Paul Trévigne facts for kids
Paul Trévigne (born 1825 – died September 1, 1908) was an important American newspaperman and civil rights activist. He lived in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was the editor of two newspapers owned by Black people: L'Union from 1862 to 1864, and then the New Orleans Tribune from 1864 to 1870. The New Orleans Tribune was the first daily newspaper in the country published by Black people.
Trévigne worked hard for civil rights. He wanted equal rights for everyone, including those who had been free people of color before the Civil War and the many freedmen (newly freed enslaved people). He strongly disagreed with white Democrats who tried to create segregation (keeping people of different races separate).
Early Life and Learning
Paul Trévigne was born in 1825. His father was a biracial veteran who fought in the 1815 Battle of New Orleans. Before the United States bought Louisiana in 1803, free men of color had some freedoms under French rule. They even served in the military. But after the Louisiana Purchase, Americans started to bring in segregation, which was common in their slave societies.
Trévigne grew up in the community of free people of color. There were no public schools in New Orleans when he was young. Some children from free families of color got private lessons if their families could pay. Paul Trévigne received a good education. Early in his career, he taught at the Catholic Indigent Orphan School. This school was set up by the Catholic Church in New Orleans to educate African-American orphans.
A Voice for Change
Dr. Louis Charles Roudanez and his older brother Jean Baptiste Roudanez were also free men of color. They started the newspaper L'Union in 1862. This was after the Union army won against Confederate troops and took control of New Orleans in April of that year.
They hired Trévigne to be the editor of L'Union. The newspaper strongly supported the Union (Northern) side and the Republican Party in Louisiana. It also pushed for the end of slavery (emancipation) and the right to vote (franchise) for all enslaved African Americans in Louisiana and across the Southern states. At that time, Black people made up half of Louisiana's population. Trévigne believed that Black people in the state and region had a lot of political power. He and Dr. Roudanez faced a lot of opposition from white Democrats in the city.
In 1864, Dr. Roudanez got a printing press from New York. He then started a new newspaper called La Tribune de la Nouvelle-Orleans, also known as the New Orleans Tribune. This newspaper also had readers from the Union Army. Trévigne was again the editor. They focused on civil rights for all African Americans, not just the smaller group who had been free before the war. The newspaper stopped publishing in 1869. This happened after it lost funding from the national Republican Party because some white opponents in the North criticized it.
The New Orleans Tribune was published in both French and English. It was the first daily newspaper in the United States published by Black people. Both L'Union and the New Orleans Tribune were read by many Black people in the city and throughout the South. Most of their readers were free people of color, as enslaved African Americans were usually not allowed to get an education.
Another important person who worked at these newspapers was Jean-Charles Houzeau. He was an astronomer, journalist, and abolitionist (someone who wanted to end slavery) from Belgium. He came to the United States after some political problems in his home country. He lived in Texas for a while before settling in New Orleans.
Later, during the time called Reconstruction (after the Civil War), Trévigne wrote a book called Centennial History of the Louisiana Negro. It was published in the newspaper Louisianian in 1875-1876. This was to celebrate 100 years since the American Revolution. It was one of the first histories about Black people in a specific state to be published in the U.S. It showed the "scientific, literary, and artistic contributions of African Americans in Louisiana."
Paul Trévigne continued to fight against segregation. He worked for civil rights even after the U.S. Supreme Court made a decision in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896. This ruling said that "separate but equal" facilities for different races were legal. The case had challenged state laws that separated people on trains traveling between states. Trévigne believed the Constitution gave equal rights to all citizens.
Legacy and Recognition
- Paul Trévigne and Dr. Roudanez were featured in a modern opera called Les Lions de la Reconstruction (Lions of Reconstruction). This opera was first performed by OperaCréole at the Marigny Opera House in October 2018. The singer Jonathan Parham played Trévigne, and Metropolitan Opera singer Richard Hobson played Dr. Roudanez.
Family Life
Paul Trévigne's aunt was Mother Henriette DeLille. She was a pioneering Black Catholic woman in New Orleans who founded the Sisters of the Holy Family.
