My Family

My Family: A Window into the Secrets, Successes, and Sins of Early New Orleans and Beyond is a collection of complex life stories that interweave and meander through the ever-changing world of eighteenth and nineteenth-century Louisiana. The accounts are populated by real people, some famous and some unsung, whose lives are rife with contradictions. Meet free men and women of color, war heroes, a world-renowned scientist and Egyptologist, an internationally famous artist, a universal suffrage activist, an explorer turned spy, philanthropists, entrepreneurs, sugar barons, cotton factors, and slave traders. The intricate tapestry of early Louisiana is revealed as their lives unfold. As we grow and evolve as humans, it is natural that our sense of justice is offended by practices of the past like slavery, the lack of agency for women, slave holding free people of color, and shifting loyalties. The stories of the Rillieux, Cantrelle, Verret, Jones, Bringier, and Freret families expose a past infused with honor and regret.