Civil War Era Themes in Mardi Gras Celebrations, 1880-1940

I have previously written about Mardi Gras in Civil War New Orleans, as well as the Tension of Reconstruction Mardi Gras Celebrations. With another Mardi Gras Day upon us, today I will celebrate by continuing the look at Mardi Gras celebrations related to themes from the Civil War by exploring those themes at the end of the 19th and start of the 20th centuries.

After Reconstruction, Mardi Gras continued growing, with ties to the Confederacy, celebrations mirroring those from the Civil War, and expanded representation of Reconstruction organizations. Parading organizations saw increased direct connections to the Confederacy thanks to the many former Confederate leaders that moved to New Orleans with their families. This made sense, as the Crescent City was spared major wartime sieges and battles, and thus did not need rebuilding postwar.

The first recognized Confederate-led court for the Krewe of Comus occurred in 1884 when Mildred Lee, Mary Lee, Juliana Jackson, Varina Anne Davis, and Nannie Hill – daughters of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, Lt. Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, President Jefferson Davis, and Maj. Gen. Daniel Harvey Hill, respectively – were seated amongst Confederate relics at Comus’s annual Mardi Gras ball in a box at the city’s French Opera House. Jefferson Davis, Daniel Hill, and Mary Jackson, widow of “Stonewall” Jackson, were in attendance that night, looking on as their daughters encapsulated the festivities. The king of Comus approached Mildred Lee for a formal dance, and his associates then danced with the other daughters.[1]

The participation of these daughters of Confederate leadership in the 1884 Comus ball linked that krewe with Confederate memory across New Orleans at the height of pro-Confederate commemorations. Just five days before the ball, the Lee daughters were present at the dedication of the now-removed statue of their father on St. Charles Avenue. Five days after the ball, the same daughters were fêted by the Association of the Army of Tennessee at a fundraiser for New Orleans Confederate veterans.[2]

Eight years later in 1892, Varina Anne Davis became queen of Comus. As art historian Elizabeth Leavett noted, her portrait for the organization that year marked “her rule simultaneously as the Princess of the Confederacy and the Queen of Comus.”[3] That portrait was used afterwards as a model for future portraits and ball gowns with other marching organizations. These leaders and their daughters thus connect the Civil War era, its immediate aftermath, and its memory with modern Mardi Gras customs.

As the 20th century dawned, race continued playing a part in Carnival celebrations. Just as the Ku Klux Klan participated in Mardi Gras celebrations during Reconstruction, the resurgent second wave of the organization continued being linked to Mardi Gras celebrations, especially outside the South. In 1894, theaters at both Chicago and Boston hosted shows featuring Mardi Gras and the Ku Klux Klan side by side.[4] It seems that everything Southern was linked together, regardless of the level of integration between them all. In northern areas of the United States, any connection locally between Klansmen and Carnival was seen as a sanction everywhere.

In 1916, the Krewe of Zulu formed, run by the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club. It is famous for members, both African American and Anglo, painting their faces black, donning costumes honoring the African Zulus, and distributing elaborately decorated coconuts to the crowds. This is an interesting turn, considering Civil War era Mardi Gras celebrations involved children pelting African Americans with flour, turning their faces white, and Reconstruction Mardi Gras celebrations involved Confederate veterans donning blackface as they marched in krewes.

During the Civil Rights Movement, membership in the Krewe of Zulu dropped to a handful as people questioned their legitimacy and position in society, but it has since regained popularity as a staple of Mardi Gras Day. Recently, arguments emerged over whether wearing black paint as a tradition should end. Some claim they are honoring racist Anglo vaudevillian actors who dressed in blackface in times past. Others say the Zulu tradition is continued to critique and discredit those very actors and that painting faces black showcases the strength of the Zulu people. Still more claim the face painting is a continuation from when African Americans were prohibited from donning masks in earlier Mardi Gras celebrations. Regardless, the tradition continues.[5]

The Civil War era’s Mardi Gras celebrations have also impacted the legacy of how the people of New Orleans addressed other cancelled Carnival celebrations. During World War I, no celebrations occurred “on account of the European war,” just as celebrations were officially cancelled in 1862.[6] This continued in 1919 because of the ongoing influenza outbreak. Though there were no formal parades in 1919, children wore sanitary masks while reveling in the day. “There were many small processions and impromptu celebrations,” just as occurred in 1864.[7] Other cities held Carnival festivities that year across the continent including celebrations in Washington, D.C. for the benefit of the Free Milk for France Fund.[8]

In Galveston, Texas, the Ku Klux Klan played a prominent role in Mardi Gras 1919. King Frivolous, leader of Galveston Mardi Gras celebrations, kicked off festivities in the Texas port before riding in a parade of his own. His royal carriage was pulled by horses bearing white robes marked with KKK, while “Marines and sailors vied with the masked K.K.K. guards for positions as royal escorts.”[9] The Klan members won the contest, leading the parade and escorting Frivolous throughout the day.

