Toward an Ideal of Moral and Democratic Education: Afro-Creoles and Straight University in

285 Pages·2017·3.42 MB·English

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LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School
2013
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Dana C. Hart
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
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Hart, Dana C., "Toward an Ideal of Moral and Democratic Education: Afro-Creoles and Straight University
in Reconstruction New Orleans, 1862-1896" (2013). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 3103.
https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/3103
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TOWARD AN IDEAL OF MORAL AND DEMOCRATIC EDUCATION:
AFRO-CREOLES AND STRAIGHT UNIVERSITY IN RECONSTRUCTION
NEW ORLEANS, 1862-1896

A Dissertation

Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the
Louisiana State University and
Agricultural and Mechanical College
in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy

in

The School of Education

by
Dana C. Hart
B.A. University of Massachusetts, Amherst 1998
M.A. Boston College, 2002
May 2014
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To begin, this project would not be possible without the guidance and support of my
excellent dissertation committee. Dr. Roland Mitchell, you provided the foundation for me and
instilled a sense of excitement and awe in exploring historically Black colleges and universities.
Without your support and partnership, this idea would not have come to fruition. Dr. Petra
Hendry, you also offered the encouragement and intellectual capital to propel this idea forward,
and challenged me to reimagine history in new and exciting ways. It was through your guidance
and teaching that I developed an interest in the Atlantic World and New Orleans over its three
hundred-year history. I am grateful for the opportunity to revisit the past with you and highlight
the subjective, psychological side of the historical process. Dr. Paul Binford, you provided
invaluable advice and insight that helped inform the archival research and writing process. I am
truly grateful for your time and suggestions in developing my historical writing. I also wish to
extend my gratitude to my Dean‘s Representative Dr. Andrea Morris. Thank you for your
guidance and support throughout this entire process. Finally, I want to extend my gratitude to
my friend and colleague, Dr. Tommy Karam. Your wisdom and encouragement certainly made
this process easier to navigate. I appreciate all of your advice and careful guidance.
I also want to thank Shannon Prest Cole for her expert editing efforts. This was by no
means a small task. Shannon, you opened my eyes to new ways of looking at this project.
Thank you for that. I also wanted to thank Ben Bourgeois and Brandon Rasberry for their
formatting assistance with many of the figures and illustrations in this dissertation. Further, I
especially want to thank Bill Silvia for his sage advice and continual guidance throughout my
doctoral studies. I‘m grateful for your support and help in my academic and professional
endeavors.
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I also want to thank my friends and family who also made this possible. There are so
many people to thank, but without a doubt, Berlisha Morton helped me to think critically and
believe in myself. Berlisha, your friendship and writing partnership means so much and you
challenged me in every possible way. I am so grateful for all that you have done for me and look
forward to our writing projects in the years to come! A special shout-out to my friend Eric Platt
as well. Eric, thank you for your feedback and help in navigating Louisiana archives and the
historical process. You definitely informed this project and helped me develop a further interest
in educational history and the Gulf Coast. Thank you for that.
This has been a wonderful and challenging journey for me: one of intellectual curiosity
and discovery, but also a journey of patience and perseverance. This project would not be
possible without the love, advice, and support from my family. My parents—all eight of them—
have provided the love and support needed to make a project like this a reality. To my brothers
and sisters, thank you for always believing in me! Finally, and least significantly, I want to
thank my wife Courtney. I spent considerable time away from you and Jacques, writing at the
kitchen table and coffee shops in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Courtney, your love and
support kept me afloat and guided me to the finish line. I did not do this on my own; you carried
me in every possible way. I am grateful to be a part of your life.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .............................................................................................................. ii

LIST OF FIGURES…………………………………………………………………….…….......vi

ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................. viii

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW ............................................................. 1
Research Questions ................................................................................................................... 12
Situating Straight University in a Historical Context: Possibilities and Limitations ............... 13
Methodological Overview: Ethnographic History and Conceptually Mapping the Past .......... 20
Organization of the Study ......................................................................................................... 25

CHAPTER TWO: ETHNOGRAPHIC HISTORY, METHODOLOGICAL
CONSIDERATIONS, AND THE NATURE OF ARCHIVAL RESEARCH.............................. 28
Assumptions and Considerations of Ethnographic History ...................................................... 30
Historiography and Archival Research: A Reimagined Perspective ........................................ 44
Summary Review ...................................................................................................................... 60

CHAPTER THREE: HISTORICAL ASSUMPTIONS AND CONSIDERATIONS OF AFRO-
CREOLE IDENTITY AND CULTURE ...................................................................................... 62
Creole: A Curious Word and an Ambiguous Identity .............................................................. 64
Ethnogenesis: Historical Assumptions and Considerations ...................................................... 69
Summary Review ...................................................................................................................... 87

CHAPTER FOUR: AFRO-CREOLES AND THE FOUNDATION OF MORAL AND
DEMOCRATIC EDUCATION .................................................................................................... 89
―Creole‖ Education in New Orleans ......................................................................................... 91
An Ideal of Moral and Democratic Education: Black Women Religious .............................. 102
Summary Review .................................................................................................................... 110

CHAPTER FIVE: HIGHER EDUCATION IN NEW ORLEANS: SOCIAL, POLITICAL, AND
PHILOSOPHICAL CONSIDERATIONS ................................................................................. 112
A Changing Landscape: Reconstruction and Black Higher Education .................................. 122
Summary Review .................................................................................................................... 138
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CHAPTER SIX: AFRO-CREOLES: POLITICS, PROTEST, AND INTEGRATED
EDUCATION IN POSTWAR NEW ORLEANS ...................................................................... 140
For the Cause of Democracy: Afro-Creole Protest, Civil Rights, and Public Education ....... 146
Summary Review .................................................................................................................... 164

