Coming to New Orleans, Part V

At the end of the Vietnam War, the United States government assisted with the evacuation of over 100,000 refugees from South Vietnam. These refugees included women, children, and families of soldiers in the South Vietnamese army, who were subject to oppression and imprisonment by the North Vietnamese communist forces. After 20 years of war, many of these people were desperate to leave, and faced difficult and harrowing journeys to reach the United States. Upon their arrival, they were brought to refugee camps to receive assistance, including Fort Chaffee in Northwest Arkansas.

In 1975 Archbishop of New Orleans Philip Hannan visited Fort Chaffe to minister to Vietnamese refugees, many of whom were Catholics. After his visit, Archbishop Hannan worked with the United States Catholic Conference and Catholic Charities of New Orleans to relocate thousands of refugees to New Orleans. They arranged for each refugee to have their own sponsor, which included businesses, families, and individuals who provided housing and financial resources.

Over the following years, thousands more refugees independently settled in the area, and communities began to form in New Orleans East, where the Department of Housing and Urban Development built public housing at the Versailles Arms. Catholic Charities of New Orleans also provided citizenship classes and English language education to refugees of all ages.

Upon their arrival in New Orleans East, Vietnamese Catholics worshipped outdoors and in mobile homes until a church, Mary Queen of Vietnam, was built for them in 1983. Four years later, Vietnamese immigrants joined Catholics across the state in welcoming Pope John Paul II, who visited New Orleans in September 1987 as part of his cross-country tour of the United States. When he arrived, the Pope delivered an outdoor Mass in the pouring rain.

Mary Queen of Vietnam Church was the first Vietnamese American Catholic parish in the country, and it continues to serve as a cultural center for the Vietnamese community. Its annual Têt festival, celebrating the Vietnamese lunar new year, showcases Vietnamese food and culture to the greater New Orleans community.

Since 2017, The Historic New Orleans Collection has collected 28 oral histories from the New Orleans Vietnamese community as part of the Viet Chronicle oral history project. Excerpts from the oral histories will anchor Making It Home: Vietnam to New Orleans. an exhibition planned for 2025, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon.

Louisiana has always been an important point of contact between Mexico and the United States. New Orleans’s relationship with Mexico dates to the Spanish Colonial period, with a steady but small flow of immigration to the city until the 21st century. The first Spanish-language newspaper in the United States, El Misisipi, began in New Orleans in 1808, catering to a Spanish speaking population. Mexican Presidents Benito Juarez and Porfirio Díaz used New Orleans as a base to plot revolution in the mid-19th century. In 1884, President Díaz financed a large Mexican pavilion at the World’s Industrial Cotton Centennial Exposition. The enthusiastic reception of the 8th Cavalry Mexican Military Band,Opens in new tab led by Encarnación Payen at that fair, was the subject of a Prospect.5 exhibitionOpens in new tab about the impact that these musicians had on New Orleans musical traditions and the music publishing business.

Mexican immigration to New Orleans throughout the 20th century was slow when compared with other parts of the American South. Mexican workers came to the United States during both world wars to assist with the war efforts, boosting agricultural and factory production. Deportations followed the World War II Bracero Program, which strained the relationship between the two nations. Louisiana was not a primary destination during either conflict and did not see the same increase in immigration as the Southwestern states did.

In the late 20th century, Mexican immigrants came to New Orleans to work in the oil industry, in construction, and in the shipyards, but did not settle in the area. Instead, these transnational migrants, who were mostly men, worked in New Orleans and returned home on a seasonal basis. A natural disaster at the dawn of the 21st century would change these patterns, leading to a huge increase in Mexican immigration.

After Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005, thousands of Mexican immigrants came from Mexico and Texas to rebuild the city. These newcomers engaged in dangerous work demolishing and rebuilding flooded homes, and were exposed to toxins and harmful substances as well as unsafe working conditions. In the wake of the hurricane, President George W. Bush temporarily suspended immigration enforcement laws to make it easier for American contractors to hire workers quickly, but he also suspended certain labor laws that put them at risk of abuse and wage theft. Additionally, many of these Mexican immigrant workers were targeted by immigration authorities and deported without being paid for their work.

For those who did stay, steady employment allowed these workers to bring their families to live with them in New Orleans. Between 2000 and 2010, the Mexican population nearly doubled, to approximately 15,000 people. Mexicans are now the second largest Hispanic community in New Orleans behind Hondurans. While many Mexican immigrants worked in construction, others opened businesses to serve their fellow immigrants; food trucks offering tacos and other Mexican fare soon began popping up around construction sites, giving New Orleanians a taste of the quick-service cuisine long enjoyed by neighboring Texas. Many Mexican residents began settling in New Orleans East alongside the Vietnamese community, as well as in Kenner alongside the existing Honduran community.

A horrific reminder of the dangers faced by immigrant workers came in October 2019, with the sudden collapse of the under-construction Hard Rock Hotel building at the corner of Canal and North Rampart streets. Dozens of construction workers were injured, and three died. Protests followed, as reports uncovered shoddy permitting for the project and the removal the deceased men's stalled for months.

As 2020 unfolded, it became a year of unprecedented mass protests and civil unrest following the murder of George Floyd, sparking a national reckoning over the problem of police brutality.

These protest signs are representative of what archivists call rapid response collecting, where museums acquire new objects to document history as it is happening. This effort helps to dispel the myth that only old things are worthy of being preserved. Objects and life stories in our world have historical value, and collecting institutions are challenged to keep up with current events to document history as it unfolds. HNOC encourages community members to contribute to archives to expand our understanding of the past, present, and future of our diverse community through material culture.