October 15, 1817

Timeline

• October 15, 1817 Sunday assemblies were restricted to La Place Publique A city ordinance reserved Sunday as the appointed day for Black assemblies and festivities, but prohibited dancing after sunset and required police supervision. It also confined those gatherings to La Place Publique, the area later associated with Congo Square.
• April 1845 The council restored Sunday dancing under restriction After citizens petitioned to restore the so-called ancient privilege of Sunday dancing in Congo Square, the council allowed enslaved individuals to gather there on Sundays from 4 to 6 P.M. with written permission from their enslaver. The ruling imposed strict conditions, including public decency requirements and the presence of eight policemen.
• June 1845 Observers still recorded dancing and improvised music in the Square Despite the restrictions, a reporter described a joyful crowd in Congo Square engaged in what he called regular Ethiopian Breakdowns. The account notes improvised instruments, singing, and the sounds of clattering bones and barrel-headed drumming.
• July 1845 A new law prohibited Black residents from roaming the city on Sundays Only a month after observers documented continued musical activity, another law prohibited African American residents of New Orleans from roaming all over town on Sundays.
• January 25, 1851 The city renamed Place d’Armes as Jackson Square On January 25, 1851, the First Municipality voted to rename the Place d’Armes as Jackson Square. In the same action, officials reassigned the name Place d’Armes to Congo Square, positioning the site within a more formal and militarized framework.
• 1883 Robinson’s atlas clearly labels the site as Congo Square E. Robinson’s Atlas of the City of New Orleans is the earliest map in the manuscript that clearly labels the area as Congo Square in the same location as Beauregard Square.