New Orleans: The Uncertain City
New Orleans battles with its identity. Locals see their home as a river city. Its European colonial founders etched a street grid across the narrow natural levee and perched the incipient city on the banks of the Mississippi River. Since then it has benefitted from waterborne commerce while battling high water that threatens its riparian site. The river loomed large in colonial life and looms large today.
Peirce Lewis, however, identified an uneasy relationship between the riverside site and maritime/inland hinterland situation when he labeled New Orleans as “the impossible but inevitable city.” The site on the banks of the river, had long been used by Native Americans as a strategic portage between the river and Lake Pontchartrain — in effect a bay of the Gulf of Mexico. The city’s French founder, Bienville, foresaw the importance of a city that could connect the vast North American hinterland with the Gulf and the French empire beyond. Indeed, colonial leaders abandoned two prior attempts to establish colonial capitals on the Gulf Coast before selecting the site about 100 miles upstream from the river’s mouth. Thus, the city is an heir of more direct coastal-oriented settlements, but reflects the significance of the river in its development. As the city celebrates it tricentennial in 2018, New Orleans may continue to see itself as a river city, but it functions very much as a Gulf Coast city on the banks of the Mississippi River.
Its relationship to the two water bodies remains thoroughly intertwined. In the years since 1718, the city’s economy has depended on the commerce coursing down the Mississippi – furs and cypress during the colonial era; corn, whiskey, hogmeat, sugar, and cotton during the antebellum period; grain and petrochemical products during much of the last century. New Orleans served as the entrepôt for this waterborne trade that relied on both the river and the Gulf. Another commercial tie has been tourism. Residents from across the Gulf South turned to New Orleans for a variety of pleasures since the 19th century, while New Orleans’s citizens have been prominent in the development of the Mississippi shore and visit the beaches of Alabama and Florida – furthering the city’s connections to the larger Gulf.
Coping with hazards also reflects the city’s position at the intersection of fluvial and marine environments. Flood control efforts have focused on protecting the city while diverting risk via engineered floodways onto coastal fishermen in Mississippi Sound and near the mouth of the Atchafalaya River. Tropical weather presents a powerful threat from the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, and with the loss of it coastal wetlands, New Orleans is ever closer to the Gulf and to storm surges driven by cyclones. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, some homeowners reluctantly raised their houses on stilts, like beach houses – a concession to their coastal location. When the BP oil platform erupted in a tragic fire in April 2010 and released millions of gallons of crude into the Gulf, neighboring coastal states faced economic catastrophe as the slick washed onto their sandy beaches and drove tourists away. Florida’s governor criticized Louisiana for carelessly developing its offshore oil resources which he saw as a threat to his state’s economy. Residents of New Orleans complained that they could smell the oil from off shore – emphasizing their proximity to the Gulf.
Based on its role as entrepôt to the Mississippi River valley, New Orleans was among the country’s five largest cities on the eve of the Civil War. Levees obstructed the view of the river although they did not impede commerce, and these structures became one of the dominating features of the lower river landscape. The Civil War diverted Midwestern commerce to the eastern seaboard by rail, and New Orleans declined in the rank order of the country’s cities. The conflict also left the levees in a poor state of repair and a flood in 1874 provided a political tipping point in a long-running campaign to pass the costs of levee construction and maintenance to the federal government. At the urging of Southern planters and politicians Congress passed legislation in 1879 to fund and maintain the levees, not for flood protection of the recently rebellious region, but to maintain a navigable waterway for interstate commerce. By the early 20th century, engineers abandoned the mistaken belief that the river confined by levees would maintain a deep channel. Following several floods culminating in the most tragic U.S. flood on record in 1927, the Mississippi River Commission declared the main purpose of levees was to fend off inundation and not enable commerce. Despite the fact that the flood of record did not inundate New Orleans, it prompted massive re-engineering of the river that was oriented toward protecting New Orleans and its shipping interests. Its role as the entrepôt connecting the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico remained a dominating concern.
