Tomb of Marie Laveau, Voodoo queen of New Orleans, refurbished in time for Halloween

The Times-Picayune/October 29, 2014

By Richard A. Webster

Nearly a year after an unknown vandal slathered a thick layer of pink latex paint on the final resting place of Marie Laveau in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, the restoration of the Voodoo queen's tomb has been completed and will be unveiled on Halloween.

The Archdiocese of New Orleans and Save Our Cemeteries contracted with Bayou Preservation in August at a cost of $10,000 to return the monument to its 200-year-old original state. But Amanda Walker, executive director of Save Our Cemeteries, said she fears that tomb won't stay in its pristine condition for long

Decades ago, someone started a rumor that if people wanted Laveau to grant them a wish they should draw an X on the tomb, turn around three times, knock on the tomb, and yell out their wish. If it was granted they had to return to the tomb, circle their X, and leave Laveau an offering.

No matter how many times people are told that this is just a myth and accomplishes nothing more than damaging a historical gravesite, the practice continues, Walker said.

Several days ago a reporter with a national news outlet was in the cemetery doing a report on the haunted sites of New Orleans and made a stop at Laveau's burial site.

"The reporter said that you're supposed to knock on the tomb and then kick it five times. Kick it five times? I don't know where that came from. I said we just spent $10,000 repairing the tomb and nobody better kick it," Walker said.

The latest ordeal began on the morning of Dec. 17 when tour groups eager to see the white plastered tomb of Laveau came upon a large, neon pink structure in its place.

Michelle Duhon, owner of Bayou Preservation, said that the damage to the monument was more than aesthetic. The vandal, who has never been identified or caught, used latex paint which does not "breathe," meaning it doesn't allow moisture to escape, which can be extremely damaging to old structures, she said.

Two weeks later, the Archdiocese of New Orleans pressure washed the paint off the tomb, drawing criticism from Angie Green, the former executive director of Save Our Cemeteries, a nonprofit group that works to preserve historic New Orleans cemeteries.

Green said that the pressure washing caused additional damage, blasting off large chips of original brick and plaster from the tomb, an accusation the Archdiocese denied at the time.

The Archdiocese oversees the cemetery, but the majority of the tombs are individually owned by families who are responsible for maintenance and upkeep. Many of the families, however, left the region or died off decades ago leaving the tombs untended for generations.

Out of the nearly 1,000 tombs in St. Louis No. 1, 75 percent are estimated to be orphaned.

Eight months after Laveau's tomb was stripped of pink paint, the Archdiocese and Save Our Cemeteries, now under new executive director Walker, hired Bayou Preservation to repair not only the damage caused by the latex paint, but decades of wear and tear, including thousands of X's carved into the wall of the tomb.

The first step in the nearly three-month restoration process was removing large pieces of plaster that were falling off the brick face, saving as much of the original stucco as possible, Duhon said. Next, they rebuilt the roof and added several new coats of plaster and lime wash, a mineral-based coating that protects the plaster and brick.

While making the repairs, Duhon said the most frustrating part was trying to stop people from marking up the fresh layers of plaster and lime wash with Xs.

"In the beginning we hoped for the best and put caution tape around the tomb but that didn't work," Duhon said. "Then we wrapped the tomb in plastic but that didn't work either. People cut through the plastic."

When the plastic failed, Duhon said they created a boundary around the tomb with bungie cords and caution tape, trying to keep people an arm's length away. But when workers with Bayou Preservation returned the next day to continue the restoration process, there would be newly carved Xs on the monument.

"We had a temporary orange fence around the tomb and we had signs up all the time that said, 'Do not touch. Preservation in progress.' But all it takes is for one or two people to crawl under, mark up the tomb and that was all she wrote," Duhon said.

The vandalism in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 is not confined to Laveau's tomb. Tour guides have reported seeing several men posing as licensed tour guides removing bricks from tombs, and reaching inside to take pictures or pull out bones to show tourists.

In April, police arrested Walter Ross, 53, on charges of desecration of graves and criminal trespass. Tour guides provided police with pictures they say show Ross sticking his hands in one of the tombs.

The Archdiocese recently installed several security cameras in the cemetery, but given the nature of the historical site, with its winding paths and rows of tombs, it is difficult to get a clear sight on every corner of the graveyard, Walker said.

The Archdiocese didn't respond to requests for comment.

Nancy Landry, a tour guide and carriage driver, said it is an exciting time seeing the historic restoration of one of the most important tombs in New Orleans, but knows that its time as an unscarred monument to Laveau will be short-lived.

"I hear tour guides on the double-decker buses standing on the roof of the bus telling people to knock three times, spin around three times, draw three Xs and she'll grant your wish," Landru said. "It doesn't make any sense. You wouldn't travel to Egypt and do some hokie-pokie with King Tut's pyramid, so why would you do that with a queen or a Voodoo priestess?"

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