Freddi Williams Evans is an independent scholar and award-winning author of Congo Square. African Roots in New Orleans (2011) and Come Sunday: A Young Reader’s History of Congo Square (2017), among many other books. She is an expert on the history of Congo Square and its central role in the African American experience. Her research and advocacy for Congo Square influenced the New Orleans City Council to pass an ordinance in 2012 that made the popular name, “Congo Square,” the official name of the national landmark.