My Passage at the New Orleans Tribune

A Memoir of the Civil War Era

Jean-Charles Houzeau, David C. Rankin

• Publisher: LSU Press
• Year: 2001
• eBook ISBN: 9780807167243
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: American Civil War History
• Index: History

When Belgian scientist Jean-Charles Houzeau arrived in New Orleans in 1857, he was disturbed that America, founded on the principle of freedom, still tolerated the institution of slavery. In late 1864, he became managing editor of the New Orleans Tribune, the first black daily newspaper published in the United States. Ardently sympathetic to the plight of Louisiana's black population and reveling in the fact that his dark complexion led many people to assume he was black himself, Houzeau passionately embraced his role as the Tribune's editor and principal writer. My Passage at the New Orleans " Tribune, " first published in Belgium in 1872, is Houzeau's memoir of the four years he spent as both observer and participant in the drama of Reconstruction.
Houzeau records the efforts of New Orleans's free blacks to secure their civil rights and to assume as well the cause of the newly freed slaves. With a scientist's keen and sensitive eye, he observes the turmoil of Reconstruction in Louisiana and recalls the per-sonalities of the black leaders, the tensions within the black community, and his own day-to-day struggle to make the Tribune a nationally respected vehicle for the advancement of black rights and equality.
Scholars have long recognized the importance of the New Orleans Tribune as a source for both southern and African American history. My Passage at the New Orleans "Tribune, " meticulously edited and annotated by David C. Rankin, offers a unique firsthand account of the newspaper's operation and crusade, written by the energetic and dedicated man who guided it to prominence.

Index

Abolition. See Emancipation Proclamation; Slavery: abolition of

Advocate (New Orleans), 52, 53

Anderson, Charles, 11

Arnould, Victor, 17

Baird, Absalom, 106, 106n, 128n

Banks, Nathaniel P., 44, 137

Belgian Geographical Society, 15, 17

Belgian Royal Academy, 8, 15, 17

Belgian Royal Observatory, 6, 7, 14–16, 16n, 17

Blackburn, William Jasper, 139, 139–40n

Black Code (Code Noir), 21n, 44, 73, 73n, 113, 120–21n, 123, 123n

Blacks. See Creoles, colored; Freedmen; Free people of color; Negroes; Negro suffrage; Slaves

