Building Antebellum New Orleans: Free People of Color and Their Influence by Tara A. Dudley (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Building Antebellum New Orleans: Free People of Color and Their Influence by Tara A. Dudley Charlette M. Caldwell (bio) Tara A. Dudley Building Antebellum New Orleans: Free People of Color and Their Influence Austin: University of Texas, 2021 336 pages, 94 black-and-white and 22 color illustrations ISBN: 9781477323021, $50.00 HB ISBN: 9781477323045, $50.00 EB Engagement, as Tara A. Dudley defines it in Building Antebellum New Orleans, encapsulates the architectural and building histories of underrepresented communities, bringing to the fore the signification of commitment and conflict that faces a racialized group when acquiring property and asserting the right to build on their property. As Louisiana grew rapidly between the 1830s and the 1840s, the gens de couleur libres community—free people of color who were of mixed Black and European ancestry—prospered, engaging in building trades and property acquisitions that left an indelible mark on the built environment. As Dudley writes, these free people of color and their buildings have been unexplored fully in architectural history, leaving a crucial gap that she expertly fills to show these communities’ influences on American architecture. The free people of color in New Orleans trace their origins to informal relationships between White men and women of color. Laws were lenient regarding interracial relationships, which contributed naturally to the growth of a distinct mixed-race class. Two families in particular, the Dolliole family and the Soulié family, contributed significantly to the building industry in New Orleans, their work concentrated mostly in the Vieux Carré and Faubourg Tremé neighborhoods. And although the population numbers of the gens de couleur libres decreased in the city toward the end of the antebellum period, their presence nonetheless influenced the economic opportunities available for them. The book is divided into three parts. In the first, “Ownership: Possessing the Built Environment,” Dudley uses the property histories of the Dolliole and the Soulié families as case studies to structure the book, delving first into a detailed history of their property acquisitions before exploring their ramifications. In chapter 1, “The Gens de Couleur Libres’ Acquisition of Property,” Dudley details how the ownership of property “was the first step in the architecture-driven identity-building process by which many builders and developers of color established their place in antebellum New Orleans” (25). Members of these families often used inter vivos (between living people) donations to transfer or gift property to relatives. This was often the case after a family member passed away or gifted the property to their offspring. Despite increasing limitations placed on people of color during this time, through donations and working with business associates, families like the Dollioles and the Souliés acquired a significant amount of property, establishing birthrights for their descendants. In chapter 2, “The Ramifications of Use and Location,” Dudley examines the building histories not only in the Vieux Carré and the Faubourg Tremé, but also in other suburbs and streets, demonstrating how the gens de couleur libres interacted and moved about the city of New Orleans from its origins as a European colony to an American city. These families took advantage of areas deemed unimportant by White Creoles and Americans, establishing a secure propertied foothold by people of color. As Dudley explains, “the gens de couleur libres’ success as property owners and speculators presented a dichotomy in a city becoming more and more American culturally and racially segregated and attempting to keep free people of color in their ‘proper place’ in daily life. On the other hand, their reality underscored the parity they retained with White Creoles and many Americans” (71). The concentration of these properties was also significant due to their sheer size, and because their placement affected the racial demographics in the city long after the population size of the gens de couleur libres dwindled after the 1840s. Part 2, “Engagement: Forming and Transforming the Built Environment,” begins with chapter 3, “The Architecture of the Dolliole and the Soulié Families,” which focuses on the uses of engagement, or how the gens de couleur libres formed and transformed the built environment in which they lived. This chapter is most significant to Dudley’s argument, as she explores how members of each...