This anthology constitutes the first attempt to fill comprehensively one of the most enduring lacunae in Louisiana historiography--the French-Antillian migration to the lower Mississippi Valley. Generations of Louisiana historians have neglected this influx, involving more than 10,000 Saint-Domingue refugees between 1792 and 1810.

The authors, widely recognized for their lasting contributions to the field of Saint-Domingue studies, trace the refugees' long, hard road to Louisiana. Thomas Fiehrer, an expert on the French Antilles, provides an overview of Louisiana's historical Caribbean connection. Gabriel Debien, dean of the French-Antillian historians, investigates the temporary relocation of the Saint-Domingue refugees in Cuba (1793-1815). Debien and the late New Orleans historian and genealogist René LeGardeur recount the small-scale migration of refugees into southern Louisiana preceding the massive, early nineteenth-century influx, analyzed by noted Canadian historian Paul Lachance. Finally, the editors' introduction puts the foregoing essays into historical perspective and examines the impact of the refugees on Louisiana's rural parishes.