City History: New Orleans30 Sep 2025

2.1: Congo Plains

Congo Square is often described as the “birthplace of jazz.” But its history goes far deeper—as a place where, every Sunday, the enslaved of New Orleans would practice traditional African music and dance.

In this first episode of a trilogy, we examine Congo Square’s origins, its persistence across French and Spanish New Orleans, and how early American officials sought to regulate it.

LEARN MORE:

Congo Square: African Roots in New Orleans by Freddi Williams Evans

Congo Square in New Orleans by Jerah Johnson

“A Window on Slave Culture: Dances at Congo Square in NewOrleans, 1800-1862” by Gary A. Donaldson

The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver toCongo Square by Ned Sublette

City of a Million Dreams: New Orleans at 300 by JasonBerry

The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans byLawrence N. Powell

“African Cultural Memory in New Orleans Music” byJason Berry

“Deep Skin: Reconstructing Congo Square” by Joseph R. Roach

“New Orleans Music as a Circulatory System” by Matt Sakakeeny

“The Invention of a Memory: Congo Square and African Musicin Nineteenth-Century New Orleans” by Ted Widmer

SOUNDS:

French Quarter Bourbon walk.wav by volivieri --https://freesound.org/s/110012/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

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Episoder(38)

2.7: The Irish Potato Famine

Before the Irish arrive in New Orleans, we explain why they left: religious discrimination, poverty and an apocalyptic potato famine. In seven years, 1.5 million Irish die from starvation and disease....

23 Aug 1h 17min

2.6: An Irish Hello

The first Irish arrive in New Orleans. They’re the kind ofpeople who make bad posts on LinkedIn. We revisit Alejandro O’Reilly, who put down the 1768rebellion, and Oliver Pollock, one of the most famo...

21 Jun 20min

2.5: The 1832 Cholera Pandemic

Cholera strikes New Orleans. Ten percent of the city is killed. Reverend Theodore Clapp performs a minister’s duty amidst the horror. We learn about bizarre treatments. Germ theory is not yet a thing....

3 Apr 51min

2.4: The End of Congo Square

New Orleans becomes hostile to Congo Square. The African dances are banned. The space falls into disrepair, then becomes a whites-only park. Against all odds, it fights for its original identity.LEARN...

19 Jan 33min

2.3: How Congo Square Survived

We explore why Congo Square existed for so long, how it retained an African character, and how its memory survived beyond New Orleans. We also talk about Louisiana Creole and some surprising aspects o...

4 Jan 22min

2.2: Congo Square

The enslaved of New Orleans make music and dance together at the city's edge. This is the story of Congo Square: the people who gathered there every Sunday—and the African culture they kept alive.List...

21 Nov 202533min

1.31: Why the Battle of New Orleans Mattered

In our final battle episode, we dispel a few historical myths, muse on alternate history scenarios, and explore not just what the American victory prevented but created. (And also discuss the TREATY O...

7 Jul 202534min