Oscar is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
located in the southeastern portion of
Pointe Coupee Parish
Pointe Coupee Parish ( or ; french: Paroisse de la Pointe-Coupée) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 22,802; in 2020, its population was 20,758. The parish seat is New Roads.
Pointe ...
,
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. It is located primarily along
Louisiana Highway 1
Louisiana Highway 1 (LA 1) is a state highway in Louisiana. At , it is the longest numbered highway of any class in Louisiana. It runs diagonally across the state, connecting the oil and gas fields near the island of Grand Isle with the ...
on the southern end of
False River. This community was formerly home to the Oxbow restaurant and Bonaventure's Landing.
Oscar's most noted resident was the novelist
Ernest J. Gaines
Ernest James Gaines (January 15, 1933 – November 5, 2019) was an American author whose works have been taught in college classrooms and translated into many languages, including French, Spanish, German, Russian and Chinese. Four of his works we ...
, who was the fifth generation of his family to be born on the River Lake plantation, where his ancestors had been enslaved and then sharecroppers. Gaines left Oscar for California at age 15, and went on to a storied career as a novelist, winning the
National Book Critics Circle Award
The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".[National Humanities Medal
The National Humanities Medal is an American award that annually recognizes several individuals, groups, or institutions for work that has "deepened the nation's understanding of the humanities, broadened our citizens' engagement with the human ...]
, and a
MacArthur "genius grant". In retirement, he purchased a portion of the plantation and built a house on it.
Oscar was the site of substantial racial violence in the decades following the Civil War. In 1903, the founder of a Black school there, the Rev. LaForest A. Planving (born Petrus LaForest Albert Plantevigne) was murdered by local whites who had previously ordered him to leave town and fired shots into his home and the school.
A few months later, the
American Missionary Association sent another teacher, Alfred Lawless, to Oscar to reopen the school. Whites shot at him in the school, too. After asking local officials for protection, he was instead told to leave town.
Lawless then returned to New Orleans; the first high school in New Orleans'
Lower Ninth Ward
The Lower Ninth Ward is a neighborhood in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. As the name implies, it is part of the 9th Ward of New Orleans. The Lower Ninth Ward is often thought of as the entire area within New Orleans downriver of the Indus ...
, Alfred Lawless High School, was named in his honor. His son, who was living with his father in Oscar at the time, became the noted doctor and philanthropist
.
Notable people
*
Ernest Gaines
Ernest is a given name derived from Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious". Notable people and fictional characters with the name include:
People
*Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor
*Ernest, M ...
, novelist
*
, doctor and philanthropist
*
Major Thibaut
Major Thibaut, Jr. (born January 3, 1977), is an American politician who served as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for the 18th district from 2008 to 2020. The district encompasses Iberville, West Baton Rouge, West Felician ...
, former member of the
Louisiana House of Representatives
References
{{authority control
Baton Rouge metropolitan area
Unincorporated communities in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana
Unincorporated communities in Louisiana