Sneaux Day

It may be cold outside and we are all stuck inside, but that won't stop the research!  We have located SEVERAL new monuments to research!  Check out the new additions:

1899 Great Fire in New Iberia
1910 Great Fire in Lake Charles
1925 Allendale Fire in Shreveport
1927 Point Lookout Cemetery at Angola
1946 Baudoin Foret School Fire
2005 Hurricane Rita

We have heard of others, but need to put on our detective hats and find those monuments!  Apparently, there was an earthquake that made the Mississippi River run backwards.  With the great Mississippi River flood, there may have been a few placed along the river.  We are STILL trying to find more in central and north Louisiana.

This project is really taking off.  What a ride!  When I first started, I only had about 5 disasters with a monument associated with it....now I'm up to about 20!  Keep 'em commin'!

Preparing for a Site Visit

Getting ready for another exciting trip!  Me and Kim-Loan Ngo are heading down to Pierre Part and the Pierre Part Branch Library to dig deep into this local legend.  According to the stories, there was a flood in 1882 and a local Catholic church was left in ruins.  When the water went down, there she stood - a small statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary and she was not damaged.  After repairs to the church, the statue was placed in the chapel.

In 1909 a new larger statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary arrived. The old smaller statue was buried on the island and the new one placed on the island.

We are driving out there February 1st.  If you live in the area and are familiar with the story, we would love to talk to you.  Please email us at monumentallouisiana@gmail.com .

Félicité

In November I took a fantastic trip to New Iberia Louisiana. It was a beautiful day to begin a quest to discover Félicité.

The historical marker is located in front of the library. I decided to step into the library to chat with a local person about her. No one knew of her, so I shared what I knew. I'll make sure to donate a copy of the book to the library.
From the historical marker I found, she was a Haitian woman that nursed the sick during the yellow fever epidemic.  She was "loved and honored" by the folks in New Iberia until she died in January of 1852.  What an amazing lady!

Building a Database

Well - I've put together a GREAT research team that is helping me dig through old newspapers, databases, websites, and more, looking for more monuments.  We've come to the conclusion that nothing bad has happened above Alexandria, La....Ha!  We know that's not the case, but we just can't seem to find a disaster that has a monument anywhere other than in South Louisiana! 

Here is what we have so far:
1800's Virgin Island
1800's Félicité
1856 Last Isle Hurricane
1878 Yellow Fever Epidemic in Baton Rouge
1983 Colfax Riot
1957 Hurricane Audrey
1976 George Prince Ferry disaster
1979 Belle Isle, LA Salt Mine Explosion
1982 Pan Am Flight 759
2005 Hurricane Katrina

Any ideas?  Any leads?  Please share!

Louisiana's Forgotten Disaster Monuments

I travel extensively around the United States and abroad. With my background in emergency management, I am drawn to visit memorials, statues, cemeteries, etc that were erected in honor of some sort of disaster. I have made it a point to go to the site of the Oklahoma City Bombing, Virginia Tech Shooting, the site of the Columbine massacre, the Pentagon Memorial from 9/11, the Bath School Disaster. My travels will continue through next year to places like Boston, New York, and Aurora.

As I visit these sites, I cry, pray, and think about those that suffered. I think about those that died and those that survived. I think about the community and how they have recovered from the event. I take time to honor those who responded to the event.

I began to think about memorial sites in our own state and I hadn’t heard of any other than the USS Kidd or the Katrina memorial in New Orleans. I started looking for books on monuments/memorials that honored a disaster in Louisiana and found none. I casually brought up the topic to fellow emergency managers and my students at LSU, and nothing. That’s when I decided I needed to see what was in “my own back yard”. That’s when my research began.

I have spent approximately 4 months researching the different types of disasters that have taken place in Louisiana and digging through old newspaper articles to collect all of the critical information: what happened, how many died, how many were injured, was there a monument/memorial erected in honor of the event. The database is now up to 178 events that have occurred in Louisiana. Ironically enough, there is a monument dedicated to the memory of those that died from the Yellow Fever outbreak, an obelisk with an angel, located right here in Baton Rouge. At the site of the obelisk, there are over 100 nameless victims buried from the 1878 outbreak. The dedication on the base states: Lest We Forget; The Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1878.

Please join me on my journey to document Louisiana's Forgotten Disaster Monuments.

Welcome to Monumental!

Monumental: Louisiana’s Forgotten Disaster Monuments is a chronicle of disasters that have affected the state of Louisiana. The author, Nicole Peace Coarsey, has cataloged memorials, monuments, cemeteries, and historical markers across the state. Monumental not only introduces the reader to these monuments, but also details the history of these disasters through research, interviews with survivors, interviews with survivors’ families, and interviews with emergency managers in affected parishes.

Look for Monumental: Louisiana’s Forgotten Disaster Monuments in winter 2014!