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~an leadS African-Americans"y '",

~2:njourney throu~Jheir p~t~" x

' ' . '""'"' Mandi, and African dr$.FREDA YARBROUGH dress and dance as welt as It- J<lt,.IvSR!alu'eg'¢j.lQr. , , session with Hall onAfrlcan-

Americans in Lonisiana.

EdnaJordan Smith is a weaver. Her The slave-trading recordshandiwork is not cloth, but tales of the have been stored on the

, - past\\l9Vfu.into the fabric of the pr~1']t t, jsJandof,_ 901'ee just off thell!]d ~~hhiuil'l! yea~oft~l,\Q~$tt>t~negal for more

. ~Iana history ana tending bOll!&, '''.t.P~2.tlQ years with some ~ .A librarian ttl the g~6~ogy departme'l\t of the the records dati!!fUo the

East :a:atgn Rouge Parish fiOrarYJ Smlth,~o'w early 1700s. Whavmakl"s thetracks-downeentimes-old roots for BatOi!. list so ImportanbtoRouge"s ~hes genealogy courses and recalls Louisiana is thai two-thirdsstorie !iiQIber recounted about early-Baton of the slaves brought tol'Wug iftr.:WI>ereto l~fW recordson a French Louisiana in a f'ive-:gMtndpa~ n1"s'orfgins. and Smith can quickly year period by the Frenchpull a volume that WIll get the new rcsl;l<lf,Cher slave traders were fromstart~d. , . Senegal area (Senegarnbia).

QUIZ her on Baton Rouge'historv. a.nd·Smlth according to Hall. (Seebegins to meSme~lZtl her audience With at~ec- accompanying story on Halldotes about Perkins R9ad: Greenwell Springs and her study of African-andlhe Hl1IldredOak Dairy and plant'!t!on on Americans in Louisiana.)Uiat'Site,~lere hel' grandmother begau--h'l;e~,a.s ~,In her bo,*"M.n.l;an~ ina Slave., . . . Colonial Louisfbila, The-

~Vhen fl;Jt1Qd.11IStonan. and author Gwendolyn Development of Afro-Creoll1.;\lIdlo Hall surpnsed Smith recently With a gift Cultul'e in EighteelLth CentrifY Edna Jordan Smithfrom the past, she instan_tly recognized the voices Lonisiana, Hall writes that

, . , and stories from "between 1726 and 1731,tw~ and a half clOn- alnlQst all of the slave-trade voyages organizedtUI')\:s ago. The gift bithe Company of the Indies went to Louisiana.to Smith was a Thirteen slave ships landed in Louisiana duringphotoc(},pYJ'Ha set these years; all but one of them leftfromofrecoras.wrltten Senegambia. More than half the slaves brought111 French and to French Louisiana, 3,240 out of 5,987, arrivedde.talhng the dates. from Senegambia during this five-year period.ongl~ls, gender The last ship. al'riving in 1743: arso came fromand -age of hun- Senegambia.dreds of slaves "It is relevant. therefore, to look tobro!!g!'tt to Senegambia for the African roots of Louisiana'sLOUISiana from the Afro-Creole culture," said Hall in Africans inSenegal area 111 Colonial Lolli.siana.

,. . Africa as well as Searching fOt' roots is what dJ'ives Smith.ships malllfests and tnbute paid to tnballead- Active in the Afro·Louisiana Historical ande . .. Genealogical Society and on a nationalle\'el

~nngfl1Ehljpnth of Febrnary, Smith wlli with genealogical organizations, Smith feels<,xhlblt heriMs liIl;weli as other artifacts, docu- strongly that Afl'i.can-Americans need to findments and phQ~r8phs at the Blue?o~net their family and historical roots to gain self-Branch ofthe llbrary ali part of a~tivltles In the esteem and a sense'of place. Tracing African-East~aton .Ro~ge Library system sFebrnary American family roots into previous centuriesactiVIties htghhghtmg Black History Month. On when written records for the era may not existFeb. 26, th.eBlp~onnet Branch Will present,?n requires patience and detective work, according .all-day.~i9Rfrom 11)¥.-5:30 p.m. on A to Smith. ,SeJ\swB'.el'it~hlil'~Muscle in . . . And while the lists from Senegal (lflnignite theLQJ1tSia~~QflJllenl':'. ~qpg.tbe actin ties desire tobegin, Smith said to begintlle search byplanned are sessIOns on hall' braiding, African talking to l'elatives and friends.foods,tbe langJjag~ofWoloff. J3ambara and ~nuOd onP89i~ <

Baker Brancb, 4761G,oomRoad. 7\5-3125' Kwa~z<\aprogrl\mwilhselec1edcOOU!'lmily,Pilrticipatio[>;reb.'23 piUSexhibitsSpotlightingfamousAfrican-Americans"!fIi,l a displayhighlightthe blackcommunity,resourCl)orgamzabonsandoulfuralinstltutons.

