UDTR Global Rights of Nature Radar

La madame et la mademoiselle: Creole women in Louisiana, 1718-1865

Identification

Public canonical key

doi:10.31390/gradschool_theses.908

Authors

Katy Morlas

Reported year

2005

Reported language

fr

Source type

dissertation

First detected

2026-11-09T19:04:47.794593+00:00

Last metadata observation

2026-11-09T19:04:47.794593+00:00

Last HTTP verification

Not checked

Institutions reported by the source

Louisiana State University

Reported affiliation countries

US

Documentary abstract — original language

In Louisiana during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a unique group of people known as Creole created a culture that differed from the rest of the United States. Descendants of the first French and Spanish settlers, Creoles both black and white struggled to maintain their heritage despite an influx of Anglo-American Protestants into Louisiana; women in particular sought to preserve their culture. Although black Creole women have received significant attention, their white counterparts remain virtually absent in scholarship. This thesis focuses on the lives of white Creole women in the River Parishes and New Orleans and seeks to recreate the lives of both independent women plantation owners as well as women who served as wives and mothers. Creole women in Louisiana differed from women in the rest of the United States in their language, religion, legal system, and traditions; they also resided in a more racially fluid environment. Creole women spoke French, and most refused to allow their children to learn English. They were governed by civil rather than common law, which included a system of community property that enabled them to own property, resulting in a large number of female plantation owners. This legal system also gave them the right to draft their own wills, obtain legal separations from their husbands, and act as private business owners. Catholicism provided these women with the Blessed Virgin Mary, a powerful model of female authority and virtue absent in the Protestantism dominant in the rest of the country at the time. Creole women often had family members who were both black and white and faced complex tensions that arose from the mixing of races. Unlike many women in the rest of the South, Creole women plantation owners viewed themselves as masters capable of running a plantation and disciplining their slaves without hesitation. All these factors created distinct differences between Creole women in southeast Louisiana and the women in the rest of their state and nation.

Identifiers

OPENALEX

W2753555329

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_theses.908

Documentary context

Documentary family

Thesis

Source-reported types

dissertation

Natural entities mentioned

River

Entity mentions are not evidence of legal recognition. Jurisdiction studied is separate from author affiliation country.

Sources

OpenAlex · Record 1 · Record 2

• DOI · https://doi.org/10.31390/gradschool_theses.908
• OpenAlex · https://openalex.org/W2753555329

Documented bibliographic relations

Source-declared references and links; they do not establish legal support or UGLC qualification. Up to 20 outgoing references are displayed.

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• openalex:w1544516151 · CITES
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• openalex:w1956351353 · CITES
• openalex:w1972308652 · CITES
• openalex:w1975692414 · CITES
• openalex:w1996755893 · CITES
• openalex:w2003866928 · CITES
• openalex:w2022096999 · CITES
• openalex:w2026026831 · CITES
• openalex:w2036353007 · CITES
• openalex:w2039156611 · CITES
• openalex:w2046692883 · CITES
• openalex:w2055829308 · CITES
• openalex:w2056089234 · CITES
• openalex:w2067702034 · CITES
• openalex:w2074441088 · CITES

0 incoming references within the detected corpus

Documentary status

Relevance pending

Library

This identity is not yet included in the Legal Library.