More lineage details

A copy of Mildred’s birth record and a 1900 Census has Martinez listed as a “Black” man, with his birthplace in the Dominican Republic or “Hayti,” the archaic name for Haiti or the Island of Hispaniola, and his occupation as a “cigar maker.” Meanwhile, Mildred’s mother, listed as “Louis Baquiex,” has New Orleans listed as her birthplace; both places have a history of Black and mixed heritage.

“Both Joseph Norval Martinez and Louise Baquié were people of color, no doubt about it,” Honora said, according to The New York Times.

The Seventh Ward, where the couple married and lived for some time, has a rich Afro-Creole culture that has deep roots in other parts of the world.

According to Britannica, Creoles are people of European (French or Spanish) and African descent born in the West Indies or parts of French or Spanish America, and are naturalized in those regions rather than in their parents’ home country.

Pope Leo XIV

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