Lost Recordings From 1935 Reveal the Voices and Stories of Louisiana Creole Speakers

In 1935, renowned linguist Lorenzo Dow Turner embarked on a groundbreaking project to record Louisiana Creole speakers, safeguarding a language that was rapidly losing its foothold in New Orleans. By the 1950s, the language had become nearly obsolete in the city, and today, it teeters on the brink of extinction. The recordings, which may be among the earliest spoken-word examples of the language, offer invaluable insight into the lives and experiences of Louisiana's African American and Creole communities during the early 20th century.

Turner, who hailed from North Carolina, had previously studied Gullah speakers in South Carolina and Georgia. He likely undertook this research as part of a broader project, given his interest in African roots in the languages of the New World. Once the recordings were located and digitized by researchers from the University of Cambridge, they were able to piece together the identities of those who spoke with Turner.

The majority of Turner's interviewees were Black and middle-aged to elderly, with many born in the 19th century when the language was at its peak. Among them were Emma Benoit, a sharecropper born in 1868, and George Doyle, a former police officer who worked in New Orleans prior to segregation. Perhaps the most intriguing participant was Odelia Edmond, a woman who recounted her life as a mischievous child and her tumultuous marriage following her husband's murder.

While Turner was unable to fully analyze the recordings at the time, their discovery has provided researchers with a wealth of knowledge about Louisiana Creole and its speakers. Today, only a handful of native speakers remain, many of whom are elderly. However, a small movement of young Louisianans is working to learn the language and share it on social media, preserving a distinct cultural identity for future generations.