Creole narratives and folktales by Mary Fentroy

Accession No.: 
AN1-063

0:00 - "Lapin puis Tortue fait la course" (conte); Heard stories from father

3:28 - "M'après rouler dans bras Bon Dieu" / "Working in my Jesus arms" (work song - only chorus)
-Social Security troubles (not being old enough? Born in 1897); 'Old Folks Pension'; early working system
-working from sunup to sundown, not spending time in night clubs
-60 years old and ineligible for Social Security; disabled with arthritis, doing clothes

10:20 - still washes on a washboard; lady offered to buy her a washing machine
-education to make good money and good manners; good manners and behavior will take you anywhere you want
-meeting a stranger; she will never live anywhere else but in St. Martin Parish

15:22 - Mary can't read English, but she can write her name
-early Cade work ways, sugar mills, cutting cane in the cold, hauling cane with wagons, mules, and oxen
-Freedom train in '77; slavery days/cutting days; buying slaves and slavery trade
-naming slaves; "Watercot"; "Rolling in my Jesus arms"; Fighting and grudges

22:11 - Raising children; Barry's grandfather told stories; "L'éléphant et le serpent" (conte)

28:27 - Trust; changing times; Biblical prophecy; people will grow weaker and wiser
-Education to be high class; Barry going to be a teacher; poetry from school--Lawrence Dunbar's "Regarde la Neige"
-"Vieille femme, viellie femme, regarde dans le sac"

36:20 - Carlton Wilson & early music around Cade
-Talius Wilson, son, has a band in New Iberia; accordion players, sang in French - Clifton Chenier
-Washington Brothers band had a cornet, a bass drum, a guitar, trombone; dancing rock and roll/shimmy
-saloons and etiquette in old days; couldn't go out with a girl without a suit coat

41:15 - Girls were not allowed to pass in front of saloons, that was a place for men
-world is changing every day and better learn how to live in it
-Mr. Roy at the Dodge garage was a fine white man, very nice man
-Buzz was going to teach and needed a car; trust and respect between races

Media Type: 
Audio
Collection: 
Ancelet
Subject: 
Louisiana; Creoles; Folk tales; Mary Fentroy personal narrative; Storytelling
Creator: 
Barry Jean Ancelet
Informants: 
Mary Fentroy
Recording date: 
Thursday, May 12, 1977
Coverage Spatial: 
Cade, LA
Publisher: 
Center for Louisiana Studies
Rights Usage: 
All Rights Reserved
Language: 
English
French
Meta Information
Duration: 
45:02
Cataloged Date: 
Thursday, June 15, 2017
Digitized Date: 
Tuesday, January 1, 2002
Original Format: 
Audio--Reel--5"
Digital Format: 
WAV
Bit Depth: 
24 bit
Sampling Rate: 
96 kHz
Storage Location: 
Archives of Cajun and Creole Folklore - Cabinet 1 Shelf 2