Book Description

"Finding Octave reveals an American history erased and forgotten, even by descendants of those who lived it. It tells of ancestors who influenced the flowering of jazz, the birth of the 15th Amendment, the love life of an empress and the legacy of Simon Bolivar--and a landmark battle to overturn segregation. And it tells the story of Octave Pavageau, the stylish, French-speaking father of eight whose heritage led to both hurtful elitism and path-breaking activism. In Finding Octave, we find Basil Crocker, mathematician, builder, and dandy. A master swordsman in a time of increasing white hostility and attacks, Crocker became New Orleans' most sought-after fencing instructor. Emile Angeletty, a black Catholic in Mississippi, resisted a Church plan to segregate worshippers. He and other Catholics started the Holy Family Parish in Natchez, and upheld more tolerant practices. Adele Pavageau was a New Orleans land magnate, Octave's aunt, and an international businesswoman. This is not another American history of black slaves and dominant whites. Finding Octave finds an America where "free people of color"--unfettered blacks, Indians and Creoles--had power and wealth that whites struggled to claim as their own. In this pre-Civil War America, blacks negotiated their own freedom from slavery. Some chose to be slaveholders themselves. Confronting the terrible truth about slavery within his family, the author uncovers an American secret. Born of the harmony of different worlds and peoples, Octave's Creole legacy is a source of enduring strength. His relatives were confident world citizens, and proud of their ancestry. They travelled widely, conducted international trade, and defined themselves as black, white or Creole as it suited them. They gravitated to city life, forming collaborative urban networks that infused New Orleans with artistic innovators, dynamic entrepreneurs, an array of social services, and crusades for social change" --