Stories tagged "Public Rights"

Aristide Mary

By Connie Dorsey Abdul-Salaam, Lauren Smith & Jessica Dauterive

Aristide Mary’s politics embodied Creole activism in New Orleans. A native of the city, Mary’s mixed race ancestry shaped his experiences and political ideas. Educated in Paris, Mary became a lawyer…

Plessy's Legacies

By Lauren Smith, Johnnie Roberson, and Erika Heppner

In the immediate aftermath of Plessy v. Ferguson, the case itself received relatively little attention. Homer Plessy paid the twenty-five dollar fine for violating the Separate Car Act and went to…

Caesar Carpentier Antoine

By Connie Dorsey Abdul-Salaam, edited by Lauren Smith and Jessica Dauterive

Caesar Carpentier Antoine was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on September 10, 1836, to a prominent Creole family. His family were part of an established network of Creoles of color in Louisiana that…

Rodolphe and Daniel Desdunes

By Connie Dorsey Abdul-Salaam and Jason Van, edited by Jessica Dauterive and Lauren Smith

Born in New Orleans in 1849, Rodolphe Desdunes actively participated in the city’s Creole social and political scene, eventually co-founding the Comité des Citoyens (Citizens’ Committee) in 1891. As…

Madame Josephine Decuir

By Jordan Hammon, edited by Adam D. Coste, Jessica Dauterive, and Lauren Smith

By the 1870s, steamboats carried passengers up and down the Mississippi River, docking in the ports of major cities like New Orleans. Here, in July 1872, Captain John Benson denied Josephine Decuir…