The African American Experience in Louisiana

GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
This context is limited to the geographic parameters of the state of Louisiana.
SUMMARY OF IDENTIFICATION AND EVALUATION METHODS
Identification of associated properties began with a review of the Louisiana National
Register of Historic Places Database, which includes African-American Heritage as a searchable
theme. In order to establish a list of potential associated properties that could be easily sorted by
dates, location, or property types, an Excel spreadsheet was created and the fifty-eight properties
found in the database under African-American Heritage provided the starting pool of properties.
This was substantially augmented through an examination by Project Developer, Kristin Sanders
of files for some thirty parishes in the Louisiana Historic Standing Structures Survey collection.
All of the files identified by Sanders as potentially related to this context were sent to the
consultant in digital form. These files were all subsequently reviewed by the consultant and
information for each property was added to the list. The consultant also reviewed some parish
files in the Louisiana Historic Standing Structures Survey collection and identified additional
properties. Another group of properties was identified through the study of Buildings of
Louisiana by Karen Kingsley. Still additional properties were identified by research of Historic
American Buildings Survey files, personal knowledge, and knowledgeable contacts. In addition,
as research progressed, other associated properties were periodically identified. Eventually 161
resources representing thirty-nine of the state’s sixty-four parishes were included on the
spreadsheet of properties.
The windshield survey, a typical architectural survey, method was not employed for this
project for two reasons. The primary reason was that the geographic area of the state of
Louisiana was entirely too large to survey in this manner during the nineteen month duration of
the project. Existing survey files were instead depended upon for the type of information this
technique might produce. The second reason for not using a windshield survey as a means of
identifying extant properties associated with this project was the fact that visual clues are often
not an effective means of identifying a property’s historic associations. Only a few property
types, such as Rosenwald schools, have distinctive forms or features that help to identify them
visually as African American properties. Whereas buildings that are significant for their
architectural design, materials, and craftsmanship may be easily identified by visual inspection,
buildings connected with the African American Experience in Louisiana must be studied through
additional multidisciplinary methods in order to recognize the associative value of their history.
These methods include a combination of archaeology, oral interviews, and archival research.
Although windshield survey was not utilized as an essential tool of this project, it was
certainly used in a less systematic manner during travels to properties. However, only one
property of interest was identified by this method. This building was an early nineteenth-century
frame church very much like a National Register listed one in the area. A modern church next to
it had a plaque with a founding date of 1867 that suggested a good possibility that it was
established by freed people. However, a letter left in the door and subsequent phone calls did not
garner any more information about the property. A crosscheck of survey files for this area
revealed that it had been surveyed and simply not noted for any possible African American
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