CHAPTER SEVEN: STRAIGHT UNIVERSITY IN NEW ORLEANS ................................... 167
A New Vision: Building a Campus ........................................................................................ 171
Furnishing an Education: Academics at Straight University .................................................. 188
A New Campus Emerges ........................................................................................................ 200
In the End, A Merger .............................................................................................................. 203
Summary Review .................................................................................................................... 207

CHAPTER EIGHT: THE PLESSY CHALLENGE AND THE STRAIGHT UNIVERSITY LAW
DEPARTMENT .......................................................................................................................... 210
The Law Department at Straight University ........................................................................... 214
Martinet and Signs of Protest .................................................................................................. 220
―To Vindicate the Cause of Equal Rights‖: The Plessy Challenge Reconsidered .................. 228
Summary Review .................................................................................................................... 233

CHAPTER NINE: CONCLUSION ............................................................................................ 235
Summary and Conclusions ..................................................................................................... 237
Possibilities and Limitations for Further Research ................................................................. 242

BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................... 247
Primary Source Material ......................................................................................................... 247
Secondary Source Material ..................................................................................................... 256

VITA ........................................................................................................................................... 275

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1 Sketching of Straight University ................................................................................... 4

Figure 1.2 Photo of Dr. Louis Charles Roudanez ........................................................................... 7

Figure 1.3 Photo of Rodolphe Lucien Desdunes ............................................................................ 9

Figure 3.1 Sketching of St. Louis Cathedral and Chartres Street ................................................. 79

Figure 3.2 Map of New Orleans: Vieux Carré, Faubourg Marigny and Tremé ........................... 86

Figure 4.2 Map of New Orleans, Three Municipalities and City Wards ...................................... 99

Figure 4.3 Photo of Thomy Lafon .............................................................................................. 106

Figure 4.4 Photo of Henriette Delille .......................................................................................... 108

Figure 4.5 Classroom at St. Augustine‘s .................................................................................... 110

Figure 5.1 A Sketch of Charity Hospital .................................................................................... 116

Figure 5.2 A Sketch of the University of Louisiana ................................................................... 118

Figure 5.3 Photo of Leland Hall, Leland University .................................................................. 128

Figure 5.4 Photo of New Orleans University.............................................................................. 131

Figure 5.5 Photo of Southern University‘s Central Building ..................................................... 135

Figure 6.1 Engraving of Mechanics‘ Institute ............................................................................ 142

Figure 6.2 Engraving of the Riot Aftermath ............................................................................... 143

Figure 7.1 A Portrait of Seymour Straight .................................................................................. 173

Figure 7.2 Lot Dimensions for Straight University .................................................................... 183

Figure 7.3 Theological Department Students ............................................................................. 194
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Figure 7.4 Faculty and Students of Straight University .............................................................. 197

Figure 7.5 Straight University, Canal Street Campus ................................................................. 203

Figure 7.6 Dillard University Campus ........................................................................................ 207

Figure 8.1 Photo of Exchange Alley ........................................................................................... 220

Figure 8.2 Photo of Arthur Esteves............................................................................................. 226

Figure 8.3 Photo of Albion W. Tourgée ..................................................................................... 229

Figure 8.4 Photo of Daniel Desdunes ......................................................................................... 231

Figure 9.1 Photo of the Straight University Baseball Team ....................................................... 244

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ABSTRACT

The history of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) tends to be
overwhelmingly linear in structure and drawn from the interrelationships between northern
philanthropy and denominational groups. While important to their origin and development, the
analysis tends to be one-sided and monolithic. Moreover, little voice or perspective is given to
the local community of color, their intellectual movement, and their motives and influence. In
presenting a different perspective, then, this dissertation complicates the traditional narrative of
black higher education and explores the different people and constituencies involved from
below—that is, the people that were overwhelmingly disadvantaged, exploited, and
marginalized, who articulated ideas and concerns against existing power dynamics.
This dissertation tells this story of Straight University from its founding and development
in Reconstruction New Orleans to 1896. Straight University emerged as an integrated higher
education institution in New Orleans in 1870 and promoted education and training for young
men and women, irrespective of race, gender, or ethnicity. The university became a popular
option for Afro-Creoles in New Orleans. As francophone people of African descent, Afro-
Creoles were free people of color and formed a distinctive caste between black slaves and free
whites within Louisiana society. Afro-Creoles represented the city‘s predominantly black
Catholic and French-speaking community and maintained a philosophy of political radicalism
and social and political protest. This activist spirit and dissent played a significant role in
developing democratic education: opportunities for education, equality, and citizenship against
the backdrop of a dizzying political, social, and cultural milieu in New Orleans during
Reconstruction.
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As a social and educational history, this study theorizes that the progressive Afro-Creole
community in New Orleans influenced opportunities and access to higher education at Straight,
irrespective of race, age, gender, class, or ethnicity. It also examines how a racial consciousness
in New Orleans played a role in the formation of Afro-Creole culture and identity which
transcended to the development of Straight University. Through archival records and secondary
source analysis, this history reveals Straight University as a democratic space, free of racial
standardization and disdain, where students could attain an education to become an educated and
free citizenry.

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