VAF member Tara Dudley has written Building Antebellum New Orleans, which is focused on the Creole architecture of New Orleans.  This book examines the architectural activities and influence of gens de couleur libres—free people of color—in a city where the mixed-race descendants of whites could own property.  Between 1820 and 1850 New Orleans became an urban metropolis and industrialized shipping center with a growing population.  Amidst dramatic economic and culture change in the mid-antebellum period, the gens de couleur libres thrived as property owners, developers, building artisans, and patrons.  Dudley writes an intimate microhistory of two prominent families of Black developers, the Dollioles and Souliés, to explore how gens de couleur libres used ownership and group identity and stability.  With deep archival research, Dudley recreates in fine detail the material culture, business and social history, and politics of the built environment for free people of color and adds new, revelatory information to the canon on New Orleans architecture.  Available for pre-order now and VAF members can get a 20% discount by using the code DUDBUI at www.utexaspress.com.