Nineteenth Century New Orleans saw an explosion of short-lived newspapers. There were 139 newspapers published at least partly in French in Louisiana between 1790 and 1910. Among the papers that enjoyed some degree of success were, Le Moniteur de la Louisiane, the first newspaper ever published in Louisiana in 1794; the anti-slavery La Tribune de la Nouvelle-Orléans that was created during the Civil War in 1864 and Le Carillon which introduced itself in 1869 as being "hardly political, even less literary and not serious at all,” but soon became famous both for its irreverence and its vocal conservatism. Many New Orleans newspapers were founded by the “Foreign French,” refugees and intellectuals from the political turmoil of France. The New Orleans Francophone press took up the issues that had animated their political debates at home, and the city’s journalists became known for their work with their swords as well as with their pens. The history of French-speaking journalism in the city is indeed punctuated with famous duels. Founded in 1827, ns L'Abeille de la Nouvelle-Orléa( The New Orleans Bee) was about to celebrate its one-hundredth birthday when it released its last issue in 1925. First printed exclusively in French, L'Abeille soon began to include an English section in its columns, but this was abandoned in 1872 because of increased competition from the English-language newspapers. Between 1829 and 1830, L'Abeille also published a section in Spanish, La Abeja. First published three times a week, the paper quickly became a daily. Beside its columns devoted to the news, both local and from Europe-- particularly from France-- L'Abeille followed the lead of a number of papers in the 1840s by embracing a journalism of ideas centered upon the artistic and literary life of the city. Thus one could find in L'Abeille detailed information about musical and theatrical performances in New Orleans. For many years Louis Placide Canonge was in charge of the music and theater reviews. One could also read in L'Abeille the poems composed by the white Creole elite like Léona Queyrouze. But after the Civil War, the French language faced dramatic declines in New Orleans, gradually eliminating the readership for the French- language press. This decline accounted for the creation of L'Athénée louisianais in 1875 by a small group of well-known Creoles including General Pierre Soulé and General G.T. Beauregard . In the official declaration that established the goals of the organization, the members of L'Athénée louisianais pledged to defend and encourage the use of the French language in Louisiana . The group published a periodical entitled Les Comptes-rendus de l'Athénée louisianais (The Records of l'Athénée louisianais) , the quality and intelligence of which were praised by the English-speaking writer Lafcadio Hearn. Alfred Mercier, Charles Gayarré and Léona Queyrouze were among the most regular contributors to L'Athénée. Octave Huard's essay entitled “De l'utilité de la langue française aux États-Unis" ("On the Usefulness of the French Language in Louisiana"), reveals the importance this organization placed on the desperate defense of their language and culture which already seemed to be a holdover from a bygone era. It is in this defensive mood that Alfred Mercier concludes an article published by Les Comptes-rendus de l'Athénée louisianais in November 1880:

But should the fact that we have worked hard to master the English Language be a reason to forget our French? To think that the knowledge of two languages is too much, as has been passionately claimed, is to follow the logic of the fool who, finding that he has too many arms, cuts one of them off.
 

See: Edward Larocque Tinker. Bibliography of the French Newspapers and Periodicals of Louisiana. (Worchester, Mass.: American Antiquarian Society, 1933).

Case 17 Gallery:

Newspaper. L'Abeille. 31 Jan 1912. Hill La Manuscripts.
[99: LSU Coll. (O, Pt. II)]

Manuscript. Official Declaration of the Foundation of "L'Athénée" (1882).
[UU: 86, folder 1]

Manuscript. Official Declaration of the Foundation of "L'Athénée" (1882).
[UU: 86, folder 1]

Photograph. P.G.T. Beauregard. (Ca. 1867) in Picture Collection.
[ E-67, Box "A-B"]

Journal. Comptes-Rendus de l'Athénée Louisianais. 1880.
[Hill Louisiana AS 36L85, volumes 1-6, v.3, c.2]

Pamphlet. De l'utilité de la langue française aux Etats-Unis. Octave Huard. (New Orleans: Imprimerie Franco-Américaine, 1882).
[Hill Louisiana PC 2073. H8]

Photograph. Pierre Soulé. in Picture Collection.
[Picture Collection."S"]