Bluebonnet Branch, 9200 Bluebonnet Blvd.,763-2:?40:A Sense ofHerilageon F$, 26 from10a.m.-5:30p.m.

Session J,.,srsterhoodingActMfts " . .1G'l\.m:basfcsinl1airbraidl'1R;~\vrapping (I5nngown fabricfor

instructionS),'HowloGiye a ~ RI'ltt Gilt 01Seff"esteem:anAfricanNam~an<\lls'M.~aning,"· ~'" ' ..

Nco,' n: "yum,Y,um.-"ras,ting,. '" s"and:,,: timelC-b;OW,se thro'!9hAjtiC311clothingand ;'lCCessories.. 'IJordyum IS a NlgenaneXpresSIonfrOmlhe lbd)noo ~"hing gooHasting food.) .

1p.m,:GwendolYnMidlof;lall,authorofAfricans m Coio(lial Louisiana:The P<'ivelogmentotA{rd'Creqle CUlt1.Jre in the 18th Gentuw.

Session II, Solil tp SOlll~ctivitips. ,.2 R.Hl.pp>nversationaiWofofj',Elambara"Mandl.(Mandlngo),the first

flfriClliJ'li\qguagesJ111ardi/1LQuiSJara;Africandru.'!':fsolursand techOlQues;P§I;~.Qf~dress; Africarrhythmand dance. Call763·2283to regis-ter:.K~jh-:~;~~\-:::,:3:,:~:_ _ ><> _ _ - - ,Y

';;Fir~SIdei1f6ri'l~wiH"lsot)ehelq al7 p.m.on FeP.24.CelestineDavis,'Joa,Q~¥ail\si¥Jo 1'l~1!:Omorolionmwanwill presentA Celebration OfAV9.:Arvi;rican Ta/£Ilf '. : \'. ::'iQllWe!. 1;>09HiQI11;lndRoac!,~q9:19!8:black·inlere!iltiimsfdrchiioren

T~llSq?y?t4 p.m.,resjslralionreqpi~Kwan;;aa Cel~bratlonFeb.,~ aMPJ"· bjiMajorierhompsor, RegiStrationrequireo

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Advocate staff photo by Lori Waselchuk

Central Brancb, 135Q5HooP\lrR9~~,$H?lime.allages invitedFeb. 26 ,af2:;jpp.m";o.fflcollectionand fromthe'Batonl'lcuge~ootime.· ..-;~~: / ..\:~__;,\;'.

OelO1OntGardens, 3351l!)ffi\ine-pt.'3S9-S2SQ:ag$S onFel). 12 at 10:30,,;m.;;Fifth!'l<lficnatAfrl '." ' 0 Reao-inChainhostee!l)yluther Stewart,1QdaWat3p.m. , ;' ,,".

'iden Park, 4142 Gus Youl1QA\(e.)8~';}i!2ll;Afrrcan'AIl.l!l!'}6a.nart andartWaetsoisplaYe<looringI;oorup,r;\; Alric;an-AmericanreaMff'foradullsMondaysal3 p.m.;clJildrensstolytimeon T~is i>n<:i Wednesda\fsat 10<I.m.featuring!:>lackAmet1cans.. .,..

MainBranch,7(1 l'QooqWOOd BiVcL 389-3370'.An exhibitofworksbyClementineHunterwHi ~ilTl)urs.day.

Jones Creek, 6222Jo.nil$CreekRoad,756-1140;DisplayofworksofAfrican-American<Irlist, HeniYWatsonofLivonia

Scotlandvjlle, 1492 f1l'rtllng, 778-0618:Stories songs arJ,dgames everyTuesclayin FeblU<lry11110:30a,m. loqusingon Alrican-Ameriplns;movies<I!:idutprpmiflenfblacl(Armjric;anse,veryWee!nesaay,,14 p.m~;storiesby

" blackaUfhocswill. be/eat!' everySawroayat 2 p.m.byDorothyAOams,retl,ee!SUiMlrJ.!p!OJ',ane!Joyce Ha¥den.teacher al CrestworthEiernentaryana .ollJl'J'S;;o.!rlcl\n-j\nwriqllfaIJ1l1j1r:ead.a!oudtodayat 3 p.m.willJstoriesbyblaCkaulhOlSllhal'Eld, ,in,a,'s,,<oUpreee!-aioud:JackieHunt willexhibithercClllectiodolblaCkoolls';rhursdayat 4 p.m.;ane!FranCISMonetteWlilshowq4il~i¥'d~lltade 1rowAfiiqn fabriC Feb.21 at 4 p.m.'Zachaty,c!lO$liE. MaeS(;, t154-5086;Slorytimespecial guest on Feb 9 at

