HISTORY

The Native Americans

Watercolor painting of Southeastern Indians. De Batz, 1735

The Founding of Louisiana And New Orleans

Lasalle Claiming mouth of Mississippi for France by Jean-Adolphe Bocquin

Synopsis of Congo Square

Circle of water fountains in Congo Square

International Connections

Toussaint Louverture Chef des Noirs Insurgés de Saint Domingue, c1800s. John Carter Brown Library

Significance of Gatherings

The Ancestor Tree in Congo Square

Protests and Resistance

(L to R) Doratha “Dodie” Smith-Simmons, Ausettua Amor Amenkum, Julie Menhatti Singleton, Sabrina Mays and other protesters march against the proposed move of City Hall to Armstrong Park at Congo Square. relocating City Hall into Municipal Auditorium. Photo by John Stanton / Gambit Weekly

The People

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Picture Collection, The New York Public Library. “A slave-pen at New Orleans before the auction ” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1863.

Present-day Sunday Gatherings

An informal drummer circle hosted by the Congo Square Preservation Society hosts informal drum circles at “Sundays at Congo Square” as a way to celebrate the cultural significance of this historical site (2019). Photo complimentary of Cheryl Gerber.

Official Naming and Designation

1885 map of the area back of town bears the name “Congo Square”