With its distinctive French and Spanish colonial heritage, a sizable number of African Americans, along with later Anglo, German, and Italian immigrants, New Orleans may have fallen in its ranking among the country’s largest cities, but it emerged in the 1800s as the largest Gulf Coast city of what Terry Jordan called the Creole Coast. With a legal system based on French civil code, a persistent French-speaking population well into the 19th century, culinary traditions from France, Spain, Africa, and indigenous populations, it became a most peculiar place. African and European cooks and chefs combined local seafood, rice, and spices from multiple hearths to fashion a creole cuisine that is a hallmark of the city’s culture today. Building traditions from Africa and Europe created a landscape unlike other American cities. Celebrations, most notably Mardi Gras, have incorporated elements of the Catholic sacred calendar with Caribbean and African influences to produce arguably the city’s best known spectacle each spring. In addition, Afro-Caribbean rhythms blended with European brass instruments to give rise to jazz.
One could argue that New Orleans thrives on these important elements of its past. Visitors flock to stroll through the narrow streets of the French Quarter, to sample the spicy creole fare, to enjoy the seductive rhythms and melodies in the jazz clubs, and to forget their cares along the parade routes during Mardi Gras. And beyond the well-worn tourist paths, there are countless lesser-known architectural, culinary, and musical treasures. Of course, the city is highly cognizant of its rich history and aggressively seeks to parley that into heritage tourism income. Indeed, in 2015 tourists spend over $7 billion dollars in the city. Tourism has largely recovered from the downturn after 9/11, the devastating decline caused by the hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and the Great Recession a decade ago.
Always looking for a way to expand its tourism calendar, the city supports numerous special events to attract visitors beyond the Mardi Gras season. The Jazz and Heritage Fest held each spring is one of the world’s premier music festivals. Operating since 1970, it began as a celebration of regional music — jazz, gospel, rhythm and blues, and Acadian sounds. It still features local talent and traditions, but has exploded into an international event drawing major popular music performers. There are countless other festivals — such as the Essence Music Fest, the Voodoo Music Fest, the Cajun and Zydeco Fest, the Satchmo Fest, along with Southern Decadence, the Creole Tomato Fest, the Oyster Fest, and the Oak Street Po-boy fest. Plus there are sports events such as the Sugar Bowl, the Crescent City Classic Marathon, and periodic NCAA championships. The annual calendar ensures that most visitors who stay even a few days will be able to participate in one of these celebrations. Indeed one the most noteworthy events will overlap with the AAG meeting in New Orleans — The French Quarter Fest.
The French Quarter Fest was created to showcase local musical performers on multiple outdoor stages in and near the French Quarter. Initially, a “locals” event it offered free performances in the midst of the city’s historic district where local cuisine was available around every corner. It has grown but still offers a more intimate setting than that sprawling Jazz Fest, and admission is FREE. The festival’s web site [https://fqfi.org/] boasts that it will host 300 hours of entertainment by 400 performers during its run from April 12 to 15, 2018. It is truly one of the jewels of the city’s festival calendar, and it falls at a time when weather is generally quite pleasant and conducive to a street festival.
New Orleans has persisted in a perilous place for three centuries now and in that time it has given rise to a rich array of visual, auditory, and gustatory experiences. After the 2005 hurricane season, some questioned whether it made economic sense to rebuild the devastated city. Some 20 percent of the city’s population were not certain about the safety of returning and stayed away. Yet, rebuilding and denying risk, along with celebrating at the drop of a hat, are things that the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast excel at. Long-time residents are deeply attached to this quirky place, and new arrivals since 2005 came to get a taste of the traditions that endure, even if altered by the newcomers and their influences.
In the face of a disappearing coast, there is grave concern about the long-term future of the city and the outlying wetlands. Louisiana is investing huge sums of money to offset the encroachment of the Gulf across its coastal marshes. But with the highest rate of relative sea-level rise in the U.S., this deltaic coast will certainly change in the coming decades. How that will impact the city has yet to be seen and uncertainty hangs over the city like another layer of humidity. But we encourage you to come pay us a visit while you can.
