Cane River Creole National Historical Park

The annual 2024 Director’s Management and Administration Awards recognize outstanding contributions to the advancement and service of management, administration, Information Technology, and Information Management by NPS employees. The Excellence Awards recognize employees who go beyond day-to-day duties to solve problems or create new opportunities. They do so with creative thinking and action.

The annual Cane River Music Festival celebrates the tradition of live music on the landscape of Cane River Creole National Historical Park. It began with early "juré singing" without instrumentation, evolved into a style that incorporated rhythm and blues with accordion, saxophone, and washboard. Today, contemporary musicians play Creole music inspired by tradition and newer influences. Creole culture was and continues to be a blend of continuity and change.

The Code Noir initially took shape in Louis XIV’s edict of 1685. Although subsequent decrees modified a few of the code’s provisions, this first document established the main lines for the policing of slavery right up to 1789.

Article on Creole Architecture along Cane River in the Natchitoches, Louisiana region.

Although the abolition of slavery emerged as a dominant objective of the Union war effort, most Northerners embraced abolition as a practical measure rather than a moral cause. The war resolved legally and constitutionally the single most important moral question that afflicted the nascent republic, an issue that prevented the country from coalescing around a shared vision of freedom, equality, morality, and nationhood.

Historically, plantation landscapes were limewashed or “whitewashed.” The reasons behind this centuries old practice are both aesthetic and practical. Limewashed structures brighten up the surroundings and look great because it glows due to innumerable small crystals. But did you know that limewash is a fire retardant, antiseptic, antifungal, odorless and non-allergic paint?

In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the passing of the 19th Amendment the National Park Service has developed a number of special programs. This includes online content, exhibits, and special events. The National Park Service’s Cultural Resources Geographic Information Systems (CRGIS) announces the release of a story map that highlights some of these programs and provides information for the public to locate and participate.

Jason Church speaks with Moss Rudley, an exhibit specialist with the masonry division at the Historic Preservation Training Center (HPTC), specifically work they are doing with the historic building material bousillage.