doing bios for my Basement Barbie Binder.

Marie Catherine Laveau (September 10, 1801 – June 15, 1881)[2][3][nb 1] was a Louisiana Creole practitioner of Voodoo, herbalist and midwife who was renowned in New Orleans. Her daughter, Marie Laveau II (1827 – c. 1862), also practiced rootwork, conjure, Native American and African spiritualism as well as Louisiana Voodoo.[5] An alternate spelling of her name, Laveaux, is considered by historians to be from the original French spelling.[2] Laveau's name and her history have been surrounded by legend and lore. She is generally believed to have been buried in plot 347, the Glapion family crypt in Saint Louis Cemetery No. 1, New Orleans,[27] but this has been disputed[28] by Robert Tallant, a journalist who used her as a character in historical novels.[8] Tourists continue to visit and some draw X marks in accordance with a decades-old tradition that if people wanted Laveau to grant them a wish, they had to draw an X on the tomb, turn around three times, knock on the tomb, yell out their wish, and if it was granted, come back, circle their X, and leave Laveau an offering.[28] In 1982, New Jersey-based punk rock group The Misfits were arrested and accused of attempting to exhume Laveau from her grave after a local concert. The arrest took place in nearby Cemetery No. 2 and there are conflicting accounts of the incident.[29] The tomb in Saint Louis Cemetery No. 1 was vandalized by an unknown person on December 17, 2013, by being painted over with pink latex paint. The paint was removed because the structure is made of old plaster and the latex paint would seal in the moisture that would destroy the plaster. Some historical preservation experts criticized officials of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, who maintain the cemetery, for their decision to use pressure washing rather than paint stripper to remove it.[30][31] As of March 1, 2015, there is no longer public access to St. Louis Cemetery No. 1. Entry with a tour guide is required because of continued vandalism and the destruction of tombs. This change was made by the Archdiocese of New Orleans to protect the tombs of the Laveau family as well as those of the many other dead interred there.[5] Some followers of Louisiana Voodoo pray to Laveau as if she were an Lwa spirit, asking her for favors and channeling her via spirit possession, though not all Louisiana Voodoo believers do this.[33] Some leave offerings of hair ties by the plaque at her former home at 1020 St. Ann Street, gifts which honor her fame as a hairdresser.[33] (we got to just wander through the cemetery in 2013. and went to the voodoo shop. I didn't know about her home...or I so would've left a hair tie.)

It is said that around 1875 Marie Laveau stayed almost exclusively in the home, where she died 6 years later. But that was just where the story begins…because even though she passed away, she was still be witnessed in the streets of New Orleans. The home is very close to Louis Armstrong Park, which is also known as Congo Square, where Marie Laveau would consistently hold VooDoo rituals and events.