Bouillaud, Jean Baptiste, 27, 28, 28n

Boyer, Benjamin M., 135, 135n

Bringier, Marius St. Colomb, 27

Butler, Benjamin F., 74, 74n, 102n, 140

Cham [pseudonym of Houzeau], 41, 41n, 76

Civil Rights Act (1866), 44–45, 120, 120n, 123n

Clay, John Racquet, 74, 74n

Code Noir. See Black Code

Congress (U.S.): and Reconstruction, 44, 44n, 61, 65, 99, 99n, 135–36, 136n

and Negroes’ civil and political rights, 65, 98–99, 98n, 116, 120, 122, 124, 136

Negroes in, 102

and riot of July 30, 1866, pp. 134–35, 159

and designation of official newspapers, 139–41

and readmission of Louisiana to Union, 143

Constitutional convention of 1864, pp.46, 122, 124–27, 125n, 133, 155–57, 161

Constitutional convention of 1867–68, pp.46, 141–43, 142nn, 145, 147

Constitution of 1864, pp. 35, 44, 122n Constitution of 1868, pp. 46–47, 143

Convention of Colored Men of Louisiana, 96–97, 96–97n

Conway, Thomas W., 51, 51n

Crane, William R., 112–13, 112n

Creoles, colored, 30, 36, 48–50, 52, 72–75, 78–80. See also Free people of color

Crescent (New Orleans), 129–30

Crusader, Le (New Orleans), 71n

Daily Delta (New Orleans), 70n

Dalloz, Charles J. [pseudonym of Houzeau], 25n, 34n, 57n, 69, 69n

Darwin, Charles, 13–14

Debat Social, Le (Brussels), 6

Delassize, Louis Theodule, 74, 74n

De Paepe, Cesar, 17–18

De Petitville, Leonce, 83–84n

Dostie, Anthony P., 131, 131–32n

Douglass, Frederick, 93, 93n

Du Bois, W. E. B., 59, 64

Dumas, Alexandre, 28, 93, 93n

Dumas, Francis Ernest, 48, 48n, 53n, 55n, 74, 74n

Dumez, Eugene, 57n

Dunn, Oscar James, 21n, 47, 54, 55, 55n, 75, 75n, 113n

Durant, Thomas Jefferson: and Houzeau, 38, 40

utopian socialism of, 38–39

and Negro suffrage, 39n, no, 111n, 113, 113n, 114–15, 133n

and Tribune, 51n, 87n

and Gleason case, 87n

and riot of July 30, 1866, p. 133n

Durell, Edward H., 124–25, 124n, 125n

Eliot, Thomas D., 134–35, 134n

Émancipation, L’ (Brussels), 5

Emancipation Proclamation, 37, 64–65, 76n, 92, 105

Era (New Orleans), 70, 70n, 84n

Evening Post (New York), 43n

Fernandez, Anthony, 83–84n

Ficklen, John R., 58–60

Fisk, Josiah, 83–84n

Flanders, Benjamin F., 38, 83–84n

Fourteenth Amendment, 45, 45–46n, 136n

Franco-Africans. See Creoles, colored Freedmen: Houzeau’s interest in and efforts for, 34, 36, 37–39, 42–43, 61–62, 66, 90n, 92, 102, 103–105, 145–46, 145–46n

and Tribune, 34, 36, 37, 37–38n, 39, 55n, 59, 60, 62, 66, 141, 145–46, 145–46n

civil and political rights of, 35, 36–37, 44, 62, 81n, 137

and L’Union, 35, 37–38

and free people of color, 35–3, 49–50, 63–64, 79, 8m

and land and labor reform, 37, 37–38n, 38, 62, 66, 103–105, 103n, 104nn, 146–47n

and Black Code, 44

and 1868 state election, 53, 55, 55n, 60, 149

political power of, 65–66, 116, 137–38, 144

proposed relocation of, 107–109

and white politicians, 137–39, 142. See also Negroes; Negro suffrage

Freedmen’s Aid Association (New Orleans), 21n, 33, 43, 66, 110, 110n, 146

Freedmen’s Bureau, 45, 45n, 62, 99n, 109–10, 110n, 123, 123n

Free people of color: number of, 9, 72, 72n, 79n, 80n

civil and political rights of, 19, 34–36, 39n 71, 73–75, 81–82, 81n, 96–99, 103, 105, 105n, 111

and L’Union, 19–22, 34–35, 71–72

Houzeau’s sympathy with and work for, 20–22, 36–37, 62, 75–76, 81n, 98, 98n

and white Unionists, 21, 71–72, 71n

and Black Code, 21n, 73, 82

and Tribune, 23–24, 29, 33, 34, 35–36,, 40n, 52, 72, 79, 141

Houzeau’s criticism of, 30, 48–50, 5on, 81–82

and abolition of slavery, 34–35, 81, 81n

and freedmen, 35–36, 49–50, 63–64, 79, 81n, 82

and T.J. Durant, 39n

and 1868 state election, 48–50, 52, 54, 54n

status and condition of in Louisiana, 72–75, 78–79. See also Creoles, colored; Negroes; Negro suffrage