— Craig Colten, Louisiana State University
Recommended reading, by geographers for geographers:
S. Hemmerling, Louisiana Coastal Atlas (2017)
A. Sluyter, C. Watkins, J. Chaney, A. Gibson, Hispanic and Latino New Orleans (2015)
R. Campanella, Bourbon Street (2014), Geographies of New Orleans (2006)
R. Orgera and W. Parent, eds., Louisiana Field Guide (2014)
C. Colten, Unnatural Metropolis (2005), Perilous Place, Powerful Storms (2009) USGS, Environmental Atlas of Lake Pontchartrain Basin
P. Lewis, New Orleans: Making of an Urban Landscape (2003)
Also visit the web page of the unofficial “Geographer in Residence” of New Orleans, Richard Campanella and his Geographer’s Space in the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities’ Cultural Vistas
Also visit the web page of the unofficial “Geographer in Residence” of New Orleans, Richard Campanella and his Geographer’s Space in the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities’ Cultural Vistas
Established by a joint resolution of the U.S. Congress in 1987, Geography Awareness Week (GAW) is observed the third week in November every year. GAW promotes what geography is, why it is important, and the relevance of a geographic education in preparing citizens to understand and debate pressing social and environmental issues and problems. This year’s celebration is November 12-18, marking the 30th birthday of what has become an important tradition in our discipline. National Geographic’s Network of Alliances for Geographic Education recently met in Washington DC and designated “The Geography of Civil Rights Movements” as a featured theme for the 2017 Awareness Week.
Videotaped sessions of select plenary sessions and featured speakers from the 2017 Annual Meeting in Boston are now available for viewing. The select videos available for viewing are as follows:
The AAG has a long history of supporting and recognizing geographers’ accomplishments and contributions through its many prestigious grants and awards. The AAG Grants and Awards Program recognizes and supports AAG members, non-members, students, early career and senior faculty. On June 15, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., the AAG will host a Twitter Chat, entitled, “AAG Awards Program.” Guest speaker Candida Mannozzi, AAG Deputy Director of Operations, will answer questions about the variety of awards available, the submission process, key deadlines, and more. Follow @theAAG and participate by using the hashtag #AAGChat.
Meredith Stone has joined the AAG staff as Public Policy and Outreach Specialist at the Washington, D.C. headquarters. She recently completed her Master of Arts in Geography at Ohio University. There, she served as a teaching assistant for Introduction to Geographic Information Systems and Mapping Sciences and also as a research assistant for the Baltimore Ecosystem Study, a National Science Foundation granted project investigating urban green space in the city.
Christine MacKrell recently completed her bachelor of arts in geography from the University of Mary Washington where she also majored in political science and completed a certificate in geographic information systems. She will be attending George Washington University in the fall working toward a Master of Science.
With students making up over 40% of AAG membership, the new Undergraduate Student Affinity Group (USAG) is an important community to speak on behalf of the unique and important perspectives of undergraduate geographers. It’s now time to elect the first USAG Board. Nominations are sought from undergraduates interested in this exciting leadership opportunity. By serving on the inaugural board, student leaders will determine where to focus the energy and initiative of the AAG undergraduate community to serve their needs and represent their voice.
The American Association of Geographers (AAG) opposes the Trump Administration’s decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement. Climate change constitutes a major threat to the Earth’s environment and to the well-being of people in all nations and there is a substantial body of evidence that global climate change is driven by human-induced causes.
The Trump Administration’s budget proposal, which was released on May 23, includes sharp cuts for Federal science agencies. The document is the first step in the Fiscal Year 2018 appropriations process, and many bipartisan Senators and Representatives have taken issue with multiple aspects of the proposal.
Time is running out to order the 15 volume print edition of the landmark reference work, The International Encyclopedia of Geography. The IEG is an essential resource for institutional libraries, research centers, professional organizations, and any major organization engaged with geography and interrelated fields within social sciences, humanities, science, and medicine. Order by June 30 to receive over 15% off the 15-volume print set.
The AAG is pleased to announce that Volume 3, Issue 1 (June 2017) of GeoHumanities is now available. GeoHumanities is the newest journal of the American Association of Geographers. It features articles that span conceptual and methodological debates in geography and the humanities; critical reflections on analog and digital artistic productions; and new scholarly interactions occurring at the intersections of geography and multiple humanities disciplines. Each issue, the Editors choose one article to make freely available. In this issue you can read Rethinking the Final Frontier: Cosmo-Logics and an Ethic of Interstellar Flourishing by Matthew Kearnes and Thom van Dooren for free.
