Bayou La Batre, Alabama
Encyclopedia
Bayou La Batre is a town in Mobile County, Alabama
, United States
. It is included in the Mobile
metropolitan statistical area. At the 2000 census, the population was 2,313. According to the 2005 U.S. Census estimates, the city had a population of 2,725.
Bayou La Batre is a fishing village with a seafood-processing harbor for fishing boats and shrimp boats. The local Chamber of Commerce has described the city as the "Seafood Capital of Alabama" for packaging seafood from hundreds of fishing boats.
Bayou La Batre was the first permanent settlement on the south Mobile County
mainland and was founded in 1786, when French-born Joseph Bouzage (Bosarge) [1733-1795] was awarded a 1259 acres (509.5 ha) Spanish land grant on the West Bank of the bayou (see history below). The modern City of Bayou La Batre was incorporated in 1955.
Bayou La Batre was featured in the 1994 film Forrest Gump
and the book upon which it is based. In April 2005, Disney Studios launched a secretly built pirate ship, the Black Pearl, out of Bayou La Batre for filming sequels to Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
.
On August 29, 2005, the area was devastated by Hurricane Katrina
, which produced the largest storm surge ever recorded in the area, reaching nearly 16 feet and pushing many shrimp boats and the cargo ship M/V Caribbean Clipper onto shore.
As part of the French settlement of the Gulf Coast, the bayou was originally called "Riviere D'Erbane" and acquired the present name from the French-maintained battery of artillery on the west bank ("bayou of the battery"). Bayou La Batre was the first permanent settlement on the south Mobile County
mainland and was founded in 1786, when Joseph Bouzage (Bosarge) [1733-95] moved into the area and was awarded a 1259 acres (509.5 ha) Spanish land grant on the bayou's west bank.
Born in Poitiers, France, Joseph Bouzage came to the Gulf Coast circa 1760, married Catherine Louise Baudreau (Boudreau) on June 5, 1762, and was the father of seven children, including one son, Jean Baptiste.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.2 square miles (10.9 km²).4 square miles (10.4 km²) of it is land, and 0.2 square mile (0.517997622 km²) of it (3.59%) is water.
As of the census
of 2000, there were 2,313 people, 769 households, and 599 families residing in the city. The population density
was 573.9 people per square mile (221.6/km2). There were 845 housing units at an average density of 209.7 per square mile (81.0/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 52.44% White
, 10.25% Black
or African American
, 0.26% Native American
, 33.29% Asian
, 0.43% Pacific Islander
, 0.95% from other races
, and 2.38% from two or more races. 1.90% of the population were Hispanic
or Latino
of any race. The large Asian population is attributable to a large influx of Vietnamese American
shrimpers as immigrants following the Vietnam War
as well as Cambodia
n and Laotian
refugees and their children. Bayou la Batre was a popular destination for such immigrants because it fostered and continues to foster a similar shrimping industry to that of Vietnam.
There were 769 households, out of which 37.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.8% were married couples
living together, 17.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.0% were non-families. 17.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.01, and the average family size was 3.40.
The age distribution was 29.9% under the age of 18, 11.1% from 18 to 24, 26.8% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 11.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $24,539, and the median income for a family was $27,580. Males had a median income of $22,847 versus $14,042 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $9,928. About 22.9% of families and 28.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 35.9% of those under age 18 and 17.7% of those age 65 or over.
. The city has Booth (formerly Alba) Elementary School Alba Middle School, and Secondary public school Alma Bryant High in Irvington
, where all the high school students attend. Additionally, a small number of city residents' children would attend Dixon Elementary in Irvington. Bryant High School also encompasses students from outside the Bayou La Batre-Coden area from neighboring Grand Bay, Alabama
, Irvington, St. Elmo, Alabama
, and Dauphin Island.
Both Alma Bryant and Booth Elementary are located on the northernmost edge of the city. Bryant, built in 1998, slightly delayed by Hurricane Georges, and Booth, built in 2006, delayed by Hurricane Katrina, are located on Hurricane Boulevard. Both schools' students were (in part) located in what is now Alba Middle School further south in Bayou La Batre. Alba High School first combined with Grand Bay High School in 1998 in the newly built, centrally located Alma Bryant High School
, located on 16th Section land (land dedicated for school purposes). Alba Middle (which was in great part located in portable classrooms and was a part of the high School campus, as was Grand Bay Middle) took over the high school building, greatly relieving overcrowding. Similarly, the Alba Elementary Campus which shared land with the middle school, while being mostly autonomous, also became part of Alba Middle School. Alba and Grand Bay Middle are the focal point of bus routes for all school buses for Bryant High, those buses shared in grades 6-12 as a cost-saving effort to avoid overlapping routes for the separate schools.
