There’s an app for that

July 22nd, 2010

Louisiana iPhone app

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 22, 2010

Contact:
Melody Alijani
Louisiana Office of Tourism
225-342-8142
malijani@crt.state.la.us

BATON ROUGE—The Louisiana Office of Tourism recently launched a new iPhone app for Louisiana’s African American Heritage Trail at the ESSENCE Music Festival in New Orleans. This is the first app of its kind for tourism in Louisiana, and visitors attending the festival were the first to experience its features.

“The festival was a perfect backdrop to launch the app, and the feedback from visitors was very positive,” said Pam Breaux, secretary of the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism. “We developed this app to help guide visitors to trail sites as they travel throughout the state.”

The app, titled LikeNoOther, has a number of features that visitors can enjoy, including directions to trail sites, GPS, maps, photos, and more. It also includes an original song and video from Grammy Award-winning musician Chris Thomas King and audio vignettes narrated by Academy Award-winning actor Louis Gossett, Jr.

“It is great that we are able to utilize new technology to bring Louisiana history to life,” said Jim Hutchinson, assistant secretary of the Louisiana Office of Tourism.

Visitors can download the app for free to their iPhone, iPad or iPod a number of ways, including from the App Store, iTunes or at the trail’s website, AStoryLikeNoOther.com/iphone.

African American Heritage Trail
A project of the Louisiana Office of Tourism, the African American Heritage Trail takes visitors to museums, heritage sites, institutions and cultural attractions in all corners of Louisiana. The trail was launched in February 2008 with 26 member sites and expanded to 33 sites in 2010.

Images for media

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Tourism HOT SPOT – As seen on TheNewsStar.com

May 20th, 2010

MONROE, Louisiana — The Northeast Louisiana Delta African-American Heritage Museum is the only stop in Ouachita Parish on Louisiana’s African-American Heritage Trail.

The trail carves out a path from northern to southern Louisiana, highlighting sites of cultural and historical importance to the experience of African-Americans in the state.

Monroe’s museum is housed in a former women’s hat store on Plum Street and is a small, six-room attraction. But director Lorraine Slacks is hopeful that construction will get under way in July on a new $3 million facility within Chennault Park.

“We’ve had some challenges, but we’ve been able to meet them and we’re ready to go out for bid again,” Slacks said.

The museum’s new building will hold an expanded collection, including interactive exhibits, art shows, space for traveling displays, a classroom and a cafe serving authentic American and African-American cuisine.

“The museum will be much improved so we can serve the community and the tri-state area,” Slacks said. “People come from across the United States to do research here, and we will have an expanded research facility.”

Current exhibits that impress museum visitors are those that feature the African-American pioneers who helped to settle Monroe and the displays that show the affect African-Americans had on the community at large, she said.

“We try to dispel myths about African-American heritage and African-American customs,” Slacks said. “We do as much as we can to have people go away with better understanding of the importance of assimilation, brotherhood and community.

“The museum is not just for African-Americans. It’s of economic importance to the community, and we invite everybody to come be part of the northeastern Louisiana African-American experience.”

CREDIT: TheNewsStar.com

TRAIL SITE: Northeast Louisiana Delta African American Heritage Museum

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Trail Stories – Lovejones

April 5th, 2010

The lovejones began moments after I left historic Melrose Plantation in the Cane River District in northwest Louisiana. It took root as I made my way along the various sites,  from Port Hudson Battlefield in Jackson and St. Augustine’s Church in Natchez through to the French Market in New Orleans,  all part of the seminal Louisiana African American Heritage Trail.

My enchantment had begun years earlier in New Orleans. With its unique mosaic of culture, cuisine and history, New Orleans has long been a beacon for artists and curious travellers. But the Trail is so much more. Encompassing south and central Louisiana and ending in the north, the trail consists of 33 sites.

It includes the Museum of Southern University in Baton Rouge; Evergreen Plantation in Wallace parish; St. Augustine’s Church in Natchez, the first Catholic Church financed and built by blacks for blacks and Mahalia Jackson’s Grave Site in Metarie and a host of other historic locations.

The trail delineates the profound influence African Americans have had on the history and heritage of Louisiana and our country.

Contributed by Denise Campbell, Black Enterprise and TheRoot.com

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Welcome to the next chapter.

February 2nd, 2010

Photo credit: Bernie Saul

Louisiana is marking the second anniversary of our African American Heritage Trail with its first expansion plus this new website, AStoryLikeNoOther.com. I announced the news today at St. Augustine Church in New Orleans, one of the original 26 trail sites and the spiritual anchor of the Tremé neighborhood.

If you’re not familiar with it, Tremé is America’s oldest African American neighborhood. It is the place where jazz was born. And it is home to four sites along the trail. Today’s announcement coincides not only with the start of Black History Month but with the beginning of the neighborhood’s bicentennial commemoration. Happy birthday, Tremé!

The new trail sites are. . .

The addition of seven new trail sites will take you to even more parts of our state, enriching the story of Louisiana’s black heritage along the way. They also add to the mix some of the incredible cultural assets of Louisiana’s State Parks.

And there’s one more site. This one.

Today, we also launched the site you’re on right now: AStoryLikeNoOther.com. Think of it as your first stop on the journey. Before you set out, there are few things you won’t want to miss:


  • Watch the opening video featuring Grammy Award winner Chris Thomas King (guitar and vocals) with music arranged by New Orleans composer Jay Weigel.
  • Explore all the trail sites using the interactive map and image gallery.
  • Hear some surprising stories, narrated by Academy Award winner Louis Gossett, Jr. These can be found on many of the site pages linked from the Explore map.
  • Download free itineraries to follow the trail one region at a time.
  • Sign up to get the iPhone app that’s in development. We will let you know when it’s ready.
  • Keep up with what’s happening by subscribing to the blog, fanning the trail on Facebook, or following it on Twitter.

View additional coverage of the African American Heritage press conference.

So welcome to the next chapter. I’m glad you’re here. It’s going to be a great journey!

Regards,

Mitch Landrieu
Lieutenant Governor
Commissioner of the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism

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On The Trail

January 13th, 2010

Welcome to our blog about what’s happening on (and off) Louisiana’s African American Heritage Trail. Visit often or subscribe now for the latest news, photos, writings, and guest posts.

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