ENGL 366: Course Material and Library Guide on the Thibodaux Massacre

Other Helpful Resources

Enclosed are a couple of resources that we found that may be useful for primary source material. A primary source, simply put, is the main piece that is being written on and is defined by Oxford as "a document, first-hand account, or other source that constitutes direct evidence of an object of study" (Oxford Languages). Try to find contrasting accounts of the 1893 event, and work through the primary and secondary source material. Who wrote the article, and what might be their aim in presenting this version of the facts? Several of these sources are from the Ellender Memorial Library Archives.

Scanned Article from Archives

This article, a primary source, is from the Columbus Daily News (Georgia) and dated 11/22/1887

Information from Online Sources

Some of the articles below are contemporaneous with the Massacre, while others are recent. Read through the many digitized, uploaded documents, and find source material that interests you. 

Various Articles

These articles range from academic to general, popular readings on the Thibodaux Massacre and the history surrounding the event.

Rodrigue, John C. “‘The Great Law of Demand and Supply’: The Contest over Wages in Louisiana’s Sugar Region, 1870-1880.” Agricultural History, vol. 72, no. 2, 1998, pp. 159–82. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3744377. Accessed 30 May 2024.

Halpern, Rick. “Solving the ‘Labour Problem’: Race, Work and the State in the Sugar Industries of Louisiana and Natal, 1870-1910.” Journal of Southern African Studies, vol. 30, no. 1, 2004, pp. 19–40. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4133856. Accessed 30 May 2024.

Ferleger, Louis. “The Problem of ‘Labor’ in the Post-Reconstruction Louisiana Sugar Industry.” Agricultural History, vol. 72, no. 2, 1998, pp. 140–58. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3744376. Accessed 30 May 2024.

Scott, Rebecca J. “Defining the Boundaries of Freedom in the World of Cane: Cuba, Brazil, and Louisiana after Emancipation.” The American Historical Review, vol. 99, no. 1, 1994, pp. 70–102. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2166163. Accessed 30 May 2024.

Washington, K.C. "The Thibodaux Massacre." BlackPast.org. Web. Accessed 3 June 2024. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/the-thibodaux-massacre-november-23-1887/

Various Open Educational Resources 

Scott, Rebecca J. "Fault Lines, Color Lines, and Party Lines: Race, Labor, and Collective Action in Louisiana and Cuba, 1862-1912." Book chapter. 61-106.  Beyond Slavery: Explorations of Race, Labor, and Citizenship in Postemancipation Societies. Ed. Frederick Cooper, et al. University of North Carolina Press, 2000.

Accessed via Hein online. Nicholls State Databases.

https://heinonline-org.ezproxy.nicholls.edu/HOL/Page?public=true&handle=hein.slavery/uncaaak0001&div=7&start_page=61&collection=slavery&set_as_cursor=1&men_tab=srchresults

"Labor Movement." History.com. History.com Editors 31 March 2020.

https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/labor

"Reconstruction." National Geographic. Web.

https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/reconstruction-1865-1877/

"Jim Crow and Segregation." Library of Congress. Web.

https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/jim-crow-segregation/

"Reconstruction and Rights." Library of Congress. Web.

https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/united-states-history-primary-source-timeline/civil-war-and-reconstruction-1861-1877/reconstruction-and-rights/

"American History: The Civil War and Reconstruction: Amendments, Acts and Codes of Reconstruction." New York University. Lloyd Sealy Library. Web. Updated 2024.

https://guides.lib.jjay.cuny.edu/c.php?g=288398&p=1922458

"Reconstruction Government in the South." University of Hawaii. 2003. Web.

https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/exhibits/reconstruction/section4/section4_recon.html

Nostrum, Justin A. "Reconstruction." 64 Parishes. Web. Updated 2024.

https://64parishes.org/entry/reconstruction

"The African American Odyssey: The Quest for Citizenship." Library of Congress. Web. Updated 2024.

https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african-american-odyssey/reconstruction.html

Evans, Farrell. "The 1868 Massacre that Reversed Reconstruction-Era Gains." History.com. Web. 23 January 2024.

https://www.history.com/news/voter-suppression-history-opelousas-massacre