Primary sources provide first-hand information such as eye-witness accounts, interviews, photographs, letters, poems and songlyrics. These provide close-up views of life during the time that the person created or provided the information. Secondary sources like books and newspaper articles complement primary sources by providing interpretations or analysis and adding context. Both kinds of sources enable readers to relate to and understand the history, significance, and influence of the Antebellum gatherings in Congo Square.
Songs
Musieu Bainjo (In Louisiana Creole)
Gardé piti Mulet là, “Musieu Bainjo,”
La com’ li insolent!
Chapeau sul’ côté,
Soulié qui fait “cric-crac”
Gardé piti Mulet là, “Musieu Bainjo,”
La com’ li insolent!
Gardé piti Mulet là, “Musieu Bainjo,”
La com’ li insolent!
Foular á la pouche
La canne á la main.
Gardé piti Mulet là, “Musieu Bainjo,”
La com’ li insolent!
Pitis sans popa, pitis sans moman,
Qui ça ‘ou’ zuť fé pou’ gagnein l’a’zanc,
No courri l’auť bord pou’ cercé patt c’ať
No tournein bayou pou’ péc’é patassa;
Et v’là comm ça no té fé nou’ l’a’zanc.
Pitis sans popa, pitis sans moman,
Qui ça ‘ou’ zuť fé pou’ gagnein l’a’zanc,
No courri dans bois fouillé latanié
No vend’ so racin’ pou’ fou’bi’ planç’é;
Et v’là comm’ ça no té fé nou’ l’a’zanc.
Pitis sans popa, pitis sans moman,
Qui ça ‘ou’ zuť fé pou’ gagnein l’a’zanc,
Pou’ fé di thé n’a fouillé sassaf’as,
Pou’ fé di l’enc’ no po’té grain’ sougras;
Et v’là comm ça no té fé nou’ l’a’zanc.
Pitis sans popa, pitis sans moman,
Qui ça ‘ou’ zuť fé pou’ gagnein l’a’zanc,
No courri dans bois ramassé cancos;
Avé nou’ la caze no trappé zozos;
Et v’là comm ça no té fé nou’ l’a’zanc,
Pitis sans popa, pitis sans moman,
Qui ça ‘ou’ zuť fé pou’ gagnein l’a’zanc,
No courri à soir c’ez Mom’selle Maroto,
Dans la rie St. Ann ou no té zoué loto;
Et v’là comm ça no té fé nou’ l’a’zanc.
Mister Banjo (Translated)
See the little mulatto, “Mister Banjo”
Hasn’t he a saucy air!
Hat cock’d on one side,
New shoes that go “cric-crac”
See the little mulatto, “Mister Banjo”
Hasn’t he a saucy air!
See the little mulatto, “Mister Banjo”
Hasn’t he a saucy air!
Kerchief in his vest,
Walking-cane in hand.
See the little mulatto, “Mister Banjo”
Hasn’t he a saucy air
Little ones without father, little ones without mother,
What do you do to earn money?
The river we cross for wild berries to search;
We follow the bayou a-fishing for perch;
And that’s how we earn money.
Little ones without father, little ones without mother,
What do you do to earn money?
Palmetto we dig from the swamp’s bristling stores
And sell its stout root for scrubbing the floors;
And that’s how we earn money.
Little ones without father, little ones without mother,
What do you do to earn money?
The sassafras root we dig up; it makes tea;
For ink the ripe pokeberry clusters bring we;
And that’s how we earn money.
Little ones without father, little ones without mother,
What do you do to earn money?
We go to the woods cancos berries to fetch,
And in our trap cages the nonpareils catch;
And that’s how we earn money.
Little ones without father, little ones without mother,
What do you do to earn money?
At evening we visit Mom’selle Maroto,
In St. Ann’s Street, to gamble awhile at keno;
And that’s how we earn money.
“Congo Square” By The Neville Brothers
It might be superstitous but some kind of somethin’
Goin’ on down there
Well, it might be superstitious but some kind of somethin’
Goin’ on down there
Well, it’s an old-time tradition when they play their
Drums at night in Congo Square
You can hear ’em in the distance
And the old folks up the bayou say a prayer
You can hear ’em in the distance
And the old folks up the bayou say a prayer
That’s when dem voodoo people gather
And they play dem drums at night in Congo Square
But my eyes would not believe it
What I seen at night, I could not turn away
But my eyes would not believe it.
What I seen at night, I could not turn away
They had that mojo in motion
And I seen ’em dancin n prancin with that snake
It might be superstitious but some kind of somethin’
Goin’ on down there
Well, it might be superstitious but some kind of somethin’
Goin’ on down there
Well, it’s an old-time tradition when they play their
Drums at night in Congo Square
Poems
“Drums” by Langston Hughes
I dream of the drums
And remember
Nights without stars in Africa.
Remember, remember, remember!
I dream of the drums
And remember
Slave ships, billowing sails,
The Western Ocean,
And the landing at Jamestown.
Remember, remember, remember!
I dream of drums
And recall, like a picture,
Congo Square in New Orleans-
Sunday-the slaves’ one day of “freedom”
The juba-dance in Congo Square.
I dream of the drums
And hear again
Jelly Roll’s piano,
Buddy Bolden’s trumpet,
Kid Ory’s trombone,
St. Cyr’s bajo,
They join the drums…
And I remember.
Jazz!
I dream of the drums
And remember
Africa!
The ships!
New shore!
And drums!
Remember!
I remember!
Remember!
