Notable New Orleanians: A Tricentennial Tribute

D R . LOUIS C HARLES R OUDANEZ
(1823-1890)
Dr. Louis Charles Roudanez launched Reconstruction politics in New Orleans in 1862 with the
publication of his first newspaper, L’Union. The paper announced that African-Americans must
have the right to vote. Dr. Roudanez pursued this goal for the remainder of the War and
Reconstruction, diminishing as a voice with the end of formal Reconstruction and the expiration
of his second newspaper the New Orleans Tribune.
Born in St. James Parish, Roudanez received a first-class education for the
time. He attended Dartmouth College and later received a medical degree from
the University of Paris. His professors urged him to remain in France, as they did
for Norbert Rillieux (q.v.), another Creole. But Roudanez was inspired by his participation
in the French revolution of 1848, which led to the end of slavery within
the French empire. This inspiration led him to return to New Orleans where
he began a successful practice as a physician on Customhouse Street (Iberville)
at the edge of the French Quarter. His clientele there were probably both black
and white.
In September 1862, with Union troops in the city and General Benjamin
Butler considering his options, Dr. Roudanez, assisted by his brother Jean
Baptiste and Paul Trevigne, launched their L’Union, the first black-sponsored
newspaper in the United States. Primarily aimed at the French Creole population,
it also carried English content and for two years came out three times a week.
From the beginning it brought up the right to vote, although aware that neither
Butler nor President Abraham Lincoln was prepared to endorse black voting.
In March of 1864 the Roudanez-inspired petition for voting rights signed by
one thousand African-Americans in New Orleans was presented to Lincoln at the
White House. That July, L’Union folded, to be succeeded two days later by another
Roudanez newspaper, the New Orleans Tribune. This paper was far more radical,
calling for the end of discrimination in public accommodations, street cars, and
segregated public schools. The New Orleans Tribune eventually became a daily
newspaper, widely read in Washington and New York, and wielding significant
influence over the politics of Louisiana Reconstruction. In October 1865 Frederick Douglas wrote
J. B. Roudanez praising the paper and stating that he read it whenever he could.
In 1867, Roudanez achieved his dream when a state election to a new constitutional convention
saw 75,000 voters, of which most were black. Although the constitution it produced contained
most of Roudanez’ Tribune agenda, internal politics within the Republican party spelled the end of
the paper within a year. The Republicans backed the Creole Francis Dumas for Governor against
Henry Clay Warmouth, fearing Warmouth was too close to the Democrats. Warmouth’s narrow victory
led to a Republican party boycott of the Tribune. Warmouth went on to veto legislation implementing
the radical planks of the constitution, just as Roudanez had feared. The new governor also
delisted the Tribune as an official government journal, and by 1869 it was virtually out of business.
Roudanez carried on his efforts, best evidenced by his prominent role in the Unification
Movement of 1873 led by General P. G. T. Beauregard. This large group supporting racial solidarity
among blacks and whites had a life of only one year. Removed from politics, Roudanez continued
to practice medicine almost until his death in 1890, just before Homer Plessy (q.v.) took his fateful
train ride.
Louis Charles Roudañez.
COURTESY OF ROUDAÑEZ HISTORY AND LEGACY,
WWW. ROUDAÑEZ.COM.
For further reading see Mark Charles Roudané. The New Orleans Tribune: An Introduction to America’s First Black Daily
Newspaper. New Orleans: Mark Roudané, 2014. Gospel Banner (Augusta, Maine). September 1, 1866. on the Tribune. Keith
Weldon Medley. http://www.theneworleanstribune.com/main/celebrating-dr-louis-charles-roudanez/, by McKenna Publishing,
150th Anniversary of the original New Orleans Tribune.
BIOGRAPHIES
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