MrE &
Louisiana
History
00/00/10
“Famous people in
our state’s culture
and heritage”
Day ONE
Pre-test
• Based only on prior knowledge, please
complete the assignment given in ONE
complete paragraph, writing in proper
grammar and BLACK INK. You have five
minutes.
June 29, 1941 First graduating class
of McNeese Junior
College
75. Describe the contributions of ethnic
groups significant in Louisiana history
In what Country would you
find the following landmarks?
1.The Great Pyramids
Write
legibly, in
BLACK
INK and
only on the
sheet
provided
2.The Great Wall
3.The Outback
4.Death Valley
5.Amazon River
This is my personal
class bellringer,
called a LaGumbo –
a little of anything
and everything
from middle school
history!
Marie, the Voudou Priestess
•The subject of legends, myths
•Newspaper and magazine
articles
•Tour guides tales
•Historical documentaries
•Three novels and an opera
•A film and a play
•And her tomb is the most visited
in the city of New Orleans
Intro
Terms to know
•Voudou – A melding of Catholic and African spirits
which is central to Louisiana Voudou
•Hoodoo – predominantly African-American
traditional folk magic
•Priestess – a woman having the authority or
power to administer religious rites (as in the above)
•F.P.C – is a person of full or partial African descent
who was not enslaved - Free People of Color
•Mulatto – a person of mixed black and white
ancestry
VocAB
•Great Grandmother
was probably born in
West Africa (Senegal)
around 1736 and sold
into slavery as a child.
•She was later in great
demand as a domestic
servant.
Fact #1
Voudou
•Voudou is a house religion
served mostly by women.
•Practitioners profess belief
in a supreme God but give
more attention to a large
number of spirits called the loa,
which can be identified as local
or African gods, deified
ancestors, or Catholic saints.
Fact #2
The spelling of Voodoo
typically indicates the region of
reference. Voodoo is West
African, now common to the
U.S.
Voudou is the French spelling
more common in Haiti
The word voodoo means
"spirit of God."
Hoodoo
practitioners work with both
hands - for good and evil. The
root doctors, as they are called
in Louisiana, and the bokors as
they are called in Haiti, are also
healers. Hoodoo is not Voodoo. It
is a living and organic magical
system with a strong African
heartbeat. Virtually all practitioners
are Christian.
Fact #3
Catholic
•Her grandmother was at
least a nominal Catholic
and was baptized in St.
Louis Cathedral.
•Grandmother spent 30
years as a servant to Henry
Roche, a popular F.P.C.
(Free People of Color) and
had two children.
Fact #4
Free
• At forty-two her
grandmother PAID six
hundred (Spanish) pesos
in cash to become a free
women.
• 41 years later she passed
away and was buried with full
rites of the Catholic Church.
What
Spanish
Pesos?
Fact #5
Laveau Homework
• Using the internet, research Marie Laveau,
to create the given Lifeline timeline. DO
NOT TRUST a Wikipedia site for info.
They are known to be wrong.
• Use the sites given on homework sheet
• Assignment is due tomorrow at the
beginning of class.
• Remember – Dates above the line, facts
below the line, and BLACK INK.
Homework
MrE &
Louisiana
History
00/00/10
“The women you only
thought you knew”
Day Two
BEFORE WE START
• Turn in HR Timeline now. Be sure your
name is on it.
• Take out fact-sheet we started yesterday.
July 1, 1912 Louisiana State Flag
adopted.
75. Describe the contributions of ethnic
groups significant in Louisiana history
BRIEFLY define the following
terms.
1. F.P.C.
Write
legibly, in
BLACK
INK and
only on the
sheet
provided
2. Mulatto
3. Vodou
4. Senegal
5. Hoodoo
Born Free
•Marie’s mother, Marguerite, had a brief
affair with a free mulatto business man
– Charles Laveaux.
Marie became the first
generation to be born
free. She was baptized
in the Cathedral with her
grandmother serving as
godmother.
Fact #6
Service
Marie entered into a
relationship with Christophe
de Glapion.
• Marie was involved in
community service, nursing
yellow fever victims, she was a
life-long Catholic, received the
sacraments of baptism and
marriage, attended mass, and
served as a godmother.
Fact #7
Christophe was a
white Louisiana
native of noble
French birth.
Marie and Chris
were the parents of
seven children
Same or Not?
•She looked at Catholicism
and Voudou as different,
but not conflicting.
•Voudou also had a complex
theology and including many
spirits – elements that many
Africans could relate to.
Fact #8
Callers
•Lawyers, legislators,
planters and merchants all
came to pay their respects
and seek her prayers and
guidance.
•Marie had a following of
both the FPC and upperclass whites of New Orleans.
Fact #9
Good vs Good
•Newspapers could not
reconcile the idea of Marie
Laveau as a exemplary
Catholic with her Voudou
congregation leadership.
“If she was good she couldn’t
be a voudou priestess and if
she was Priestess she
couldn’t be good.”
Fact #10
Fact #8
Laveau Homework
• Using the internet, and your research
on Marie Laveau, to create her own
Facebook page.
• Assignment is due tomorrow at the
beginning of class.
• Remember – comments, friends,
birthdays, picture, and in BLACK INK.
Homework
PosT-test
• Now knowing more about Marie Laveau,
please complete the assignment given in
ONE complete paragraph in, writing in
proper grammar and BLACK INK. You
have ten minutes.
EXTRA CREDIT if you want
Using the worksheet given,
cut out Marie’s tomb, fold the
shape and tape it together
following the directions
supplied. Return the
completed project tomorrow
at the beginning of class or
before school.