A nonprofit, Friends of the Dew Drop, seeks to preserve the hall for another century of music
BY BOB WARREN | Staff writer
As the choir practiced that Sunday night in November, the sweet sounds flowing from the open doors and windows of the Dew Drop Jazz & Social Hall floated through the quiet Mandeville night.
Clad in a T-shirt, pajama pants and slippers, a neighbor on Lamarque Street followed the joyful noise to its source. He quietly made his way inside the 128-year-old hall, took a spot on one of the empty benches and began happily clapping along.
“Man,” he told the group after it had wrapped rehearsal for the evening, “that was great.”
To Jamie Roche, a board member of the nonprofit whose mission is to preserve the historic hall, that scene from last November could have happened 50 years ago. Or 75. Or even 100.
Neighbors following the sounds of music. Bottoms taking their spots on well-worn benches. People finding joy at a community hub.
“We’re a neighborly place,” Roche said one crisp January morning, opening the doors and entering the chilly building. “This has always been a meeting spot. A welcoming place.”
Since 1895, the Dew Drop in Old Mandeville has been the backdrop of countless meetings, socials and concerts — even a movie or two.
'Living testament'
“What’s wonderful about the Dew Drop — it’s a living testament,” said Grammy Award-winning Louisiana blues guitarist and singer Chris Thomas King. “You stand on that floor. You’re up on that stage. It’s authentic."
Built by the Dew Drop Social and Benevolent Association — one of numerous groups of civic-focused African Americans to emerge in the post-Civil War South to provide food, housing and funeral services to struggling communities — the hall hosted shows during an era when Mandeville was emerging as a resort spot for people who arrived on steamers from New Orleans.
The musicians, who played to all-White gatherings at other spots on the northshore, would play the Dew Drop after those shows had ended, drawing enthusiastic crowds of Black residents.