[.ca] Creole: The History and Legacy of Louisiana's Free ... (ISBN 0807126012)

History lesson on Creoles in one book.:
This book of essays is absolutely the best resource on the Creole heritage of Louisiana. The history is priceless and my hat goes off to Dr. Kein for compiling such a group of scholars and historians who have covered every aspect of the subject. I have many books and have done much research since the late eighties as part of my research on African American history. This book has been a long time in coming. I thank Anthony Barthelemy for his essay "Light, Bright, Damn Near White" which answered my questions of the infamous Susie Guillory case, the woman who "discovered" she was considered "Colored" when she went to get a passport in the 80s. I always wondered what they true story was and now I know. I enjoued learning about Marcus Chritian through violet Harrington Byan's essay exposing his research on Creoles. All of the essays are worth reading and referring to again and again. Composers of color of Nineteenth-Century New Orleans was an eye-opener. I had heard about them but found very little information until this. The essay by Joan Martin on placage answered alot of questions for me of why and will be helpful for my friend who is writing a thesis on Creole women and the institution of placage. Oh, and Sybil Kein's "The Use of Louisiana Creole in Southern Literature" was worth the whole book. This essay brought home full circle of my studies of some of the writers who have written about literature, race, and passing. I could go on and on. Creole Poets, their professions and trades, the food connection. It is all wonderful. I count this book as one of my best investments for 2000 with the wealth of knowledge in it. This should be in the library of every American historian, black, white, or other.