My New Black Magazine - NYU Black Renaissance Noire BRN-FALL-206 ISSUE RELEASE | Page 26

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Untitled 5, 1986
Archival Ink Jet Print on Canson Platine Fiber Rag
14 x 14 inches

By the early nineteenth century,
New Orleans had grown, and the City
wished to extend Tremé Street, but the
cemetery, particularly the Protestant
Section, was in the way. Furthermore,
with the Louisiana Purchase and
impending Louisiana statehood, the
city had experienced an influx of
Americans, the majority of whom were
Protestant. To remedy these issues, in
1822 the City proffered a site in the
Faubourg St. Marie to be used as a
Protestant burial ground, later known
as Girod Street Cemetery.

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Due to its location in a swamp, St.
Louis Cemetery No. 1 was constantly
threatened by flooding. To combat
the rising waters, sand and shells were
continuously added to the site,
particularly along the pathways. In 1816,
the waters of Macarty Crevasse flooded
the cemetery to the extent that the
site was closed, and burials took place
across the river.

BLACK RENAISSANCE NOIRE

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Untitled 6, 2007
Archival Ink Jet Print on Canson Platine Fiber Rag
14 x 14 inches