“Self Portrait” by Katie McDowell (18), New Orleans Center for Creative Arts "An Old Man in Military Costume" by Simone Wuttke (18), Dartmouth College (recent Benjamin Franklin High School graduate) "This oil on canvas painting is inspired by Rembrandt's 'An Old...
I have sat with anger ingrained in my ribs night after night. I know the five stages of grief. Why am I so stuck on anger? Denial was the first one. It hit when I stood in front of my fridge all alone in my house with my knees wobbling, staring at the screen on my...
Partner Yoga Poses by Laurie Azzano of Lolo’s Youth StudioYaaaas, finally! Hello, summer! Inhale deadlines. Exhale freedom. If you’re like most, summer represents one big sigh of relief. No more early morning alarm clocks, homework, tests, school drama, or crazy,...
Makes 20-24 brownies (depending on how big you slice them) BAKE TIME: 30 minutesIngredients 6 eggs 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour 3 cups brown sugar 1 cup white sugar 2 sticks butter 1/2 cup Crisco shortening 1 1/2 cups baking cocoa powder 3/4 teaspoon salt 3 teaspoons...
If you are struggling with anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, or any form of mental distress, reach out to someone right away who can be there for you. Professional help is always an option when your psychological well-being is at risk. There is zero shame in...
Teen-Friendly NOLA ClinicsClinics that serve adolescents usually focus on the reproductive health needs of adolescents and young adults but may also provide primary care services. The ages served vary depending on the clinic, but they usually include preteens (11 or...
Have you ever wondered how you can apply astrology to your everyday life but don’t know where to start? Astrology can be very complex and sometimes overwhelming to interpret, so I have compiled a quick guide to help you consciously incorporate daily practices to...
Did you know clothing isn’t biodegradable?That means it doesn’t decompose once it’s dumped in the trash—it just sits in a landfill and creates nasty greenhouse gases in our environment. “We have to think longer and harder about the clothing we wear, where it came...
New Orleanians love their glitter, and, more than ever, we all deserve a little extra sparkle in our lives. Addie Ellis of the local biodegradable glitter company Glitter Nymph shared with us how to make shimmery oil that is good for your skin and nature. Since you...
I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me by Jamison Shea What it’s about: Laure will do anything to prove a Black girl can be a star in the cutthroat world of Parisian ballet, even make a deal with a primordial power she finds in a pulsating river of blood in the...
Are you looking for inspiring ways to volunteer in the local community while fulfilling your school’s service hour requirements? We’ve talked to some great organizations in the area that rely on volunteers to help their wonderful programs run. Learn more about each...
Imagine that you just found out you are pregnant. For some young people, this may be exciting news; for others, it is not. Questions swirl: How can I take care of a baby and finish school? How can I afford to be a parent if I don’t finish school? How will my parents...
Lucy Scholz is my “shero” because she ran 300 miles from Los Angeles, California, to Las Vegas, Nevada, as part of The Speed Project. That’s roughly like running to Houston, Texas, or Seaside, Florida, from New Orleans! Not only did she win the 2023 competition and...
Careers in Skilled Trades With the cost of college continuing to rise, skilled trade careers are a great alternative pathway to stable, well-paying work and upward social mobility. Many trade workers provide essential services and help build and maintain important...
by Geaux Girl!
Rosette Rochon was born in 1760 in Mobile, Alabama, as a slave. She was freed as a child, lived for a time in Haiti, and moved to New Orleans around 1800. She was a savvy investor who saw potential in the Faubourg Marigny, a neighborhood right next to what we know today as the French Quarter. She bought her first lot of land from Bernard de Marigny, the man for whom the neighborhood is named, and went on to buy many more. She bought and sold houses in the Marigny and French Quarter, leased apartments, and grew a fortune for herself. She opened the city’s first chain of grocery stores, and acted as her own bank, making loans and financing mortgages. When she died at age 100, she left a fortune of over $100,000 — which today would be well over $1 million. It was an amazing accomplishment for a woman of color before the Civil War — especially one who never learned to read. The house she lived in is still standing in the Marigny — 1515 Pauger St. — and today is a museum dedicated to Ms. Rochon.
