Streets on the Table Episode 1: Allen Toussaint
Text
In 2019, the New Orleans City Council launched a city-wide effort to change the names of streets honoring white supremacists. While the city implemented its renaming efforts, a clear need for an educational component to give context to the changes presented itself. Filling the gap, public history graduate students at the University of New Orleans created projects to illuminate the work of the Street Renaming Commission.
Produced by the Midlo Center for New Orleans Studies, Streets on the Table is a podcast that reflects on the historical relevance of both the old and new street names. Hosted by two UNO graduate students, the podcast highlights the lives and histories unrecognized in the commemorative landscape.
In this episode, Eddie and Lauren discuss the renaming of Robert E. Lee Blvd. to New Orleans music legend, Allen Toussaint Blvd.
Files
Allen Toussaint performs at Jazz Fest in 1989.
Source: Michael P. Smith, “Allen Toussaint in the Folklife Tent at the New Orleans Jazz Festival,” 7 May 1989, The Historic New Orleans Collection, Permanent Collection, http://hnoc.minisisinc.com/thnoc/catalog/1/199187.
In 2017, the city of New Orleans removed a statue of Robert E. Lee, which stood upon a 60-foot pedestal in what is now Harmony Circle.
Source: Infrogmation of New Orleans from New Orleans, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:General_Lee_Taken_Down_(34604939042).jpg.
Allen Toussaint is depicted in an anniversary poster for the iconic New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
Source: James Michalopoulos, “New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival 2009,” The Historic New Orleans Collection, Permanent Collection, 2009, http://hnoc.minisisinc.com/thnoc/catalog/1/195392.
Allen Toussaint, a music icon, created a distinctly New Orleans sound.
Source: Michael P. Smith, “Allen Toussaint,” 1980, The Historic New Orleans Collection, Permanent Collection, http://hnoc.minisisinc.com/thnoc/catalog/1/269109.
In 2013, Allen Toussaint received the Medal of Honor for the Arts. He is pictured with President Obama above.
Source: Pete Souza, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Toussant_Obama_Medal_2013.jpg.
Public history graduate students at the University of New Orleans stand near an Allen Toussaint Boulevard street sign, which changed in early 2022.
Source: Esther Clowney, Video Producer, The University of New Orleans, 2022.File #6286: [Untitled]
Map
New Orleans, LA 70124