In December 2007, a new library was opened to serve the area's Asian-American community. The library is located on Wintzell Avenue in the Bayou La Batre office of Boat People SOS, a national group that assists Vietnamese-Americans. The Mobile County Commission gave $2,500. The library will be used as a place where elderly immigrants can master computer skills, children can practice their Vietnamese after school, and day laborers can surf the Web after work.
and in Winston Groom
's book of the same name
on which the movie is based as the home of Forrest's army buddy Benjamin Buford "Bubba" Blue, and later as the home of Forrest Gump himself during his time as a shrimp boat captain.
. The shipyard
s are owned and operated mainly by local families such as Steiner Ship Yard, Rodriguez Boat Builders, and Master Boat Builders.
People from all over the world including the United States, South America, and Africa have boats built in Bayou La Batre frequently. In 2005, Steiner Ship Yard was asked by Walt Disney Studios to secretly built a pirate ship, the "Black Pearl" the pitch-black ship was actually a huge wooden prop built on top of a modern 96-foot-long steel utility boat. In April 2005, crews sailed the ship out of the bayou for filming in the Caribbean, making sequels to Disney's 2003 film "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" and was featured in the movie.
Another ship, the FV Cornelia Marie from the Deadliest Catch
series, was built in Bayou La Batre in 1989.
On August 29, 2005, the area was devastated by Hurricane Katrina
, with a local storm surge of nearly 16 feet and higher waves that engulfed Bayou La Batre and pushed over 23 shrimp boats and the cargo ship M/V Caribbean Clipper onto shore. The captain rode out Katrina on the 179 feet (54.6 m) cargo ship, owned by Caribbean Shipping Inc., and the ship was returned to sea six months later, using a large crane.
Students from the Alba Middle School documented the destruction through a series of photos that were exhibited at various venues in Alabama and the Chicago
, Illinois
region. Some of these were published in a book titled Eyes of the Storm: A Community Survives after Katrina (ISBN 978-0-9789362-0-4).
In October 2005, seven weeks after Hurricane Katrina, Bayou La Batre was adopted by the City of Santa Monica, California
(see: "Santa Monica Pier
") to assist in clean-up activities. The Santa Monica City Council approved loaning Bayou La Batre 18 vehicles, including six pickups, two trucks with large cranes, utility vehicles with smaller cranes, a dump truck, street sweepers, a riding lawnmower, and six chainsaws. The equipment was used to help remove debris and fishing boats from downtown; however, the larger shrimp boats that were washed into the surrounding woods by the flood waters still remain there today.
Mobile County, Alabama
Mobile County[p] is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. Its name is in honor of a tribe of Indians, the Maubila tribe . As of 2011, its population was 415,704. Its county seat is Mobile, Alabama...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is included in the Mobile
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
metropolitan statistical area. At the 2000 census, the population was 2,313. According to the 2005 U.S. Census estimates, the city had a population of 2,725.
Bayou La Batre is a fishing village with a seafood-processing harbor for fishing boats and shrimp boats. The local Chamber of Commerce has described the city as the "Seafood Capital of Alabama" for packaging seafood from hundreds of fishing boats.
Bayou La Batre was the first permanent settlement on the south Mobile County
Mobile County, Alabama
Mobile County[p] is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. Its name is in honor of a tribe of Indians, the Maubila tribe . As of 2011, its population was 415,704. Its county seat is Mobile, Alabama...
mainland and was founded in 1786, when French-born Joseph Bouzage (Bosarge) [1733-1795] was awarded a 1259 acres (509.5 ha) Spanish land grant on the West Bank of the bayou (see history below). The modern City of Bayou La Batre was incorporated in 1955.
Bayou La Batre was featured in the 1994 film Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump is a 1994 American epic comedy-drama romance film based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom. The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis, starring Tom Hanks, Robin Wright and Gary Sinise...
and the book upon which it is based. In April 2005, Disney Studios launched a secretly built pirate ship, the Black Pearl, out of Bayou La Batre for filming sequels to Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is a 2003 adventure fantasy film based on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney theme parks. It was directed by Gore Verbinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
.
