2.2: Congo Square

About this episode

This episode explores the significance of Congo Square in New Orleans as a gathering place for enslaved people to celebrate their African heritage through music and dance.

The enslaved of New Orleans make music and dance together at the city's edge. This is the story of Congo Square: the people who gathered there every Sunday—and the African culture they kept alive. Listen to "Tan Patate-La Tchuite" by Adelaide Van Wey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F8jFIbCD1o LEARN MORE: Congo Square: African Roots in New Orleans by Freddi Williams Evans Congo Square in New Orleans by Jerah Johnson “A Window on Slave Culture: Dances at Congo Square in NewOrleans, 1800-1862” by Gary A. Donaldson The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square by Ned Sublette City of a Million Dreams: New Orleans at 300 by Jason Berry The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans by Lawrence N. Powell “African Cultural Memory in New Orleans Music” by Jason Berry “Deep Skin: Reconstructing Congo Square” by Joseph R. Roach “New Orleans Music as a Circulatory System” by Matt Sakakeeny “The Invention of a Memory: Congo Square and African Music in Nineteenth-Century New Orleans” by Ted Widmer Sinful Tunes and Spirituals: Black Folk Music to the Civil War by Dena J. Epstein https://antigravitymagazine.com/feature/sacred-ground/ SOUNDS: French Quarter…

People in this episode

Host: Steve Keller

Topics covered

• Congo Square
• African culture
• enslavement
• music
• New Orleans history
• community gathering

Keywords

• Congo Square
• New Orleans
• African culture
• enslaved music
• community
• history

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Tan Patate-La Tchuite, Congo Square: African Roots in New Orleans, Congo Square in New Orleans, A Window on Slave Culture: Dances at Congo Square in NewOrleans, 1800-1862, The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square, City of a Million Dreams: New Orleans at 300, The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans, African Cultural Memory in New Orleans Music, Deep Skin: Reconstructing Congo Square, New Orleans Music as a Circulatory System

More episodes of City History: New Orleans

• 2.5: The 1832 Cholera Pandemic · April 3, 2026 · 52 min
• 2.4: The End of Congo Square · January 19, 2026 · 34 min
• 2.3: How Congo Square Survived · January 4, 2026 · 22 min
• 2.1: Congo Plains · September 30, 2025 · 25 min
• 1.31: Why the Battle of New Orleans Mattered · July 7, 2025 · 34 min
• 1.30: The Goodbye Look · June 4, 2025 · 23 min