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On The Babineaux Family

I went to Rayne in search of information about the Babineaux family who had a popular stringband there in the 1940’s. Somehow I found a relative of Sidney Babineaux, Wanda Wilson, who had a wonderful box of photos of the Babineaux family that she shared with me for my book. Later when I returned the photos she had gathered the last living relatives of the family to talk about them and to describe the photos. These are the conversations we had.

– Ann Savoy

00:00
00:00
  • Babineaux Family 00:00
Interviewee: –
Interviewer: Ann Savoy
Date: March 5, 1989
Language: English
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00:00
  • Gertie Cormier & Wanda Wilson on Sidney Babneaux 00:00
Interviewee: Gertie Cormier & Wanda Wilson
Interviewer: Ann Savoy
Date: –
Language: English
00:00
00:00
  • Mr Savoy on the Babineaux Family 00:00
Interviewee: Mr. Savoy
Interviewer: Ann Savoy
Date: –
Language: English

These are interviews originally recorded for research purposes. It is presented here in its raw state, unedited except to remove some irrelevant sections and blank spaces. All rights to the interview are reserved by the Arhoolie Foundation. Please do not use anything from this website without permission. info@arhoolie.org

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Dear friends, 

We’re thrilled to announce that the Arhoolie Foundation and Les Blank Films are joining together to purchase our longtime home at 10341 San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito. 

The decision to buy the building comes after several months of thoughtful consideration and a strong response from our community. It has become clear to us that continuing our work in the place where Chris Strachwitz originally conceived it is the best way forward for the organization. Staying in our longtime home preserves an important part of Arhoolie’s cultural legacy, prevents the disruption that moving would cause, and—most importantly—opens up possibilities for closer collaboration with Les Blank Films, Down Home Music, and our local East Bay community.

Now comes the hard part. While we are under contract to buy the building, we need to raise $2.4 million to meet the purchase price by April 15. Here are two ways you can donate to our cause:

  • The GoFundMe page for the capital campaign
    (donations to this fund are shared by all three of the tenants).

  • Direct tax-deductible donations/securities to either of the two non-profits who are buying the building:
    Contact Harrod Blank at Les Blank Films https://lesblank.com/contact/;
    or Adam Machado at Arhoolie Foundation, adam@arhoolie.org.

As we begin this capital campaign, we will continue our normal operations in the building while forging a closer institutional bond with Les Blank Films and taking modest, collaborative steps to bring more public programming into Down Home Music. We plan to revive Les Blank and Chris’ tradition of in-store film screenings and will host more informal, free performances and gatherings in the store as part of our outreach work. We believe this collaboration will result in a vibrant community gathering place dedicated to music, film, and deep roots culture. 

We’re grateful for your support. We look forward to updating you on our progress in the coming weeks and months.