Free South (New Orleans), 53, 53n

Free University of Brussels, 4, 14, 22n

Friends of Universal Suffrage, 43, 110–16, 110–11n, 114n, 115nn, 139

Gibbons, Israel, 129–30, 130n

Gleason, Michael, 85

Griffin, John Howard, 1–2

Hall, George, 15n

Hamilton, Johnny, 85, 85n

Hill, A. C., 70n

Hill, A. G., 70n

Hire, William Henry, 129, 129n

Hornor, Charles W., 38, 96, 96n

Horton, J. W., 131, 131–32n

Houzeau de Lehaie, Charles-Auguste-Benjamin-Hippolyte, 17, 17n

Houzeau de Lehaie, Jean-Charles-Hippolyte-Joseph: compared with J. H. Griffin, 1–2

birth and family of, 2–3

education of, 3–4, 7–8, 11

Des turbines, 5

on social injustice and social progress, 5, 6, 10, 12, 17–18, 18n, 61, 67, 75–76, 90–92, 94, 144–45, 152–53, 161

scientific interests of, 5, 8, 10, 12–14

and astronomy, 5–6, 10, 14–15, 16–17

and socialism, 6, 17–18, 37–39, 66

political activism of, 6–7, 42–43, 67

European travels of, 7

marriages of, 7, 7–8n

Essai dune geographie physique de la Belgique, 8

Histoire du sol de l’Europe, 8

Physique du globe et meteorologie, 8

Regies de climatologie, 8

goes to America, 8–9

on race relations in America, 9, 9–10n, 10, 19, 19n, 62, 63, 92–94, 102–103

on slavery and its abolition, 9, 10, 64–65, 76–77, 77n, 91–92, 92, 1, 99–101, 145, 145–46n

on American government and society, 9–10n, 61–62, 63, 64–65, 95–96, 95nn, 101–103, 147

in Texas, 9, 10–11, 15

in New Orleans, 9, 11, 18, 23–24, 69

on Civil War, 10–11, 100, 100n

in Mexico, 11

in Jamaica, 11, 12, 14, 15n, 16n, 56

in Philadelphia, 11, 22, 76, 76n

becomes editor of Tribune, 11, 23–24, 77–78

pseudonyms of, 11, 25n, 34n, 41n, 57, 69, 69n

Etudes sur les facultes mentales des animaux comparers a celles de l’homme, 11–14

denies Negro inferiority, 12–13, 13n, 66, 92–94, 111–12

Le ciel mis a la portee de tout le monde, 14

Compagnon du calculateur numerique, 14

L’etude de la nature, 15

Vade-mecum de Gastronome, 15

Bibliographic generate de Vastronomie, 16

character and personality of, 16, 22/1, 42, 67

death and funeral of, 17–18

and planters, 19, 19n, 37, 62, 71, 92–94

on improvement of Negro status, 19, 42, 44, 61, 82, 100, 102–103, 106–26, 144–48, 160–61

sympathy with and work for free people of color, 20–22, 36–37, 46–47, 62, 64, 75–76, 81–82, 81n, 98, 98n

and L’Union, 20–22, 72, 76n

and Republican party, 21n, 49, 50- 51n

and Freedmen’s Aid Association, 21n, 66, 110n, 146

as correspondent of Tribune, 23, 76n

seen as Negro, 24, 42, 58n, 75–76, 81–82n, 83–84

and Roudanez, 25, 29, 4on, 48, 50, 56, 57n, 57, 73–74, 76, 149

coworkers and appointees of at Tribune, 29–30, 3on, 41, 148–49, 159

criticism of free people of color, 30, 48–50, 5on, 81–82

workload of at Tribune, 30, 151

residences of, 3 m

on white Creoles, 33, 33n, 73, 80, 8on

and influence and significance of Tribune, 33–34, 39, 40–42, 40–41n, 42n, 60, 79, 83–86, 87–88, 96, 151n

and bilingualism of Tribune, 33–34, 79n, 80–81, 81n

interest in and efforts for freedmen, 34, 36, 37–39, 42–43, 62, 64, 66, 82–83, 90n, 92, 102, non, 145–46, 145–46n

