Marie Laveau, endlessly reigning queen of voodoo, has been described by numerous sources.

There are images thought to be her or possibly her daughter, also named Marie, but there is no confirmed image of the woman so special that more than two hundred years after her death, we still worship her memory.

Marie died in 1881 and was buried at St. Louis Cemetery No. 1. Her obituary made the New York Times.

But her daughter was interviewed for an article in 1886 and claimed that no image of her mother had ever been taken or made.

“She never had her picture taken. They came often and asked her, but she never would. I am glad of it now for they would have dragged that around also and put it in their lies.”

Madame Legendre, Marie’s daughter

So I was very surprised to find this note about the Creole exhibit at the World’s Cotton Centennial, which was celebrated from December 1, 1884-1885 claiming to feature a likeness of the famous religious leader a mere four years after her death.

I have not been able to find any other references claiming an image of Marie Laveau at the World’s Cotton Centennial. None of the images I have found of the Creole exhibit are detailed enough to see such a portrait. I would love to see what image was thought to be her so close to her death. Although it seems that any images of her were disputed in 1885 also.

I will be gathering all of the images I find of the Creole exhibit here for analysis. If you have any to share, I would be honored to see them.

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