The Free Southern Theater (FST) entered into eternal rest and produced its last play in October 1980, at the young age of 17. Conceived at Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi in 1963 as an artistic idea of John M. O’Neal, Gilbert Moses, and Doris Derby, FST’s aim was to help African Americans in their struggle for freedom by offering theatrical productions based upon both art and politics. FST is survived by numerous supporters that were influenced by the theater, including various African American theater companies from around the United States.
The brief obituary above is representative of the kind of documents found in O'Neal's third series, Theater Groups. This series includes correspondence, press releases, and other documents about New Orleans’ jazz funerals. Traditional funeral processions in the United States arose from family, friends, and love ones who solemnly morn the deceased. However, in New Orleans, Louisiana, a unique funeral tradition evolved from a combination of African, Spanish, and French cultural influences, spiritual practices, and musical traditions.
Of note are materials about a unique celebration, titled “A Valediction Without Mourning for the Free Southern Theater,” in which the celebration included a funeral procession commemorating the close of the theater organization. The celebration comprised of events held in Louis Armstrong Park in New Orleans to celebrate the work of this cultural based institution that was based in New Orleans since 1965, including a parade through the Faubourg-Tremé community and returning to Louis Armstrong Park. (Founded in 1810, Faubourg-Tremé is the oldest surviving African American community in the United States, and was once known as the largest and most prosperous community of free people of color in the United States. The birth of jazz, social aid and pleasure clubs, Mardi-Gras Indians, brass bands, and second line parading all originated from this community).
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