Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - (Page 80)

http://lsm.crt.state.la.us/ From Tramps to Kings: CELEBRATING ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF 1909-2009 In 2009, the Louisiana State Museum and the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club are partnering to commemorate Zulu’s centennial. For this special event, the museum will host a special yearlong exhibit at the Presbytere on Jackson Square covering the 100-year history of the Zulu Club from its whimsical origins in 1909 to its present-day existence as a community institution that offers much more than just coconuts at Mardi Gras. For the first time in a public museum, the complete history of the organization will be presented, featuring stunning artifacts from the Zulu Club and the state museum collections, including a large display of royal court costumes loaned by former kings and queens. Hand-painted coconuts are the prized throw distributed by members of Zulu on Mardi Gras day. From Tramps to Kings Most New Orleans residents know Zulu as a parading organization. But few actually realize that Zulu is a social aid and pleasure club in the mold of the countless African-American benevolent associations that have provided essential social services, such as funeral costs, for members since the 19th century. The earliest Zulu parades were sponsored by African-American businesses, the most significant of which were the Gertrude Geddes Willis Funeral Home and Good Citizens Insurance Company. The original Geddes location was in Uptown’s Third Ward, at the intersection of Jackson and Simon Bolivar avenues, a location that has for decades served as an important meeting spot for the parade. Before the 1960s, the parade began downtown (the downriver side of Canal Street) and worked its way uptown. Today, the route is almost the opposite of its historic route, as the Zulu parade begins at the uptown Geddes site and winds its way downtown. Zulu claims its origins date to 1909, when a group of the original founders, who were mostly working men and laborers, paraded as a social club called the Tramps. According to Zulu history, the Tramps dressed in ragged trousers and paraded on foot to the music of a jubilee singing quartet. The first king, William Story, wore a lard-can crown and carried a banana stalk as a scepter. The original Zulus took their inspiration from a vaudeville troupe known as the Smart Set, which performed a skit at the Pythian Temple Theater featuring a Zulu theme, and entitled “There Never Was and Never Will Be A King Like Me.” This intersection of popular culture and masking is not surprising given that the new Pythian Temple (234 Loyola Avenue), built and owned by the black Knights of Pythias fraternal organization, was LOUISIANA STATE MUSEUM In February 1949, New Orleans’ native son and musical ambassador Louis Armstrong reigned as King Zulu. He brought international media recognition to the Zulu Club and its unique traditions. 80 LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES\Winter 2008-09 http://lsm.crt.state.la.us/

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 Contents Friends Editor's Column Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Prospect.1 New Orleans The Historic New Orleans Collection The Enduring Performance of Michael P. Smith Jazz Notes Louisiana Foodways Birds of a Feather: Windfowl Carvings in Southeast Louisiana Louisiana Association of Museums Louisiana Architecture O. Winston Link in Louisiana The Ogden Museum of Southern Art The Colfax Massacre Louisiana State Museum Unlocking the History of Greek Key Architecture Bookstand Sound Advice Forum

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008

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