Stories of Change Hidden in Washington, D.C.’s Alleys
Washington, is known for its monuments, museums, and grand government buildings. It is associated with policy wonks, foreign dignitaries, and political controversy. But it is also a home town for thousands of people who live in its lively neighborhoods. How best to get a glimpse of everyday life for ’s residents, those people living in…
Carla Hayden, 2019 AAG Atlas Awardee, to Speak in D.C.
The American Association of Geographers invites attendees of the 2019 AAG Annual Meeting in Washington, , to join in celebration of Carla Hayden at the AAG Atlas Award Ceremony. Carla Hayden, 14th Librarian of Congress, will deliver a keynote address at noon on Friday, April 5, after being presented with the 2019 AAG Atlas Award,…
The National Mall: Making Space for the Dream
On September 24, 2016, thousands gathered on the National Mall to celebrate the grand opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The building is distinctive: the bronze-meshed ziggurat moves upwards towards the sky and into the light. Inside the new 400,000 square foot museum are some 36,000 artifacts that share truths…
American Indians of Washington, D.C., and the Chesapeake
When Captain John Smith sailed up the Potomac River in 1608, he found 13 American Indian villages along its banks. Spanish incursions beginning in 1521 brought diseases, land grabs, resource destruction, military assaults, and slave raids. Nonetheless, there were several large villages and fortified towns by the time of John Smith’s 1608 visit. At that…
Mid Atlantic Division Team Takes 2018 World Geography Bowl Title
Mid Atlantic Division Team Takes 2018 World Geography Bowl Title. AAG President Derek Alderman (far left) presented the new championship award. The Mid Atlantic Team won first place in the 2018 World Geography Bowl, an annual quiz competition for teams of college-level geography students representing the AAG’s regional divisions. The 2018 event marked the 29th…
Hating Bourbon Street
In this excerpt from this 2014 book Bourbon Street: A History (LSU Press), Tulane geographer Richard Campanella explains the curious cultural phenomenon of hating Bourbon Street—who hates it, why they need you to know they hate it, and what they’re missing when they hate it. Courtesy Places Journal. New Orleans: Place Portraits — Over the next…
A Night on the Town in 1930s New Orleans
If AAG came to New Orleans 85 years ago, you might be hitting a “nitery” on Rampart Street or a dance hall in the “Tango Belt” tonight. Tulane geographer Richard Campanella takes you out for a night on the town in 1930s New Orleans, courtesy Preservation in Print Magazine (PDF). New Orleans: Place Portraits — Over…
Southwest Louisiana’s Creole Trail Riding Clubs
Jeanerette Trail Ride, Jeanerette, LA, 2015, Photo by Jeremiah Ariaz By Alexandra Giancarlo Photos by Jeremiah Ariaz You could say trail riding and horse culture is in Acynthia Villery’s blood. “I was going to rodeos in my mother’s womb,” she explained to me. A Texas transplant, Acynthia hails from a long line of Creoles in…
Mapping the Geography of Cool
Coolness, by its very nature, explores edgy terrain; thus, in cities, it becomes geographical, occupying certain spaces, disdaining others, and seeking new ones when uncoolness approaches. And that’s when, and where, coolness affects real estate. Tulane geographer Richard Campanella maps the geography of cool in New Orleans, courtesy The Times-Picayune (PDF). New Orleans: Place Portraits…
New Orleans, Unmonumentalized
Much has been said and written about the recent removal of four New Orleanian monuments to Confederate leaders and an 1874 white supremacist uprising . More will be said at the Annual Meeting. The wide-ranging struggle over New Orleanian monuments includes how those memorials (re)defined New Orleans’ place in American space and time around Lost…
Flood Control Infrastructure and ‘Political Hydrology’ along the LA-TX Gulf Coast
An intact portion of the 17th Street Canal (flooded after Hurricane Katrina). Concrete flood walls top the levees. CC by Wikimedia Commons, by Infrogmation The nation’s costliest natural disasters continue to be caused by flooding. Every year, with enormous personal and financial cost to citizens, floods damage crops, infrastructure, businesses, personal property and, most unfortunately,…
Continuing Creolization in New Orleans Foodways
Among other points of distinction, New Orleans is often and enthusiastically celebrated as a great place to eat. Boosters of the city’s cuisine point to the same cultural hybridity and cosmopolitanism that enabled the flourishing of jazz music and distinctive architectural styles as explanation for the development of Creole cuisine. Tom Fitzmorris, a prominent restaurant…