Free Blacks and Radical Creoles with Alexis Hlavaty

I could talk about this stuff all day (well, I sort of do...) and so I am thrilled to offer this fascinating conversation with Alexis Hlavaty. I think most are unaware of how vibrant the free black community was in New Orleans during the antebellum years - and we talk about why these folks are relatively unknown today. We also get way into the radicals after the war in the Reconstruction period and all the way to the infamous Plessy case. Just for fun - and I won't spoil it - but Alexis hits us with some straight up controversy right away (hint: neo-Confederates be warned...). So listen up. This is important stuff. We discuss:

• New Orleans and what fascinates us about this unique city

• Why New Orleans's antebellum free black population is often overlooked

• The Sisters of the Holy family

• Radical Creoles and the struggle for racial equality after the war

• The historic case Plessy v. Ferguson

This was a great conversation - and - I found out that the Catholic sisters could talk a little smack. Who knew...Anyway, Alexis offers some very valuable advice for students and suggests we all go read The Great New Orleans Kidnapping Case: Race, Law, and Justice by Michael A. Ross. SO you had better get to it. And if you want to see what Alexis is up to, you can find her on Twitter.

Be sure and subscribe on iTunes or your favorite app so you never ever ever ever miss a show. That would be dumb.

Music by Advent Chamber Orchestra is licensed under Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/