Starr Homeplace and the Creation of Wealth
How can a hands-on Museum and new kind of Economy
Produce Wealth in Northeastern Louisiana?
Produce Wealth in Northeastern Louisiana?
I am not an economist. Though I have run a business based on creativity for
more than thirty years, I make no boasts about my business and entrepreneurial
skills. I am not a museum director, though it appears I am building one. I am not
a politician, though I may have to develop those skills to deal with them. I am
not a fundraiser, though I must try to do precisely that. Let me assure you, it is
more fun to give money away than it is to ask for it. I am not a fortune-teller, and
I have no way to really know how things will go in the future.
more than thirty years, I make no boasts about my business and entrepreneurial
skills. I am not a museum director, though it appears I am building one. I am not
a politician, though I may have to develop those skills to deal with them. I am
not a fundraiser, though I must try to do precisely that. Let me assure you, it is
more fun to give money away than it is to ask for it. I am not a fortune-teller, and
I have no way to really know how things will go in the future.
I am however, a history student, a reader, and a concerned citizen of Northeast-
ern Louisiana. As a history minor, I marvel over a current fact of life in North-
eastern Louisiana. We sit at the base of a great river valley on well-watered, fer-
tile soil. We are near the center of the wealthiest nation the world has ever
known and its transportation routes cross our region. We have a good climate:
north of the hurricanes, east of the heat, and south of the snow and ice. Our area
produces or collects natural resources in abundance. Corn, cotton, rice, beans, oil,
gas, and timber, are just some of our products. The remarkable fact is: ours is not
a prosperous region. The twelve parishes of Northeastern Louisiana include
some of the poorest in the nation. WHY? This is a place, like the Nile Delta or the
Fertile Crescent; that should be leading civilization, not bringing up the rear.
Never before in history has such an area NOT been prosperous. Why aren‘t we?
ern Louisiana. As a history minor, I marvel over a current fact of life in North-
eastern Louisiana. We sit at the base of a great river valley on well-watered, fer-
tile soil. We are near the center of the wealthiest nation the world has ever
known and its transportation routes cross our region. We have a good climate:
north of the hurricanes, east of the heat, and south of the snow and ice. Our area
produces or collects natural resources in abundance. Corn, cotton, rice, beans, oil,
gas, and timber, are just some of our products. The remarkable fact is: ours is not
a prosperous region. The twelve parishes of Northeastern Louisiana include
some of the poorest in the nation. WHY? This is a place, like the Nile Delta or the
Fertile Crescent; that should be leading civilization, not bringing up the rear.
Never before in history has such an area NOT been prosperous. Why aren‘t we?
Part of the reason lies in the fundamental difference between modern economies
and historical ones. Prior to the industrial revolution most economies were based
on agriculture, as is ours. Before the Civil War there were more millionaires in
Natchez, Mississippi than in New York. Admittedly their wealth was based on
the horrific and ultimately unsustainable system of slavery. Nevertheless, the
wealth was produced based on the production of raw material, primarily cotton.
and historical ones. Prior to the industrial revolution most economies were based
on agriculture, as is ours. Before the Civil War there were more millionaires in
Natchez, Mississippi than in New York. Admittedly their wealth was based on
the horrific and ultimately unsustainable system of slavery. Nevertheless, the
wealth was produced based on the production of raw material, primarily cotton.
After the Civil War as the new industrially based economy of the North boomed,
the South was treated in much the same way as a colonial possession would be.
Timber in particular and production in general was
the South was treated in much the same way as a colonial possession would be.
Timber in particular and production in general was
removed from the area to be finished elsewhere.
Prosperity returned based on exporting agricultural produce and manufacturing
in the new post-world war economies, although we never had the saturation of
manufacturing economic engines that the Northeast achieved. Our politicians
and chambers of commerce are still relying on
in the new post-world war economies, although we never had the saturation of
manufacturing economic engines that the Northeast achieved. Our politicians
and chambers of commerce are still relying on
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