French Creoles | Rose Nicaud: Origination

Rose Nicaud

Photo taken from:

'Woman and New Orleans
A History"

Author; Mary Gehman

Rose Nicaud started in the early 1800s the tradition of public coffee houses in New Orleans, such as Café du Monde and the Morning Call. One loyal customer said one time, "Her coffee, is like the benediction that follows after prayer."

Rose Nicaud was a woman of color who managed to buy her freedom. She saw the need of people; going to market or to Mass at the cathedral, for a cup of fresh, hot coffee along the wa, So She set up a portable stand and became an immediate success. Soon, there were a lot of small, portable coffee stands, each offering a different brew and each managed by a free woman of color.

In the beginning people stood to drink their coffee. Later Nicaud was able to get a permanent stand in the French Market and could offer seating for her customers. Nicaud is but one example of resourceful New Orleans women who owned and managed their own businesses.

Free Women of Color in New Orleans

From the earliest records, women were buying and selling land in their own names. Money was earned and exchanged by women. Indian women were hawking their herbs and spices on the city's streets and upper class Creole ladies were teaching dance or music in their homes. Women in New Orleans by the Civil War represented hundreds of jobs and professions.

Creole Beignets and Coffee
"Main staple at Cafe du Monde,
New Orleans"

This significant record had numerous causes. The French code of Louisiana, unlike British law elsewhere, gave women the sole ownership and management of property they brought to a marriage or inherited as widows. Many women were therefore financially independent.

    One more factor was the large community of free women of color in New Orleans who were permitted to own property and transact business the same as their white counterparts. In the 1800s many of these women had romantic liaisons with Frenchmen and bore them children, but they could not marry these men and so remained single.

     In many cases they were forced to support themselves and their children since they did not do the work of slaves, they took on professions such as hairdresser, seamstress or nurse. Others started food vending operations or became proprietors of the first guest houses in the city. The impressive tradition of New Orleans women as business owners and operators can be seen in late nineteenth-century city directories.

     Large numbers of women are listed as dry goods wholesalers, grocers, hardware store operators and boarding house keepers. There were brewers, a cigar manufacturer, several confectioners and even a few saloon keepers.

Taken from:
"Women and New Orleans
A History"

author: Mary Gehman