On August 29, 2005, the area was devastated by Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
, which produced the largest storm surge ever recorded in the area, reaching nearly 16 feet and pushing many shrimp boats and the cargo ship M/V Caribbean Clipper onto shore.
History
Mobile County, Alabama
Mobile County[p] is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. Its name is in honor of a tribe of Indians, the Maubila tribe . As of 2011, its population was 415,704. Its county seat is Mobile, Alabama...
mainland and was founded in 1786, when Joseph Bouzage (Bosarge) [1733-95] moved into the area and was awarded a 1259 acres (509.5 ha) Spanish land grant on the bayou's west bank.
Born in Poitiers, France, Joseph Bouzage came to the Gulf Coast circa 1760, married Catherine Louise Baudreau (Boudreau) on June 5, 1762, and was the father of seven children, including one son, Jean Baptiste.
Geography
Bayou La Batre is located at 30°24′12"N 88°14′53"W (30.403253, -88.248117).According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.2 square miles (10.9 km²).4 square miles (10.4 km²) of it is land, and 0.2 square mile (0.517997622 km²) of it (3.59%) is water.
Demographics
As of the 2010 Census Bayou La Batre had a population of 2,558. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 60.3% white, 12.3% black or African American, 0.4% Native American, 22.8% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.0% from some other race, 3.2% from two or more races and 2.8% Hispanic or Latino.As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 2,313 people, 769 households, and 599 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 573.9 people per square mile (221.6/km2). There were 845 housing units at an average density of 209.7 per square mile (81.0/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 52.44% White
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 10.25% Black
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
or African American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.26% Native American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 33.29% Asian
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.43% Pacific Islander
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.95% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 2.38% from two or more races. 1.90% of the population were Hispanic
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
or Latino
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
of any race. The large Asian population is attributable to a large influx of Vietnamese American
Vietnamese American
A Vietnamese American is an American of Vietnamese descent. They make up about half of all overseas Vietnamese and are the fourth-largest Asian American group....
shrimpers as immigrants following the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
as well as Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
n and Laotian
Lao people
The Lao are an ethnic subgroup of Tai/Dai in Southeast Asia.-Names:The etymology of the word Lao is uncertain, although it may be related to tribes known as the Ai Lao who appear in Han Dynasty records in China and Vietnam as a people of what is now Yunan Province...
refugees and their children. Bayou la Batre was a popular destination for such immigrants because it fostered and continues to foster a similar shrimping industry to that of Vietnam.
There were 769 households, out of which 37.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.8% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 17.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.0% were non-families. 17.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.01, and the average family size was 3.40.
The age distribution was 29.9% under the age of 18, 11.1% from 18 to 24, 26.8% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 11.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $24,539, and the median income for a family was $27,580. Males had a median income of $22,847 versus $14,042 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $9,928. About 22.9% of families and 28.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 35.9% of those under age 18 and 17.7% of those age 65 or over.
Education
Bayou La Batre is served by the Mobile County Public School SystemMobile County Public School System
Mobile County Public School System is a school district based in the Mobile County Public Schools Central Office Campus in an unincorporated area in Mobile County, Alabama United States....
. The city has Booth (formerly Alba) Elementary School Alba Middle School, and Secondary public school Alma Bryant High in Irvington
Irvington, Alabama
Irvington, Alabama is an unincorporated community located along U.S. Route 90, east of St. Elmo, Alabama and north of Bayou La Batre, Alabama in southwestern Mobile County, Alabama...
, where all the high school students attend. Additionally, a small number of city residents' children would attend Dixon Elementary in Irvington. Bryant High School also encompasses students from outside the Bayou La Batre-Coden area from neighboring Grand Bay, Alabama
Grand Bay, Alabama
Grand Bay is a census-designated place in Mobile County, Alabama, United States. It is included in the Mobile metropolitan statistical area. The population was 3,918 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
, Irvington, St. Elmo, Alabama
St. Elmo, Alabama
St. Elmo is an unincorporated community in Mobile County, Alabama, United States located approximately 7 miles due north of Bayou La Batre and the Mississippi Sound and approximately 10 miles east of Grand Bay, Alabama.-Geography:...
, and Dauphin Island.
