Date of Award
Fall 12-2020
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Degree Program
History
Department
History
Major Professor
Dr. Mary Mitchell
Second Advisor
Dr. Connie Atkinson
Third Advisor
Dr. Al Kennedy
Fourth Advisor
NA
Fifth Advisor
NA
Sixth Advisor
NA
Seventh Advisor
NA
Abstract
The Southeast Louisiana landscape sits at the intersection of a number of environmental and humanitarian crises. Violence against man and land endemic to the Plantation Era development of the Lower Mississippi laid the foundation for modern issues of coastal land loss, habitat destruction, pollution, environmental racism, and displacement. Land-use patterns of the Plantation economy made the region optimal for petrochemical processing, turning wetland to wasteland, and plantation to plant. The exhibit Climates of Inequality: Standing Up On River Road uses photography, cinematography, 360-video, and soundscapes to explore the dialogic relationship between fragile natural spaces in southern Louisiana and the historically disenfranchised communities affected by the growth of the petrochemical industry. Tracing the development of the visuals for the exhibit from the lead photographer’s perspective, this paper argues that place-based storytelling and public history research are as vital to the legislative and concrete advancement of environmental justice agendas as scientific research.
Recommended Citation
McIntire, Ella, "Wetland to Wasteland, Plantation to Plant: The Visual Legacy of Plantations in the South Louisiana Landscape of Environmental Justice" (2020). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 2832.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/2832
Included in
Digital Humanities Commons, Interdisciplinary Arts and Media Commons, Other American Studies Commons, Other History Commons, United States History Commons, Visual Studies Commons
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.