Second line (parades)
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The second line is a tradition in parades organized by Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs with brass band parades in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The "main line" or "first line" is the main secti
Members of Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs sponsor second line parades where they turn out in their finery.
Local jazz singer Jane Harvey Brown leads the way as grand marshal for a brass band at a second line in the French Quarter in New Orleans.
"Sons of Hope and the Annual Parade of the Young Veterans", New Orleans c. 1902
Exuberant dancing in the streets and sidewalks is part of the second line experience.
Congo Square
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Congo Square is an open space, now within Louis Armstrong Park, which is located in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, just across Rampart Street north of the French Quarter. The square
Second line (parades)
…turn, forced the ring to straighten into a line. Others note the similarity of the steps – exaggerated, stylistic strutting – to dances performed in Congo Square by the enslaved given the day off on Sundays. These dances were officially banned for a time because they were deemed threatening to the white inhabitants…
Congo Square
Photo of National Register sign in Congo Square
Dance in Congo Square in the late 18th century, artist's conception by E. W. Kemble from a century later