Aline St. Julien

Abstract

Aline St. Julien, the youngest daughter of a Creole mother from Lockport and a black father with roots in Santo Domingo, was born in 1926. She spent her childhood in the Sixth Ward, raised a family of seven children with her husband of thirty-six years in the Seventh Ward, and, after 1982, lived independently in Gentilly until Katrina. The youngest of five children, Aline was the only child in her devoutly Catholic family to attend parochial school. Her attendance at Xavier Preparatory School was made possible by the largesse of her brothers, who were then serving in the military. From an early age, Aline embraced her blackest roots. During the struggle for integration in the ’50s and early ’60s, she served on national and local boards, including the National Board of Black Catholics and the New Orleans Urban League.

This interview occurred on February 15, 2008, one week before her eighty-second birthday, at the dining room table of her one-bedroom efficiency apartment in a complex owned by the Catholic Church. An ornately framed, abstract painting by a Haitian artist with crescendos of blue-green waves and the hint of a flamboyant dancer dominated the wall behind the table and set the mood for the interview. Aline was wearing a ribbed pink sweater with a precisely tied, rayon, peach scarf. Her elegant jewelry, including a silver bracelet doubling as a key chainy matched perfectly.

Her history embodies the complex interactions between peoples, arts, music, and food that is New Orleans. Her deep knowledge and variegated experiences reflect the vibrant culture of Tremé and the Seventh Ward. Her narrative is rich with descriptions of North Claiborne Avenue before cement pillars replaced towering oak trees, of Creole family tradition and of integration struggles. She witnessed Katrina from a hotel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where she had driven from New Orleans with her children. After an exile in Maryland, Aline chose to return to Louisiana. Even her post-Katrina stroke has not succeeded in repressing her passion for dancing. Aline continues to teach yoga and line dancing to nuns and grandchildren alike.