An Ethnographic Study of a Contemporary Louisiana
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Master's Theses Graduate School 2009 A sense of community and community change: an ethnographic study of a contemporary Louisiana juke joint as it compares to historical literature on the subject Kristopher Ian Debnam Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Debnam, Kristopher Ian, "A sense of community and community change: an ethnographic study of a contemporary Louisiana juke joint as it compares to historical literature on the subject" (2009). LSU Master's Theses. 1299. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/1299 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Master's Theses by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A SENSE OF COMMUNITY AND COMMUNITY CHANGE: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF A CONTEMPORARY LOUISIANA JUKE JOINT AS IT COMPARES TO HISTORICAL LITERATURE ON THE SUBJECT A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in The Department of Geography and Anthropology by Kristopher Ian Debnam B.A., Louisiana Tech University, 2007 May, 2009 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first of all like to acknowledge the people of Waterproof, Louisiana, especially Henry and Annie Mae McKeal, who were overly helpful and accommodating to me during my time spent there. Without their kindness and patience for my constant array of questions, this would have never been possible. I would like to thank every faculty member at LSU that changed the way I thought about the world, as well as Miles Richardson and Craig Colten for taking the time to serve on my committee, read my work, and give me valued tips and suggestions. I would especially like to thank my advisor, Dydia DeLyser, for always inspiring confidence with a never-ending sense of optimism. She has helped shape my work in more ways than I could possibly convey here. I am grateful to the LSU department of geography and anthropology also for financial help in the form of a graduate assistantship and the Robert C. West Field Research Grant which both helped to partially fund my fieldwork and my life while working on this project. Finally, I would like to thank my friends and family for their support and encouragement during this process. Even though you guys did not always fully understand why or what I was writing about, you never stopped believing in me, and I will always appreciate that. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...................................................................................................... ii LIST OF FIGURES................................................................................................................... v ABSTRACT................................................................................................................................ vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION............................................................................................. 1 LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................ 5 METHODS...................................................................................................................... 16 CHAPTER 2: THE HISTORICAL JUKE JOINT – ITS ROOTS AND AND REPUTATIONS................................................................................................... 20 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................... 20 THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL JUKE JOINTS............................. 24 SOME GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE JUKE JOINT............................... 28 MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT................................................................................ 31 FOOD AND DRINK....................................................................................................... 35 ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES: BOOTLEGGING, GAMBLING, AND PROSTITUTION............................................................................................................. 36 VIOLENCE..................................................................................................................... 40 CONCLUSIONS............................................................................................................. 45 CHAPTER 3: WATERPROOF, LOUISIANA – A SETTING OF HISTORICAL AND SITUATIONAL CHANGE....................................................... 47 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................... 47 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY............................................................................................ 49 A BRIEF HISTORY OF EARLY WATERPROOF, LOUISIANA............................... 52 (A LACK OF) INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AND ECONOMIC PROGRESS..................................................................................................................... 59 A COMMUNITY IN DECLINE..................................................................................... 65 CONCLUSIONS............................................................................................................. 75 CHAPTER 4: THE DISCO 86 LOUNGE – A CONTEMPORARY DELTA JUKE JOINT.................................................................................................................. 77 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................... 77 SOME PATTERNS OF EARLY DRINKING ESTABLISHMENTS IN TENSAS PARISH...................................................................................................... 78 MRS. ANNIE MAE‟S PLACE....................................................................................... 82 Music and Entertainment........................................................................................... 90 Food and Drink.......................................................................................................... 94 Bootlegging, Gambling, and Prostitution.................................................................. 97 Violence..................................................................................................................... 99 COMMUNITY AND PERSONAL SOCIAL FUNCTIONS......................................... 101 iii Social Roles in the Community................................................................................. 103 A Sense of Place and Identity................................................................................... 106 CONCLUSIONS............................................................................................................ 110 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION................................................................................................ 112 COMPARISONS TO EARLY JUKE JOINTS.............................................................. 112 FINAL THOUGHTS...................................................................................................... 115 WORKS CITED........................................................................................................................ 119 VITA........................................................................................................................................... 128 iv LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 3-1: DOWNTOWN WATERPROOF DURING THE FLOOD OF 1927.................. 52 FIGURE 3-2: MAP OF WATERPROOF‟S CHANGING LOCATION................................... 56 FIGURE 3-3: POPULATION CHANGE IN TENSAS PARISH OVER THE TWENTIETH CENTURY......................................................................... 67 FIGURE 3-4: ABANDONED WATERPROOF HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING, 2008.............. 73 FIGURE 3-5: SATELLITE PHOTOGRAPH OF MAINSTREET IN MODERN WATERPROOF AS COMPARED TO AN AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH OF THE SAME AREA IN 1940......................................................................... 74 FIGURE 4-1: LOCATION OF THE DISCO 86 LOUNGE....................................................... 83 FIGURE 4-2: EXTERIOR PHOTOGRAPHS SHOWING THE ADDITIONS TO THE DISCO 86 LOUNGE.................................................................................. 87 FIGURE 4-3: FLOORPLAN SKETCH OF THE DISCO 86 LOUNGE................................... 88 FIGURE 4-4: PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE INTERIOR OF THE DISCO 86 LOUNGE........... 90 v ABSTRACT The rural juke joint is a phenomenon that has been mentioned quite frequently in literature pertaining to blues music, but has not received the amount of scholarly attention that it deserves. This social institution is an integral part of the Mississippi Delta‟s cultural landscape. Over time, it has developed a dual reputation as a fun place for weekend entertainment, and also a dangerous place for sin and vice. Using qualitative methods, this thesis explores a modern-day juke joint located in Waterproof, Louisiana, a small town in the northeast part of the state. It is the goal of this research to show how this particular establishment, The Disco 86 Lounge, compares to narratives and other historical literature written about juke joints in the early part of the twentieth century. In doing so,