Culture Bearer Program - Baby Dolls of New Orleans
New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park
and
Jean Lafitte National Historical Park & Preserve
present a
Special Program
about African American Mardi Gras Traditions:
Baby Dolls of New Orleans
featuring Baby Doll Kit of the N’awlins D’awlins
and Joel Lee, Founder Original Black Seminole Baby Dolls
Saturday at 12:00 noon
At the National Park Service French Quarter visitor center
419 Decatur Street, New Orleans, LA
Learn about the history and culture of New Orleans’ Baby Dolls from modern practitioners, Baby Doll Kit of the N’awlins D’awlins and Joel Lee, Founder Original Black Seminole Baby Dolls. “The story of the Baby Dolls began in Black Storyville, which was an area just a few blocks from Storyville, said author and women's studies scholar Kim Vaz-Deville. The so-called Red Light District, which operated from 1897 to 1917, was an area known for bars, gambling and prostitution. The Baby Dolls emerged in the brothels and dance halls of New Orleans around 1910 and the tradition was born from a competition between women vying for business on Mardi Gras. The women took to the streets wearing bonnets and bloomers and they smoked cigars. . . . Baby Dolls were proud, defiant women in a male-dominated world. . . . By the 1930s, the Baby Dolls were an iconic part of black Mardi Gras and evolved into a social group, much like the Mardi Gras Indians and the social aid and pleasure clubs created by African-American men.” (Nola.com article “Baby Doll tradition remains a rich part of New Orleans’ and Mardi Gras culture” by Kathleen Flynn - 3/19/205)
Fees
Free and open to the public
Location
At the National Park Service French Quarter visitor center - 419 Decatur St, New Orleans, LA 70130
Latitude and Longitude 29.954800, -90.064738
Schedule
Date:
Time:
Duration:
12:00 noon to 1:30 pm Central Time
Event Type
- Cultural/Craft Demonstration
- Performance
- Talk