Other second wave Ku Klux Klan chapters attempted to highlight themselves with early 20th century Mardi Gras celebrations. Louisiana’s Ku Klux Klan declared Mardi Gras Day 1925 to be “Klan day in Louisiana,” with a parade held in Shreveport by 3,600 Klansmen.[10] A concurrent parade in Monroe was denied a permit.[11] The Klan chapter in Glenmora, Louisiana, held their own fifteen-car parade on Mardi Gras Day 1926, showing for all to see that “the Klan is not dead in Glenmora.”[12] In 1930, a “three-day mardi gras celebration” was hosted by the “Summit county Ku Klux Klan” in Ohio.[13] When the Ku Klux Klan was not present, Anglo members of krewes and costumed spectators often wore blackface through the 1930s, even when not associated with the Krewe of Zulu.[14]

The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw much of the same activity related to Mardi Gras that occurred during the Civil War era, including cancelled festivities and racially-oriented celebrations, all while seeing increased ties to the Confederacy made by Confederate leadership and their families.

Endnotes:

[1] Jennifer Atkins, “Setting the Stage: Dance and Gender in Old-Line New Orleans Carnival Balls, 1870-1920,” Ph.D. Thesis, Florida State University, Spring 2008, 129-132; “Comus at the Ball,” The Daily Picayune, New Orleans, LA, February 27, 1884.

[2] “Robert E. Lee: Unveiling of the Statue of the Great Hero and Patriot,” The Times-Democrat, New Orleans, LA, February 23, 1884; “The Daughters of the Sires of the Confederacy,” Daily Picayune, New Orleans, LA, March 4, 1884.

[3] Elizabeth Leavitt, “Southern Royalty: Race, Gender, and Discrimination During Mardi Gras From the Civil War to the Present Day,” From Slave Mothers & Southern Belles to Radical Reformers & Lost Cause Ladies: Representing Women in the Civil War Era, February, 2015, https://civilwarwomen.wp.tulane.edu/, Accessed December 17, 2022.

[4] “McVicker’s Theater,” Chicago Tribune, Chicago, IL, December 2, 1894; “Columbia Theater,” The Boston Sunday Globe, Boston, MA, September 30, 1894.

[5] Clarence A. Becknell, Thomas Price, and Don Short, “History of the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club,” Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club, http://www.kreweofzulu.com/history, Accessed December 17, 2022; Brentin Mock, “Zulu Mardi Gras Blackface: Heritage or Hate?,” CityLab, March 4, 2019; Janaya Williams and Michel Martin, “In New Orleans, The Fight Over Blackface Renews Scrutiny of a Mardi Gras Tradition, NPR, March 3, 2019; Michelle Krupa, “The black leaders of an iconic Mari Gras parade want you to know their ‘black makeup is NOT blackface,’” CNN, March 5, 2019.

[6] “Mardi Gras Not To Take Place This Year,” The Weekly Iberian, New Iberia, LA, February 2, 1918.

[7] “Mardi Gras Frolic On In New Orleans,” The Birmingham News, Birmingham, AL, March 4, 1919; Female impersonator, 2003.0182.159, The Historic New Orleans Collection, New Orleans, Louisiana.

[8] “Echoes of the Mardi Gras Frolic Given for the Benefit of the Free Milk for France Fund,” The Washington Times, Washington D.C., March 9, 1919.

[9] “King Frivolous is Welcomed by Host of Happy Subjects,” Galveston Daily News, Galveston, TX, March 4, 1919.

[10] “Barnette Announces Parade,” The Shreveport Times, Shreveport, LA, January 8, 1925.

[11] “Permit for Mask March is Withheld,” The Monroe News-Star, Monroe, LA, February 19, 1925.

[12] “Klans Women Form Impressive Parade,” The Patriot, Glenmora, LA, February 19, 1926.

[13] “Klan Mardi Gras Will Open Tonight,” Akron Beacon Journal, Akron, OH, December 4, 1930.

[14] Maskers in Blackface, Mardi Gras, 1935, 1979.325.3878, and Mardi Gras, 1936, Blackface Maskers with Palanquin, 1979.325.3885, Charles L. Frank Studio Collection, The Historic New Orleans Collection, New Orleans, Louisiana.