The Dollioles, an enduring New Orleans family now scattered across the southern U.S., evacuated, for the most part, before Hurricane Katrina hit, and returned to find their houses uninhabitable, their possessions destroyed. Many, like my mother Jeanette Dolliole Sylvester, whose house was ruined, are determined to return and rebuild.

In truth, New Orleans will only re-emerge as the singular New Orleans loved by many, the great spirited city of deep soul and uncommon verve, if people like my mother — a native whose heart and soul is one with the place — re-establish themselves in their hometown.

"I want my life back," my mother, who is in Baton Rouge, says. "I want New Orleans."

This site is one effort intended to help her in her determined effort to get back to her beloved city.

My family, artisans and builders by trade, has lived in the Crescent City since 1760. Through more than two centuries, they have infused some of New Orleans' best traditions with enterprising, heartfelt, lasting contributions. They have had a hand in the city's architecture, creating landmark, historic houses. One of the oldest structures in the French Quarter is a Creole cottage built in 1805 by one of my ancestors, Jean-Louis Dolliole. It is one of at least two Dolliole houses — no longer owned by the family — listed as Historic American Buildings by the Library of Congress.

Many Dollioles played jazz professionally, including my Uncle Milford, who, when he was 89 years old, according to the local newspaper The Times-Picayune, was the oldest active drummer in the city, playing gigs at the annual Jazz & Heritage Festival, among other hotspots. His daddy was a trumpeter around the start of the 20th century. Milford trained many aspiring drummers from around the world in the mid-1960s from his shotgun home on Pauger Street.

The Dollioles paraded for years in the Elks Krewe of Orleanians on Mardi Gras, throwing beads from a hand-built float. And my mother created a thriving business cooking and selling pralines — the heavenly-sweet Creole pecan candies first created in France in the 1600s.

The Dollioles settled New Orleans when it was barely habitable. My ancestors slogged through the swampy mosquito-infested Louisiana bog, chopping trees and building houses in the insufferable heat along with a handful of fellow settlers. They endured cholera and scarlet fever epidemics that left a huge percentage of the population permanently scarred or dead. They fought in the Battle of New Orleans, gamely helping to defend the new city in the early 1800s. And they became prominent, influential builders and masons as the city grew and thrived in the mid-1800s. They have married, christened newborns, celebrated First Communions, danced and sang at birthday parties, tended to the sick, and buried their dead in the city's rich earth. They second-lined, along with hundreds of attendees paying their respects, at Uncle Milford's jazz funeral.

And now they want nothing more than to go home.
Funds raised at inthegumbo.org will help restore one New Orleans family to the hallowed ground of its ancestors.

Thank you for your interest and your contribution.

– Lynette Dolliole Johnson

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