The city of New Orleans conjures up extreme images: Mardi Gras and Hurricane Katrina.
But visitors are now finding a city working hard to preserve its history and culture, as well as restore its image as a town that personifies the phrase, “Laissez les bon temps rouler!" Translation: Let the good times roll!
So, whether you’re in the Crescent City for the Essence Music Festival, a conference, convention, or vacation make sure you check out these gems that are fun to visit, and significant to African American heritage:
The French Market: An open-air trading center noted for its architecture and a wide variety of wares, the Market was designed by Joseph Abeilard, a free black man. In the early 1700s, slaves, free people of color, American Indians and whites all exchanged merchandise at the market.
Armstrong Park: A 12-foot statue of the legendary jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong welcomes you to the lush 32-acre park located in Faubourg Treme, the oldest black neighborhood in the country. The New Orleans Jazz National Historic Park will soon relocate to Armstrong Park, and the site will be managed by the National Park Service.
Congo Square: Located in the southern corner of Armstrong Park, the storied Square is where slaves and free blacks gathered throughout the 19th century for meetings, open markets and the African dance and drumming celebrations that played a substantial role in the development of jazz.
St. Augustine Church: Founded by free black men and women, the visually divine St. Augustine Church sits on part of a plantation estate that eventually came into the possession of Julie Moreau, a freed slave. She and her husband, Frenchman Claude Treme, subdivided the estate and sold many lots on a first-come-first-served basis to free people of color.
