Mary GehmanA native of Pennsylvania, Mary Gehman moved to New Orleans in 1970 to attend Loyola University and never left. Hit hard by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, she moved 56 miles upriver from the city to Donaldsonville and visits New Orleans frequently. She helped found Distaff, a New Orleans women’s newspaper in 1972 and edited the itinerant periodical until 1981, turning Margaret Media, Inc. into a full publishing company with 21 titles by 2014 when the press was sold.
She opened DVille Press in 2017 and published 12 more titles until retiring at the end of 2022. Both publishing ventures dealt exclusively with Louisiana authors and topics. Gehman holds a Bachelor's in Journalism from Loyola University, New Orleans and a Master's in English from the University of New Orleans. She taught English for many years at Delgado Community College in the city. Along with her books she has had articles, poetry and short stories published in state periodicals, and has won various awards for her work about Creoles of color. Prior to Katrina she was a popular lecturer and tour guide in New Orleans. Articles on her areas of expertise appear on this website, as they are frequently quoted and requested. In Donaldsonville she was a long-time member of the Historic District Commission. The mother of two sons -- one in New Orleans, the other in San Diego, CA, she also enjoys her five grandchildren. She is fluent in Spanish and German. |
Honors and Awards
- Preservation Recognition Award January 14, 2003 from the Louisianan Creole Heritage Center, Northwestern State University, Natchitoches, LA
- Keeping the History Alive Award January 13, 2009 from the Danny Barker Estate, New Orleans.
- Founders Award October 4, 2009 from LA Creole organization for the book The Free People of Color of New Orleans and for research on Creoles who migrated to Mexico.
- Mayor’s Special Day of Honor by City of New Orleans October 9, 2009 for “outstanding work in documenting the history of Louisiana and in honor of [her] many contributions to the essence of Creole culture.”
- Certificate of Appreciation May 19, 2011 from the Tour Guides Association of Greater New Orleans.
- Award of Excellence 2014 from Baton Rouge Printing for publishing the book by Angela Carll Where Writers Wrote in New Orleans.
Books and Publications
Books
Women and New Orleans: A History, Margaret Media, Inc. 1988.
The Free People of Color of New Orleans: An Introduction, Margaret Media, Inc. 1994.
Touring Louisiana’s Great River Road: From Angola North to Venice South, Margaret Media, Inc. 2003.
Cardy the Cardinal Finds a Home in Donaldsonville, children’s book illustrated by Alvin Batiste, DVille Press LLC 2017.
Publications
Articles about Mary Gehman
“ ‘Women and New Orleans’ Fight Against All Odds” by Garry Boulard, New Orleans magazine November 1985.
“New Tour Toasts Women” by Margaret Fuller, The Times-Picayune, October 6, 1985.
“The Baroness, The Baker…The Best of New Orleans,” by Paula Devlin, Loyola of the South alumni magazine 1986.
“Toward an Understanding of the Quadroon Society of New Orleans 1780-1860”, a chapter in Southern Women edited by Caroline Matheny Dillman, Routledge, N.Y. 1988.
Feminists Who Changed America 1963 – 1975, Barbara Love, Ed. University of Illinois Press, Chicago 2006.
“The Accidental Historian” by Ruth Laney in Country Roads magazine September 2008.
Remapping Second Wave Feminism: The Long Women’s Rights Movement in Louisiana, 1950-1997 by Janet Allured. University of Georgia Press 2018.
Women and New Orleans: A History, Margaret Media, Inc. 1988.
The Free People of Color of New Orleans: An Introduction, Margaret Media, Inc. 1994.
Touring Louisiana’s Great River Road: From Angola North to Venice South, Margaret Media, Inc. 2003.
Cardy the Cardinal Finds a Home in Donaldsonville, children’s book illustrated by Alvin Batiste, DVille Press LLC 2017.
Publications
- LA Creole, journal of the organization LA Creole with offices at Xavier University, New Orleans: assistant editor and contributor of various articles 2007 to present.
- Edited and wrote for Distaff, New Orleans women’s monthly newspaper with a feminist bent published irregularly 1973 to 1981:
- “Where to Go, What to Do”, Fodor’s New Orleans 1989-2001 (annual guide book).
- “Visible Means of Support: Businesses, Professions and Trades of Free People of Color”, Creole: The History and Legacy of Louisiana’s Free People of Color, ed. Sybil Kein , Louisiana State University Press 2000. Also participated in launch of the book that was recorded on C-Span “After Words” in 2000.
- “The Mexico-Louisiana Creole Connection”, Louisiana Cultural Vistas, winter 2000-2001.
- “Trompe l’oeil”, French Quarter Fiction: The Newest Stories of America’s Oldest Bohemia, Light of New Orleans Publishing LLC 2003.
- Script for docents of Le Musee de f.p.c. (free people of color) in New Orleans. Assisted Beverly McKenna, owner, in designing the museum based on the book The Free People of Color of New Orleans 2010.
- “American Voices: Surviving Hurricane Katrina”, By the People: A History of the United States, ed. James W. Fraser, Pearson Education, Inc. (textbook), New York 2016.
- “2005: Mary Gehman Survives Hurricane Katrina”, Firsthand Louisiana: Primary Sources in the History of the State, University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press 2020
- “Surviving Hurricane Katrina”, Hurricane Katrina and the Lessons of Disaster Relief, ed. Michael Powelson, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom 2017.
- “The Role of Slaves and Free People of Color in the History of St. Charles Parish”, 2017, https://scphistory.org. Online museum of history of St. Charles Parish.
Articles about Mary Gehman
“ ‘Women and New Orleans’ Fight Against All Odds” by Garry Boulard, New Orleans magazine November 1985.
“New Tour Toasts Women” by Margaret Fuller, The Times-Picayune, October 6, 1985.
“The Baroness, The Baker…The Best of New Orleans,” by Paula Devlin, Loyola of the South alumni magazine 1986.
“Toward an Understanding of the Quadroon Society of New Orleans 1780-1860”, a chapter in Southern Women edited by Caroline Matheny Dillman, Routledge, N.Y. 1988.
Feminists Who Changed America 1963 – 1975, Barbara Love, Ed. University of Illinois Press, Chicago 2006.
“The Accidental Historian” by Ruth Laney in Country Roads magazine September 2008.
Remapping Second Wave Feminism: The Long Women’s Rights Movement in Louisiana, 1950-1997 by Janet Allured. University of Georgia Press 2018.
Little Known Facts About Mary
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