:3 p,m,'isAlmaKnighfoni1llhowillpreseillAfrican Tales.. o<::.-?'~'- ~':)?i ",,(/ 7/:~,(ii-:0." - '._;';: .ox>

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Author exploreshistory of Africans

in colonial LouisianaBy KATRICE FRANKLIN

Advocate staff \~ritcr

Gwendolyn Midlo Hall has a thirst for histo-ry. In fact, many of the things we readabout are what she lived through andremembers vividly. Meeting her and lis-tening to her love for history is like lis-

tening to a mother talk about her new baby - goingon and 011 and laughing with each memory of thepast as it pops into her head.And after understanding her love for history, it is

no wonder that Hall was able to investigate andfind such a massive amount of information on a pastthat has been forgotten in many cases and distortedin others.

In fact. that love for history led Hall to write bel'first book,Africans in Colonial Louisiana: TIleDevelopment of Afro-Creole Culture in the EighteemhCentu?y, which has been awarded several literaryprizes, including the Elliot Rudwick Prize of theOrganization of American Historians, the AmericanImmigration History Prize from the ImmigrationHistory Society, and the Louisiana LibraryAssociation's Louisiana Literary Award.

The book was published in 1991 by LSU Press(529.95), and it is currently in its second printing.Hall will be autographing her book at 1 p.m. Feb. 26at the Bluebonnet Library,

l\Iichael Pinkston, LSU Press associate marketingmanager, said the book has sold better than anaverage scholarly book..In this book, Hall shows that slaves brought over

before 1731 and their culture had an enormousimpact on the culture of Louisiana and the entireUnited States. She coins the term Afro-Creole, theculture in colonial Louisiana that was influencedmore by Mricans than any other culture.

Hall goes into great detail about the slaves'African origin, their relationships with the whitesand Indians, the runaway slaves and their develop-llll"nl of new communities and the conspiracies inPointe Coupee ill the late 1700s.

"I think my major contl'ibution in this book is toprove that culture in the United States is not strictiyAnglo, or not strictly European for that matter, butthat an enormous importance of African is in thecreation of the cultul'e. I don't think of African-American cultLll'e as something separated but that it .is at the foundation of our culture," Hall said.

"I set out to demonstrate how this came aboutthrough interaction- what various people broughtto Louisiana with them - and the conditions theyfou nd it in. And when people bring ,'arious cnltures.and in a crisis situation - which is what you had inthis part of the world - what is most adaptable iswhat survives, and it is adapted and adopted by allof the countries and in the United States.

"SO it's really a new culture, and I call it Afro-Creole culture, and I think that it was the mostinfluential culture here," Hall said.In the book, Hall shows tbat Africans had better

survival skills and knew more about the cash cropsthat Louisiana prospered from during the 1700s.An example of this is rice cultivation. Rice seed

was imported from Africa.Continued on Page 2Q

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Smith~Page18)

"Talk to people, nourish them,"Smith said. "You find as you talk topeople', especially older people, theyenjoy reminiscing. 'Oh, I'd forgottenabout that,' they say. But if you comeup with a story they are interested in,they are bound to tell you, 'Let me tellyou about that.' .. In taking oral histo-ry, don't just come down and expectsomeone to start telling you about it.Learn some stories yourself, know atleast something about it and whenyou approach them, that's what willbring on them telling you more aboutit, because you knew about it." Smithlaughed and said when young familymembers bring up stories, often theolder ones will correct their versionand tell them how it really was.Next, get death certificates on the

relatives you want to trace, Smithsaid. They can reveal a lot of informa-tion such as that relative's parents,place of birth, cause of death. In thecase of older people, a death certifi-cate may be more accurate simplybecause it was filled out at a timewhen records where more accuratelykept. Many older people simply don'thave original birth certificates. Somehave a "Delayed Birth Certificate" inwhich relatives and friends alive atbirth have testified as to parents,date, time and place of birth longafter the actual event."A death certificate is a primary

source because itis more accuratethan almost anything else, because itis recorded when it happens. Otherthings are recorded afterwards,"Smith said. "You might find a wrongdeath date on a tombstone, but you'rehardly going to find any errors on adeath certificate."The year that marks the biggest hur-

dle in tracing roots for Mrican-Americans is 1870, smith said, as for-mer slaves began to move aroundseeking jobs, and showed up as freemen in the 1870 census."After Reconstruction, you had a

mass exodus. Not the ones who wentnorth, but people leaving plantationsnearby." Itwas at this time that Smithsays the city of Baton Rouge began toshow a growth pattern."West and East Feliciana were the

biggest feeders for East Baton RougeParish, and some out of West Baton

Hall

One of the old records at the library

Rouge. From April 1909, they startedcoming directly (to Baton Rouge whenStandard Oil opened), but before thatwhen leaving the Felicianas, they'dcross the river into Pointe Coupee,then West Baton Rouge and on intoBaton Rouge," Smith said.

