VIRTUAL BOOKS

The following virtual books are on the Folklife in Louisiana website. Some were previously published as print books, and some were originally published digitally.


 

The Elders Speak: The West Feliciana Parish African American Oral History Project

This digital publication documents the Florida Parish's black history through interviews with 15 elders about topics such as farming, religion, and civil rights in addition to photographs of culturally significant sites.


 

Baton Rouge Traditions

Baton Rouge Traditions is a compilation of research conducted in the greater Baton Rouge area primarily over the past decade for the Baton Rouge Folklife Survey, the New Populations Project, and other sources. Together these essays offer a glimpse of this metropolitan area that is the state's capital.


 

Delta Pieces: Northeast Louisiana Folklife

This virtual book is the compilation of research conducted over 20 years by a team of researchers and community scholars that offer a glimpse at this fascinating region of 12 northeast Louisiana parishes running south down the Mississippi River from the Arkansas state line though Concordia Parish, Louisiana.


 

The Many Faces of the Bayou State: New Populations in Louisiana

This virtual book is the compilation of research conducted for the New Populations Initiative to document the traditions and art forms of Louisiana's newest communities who include foreign-born community members. in Louisiana.


 

Louisiana Folklife: A Guide to the State

This book was originally edited by Nicholas R. Spitzer and published by the Office of Cultural Development in 1985. The book is now out of print, and a selection of essays are provided online courtesy of the editor. It provides an overview of Louisiana folklife, including foodways, crafts, family and occupational traditions, music, boats and houses, as well as an overview of cultural groups and their languages.


 

Folklife in the Florida Parishes

Folklife in the Florida Parishes

Received the 1989 Notable Government Documents Award from the American Library Association's Government Documents Round Table (GODORT).


 

Keeping It Alive: Cultural Conservation Through Apprenticeship - A Review of the Louisiana Folklife Apprenticeship ProgramKeeping It Alive: Cultural Conservation Through Apprenticeship - A Review of the Louisiana Folklife Apprenticeship Program

Received the 1993 Notable Government Documents Award from the American Library Association's Government Documents Round Table (GODORT).


 

Swapping Stories: Folktales from Louisiana.

Swapping Stories: Folktales from Louisiana

The Swapping Stories book, video, and website are products of the ten-year Louisiana Storytelling Project that documented Louisiana storytellers. The project began as a collaboration with the Louisiana Office of Tourism’s Open House 1990 Storytelling Program with stories being recorded at Louisiana festivals. Stories were then edited into the book, video recorded for the documentary, and finally posted online. Swapping Stories: Received the 1999 Humanities Book Award from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities.

Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities


 

Gifts From The Hills

Gifts From The Hills

Edited by Susan Roach. The North Central Louisiana Folklife Project was begun in November, 1983 for the purpose of surveying and documenting the existing folk traditions located in the five parishes of Bienville, Claiborne, Jackson, Lincoln, and Union. The original exhibition took place at Louisiana Tech University, in Ruston, LA, September 30-October 21, 1984. White Oak Basketry, grave decorating, soap-making, cane carving, and storytelling are just a few of the folk traditions explored in this informative exhibition book.


 

He's The Prettiest: A Tribute to Big Chief "Tootie" Montana's 50 Years of Mardi Gras Indian Suiting

This essay was originally published as an exhibit catalogue by the New Orleans Museum of Art for the 1997 exhibit, "He's the Prettiest:" A Tribute to Big Chief Allison "Tootie" Montana's 50 Years of Mardi Gras Indian Suiting. Kalamu ya Salaam is a writer/editor/filmmaker and founder of NOMMO Literary Society, a New Orleans-based creative writing workshop. Salaam is the leader of the WordBand, a poetry performance ensemble that combines poetry with blues, jazz and other forms of music. Salaam can be reached at kalamu@aol.com. Chandra McCormick and Keith Calhoun are photographers based in New Orleans.


 

Splittin' On The Grain

Splittin' On The Grain: Folk Art in Clifton, Louisiana

Edited by H.F. Gregory and Donald W. Hatley. This book contains articles written by Claude Medford, H.F. Gregory, Shari Miller, and Miriam Rich. Explore the eclectic folk arts of Clifton, Louisiana in this charming book. Learn about the traditions and the people who carry on these traditions. This publication was made possible through a grant from The Louisiana Division of the Arts. It was originally published in Louisiana Folklife, Volume VIII Number 1, March 1983.


 

More Than Just a Trade

More Than Just a Trade: Master Craftsmen of the Building Arts

by Laura Westbrook. Based on the New Orleans Building Arts Project, this virtual book features an introduction by Laura Westbrook, an article by C. Ray Brassieur, and interviews with masons, painters, ironworkers, roofers, lathers, tile masons, wood crafters, plasterers, blacksmiths, shorers, and more. This site complements the exhibition book, Raised to the Trade: Creole Building Arts of New Orleans, published by the New Orleans Museum of Art.