Date of Award

5-2025

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Program

Urban Studies

Department

Planning and Urban Studies

Major Professor

Gray, D. Ryan

Second Advisor

Stich, Bethany

Third Advisor

Gladstone, David

Fourth Advisor

Kennedy, J. Ryan

Abstract

Disasters have plagued the City of New Orleans since its foundation in 1718. This year marks the twentieth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Most locals have personal memories of Hurricane Katrina or have friends and family who experienced the storm. The effects of Hurricane Katrina were far-reaching and often life-changing. However, Hurricane Katrina is not the only major disaster to have left an indelible mark on the landscape and culture of New Orleans. Two fires in the eighteenth century destroyed significant portions of the colony and left approximately seventy percent of the population homeless. And yet, we know very little about these transformative fires outside of the anecdotal stories repeated by tour guides and historians alike and a recognition that the fires shifted the architectural signature of the colony from French to Spanish design. These well-known but poorly understood events in the history of New Orleans likely had a greater influence on the people and culture of the burgeoning colony than has previously been acknowledged. The purpose of this research is to expand our understanding of the two eighteenth-century fires through an archaeological examination of foodways. New Orleans is well known for its local cuisine, which blends the cultural traditions of the myriad individuals and groups who have inhabited the city since its founding. Foodways are a practical arena in which to examine how disasters affect culture because foodways are literally the embodiment of culture as well as being reflective of the personal choices of individuals and groups. The goal of this research is to elucidate what changes in foodways can tell us about how people responded to two historic disasters in New Orleans. The results of this research are interpreted through the lens of agency theory with particular emphasis on the concepts of daily practice, cultural embodiment, and individual experimentation. Ingenuity and innovation were crucial to survival in colonial environments, especially when disasters were a regular part of colonial life. I argue that New Orleans’ long history of disasters has created a culture of adaptation and creative improvisation that has persisted from its colonial foundations to the present era.

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.

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