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Socialites Social and Charity Club records

 Collection
Identifier: 822

Content Description

The records of the Socialites Social and Charity Club located in Los Angeles, California highlight the Louisiana Creole community in California during the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s. The bulk of the records document the Club’s work to coordinate the Los Angeles Creole Festival from 1987 to 1999. Correspondence within the collection mainly focuses on the Club’s festival planning and activities. The LALA Organizing Committee files for the L.A. Creole Festival contain ephemera and publicity items, as well as occasional correspondence, meeting agendas and minutes, and photographs of performers involved in the festival. Of note within the festival files are short biographical histories of individuals within the California Creole community.

There are some items focusing on Creole history, as well as Mardi Gras balls hosted by the affiliated organization, the Caramel Ladies Social and Charity Club (1990-2001), including a small number of photographs of members.

Of note is a copy of the Bill of Rights for Persons of Racially Mixed Ancestry (1993) found within the correspondence and ephemera for non-festival Socialites functions. Also of interest within the file is a biographical sketch of artist Mark Broyard.

Other social and pleasure clubs mentioned throughout the records include Laissez Le Bon Temps Social Club, and the Le Bon-Vi-Vant Social and Pleasure Club. Of interest is a photographic reproduction of the Le Bon-Vi-Vant Social and Pleasure Club, circa 1970 within the collection.

Photographs can be found throughout the files mainly documenting the Socialites and their activities; in particular the L.A. Creole Festival is well documented with visual imagery. Additionally, the collection includes digital images on disk for the 1991 and 1992 Creole Festival, as well as the Socialites 25th anniversary celebrations in 1990.

Publications found within the collection include issues of the Bayou Talk newspaper (1987-1999, 2005), as well as an incomplete run of issues of the Knightly Knews (1994-1998), the newsletter of the St. Augustine High School Alumni Association.

Three audiovisual items are contained within the records in the format of VHS tape, documenting the Creole Cultural Heritage Liturgy at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Los Angeles on October 5, 1991 and October 31, 1993, and a final tape titled “Our Creole Heritage in Los Angeles, 1992.”

Dates

  • circa 1970-2005
  • Majority of material found within 1987 - 1999

Creator

Extent

1.4 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Condition Description

Good condition.

Title
Socialites Social and Charity Club records
Status
Unprocessed
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the Amistad Research Center Repository

Contact:
6823 Saint Charles Avenue
Tilton Hall, Tulane University
New Orleans LA 70118 US
(504) 862-3222