Kenneth Hafertepe
Tara Dudley breaks new ground in this engaging study, demonstrating how economics and politics informed the built environment of New Orleans in the antebellum era. Her innovative research reveals the complex personal and financial relations between two families of color, the Dolliole and Soulié families, which allowed them to thrive as entrepreneurs in antebellum New Orleans. As New Orleans Americanized and modernized, these builders found themselves marginalized, yet Dudley shows that their financial clout allowed them to play an entrepreneurial role well into the antebellum era.
Sharlene Sinegal-DeCuir
Building Antebellum New Orleans is a masterfully written book and the first to conceptualize the contributions of free people of color in the architectural and infrastructural history of New Orleans. Yet this book is so much more. It uncovers the complicated and fascinating histories of two prominent Creole families, the Dollioles and Souliés, placing them at the height of racial politics in the city as they skillfully navigate the gray areas of race, business, and building. This is undoubtedly an important book that will enhance the historical scholarship on pre-Civil War New Orleans.
Richard Campanella
Here, finally, is a book-length scholarly work wholly devoted to the role of free people of color in the building of New Orleans. Unlike countless other sources which passingly allude to this community’s architectural contributions, Tara Dudley’s research gives them names, lives, skill sets, accomplishments, and social and cultural context, focusing on members of the Dolliole and Soulié families. This important book will be of interest to scholars and general readers interested in architecture, urbanism, vernacular building, New Orleans and Louisiana history, Creole culture, and African American topics.