Micaela Leonarda Anto-nia Almonester y Rojas — say that three times fast! — otherwise known as the Baroness de Pontalba, was born in New Orleans in 1795 into a wealthy family. After marrying at the age of 16 (as was common back then), she moved to Paris, and lived there for years. After her marriage ended, however, she moved back to New Orleans, and upon her return was easily the richest woman in town. Seeing the decline of the French Quarter, she was determined to use her wealth to spruce up the neighborhood. The Baroness designed and built the two beautiful rows of red townhouses that flank Jackson Square — she even designed the lacy ironwork adorning the balcony. (She inserted her initials, “AP,” into the design — next time you’re in the French Quarter, see if you can find them!) The beauty of the iron in particular was such a hit that soon balconies with beautiful ironwork could be found across the entire neighborhood — and those balconies remain a defining feature of the French Quarter to this day. The Pontalba Buildings are still standing, too, and today are some of the most expensive apartments in the city.
Henriette DeLille was a Creole woman — her mother was a free person of color and her father was French — born in 1812. She was raised in the French Quarter, and her mother taught her literature and dancing, and encouraged her to be social and look for a husband. Henriette was drawn to her Catholic faith, however, and decided instead to become a nun. She formed her own congregation of nuns, and she and her sisters devoted their lives to caring for the sick, poor and elderly — in fact, the Sisters of the Holy Family, as they were called, are credited for establishing the first Catholic home for the elderly in the U.S. They later opened orphanages to care for children whose parents had died, and established schools to educate children, too. They taught slave children even when it was illegal to do so. She died in 1862, but the Sisters of the Holy Family still exist and care for people to this day.A street in Tremé is now named after her, and the Catholic Church is considering making her a saint — she would be New Orleans’ first, and the first U.S.-born black woman to be named to sainthood.
Eliza Jane Nicholson was born in Mississippi into a wealthy family in 1843. Though girls in her privileged situation typically would marry and live lives of leisure, Eliza Jane wanted to work. More specifically, she wanted to write — and get paid for it. Her parents were quite shocked by this, however, and so to escape their scorn, she moved to New Orleans. She began writing for the Daily Picayune — which later morphed into what we know as the Times-Picayune — and soon fell in love with the publisher. They got married, and she continued growing her career as a regular writer and as literary editor for the newspaper, contributing book reviews, poems and other pieces under the pen name “Pearl Rivers.” She also edited the newspaper, reading every word before it hit the press. Her husband died four years after they married, and she inherited ownership of the Daily Picayune. The newspaper was almost bankrupt at the time, and family members encouraged her to give it up. She was determined to keep it alive though, and she did, establishing herself as the first female publisher of a major daily newspaper in the U.S. She started hiring a lot of women for her staff, even at a time when most other newspapers had none. (One of her hires, Dorothy Dix, wrote an advice column in the Daily Picayune that became so popular that newspapers around the country began to publish it — at her height, she had an audience of 60 million readers.) Ultimately, she grew the newspaper to be one of the biggest in the Gulf South.
Mahalia Jackson, who was known the world over as “The Queen of Gospel,” was a singer who grew up in the Black Pearl neighborhood, near Carrollton. She was born in 1911 into a religious family; she was such a New Orleans girl that she was baptized in the Mississippi River. Her love of singing came from a childhood spent in the church choir, and her faith and religiosity was so strong that she vowed never to sing secular (non-religious) music. It was a promise she kept her entire career. Despite the fact that she only sang gospel, she sold millions of records worldwide, became the first gospel singer to perform at famed New York City venue Carnegie Hall (in 1950), and was so respected that she performed at such events as President John F. Kennedy’s inaugural ball. She used her international fame as a platform to advocate for civil rights, working with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and others to change American history for the better. Her uplifting attitude spread to all who listened to her music — she is quoted as once saying, “I sing God’s music… because it gives me hope. With the blues, when you finish, you still have the blues.” New Orleans’ premier concert hall in Louis Armstrong Park is named in her honor.
1. Rosette Rochon’s former home in the Marigny at 1515 Pauger St.
2. A portrait of the Baroness de Pontalba, painted in 1841 by Amelie Legrand de Saint-Aubin 3. An undated image of Henriette DeLille. Image courtesy Sisters of the Holy Family.
4. Eliza Jane Nicholson was known by her pen name, “Pearl Rivers,” when she wrote. This photo dates to the 1890s.
5. Mahalia Jackson sings at the U.S. Embassy in India in 1971.
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