Descendants: The Divided Lineage of a Louisiana Creole Family
By John W. Durel
Coming Spring 2025
About the Book
Through extensive genealogical and archival research, Descendants traces evolving attitudes and laws regarding racial identity and relationships as experienced by descendants, both White and Black, of a White French couple who arrived in New Orleans in the 1750s. Spanning eight generations of Durel offspring, this work shows the complexities of race in Louisiana, touching on those who were enslaved and those who were enslavers, those who were wealthy and those of a more ordinary sort, those who were of solely European descent and those with mixed European, African, and American Indian ancestry.
The stories take the reader from colonial French and Spanish rule through the Civil War and Reconstruction and into the Jim Crow era of the twentieth century, culminating in a final, impactful chapter that juxtaposes the author’s experience growing up middle class and White in the segregated South and a poor, Black, working-class man who labored at two jobs to provide for his family. Through it all, Descendants tracks the changing definition of what it meant to be Creole in New Orleans and the complex cultural, economic, and social connotations of one’s parentage.
About the Author
Born in Thibodaux, Louisiana, John Durel holds a PhD in American History from the University of New Hampshire. Following a career working in and consulting with museums nationwide and internationally, in 2019 he returned to his interest in historical research and writing. Descendants is his first book.
Praise for Descendants
Coming soon!
© 2025 John W. Durel
9781959569213 | Paperback | 244 pp. | 6" x 9" | Spring 2025