Treme 200: America’s First Black Neighborhood Celebrates Its Bicentennial In 2012
June 27, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Reshonda Brewster at 504-523-5652, rbrewster@soulofneworleans.com
NEW ORLEANS—As America’s first black neighborhood prepares to celebrate its 200th anniversary in 2012, the New Orleans Multicultural Tourism Network is partnering with the City of New Orleans and the Louisiana Office of Tourism to market and promote the yearlong commemoration.
“We want people all over America to see that Treme is so much more than the title of a high-profile television series,” says Toni Rice, president of the New Orleans Multicultural Tourism Network. “It’s the neighborhood that gave rise to jazz, brass bands, incredible architecture, Mardi Gras Indians, and several pioneers of the civil rights movement. Had it not been for Treme, our world would look and sound a lot different today.”
The neighborhood takes its name from Claude Treme, the Frenchman who acquired, subdivided, and sold his holdings just north of the Vieux Carre. Lots were purchased by a diversity of residents, but primarily free people of color including craftsmen, musicians, and Haitian Creoles. In 1812, the neighborhood was incorporated into the City of New Orleans.
Today, the neighborhood is home to several key cultural institutions like the New Orleans African American Museum, Backstreet Cultural Museum, St. Augustine Catholic Church, Armstrong Park, and more.
“There’s always something amazing happening in Treme, and we’re working with organizations in the neighborhood to centralize marketing efforts for those events for the bicentennial year,” said Rice.
Rice sees the fact that both Treme and the State of Louisiana are celebrating their bicentennials in 2012 as a happy coincidence. “2012 promises to be an exciting time for Louisiana, as we honor our state’s cultural legacy — and that includes everything that’s come from this incredible neighborhood.”
NOMTN has commissioned a logo for the bicentennial and is partnering on promotional efforts to include media tours, advertising, online promotion, and event coordination. Visitors can go to NOMTN’s web site, SoulOfNewOrleans.com, to learn about the exhibitions, festivals, parades, lectures, performances, and other bicentennial events as they are announced, and they can add their names to an e-mail list to receive notices of upcoming events.
Founded in 1990, the NOMTN has as its mission to identify and promote the cultural diversity of New Orleans and to increase leadership, career, and business opportunity at all levels of the hospitality industry. For more information, contact Reshonda Brewster at 504-523-5652 or rbrewster@soulofneworleans.com.