“Congo Square now Beauregard Square”
By: Rixford J. Lincoln (1872- 1962)
Long, long ago, before the city spread
Across the ramparts, far about the town,
Was Congo Square, famed for many sights,
Which caused it to enjoy quite strange renown.
For here, when Spanish rule did flourish high,
Were bloody bull fights fierce held on this ground;
There rode the heroes in their glory clad,
While cries of triumph loudly did resound.
When France again had claimed her own from Spain,
When slavery, with its evil deeds, held sway,
The awful voodoos oft danced in the square
Mid shades of night until dawn of day.
In secret places were their charms there hid,
With which to work from friends their fearful spell’
For superstition filled the place with dread,
and in its shadows their dark queen did dwell.
And e’en it is said somewhere within the park
A strangler had his strange abode quite long,
Who kill’d his victims in the stilly night,
And buried them in pits to hide his wrong.
And now the bull fights, voodoos, are no more,
The strangler’s but a myth of distant past;
The Square in modern beauty stands in pride,
Where soothing shade its graceful trees now cast.
The rush of cars has chased away its ghosts,
The sound of traffic drowns the voodoos’ song;
While birds and flowers breathe enchantment there,
And sunshine leads one its walks along
Source: Times Picayune, November 13, 1910
“Congo Square” by Kalamu ya Salaam (1947- )
Audio: http://wordup.posthaven.com/poem-audio-congo-square-0
the oumas indians prepared this place for us
centuries before our arrival
a sacred spot where corn festivals
were celebrated & as the colonializers came
they pushed aside our hosts
& introduced us in chains
& by the late 1700s we somehow
recognizing the sacredness of le place de congo,
we somehow, and the how of our persuasive methodologies
is not clear at this moment, but nevertheless,
even enslaved we crafted and created a space
where we could be free to be we
and thusly we countered the sacriligousness of the french
giving great homage to our ancestors as well as
giving praise & thanx to our red blooded brothers & sisters
this is an oral libational toast
to congo square
to native americans &
to our african ancestors
who made a circle in a square
and gave us a way to stay ourselves save ourselves
from the transformatory ugliness of america
which refuses to recognize the spirituality of life
and celebrates death with crosses & crosses, double
& triple crosses, the middle passage the first cross,
christianity the double cross and capitalism
the ultimate triple coup de grace cross of our captivity
but the terror of crosses notwithstanding
we sang, we beat, we be, we was & is
hail, congo square
our african gods have not been obliterated
they have merely retreated inside
the beat of us until we are ready
to release them into a world that we
re-create, a world heralded by the beat
be, beat being, beating being
of black heart drums
heart beat heart beat heart be/at this place
at this place be heart beat be we
beating place in new world space
beating being in place
in new world preserving our ancient pace
our dance is the god walk
our music, the god talk
first thing we do, let’s get together
circle ourselves into community
no beginning no end con
nected together
and singing ringing singing
in a ring
second let’s be original
aboriginal / be what we were before
we became what we are, be bamboula
dance, be banza music, and sing song words
which have no english translation
third let us remember
never to forget even when we can’t remember
the specifics we must retain the essentials
the bounce the blood flow the feel the spirit
grow energy, must retain and pass on
the essential us-ness that
others want to dissipate whip out of us
but no matter how much of us they prohibit
deep inside us is us
remains us inside
& needs only
the beat
to set
us free
the beat to free us
it is morning, a sun day, a field w/out shade but dark
with the people black of us in various shades
eclipsing the sun with our elegance
we are centuries later now
and still this sacred ground calls us
to remember / to beat / to be
beat CONGO SQUARE be CONGO SQUARE
beat be beat be
remember
Eight maps of early La Novelle Orleans, beginning in 1728, that show the area that is now Congo Square with different names.
https://gonola.com/things-to-do-in-new-orleans/history/nola-history-8-fascinating-old- new-orleans-maps
1845 Norman's Plan of New Orleans & Environs shows the name “Public Square” for present-day Jackson Square and the name “Circus Square” for what is now Congo Square.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:Norman%27s_plan_of_New_Orleans_%26_en virons,_1845._LOC_98687133.jpg
1869 map which shows present-day Congo Square with the name “Public Square.”
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Central_New_Orleans_1869_map.jpg
1920 map of New Orleans that shows the name “Beauregard Square” for present-day Congo Square.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_Orleans_Quarter_CBD_1920_map.jpg
1724 Code Noir (Black Code, New Orleans specific)
1817 October 15 New Orleans City Council Ordinance. Louisiana Division / City Archives, New Orleans Public Library.
1845 April 28 Ordinance from the First Municipal Council
2011 April 28 New Orleans City Council Ordinance
Creecy, James. Scenes in the South. Philadelphia: Lippincott & Company, 1860.
Flint, Timothy. Recollections of the Last Ten Years in the Valley of the Mississippi. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1968.
Latrobe, Henry Benjamin. The Journals of Benjamin Latrobe 1799- 1820 From Philadelphia to New Orleans. Vol. 3. Edited by Edward C. Carter II, John C. Van Horne, Lee W, Formwalt. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1980.
From the journal of Benjamin Latrobe, sketches of musical instruments he witnessed at Congo Square
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Congo_Square_African_Drum_1819_Latrobe.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Congo_Square_African_String_Instrument_Latrobe.jpg
Schultz, Christian. Travels on an Island Voyage. Vol. II. New York: Issac Riley, 1810.
Schweninger, Loren ed. The Autobiography of James Thomas: From Tennessee Slave to St. Louis Entrepreneur. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1984.