How fast time flies. It is hard to believe that the end of the academic year is upon us, June has come and I am writing my last president’s column. I want to use the opportunity provided by this final column to reflect upon the past year. I also want to look ahead and consider the role of our discipline and the American Association of Geographers as we face the changing and challenging world ahead of us. Finally, I hope with one last act as president to give back a little for all I have received.
Meredith Stone has joined the AAG staff as Public Policy and Outreach Specialist at the Washington, D.C. headquarters. She recently completed her Master of Arts in Geography at Ohio University. There, she served as a teaching assistant for Introduction to Geographic Information Systems and Mapping Sciences and also as a research assistant for the Baltimore Ecosystem Study, a National Science Foundation granted project investigating urban green space in the city. Her master’s thesis focuses on street art and murals and their relationships with racial justice in Baltimore neighborhoods.
Geographers from around the country traveled to Washington, D.C. on Saturday, April 22, 2017, to demonstrate and show their support for the March for Science. Despite the rain, Geographers and scientists from many other disciplines and their supporters rallied to march for science!
The AAG will host a Twitter Chat on May 17 from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern Time entitled “Geography and the New Administration.” To join the chat, follow @theAAG on Twitter using the #AAGChat hashtag. In order to set the scene for what we hope will be an engaging and interactive discussion, we wanted to share some perspectives on the active role our organization has played in responding to several noteworthy recent policies.
The National Center for Research in Geography Education (NCRGE) invites proposals to develop new collaborative and interdisciplinary research networks addressing major questions and challenges in geography education. Through this program, NCRGE aspires to strengthen geography education research processes and promote the growth of sustainable, and potentially transformative, lines of research.
The Geosciences Division of the Council on Undergraduate Research (GeoCUR) is now accepting nominations for its annual award that highlights the importance of mentoring undergraduate research activities. The award annually recognizes an individual who serves as a role model for productive and transformative student-faculty mentoring relationships and for maintaining a sustained and innovative approach to the enterprise of undergraduate research.
Late last week, President Trump signed into law a budget deal that will fund the federal government through September 30. The bipartisan deal has generally been viewed favorably by science advocates, as it maintains or increases funding levels for most agencies that provide research support.
John Miller Morris, Jr., 64, passed away on February 16, 2017, in a San Antonio hospital after surgery, attended by friends who traveled thousands of miles to come to his bedside. He is survived by a daughter Erin Claire Noakes of Washington D.C. He will be missed by his longtime companion, many friends, colleagues, and neighbors.
Ray Henkel was born Jan. 28, 1931 on a farm along the Cimarron River about 30 miles west of Tulsa. He died March 11, 2017, at age 86. Ray attended a one-room elementary school, and in 1948 graduated from Kellyville H. S. in a class of 15, earning an A in every class. Ray had a photographic memory, so school work was always easy for him.
John Davey, a prodigious figure in academic, trade and reference publishing for almost 50 years, died at home with family at his side on April 21, 2017. He had just celebrated his 72 birthday days earlier. After making his mark in publishing in the 1970s, John joined Blackwell as their first full-time academic editor. During the 1980s he took the company from obscurity to being a major force in the industry. He rapidly became an editorial director, appointed several specialist editors, initiated Blackwell’s reference publishing, acquired and started several new journals, and had responsibility for rights and contracts.
Marvin W. Mikesell, Professor of Geography in the Committee on Geographical Studies, died unexpectedly Wednesday morning, April 26, 2017, at the University of Chicago Hospital in Hyde Park, aged 88, in the midst of teaching his seminar on problems in the human geography of the Middle East this Spring Quarter.
Every month the AAG compiles a list of newly-published books in geography and related fields. Some are selected for review in the AAG Review of Books. Anyone interested in reviewing these or other titles should contact the Editor-in-Chief, Kent Mathewson.
The AAG is pleased to announce that Volume 107, Issue 3 (May 2017) of the Annals of the American Association of Geographers is now available.
