64 Parishes

64 Parishes Premier magazine of Louisiana history and culture, by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities

64 Parishes, published by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, is dedicated to telling Louisiana’s stories—all of them, unvarnished and honest. While many of these stories are inspiring, some may be upsetting or provoke debate. When we share 64 Parishes’ stories on our social media, we welcome and encourage comments and courteous debate. To ensure a welcoming and open environment we adhere

to a strict code of conduct on our social media pages. To read our full social media code of conduct, please see our Privacy Policy.

08/20/2026

Our Bright Lights awards are not just a recognition of outstanding contributions to our state's history and culture, they are individualized pieces of art. Each of the awards is handcrafted by a Louisiana artist, just for the awardee. Leading up to the 2026 Bright Lights Awards, Dusty Reed, "The Cajun Picasso," took us through his creative process.

Nomination are open now for the 2027 Bright Lights Awards. Learn more and nominate a deserving individual or project at leh.org.

08/20/2026

At the end of our Institute for Louisiana Culture and History summer intensive workshop, we asked participants how they would use what they learned in their classrooms this year. Ceson Wooten, a West Baton Rouge resident who teaches through Louisiana Virtual Charter Academy, shared several strategies she'll be implementing with her students this year.

As our teachers head back to school, we're wishing all of our Institute educators—and all of Louisiana's teachers and students—a productive school year. We love being part of your journey and can't wait to see the creative ways you use what you learned with us!

Every year, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities celebrates the best in the humanities with our annual Bright Ligh...
08/20/2026

Every year, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities celebrates the best in the humanities with our annual Bright Lights Awards. Nominations for the 2027 awards are open now!

Thomas E. Patterson's American Populist: Huey Long of Louisiana received the 2026 Bright Lights Book of the Year award. Published by the Louisiana State University Press, American Populist reframes the present-day caricature of Long, deconstructs existing narratives and introduces new scholarship to the subject of the Kingfish.

Read an excerpt of the 2026 Book of the Year here: https://64parishes.org/american-populist

Nominate someone for the 2027 Bright Lights Awards here: https://leh.org/news/bright-lights-nominations-open/

About the image: Courtesy of LSU Press

On August 18, 1920, the 19th amendment was ratified, thereby allowing any person to vote no matter their s*x in the Unit...
08/18/2026

On August 18, 1920, the 19th amendment was ratified, thereby allowing any person to vote no matter their s*x in the United States. The history of women fighting for the rights of suffrage in Louisiana is a complicated one.

Pamela Tyler explains in her encyclopedia entry, "Woman Suffrage," that the "process by which Southern women progressed [was] along a continuum of social and political activism. First came benevolence work in church groups, tract societies, and prayer meetings. From this, some women went on to membership in voluntary associations that attempted to achieve reforms of various societal ills, such as child labor, unsafe working conditions, cruelty to animals, and a host of others. The disappointing discovery that women’s indirect influence was insufficient to bring the changes they sought led many (but certainly not all) of them to become converts to the campaign for woman suffrage, which Scott saw as the ultimate stage of the continuum."

Read more here: https://64parishes.org/entry/woman-suffrage

About the image: The Awakening. Mayer, Henry (artist). Courtesy of Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Every year, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities celebrates the best in the humanities with our annual Bright Ligh...
08/13/2026

Every year, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities celebrates the best in the humanities with our annual Bright Lights Awards. Nominations for the 2027 awards are open now!

For 2026, Pam Atchison was celebrated as our Bright Lights Champion of Culture. In celebrating Pam, Bruce Allen wrote a thoughtful profile on Pam's long career and her legacy in Northwest Louisiana.

"Pam Atchison has been a dedicated advocate for the arts in Northwest Louisiana for more than four decades. Her influence on the cultural life of Northwest Louisiana is unmistakable. She is passionate, committed, and recognized as a relentless force with a superpower that motivates others to support creativity and artists of all disciplines. Director of the Shreveport Regional Arts Council (SRAC) from 1986 to 2024, Atchison is the recipient of the 2026 LEH Bright Lights Champion of Culture award."

Read more here: https://64parishes.org/an-advocate-for-the-arts-in-northwest-louisiana

Nominate someone for the 2027 Bright Lights Awards here: https://leh.org/news/bright-lights-nominations-open/

About the image: 2026 Champion of Culture Pam Atchison (right) with Former National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman in 2012. Courtesy of Pam Atchison

In the summer 2026 issue, 64 Parishes contributor, Kerri Westenberg wrote about Abry Brothers, a seventh-generation New ...
08/04/2026

In the summer 2026 issue, 64 Parishes contributor, Kerri Westenberg wrote about Abry Brothers, a seventh-generation New Orleans based foundation and shoring company. Since 1840, Abry Brothers have "improved, secured, and outright saved . . . more than ten thousand structures."

"A few projects capture the scope and complexity of that work. In 1917, Abry Brothers moved St. Boniface Church, topped with a 119-foot steeple, nearly half a mile. (The wooden structure burned in 1945.) In 1941, the company lifted a thirty-five-unit brick apartment building to repair its failing foundation; residents continued living there during the process."

In December 2024, the Abry Brothers shored and secured the LEH's Turners' Hall.

Read more here: https://64parishes.org/abry-bros

About the image: Suspension ( #2) by Clarence John Laughlin. Gelatin silver print of a building that was once in the 200 block of N. Rampart Street in New Orleans, 1946. HNOC and NOMA, courtesy of Abry Brothers, INC

The fall 2026 issue hits shelves September 1, 2026. Subscribe by August 5th to secure your copy! The fall 2026 64 Pari...
07/30/2026

The fall 2026 issue hits shelves September 1, 2026.

Subscribe by August 5th to secure your copy!

The fall 2026 64 Parishes is our special Festivals issue, where we celebrate Louisiana's spirit of celebration. This issue has features on the history of the Queen Brown Sugar Festival and its important legacy as the Black community's response to the Louisiana Sugar Cane Festival, and on the Shrimp and Petroleum Festival's 90th anniversary and its crackdown on the use of domestic shrimp.

The fall issue also includes pieces on the Saline Watermelon Festival, the Cochon de Lait, and a tender piece on the loss of vision experienced by two previous Louisiana Poets Laureate. Fans of the magazine will find fresh columns from contributors Rien Fertel, Ben Sandmel, Richard Campanella, and Lucie Monk Carter.

Subscribe here: https://64parishes.org/subscribe

Lindy Boggs passed July 27, 2013. She was the first woman elected to Congress for Louisiana. 64 Parishes Encyclopedia co...
07/28/2026

Lindy Boggs passed July 27, 2013. She was the first woman elected to Congress for Louisiana. 64 Parishes Encyclopedia contributor Pamela Tyler writes that Boggs " served on the House Banking and Currency Committee, where she was instrumental in passage of a measure prohibiting discrimination by creditors on the basis of s*x or marital status. Her special legislative interests were equal opportunities for women and minorities, housing policy, technological development, and Mississippi River transportation."

Boggs was a member of Congress for eighteen years, retiring in 1991.

Read more here: https://64parishes.org/entry/lindy-boggs-2

About the image: "Lindy Boggs." Portrait. Jean Seidenberg.

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