Intitulée « À la rencontre de deux mondes : les esclaves de Louisiane et l’Église catholique, 1803-1845 », cette thèse vise à reconstituer l’histoire et l’évolution de l’afro-catholicisme en Louisiane dans la première moitié du XIXe siècle, tant en milieu urbain − avec la ville de la Nouvelle-Orléans comme toile de fond − qu’en milieu rural, en prenant la paroisse Saint-Jean-Baptiste comme étude de cas. L’étude débute en 1803, date à laquelle la Louisiane devient une possession américaine, et se termine en 1845, trois ans après la fondation à la Nouvelle-Orléans de l’Église Saint-Augustine, emblème de la religion des Noirs libres et des esclaves, et de la communauté des Sœurs de la Sainte-Famille, un ordre religieux propre aux femmes de couleur libres. La Louisiane de la première moitié du XIXe siècle représente ainsi le théâtre parfait pour étudier la rencontre entre catholicisme et esclavage et pour mettre en lumière les prémisses de la construction d’un afro-catholicisme distinct. Bien que de nombreuses études aient porté sur l’histoire de l’esclavage en Louisiane, le monde des esclaves et de leurs pratiques religieuses nous échappe encore en grande partie. Partir à la découverte de la culture religieuse des esclaves du Sud américain représente donc un défi historiographique qui permet d’affiner nos connaissances à la fois sur une période très trouble de l’histoire américaine − celle de l’esclavage −, sur des acteurs plutôt méconnus − les esclaves catholiques −, et sur une région qui se distingue des autres États américains. En fait, de par ses racines franco-hispaniques et son caractère catholique, la Louisiane apparaît comme une entité unique au sein des États-Unis d’Amérique, majoritairement de culture anglo-protestante. / Entitled « When Two Worlds Meet : Louisiana Slaves and the Catholic Church, 1803-1845 », this dissertation aims to reconstruct the history and the evolution of Afro-Catholicism in Louisiana in the early nineteenth century, both in urban areas, with the city of New Orleans as a backdrop, and rural areas, with the parish of St. John the Baptist as a case study. It begins in 1803, when Louisiana became an American possession, and ends in 1845, three years after the founding in New Orleans of the St. Augustine Church, the emblem of the religion of free blacks and slaves, and of the Sisters of the Holy Family, a religious order for free women of color. Early nineteenth-century Louisiana is the perfect theater to explore the encounter between Catholicism and slavery and to perceive the construction process of a distinct Afro-Catholicism. Although many studies focus on the history of slavery in Louisiana, the world of the slaves and of their religious practices is still largely elusive. Exploring the religious culture of the slaves in the American South represents a historiographical challenge that help refine our knowledge of a troubled time in American history – the era of slavery–, of largely unknown actors– Catholic slaves –, and of an area totally different from the rest of the United States. In fact, because of its Franco-Hispanic roots and its Catholic character, Louisiana appears as a single entity within the United States of America, predominantly Anglo-Protestant.

The author joins the Peace Corps in the hopes that he will discover who he really is yet he only finds frustration. Upon returning to the States he has a daughter and finds peace. Within this peace, as he types up the life history of a friend, he finally makes a breakthrough, yet the answer he finds is not to his liking.

The New Orleans Athletic Club, founded in 1872, is one of the oldest athletic clubs in the United States that still operates today. After the boom of the 1920s and increased revenues, the club was forced to confront the Great Depression and shift its emphasis on the "strenuous life" to the "social life" to survive. The club had capitalized on the popularity of boxing during the 1920s and just finished constructing a lavish new club house when the stock market crashed in 1929. With members losing their jobs, the popularity of boxing waning, and the club in dire financial straits, the club looked for alternative strategies to survive. Its "social life" strategy relied on the club's various political ties to cut expenses and increased incentives for membership, which led to a larger, albeit, limited presence of women at the club.

Descriptions of mourning adornments in England and New Orleans in the nineteenth century are used to argue that many of the customs of mourning in England -- the designs, themes, and materials -- also were present in New Orleans. This study draws from these observations and sources to suggest that mourning practices involving jewelry and costume became more functional and less formal in both England and New Orleans as the century progressed, while French customs retained and even grew in complexity. The high level of trade between Britain and New Orleans during the nineteenth century, reflected in the jewelry and costume of Louisiana, supports an argument that this new world city was influenced by, absorbed and incorporated social customs and activities that were useful to them, drawn from a wider range of cultures and peoples than perhaps are usually mentioned in historical accounts.

