Creole: The History and Legacy of Louisiana's Free People of Color

by Sybil Kein (Editor)

Who are the Creoles? The answer is not clear-cut. Of European, African, or Caribbean mixed descent, they are a people of color and Francophone dialect native to south Louisiana; and though their history dates from the late 1600s, they have been sorely neglected in the literature. Creole is a project that both defines and celebrates this ethnic identity. In fifteen essays, writers intimately involved with their subject explore the vibrant yet understudied culture of the Creole people across time―their language, literature, religion, art, food, music, folklore, professions, customs, and social barriers.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Cultural, African American, Essays, Historical, Americana

368 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2000

About the author

Sybil Kein (a.k.a. Dr. Consuela Provost) is a Louisiana Creole poet, playwright, scholar, and musician.

Dr. Provost largely created the field of Creole Studies through her early publications and presentations. A protégé of Robert Hayden, her poetry is housed in the National Archives, Library of Congress. In 1981 Dr. Provost published Gombo People, a volume of poetry representing the first contribution to American letters of original literature in the Louisiana Creole language.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[The Cat In The Hat · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love this book, almost halfway through, will finish this weekend. picked it up on recent trip to new orleans in the french quarter book shop i frequent. i love the rich historical and cultural context.

[Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the ultimate sources for true history of Creoles in Louisiana. An absolute must have for everyone's library.

[Tye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another wonderful book documenting the history and the culture my people through unbiased eyes. This work of art talks about the intricacies of Louisiana Creole culture and how it came to be.

[Scott Pomfret · Rating 4 out of 5]

This university press collection of essays both historical and contemporary addresses multiple aspects of lives of free Creole people of color of New Orleans mainly in the nineteenth century with occasional jumps to the twentieth. Topics include food, labor, Marie Laveau, language, race, and many others. Perhaps the only poorly developed theme was that of religion; while reference is made to the mostly Catholic faith of the Creoles, the influence of African belief systems, and the influx of Anglo-American Protestants, no one essay explores how this interaction shaped the lives of the Creoles. The collection is marred by some academic gobbledy-gook substituting long tired words for analysis and occasional specious reasoning from the facts presented (for example, the author of one essay on “passing” as white stated boldly that most blacks who could “pass” did not want to … but then goes on to cite many counterexamples as well as economic data showing the gains to be made by so passing, which undermined the author’s conclusion). In general, however, this was a readable collection providing decent depth on the given topic and raises questions about a future more mixed-race America.