and T.J. Durant, 39, 39n, 40, 87n

agnosticism of, 4 m

and Louisiana Homestead Association, 43, 146

as correspondent of New York Evening Post, 43n

on Reconstruction, 44, 44n, 46, 61–65, 62n, 100, 104–106, 106n, 137

and riot of July 30, 1866, pp. 46, 60, 63, 127, i28n, 129–31, 156–60

and Negro suffrage, 46, 61, 65, 137, 147, 160–61

and 1868 state election, 47, 48–50, 55, 55n, 56, 97n, 149–51, 152

leaves Tribune, 50, 50–51n, 56–57, 57n, 58, 151n

“Le journal noir, aux fitats-Unis de 1863 a 1870,” 57

“Mon passage a la Tribune de la Nouvelle-Orleans,” 57–67

and Freedmen’s Bureau, 62, 62n

knowledge of English language, 80, 80n

and Gleason case, 85–87, 87n

“Is There Any Justice for the Black?,” 86–87, 87n

editorial tone and stance of in fight for Negro rights, 89–96, 90nn, 98, 98n, 99n

and reassembly of constitutional convention of 1864, p. 124n

La terreur blanche, 160, 160n

Howell, Rufus K., 126, 126n, 129–30, 130n

Humboldt, Alexander von, 5, 13n

Hurlbut, Stephen A., 103, 103n, 105–106, 106n

Iliad (Homer), 139

Ingraham, James H., 97, 97n, 99, 99n

Johnson, Andrew, 44, 46, 61, 62n, 117, 120n

Joubert, Blanc F., 74, 74n

Kelley, William D., 87, 87nn

Laizer, J. Clovis, 29, 134, 134n

Lancaster, Albert, 16, 18n

Lang, William, 15n

Liberal party, 29, 112, 122. See also Republican party

Lincoln, Abraham, 44, 54n, 88, 122

Lindsay, W. Lauder, 13–14

Litwack, Leon F., 59

Louisiana Homestead Association, 43, 66, 146, 146–47n

Louisianian (New Orleans), 52n, 71n

Loup, Constant, 131, 131–32n

Lynch, Bartholomew L., 86, 86n

McFeely, William S., 59

Menard, John Willis, 53, 53n, 143–44, 144n

Meschacebe, Le (St. John the Baptist Parish), 57n

Mulattoes. See Creoles, colored; Free people of color

“My Passage at the New Orleans Tribune” (“Mon passage a la Tribune de la Nouvelle-Orleans”), 57–67

National Equal Rights League, 39

Negroes: in Union army, 9, 109

internal divisions among, 34–36, 49–56, 63–64, 81–82

and constitutional convention of 1864, p. 44

as delegates to constitutional convention of 1867–68, pp. 46, 65, 142, 142n

in 1868 state election, 48

Tribune as spokesman for, 59

in political office, 61, 65, 102, 148. See also Creoles, colored; Freedmen; Free people of color; Negro suffrage; Slaves

Negro suffrage: and Fourteenth Amendment, 45, 45–46n

and reassembly of constitutional convention of 1864, pp.46, 124, 126, 133, 156

and Congress, 46, 120, 136, 136n

necessity of, 65, 121–22, 147

and Friends of Universal Suffrage, 111–14

realization of, 136–37

New Orleans: Negro population of, 9

Houzeau’s views on, 9, 18, 31n, 33n, 69–70

under Union control, 11, 18, 69, 70, 70n

Confederate sympathies of, 21, 69–70. See also Riot of July 30, 1866

Planters: Houzeau’s views on, 19, 19n, 37, 71, 88, 89–90, 92–93, 94, 126–27

and freedmen, 37, 37–38n, 38, 103–105

and land and labor reform, 37, 37–38n, 44, 45, 103–105, 104n

and Tribune, 37, 37–38n, 45

and L’Union, 38n, 71

and Freedmen’s Bureau, 45, 62

and abolition of slavery, 77, 88, 100

and white press, 88, 89

and riot of July 30, 1866, pp. 126–27

Picayune (New Orl...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Illustrations
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• My Passage at the New Orleans Tribune
• Appendix
• Index