This is where the big problemcomes for African-Americans insearching f.orhis or her roots. Manydon't know they have a connection tothe Felicianas. Some descendants offormer slaves in the Felicianasextend as far as New Iberia and have

no idea ancestors originally camefrom there simply because the ances-tors traveled so far in search of work.As today, migration patterns follow

the jobs. Smith is currently workingon a book tracing the job-migrationpattern in Louisiana as it developedafter 1870.Frequently, someone might move

away, but after death be returned totheir place of birth to be buried,Smith said, something that still holdstrue in many cases today. That returnto the birthplace can also give cluesin the search for roots."You find a lot of Mississippians

here in Louisiana, but you won't findmany buried here. You just watch theobituaries. They might have been inLouisiana 35 years, but they're goingto take them right back to Woodville."People come for jobs, security, but

they haven't given up on home. That'swhy a lot of black churches werestarted." As example, Smith talkedabout her father's church which wasnamed McKowen #2 and originallynear McKinley Middle Magnet School.The original McKowen was in the St.Francisville area and named for afamily prominent in the area.Frequently, simply because 1870

was an era of one-horse power vehi-cles, the newly freed Americans didnot travel far and often worked assharecroppers on the plantationswhere they were formerly slaves.Sometimes, Smith said, African-Americans would escape from share-cropping by slipping out under thecover of night, holding onto a log intbe Mississippi River, floating downto Catfish Town in Baton Rouge,where they would take up residence.To go further back in time requires

much detective work, she said.Through talking to older relatives,Smith has found several other fami-lies she might be related to and hassearched for the names in the area.She looked through the St.Francisville phone book for onename, found dozens and began talkingwith one who had a first name fre-quently found in her family. Andsearching through various state andlocal archives can turn up names ofancestors on old plantation records.When Smith hosts "ASense of

Heritage" on Feb. 26, she said shehopes African-Americans will sensethe richness of their heritage andlearn to look to the past, as well as thefuture .•

ContInued from _ 19

"In fact," Hall said, "part of the instructions given toslave ships was to make sure that the Africans knewhow to cultivate rice because it was-their most reliablestaple."Another important crop was indigo. The book points

out that two-thirds came from Senegambia, nowSenegal, where indigo was widely cultivated."From reading the documents, no one here knew

how to cultivate indigo," Hall said.The slaves also knew more about metalwork, boat-

manship and draining swamps and creating levees tostop flooding.Africans were used for military purposes becausethey were warriors in informal warfare.One interesting fact that Hall points out in her book

is that slaves, at least in Pointe Coupee, were not sep-arated by their masters."A lot of people have said that slaves were separat-

ed from each other so that they could not associate

with each other, but in Louisiana, slaves from thesame region were clustered together," Hall said.The book also points out another controversial issue

about Creolism. It points out that the only use ofCreole in the 18th century was to distinguish Africanborn slaves from slaves born in Louisiana. Creolereferred exclusively to Africans or people of Africandescent or mixed blood.Creole language was the language of blacks, though

whites spoke it too, Hall said. In the 19th centurymany people redefined Creole to mean people born i~Louisiana of French and/or Spanish descent and purewhites."This is ridiculous because there is so much race

mixture all over the world. I think of Creole as a lan-guage and a culture, and there were a heck of a lotmore black Creoles than any other kind becausethroughout southern Louisiana up to World War II,most of the people spoke Creole."In this state, just from looking at the numbers of

emancipation and the studying census, we would havea hard time finding any family with deep roots in

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Louisiana who are not partially Africans, and cultur-ally, they are certainly African to a great extent" Hallsaid. 'The 64-year-old historian was born in New Orleans,

where she currently lives. Hall decided to write herbook 10 years ago when her father was dying. While inNew Orleans, she began looking in the parish court-house at documents in about slavery.She discovered that in Louisiana, unlike in many

places, paperwork was detailed. Slaves were listed byorigin and name in probate records and in trialsbecause they were allowed in some cases to testify.Hall is currently writing a new book, which will

focus on Louisiana slavery from 1735-1820. She andPatrick Manning, who is an African historian atNortheast State University, will collaborate on thebook, for which they received a grant. Itwill compareslavery in Louisiana to slavery in other parts of theworld.Hall said if there is one thing that she wants her

readers to get from her book it is that "we're aIIAfricans.".