2.1: Congo Plains

<p>Congo Square is often described as the “birthplace of jazz.” But its history goes far deeper—as a place where, every Sunday, the enslaved of New Orleans would practice traditional African music and dance.</p><p>In this first episode of a trilogy, we examine Congo Square’s origins, its persistence across French and Spanish New Orleans, and how early American officials sought to regulate it.</p><p>LEARN MORE:</p><p><em>Congo Square: African Roots in New Orleans </em>by Freddi Williams Evans</p><p><em>Congo Square in New Orleans</em> by Jerah Johnson</p><p>“A Window on Slave Culture: Dances at Congo Square in NewOrleans, 1800-1862” by Gary A. Donaldson</p><p><em>The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver toCongo Square</em> by Ned Sublette</p><p><em>City of a Million Dreams: New Orleans at 300</em> by JasonBerry</p><p><em>The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans</em> byLawrence N. Powell</p><p>“African Cultural Memory in New Orleans Music”<em> </em>byJason Berry</p><p>“Deep Skin: Reconstructing Congo Square” by Joseph R. Roach</p><p>“New Orleans Music as a Circulatory System” by Matt Sakakeeny</p><p>“The Invention of a Memory: Congo Square and African Musicin Nineteenth-Century New Orleans” by Ted Widmer</p><p>SOUNDS:</p><p>French Quarter Bourbon walk.wav by volivieri --https://freesound.org/s/110012/ -- License: Attribution 4.0</p>