You have probably seen a series of identically-designed books with old photos on the cover from Arcadia in bookstores, drugstores, and sometimes at an airport. They are visual histories and quick reads. Comprising less than 150 pages, the paperbacks are eye-catching with covers in sepia tones and obscure photos from archives. The topics are quite specific. Written by local writers, there are several of these books that cover African Americans in Louisiana. 

Among the listings are books entitled “Scotlandville,” “Lafayette” and “Southwest Louisiana,” “South Baton Rouge,” “New Orleans,” and “Donaldsonville.” “Tangipahoa & St. Helena,” “Lafourche,” “Claiborne,” and “Natchitoches” parishes each have a book. 

In addition to these histories is one that addresses the “Thibodaux Massacre: Racial Violence and the 1887 Sugar Cane Labor Strike.” These were important events in Louisiana’s past. The publisher often hires academics to write and plumb the archives for images. As a result the perspectives on the material and choice of photos is hyper-local and quite informed. 

About African Americans in New Orleans, the book says that “Enslaved Africans and free people of color of Louisiana deserve the title of ‘Founding Fathers’ just as much as the French, the Spanish, and the Americans…Every African American citizen of New Orleans is intrinsically connected to the city’s cultural and political landscape.”

This hyper-local publishing movement by Arcadia has covered Pelican Publishing under its umbrella since 2019 along with several other regional book companies.

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Algiers: The Untold Story: The African American Experience, 1929 – 1955” was published in 2001 about the era that comprises the Great Depression, World War II and the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. Importantly, the book is based on author Allyson Ward’s conversations with the elders of her Algiers community. 

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Fatima Shaik is the author of seven books including "Economy Hall: The Hidden History of a Free Black Brotherhood," the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities 2022 Book of the Year. She is a native of...