Dry abrasive blasting is a surface preparation process used in shipyards for cleaning the surfaces of the metal plates to be used in various components of the ship. Commonly used abrasives include sand, steel grit, mineral abrasives, metallic abrasives, and synthetic abrasives. The basic objective of this study was to understand the environmental performance of two abrasives, Steel Grit and Specialty Sand. The project was funded by the Gulf Coast Region Maritime technology Center (GCRMTC) and USEPA. It simulated actual blasting operations conducted at shipyards under enclosed, controlled conditions on plates similar to steel plates commonly blasted at shipyards. The emissions were measured using EPA Source Test Method to quantify particulate emissions. Steel Grit was observed to be more productive, less consuming, and more environmentally friendly compared to Specialty Sand. The findings obtained in this study will be valuable in reducing costs, improving productivity, and protecting the environment.

This qualitative study examines the participation of post-Katrina residents in neighborhoods of New Orleans’ Upper 9 th Ward. I examine respondent self-concepts and attachment to the community to gain understanding of how individuals participate in voluntary helping behavior in their locality. Interview data, brief economic and cultural examination of the area, and my observations as a resident of the Upper 9 th Ward inform analysis. The experiences of respondents suggest that there is a tension between an individual’s need to seek selfverificationand their understanding of themselves and others within their own neighborhood. Respondents’ understanding of the impact of their own actions and those of their neighbors reinstates theories of displaced attachment to local context in regards to local community involvement. Findings incite further research as to the division of individuals from their locality within the modern urban context.

After the U.S. Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and the desegregation of public transportation and facilities and with the advancements that African Americans have gained in education, income, and employment, African Americans have greater access to travel opportunities. Today's African Americans travel in greater numbers than ever before and represent a dynamic and growing travel market segment that according to the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA) (2003) generated 75 million person trips in 2002. Although there have been several studies conducted on the differences between ethnic or racial groups with regard to their participation in outdoor recreation, research on differences between African American and White traveler behaviors in the urban tourism context is sparse. This study examined the differences between African American and White travelers who visited the city of New Orleans. Specifically, the study investigated demographic variables (income and gender) for their contribution to the differences between African American and White travelers in the modes of travel, activities participated in, sources of travel information, importance of destination activities, satisfaction with destination attributes, and spending patterns. Significant differences were found in modes of travel, activities participated in, sources of information, information of destination attributes findings (popular, African American Values, and sport and recreation), satisfaction with New Orleans on the destination attributes entertainment, African American Values, and spending. Although the findings of this study reflect the trip characteristics of travelers to New Orleans, future research should examine the applicability to other urban tourism destinations.

Cause lawyers maintain primary commitments to causes and pursue political and moral objectives that go well beyond the traditional lawyering objective of client service, which is the goal of most conventional lawyers. In this research I conduct in-depth interviews with cause lawyers involved in efforts for social change in post-Katrina New Orleans to develop a richer understanding of their roles within social movements and how they conceive of and negotiate the core tensions in their work. I investigate the lawyers' roles within social movements situated in legal, political and social climates that are overwhelmingly inhospitable to their ultimate goals. Ultimately, this research presents a portrait of cause lawyers who develop alternative modes of practice that are more commonly associated with movement organizers and more closely aligned with movement goals of individual and community empowerment than are traditional models of lawyering.

Evolution of a Smart Girl is a collection of short stories that chronicles the evolution of the modern American female. The stories are arranged in three parts: "Dirty Barbie & Breakable Boys" focuses on adolescent relationships between boys and girls; "Some Things Can't Be Unbroken" centers on Maggie and Charlie Copper's marriage after Maggie is diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the age of twenty-five; and "Of Apples and Broken Scabs" presents four stories about four very different women who experience heartbreak in love, friendship, and lust. This work explores the ways in which a girl's interactions with others shape her into the young woman she becomes. Through same-sex friendships, romantic relationships, and sibling rivalries, the women in these stories experience intellectual and sexual awakenings.

The Irish in New Orleans have been a notoriously understudied group. With the third largest Irish population in the country by 1860, New Orleans is crucial when trying to understand the Irish immigrant experience. Viewing the Irish from the public perspective, this study explores the Daily Picayune, New Orleans' largest newspaper, from its inception in 1837 to 1857, to decipher the city's attitudes towards the Irish. Jokes in particular are explored, their function being multifaceted. First, jokes grouped Irish women into three types in an effort to maintain control of a large and unfamiliar group of white women who did not fit into the preexisting framework for southern ladies. Second, jokes emasculated Irish men by accusing them of having insufficient qualities to become gentlemen. By doing this, jokes were able to release social tensions, become non-physical confrontations, and create lasting stereotypes about Irish immigrants.