strong in their first …

A River Separates Them, A Culture Connects Them: The Mohawk Hunters Of Algiers And The Mardi Gras Indian Tradition In New Orleans, Monisha S. Jackson

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

All over the world, Carnival is a time for a break in human activities, and inversion of the usual hierarchies. In New Orleans, Carnival is a time when the powerless take over the streets, and, for a time, invert control and ownership. One of the New Orleans carnival organizations are the Mardi Gras Indians, groups of African Americans who dress as Indians during the day and take over the streets of their neighborhoods, showing their power and beauty in a breathtaking display of costumes, music and dance. The Masking of the Mardi Gras Indian is a tradition dating back to …

Future-Proofing The Past?: Digital History And Preservation In New Orleans After Hurricane Katrina, Travis Waguespack

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Digital history has grown into a critical aspect of history scholarship and practice. The literature surrounding digital history is colored by its discussions of the possibilities and problems of digital history, both as an archiving tool and a method of increasing interaction with public history. This literature is also defined by its lack of answers to these questions, and lack of examinations of these possibilities in cases studies. By examining how three different New Orleans historical institutions have embraced digital history for preservation and public history in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, this thesis will illustrate how questions of preservation, …

Codofil's Ally: Local French Teachers In Louisiana, Natalie Ducote

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In 1968, in the midst of the Civil Rights Era, the Louisiana government created the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL). During this period of heightened ethnic awareness, CODOFIL aimed to rectify the damage done by prior Louisiana legislation, which prohibited French language on public school grounds. In an effort to revitalize the French language in Louisiana, the organization hired teachers from foreign francophone countries and advocated for a curriculum rooted in Standard French. According to historians, many locals felt Louisiana-specific French dialects were once again rejected. Alongside these foreign teachers were teachers local to Louisiana. Utilizing …

Manipulated Museum History And Silenced Memories Of Aggression: Historical Revisionism And Japanese Government Censorship Of Peace Museums, Benjamin P. Birdwhistell

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The Japanese government has a vested interest in either avoiding discussion of its war-torn past or arguing for a revisionist take. The need to play up Japanese victimization over Japanese aggression during World War II has led to many museums having their exhibits censored or revised to fit this narrative goal. During the 1990’s, Japan’s national discourse was more open to discussions of war crimes and the damage caused by their aggression. This in turn led to the creation of many “peace museums” that are intended to discuss and confront this history as frankly as possible. At the beginning of …

“Art Had Almost Left Them:” Les Cenelles Society Of Arts And Letters, The Dillard Project, And The Legacy Of Afro-Creole Arts In New Orleans, Derek Wood

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In 1942, in New Orleans a group of intellectual and artistic African-Americans, led by Marcus B. Christian, formed an art club named Les Cenelles Society of Arts and Letters. Les Cenelles members both looked to New Orleans’s Afro-Creole population as the pinnacle of African American artistic achievements and used their example as a model for artists who sought to effect social change. Many of the members of Les Cenelles wrote for the Louisiana Federal Writers’ Program (FWP). A key strategy the members of Les Cenelles used to accomplish their goals was gaining the support of white civic leaders, in particular …

From The Desire To Mark Essex: The Catalysts Of Militarization For The New Orleans Police Department, Derrick W.A. Martin

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The ultimate goal in the South was to end segregation, but nationwide equal-rights were the common goal of all African-Americans. Nonviolent protests and over aggressive police departments became the norm within the African-American community. Understated in the history of the Civil Rights Era is the role of armed resistance and Black Nationalism. Marcus Garvey, Stokely Carmichael, Huey P. Newton, and Malcolm X were Black Nationalists that led the charge of Black Nationalism worldwide. The Deacons of Defense, the Lowndes County Freedom Organization (LCFO) and the Black Panther Party for Self Defense transformed the social makeup of the country and …

From Containing Communism To Fighting Floods: The Louisiana Army National Guard In The Cold War, 1946-1965, Rhett G. Breerwood

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In the decades following World War II, the Louisiana National Guard evolved due to world, national, and local events. In response to the United States’ Cold War policies to contain Communism, the Guard expanded, professionalized, and was occasionally called to federal service. In conjunction with Cold War fears of external attack and internal subversion, a civil defense mission brought coordination between federal, state and local response agencies. Despite the lack of large scale war service or an attack on the U.S. homeland , the skills and responsibilities acquired by the Louisiana Guard during this time period resulted in an enhanced …

Fighting Spirit: A History Of St. Henry's Catholic Church New Orleans 1871-1929, Alvah J. Green Iii

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In 2009, the Archdiocese of New Orleans went through a reorganization that resulted in the closure of numerous parishes under its direction. This thesis will look at how one of the parishes closed during this reorganization, St. Henry’s, had already faced, and survived, numerous attempts at closure. A study of these previous attempts reveals that internal church politics were often on display and the driving force behind the decisions. Using documents from the Archdiocesan Archives of New Orleans, this thesis looks at the history and leadership of St. Henry’s parish, and examines how the survival of a church often has …

Remembering Vietnam War Veterans: Interpreting History Through New Orleans Monuments And Memorials, Catherine Bourg Haws

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This thesis is concerned with the question of how America’s citizen soldiers are remembered and how their services can be interpreted through monuments and memorials. The paper discusses the concept of memory and the functions of memorialization. It explores whether and how monuments and memorials portray the difficulties, hardships, horror, costs, and consequences of armed combat. The political motivations behind the design, formation and establishment of the edifices are also probed. The paper considers the Vietnam War monuments and memorials erected by Americans and Vietnam expatriates in New Orleans, Louisiana, and examines their illustrative and educational usefulness. Results reflect …