Both Alma Bryant and Booth Elementary are located on the northernmost edge of the city. Bryant, built in 1998, slightly delayed by Hurricane Georges, and Booth, built in 2006, delayed by Hurricane Katrina, are located on Hurricane Boulevard. Both schools' students were (in part) located in what is now Alba Middle School further south in Bayou La Batre. Alba High School first combined with Grand Bay High School in 1998 in the newly built, centrally located Alma Bryant High School
Alma Bryant High School
Alma Bryant High School is an Alabama high school located in Irvington, Alabama, United States on State Highway 188, midway between Grand Bay, Alabama and Bayou La Batre, Alabama. The school was formed in 1998 by combining Alba High School and Mobile County High School . The school was named for...
, located on 16th Section land (land dedicated for school purposes). Alba Middle (which was in great part located in portable classrooms and was a part of the high School campus, as was Grand Bay Middle) took over the high school building, greatly relieving overcrowding. Similarly, the Alba Elementary Campus which shared land with the middle school, while being mostly autonomous, also became part of Alba Middle School. Alba and Grand Bay Middle are the focal point of bus routes for all school buses for Bryant High, those buses shared in grades 6-12 as a cost-saving effort to avoid overlapping routes for the separate schools.
In December 2007, a new library was opened to serve the area's Asian-American community. The library is located on Wintzell Avenue in the Bayou La Batre office of Boat People SOS, a national group that assists Vietnamese-Americans. The Mobile County Commission gave $2,500. The library will be used as a place where elderly immigrants can master computer skills, children can practice their Vietnamese after school, and day laborers can surf the Web after work.
Film and book references
Bayou La Batre is mentioned in the 1994 film Forrest GumpForrest Gump
Forrest Gump is a 1994 American epic comedy-drama romance film based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom. The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis, starring Tom Hanks, Robin Wright and Gary Sinise...
and in Winston Groom
Winston Groom
Winston F. Groom, Jr. is an American novelist and non-fiction writer, best known for his book Forrest Gump, which was adapted into a film in 1994.- Life :...
's book of the same name
Forrest Gump (novel)
Forrest Gump is a 1986 novel by Winston Groom. The title character experiences adventures ranging from shrimp boating and ping pong championships to thinking about his childhood love. The Vietnam War and college football are all part of the story. Throughout his life, Gump views the world simply...
on which the movie is based as the home of Forrest's army buddy Benjamin Buford "Bubba" Blue, and later as the home of Forrest Gump himself during his time as a shrimp boat captain.
Shipbuilding
Bayou La Batre is a center for shipbuildingShipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history.Shipbuilding and ship repairs, both...
. The shipyard
Shipyard
Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...
s are owned and operated mainly by local families such as Steiner Ship Yard, Rodriguez Boat Builders, and Master Boat Builders.
People from all over the world including the United States, South America, and Africa have boats built in Bayou La Batre frequently. In 2005, Steiner Ship Yard was asked by Walt Disney Studios to secretly built a pirate ship, the "Black Pearl" the pitch-black ship was actually a huge wooden prop built on top of a modern 96-foot-long steel utility boat. In April 2005, crews sailed the ship out of the bayou for filming in the Caribbean, making sequels to Disney's 2003 film "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" and was featured in the movie.
Another ship, the FV Cornelia Marie from the Deadliest Catch
Deadliest Catch
Deadliest Catch is a documentary/reality television series produced by Original Productions for the Discovery Channel. It portrays the real life events aboard fishing vessels in the Bering Sea during the Alaskan king crab and C. opilio crab fishing seasons.The Aleutian Islands port of Dutch Harbor,...
series, was built in Bayou La Batre in 1989.
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
, with a local storm surge of nearly 16 feet and higher waves that engulfed Bayou La Batre and pushed over 23 shrimp boats and the cargo ship M/V Caribbean Clipper onto shore. The captain rode out Katrina on the 179 feet (54.6 m) cargo ship, owned by Caribbean Shipping Inc., and the ship was returned to sea six months later, using a large crane.
Students from the Alba Middle School documented the destruction through a series of photos that were exhibited at various venues in Alabama and the Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
region. Some of these were published in a book titled Eyes of the Storm: A Community Survives after Katrina (ISBN 978-0-9789362-0-4).
In October 2005, seven weeks after Hurricane Katrina, Bayou La Batre was adopted by the City of Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
(see: "Santa Monica Pier
Santa Monica Pier
The Santa Monica Pier is a large double-jointed pier located at the foot of Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica, California and is a prominent, 100-year-old landmark.-Pacific Park:...
") to assist in clean-up activities. The Santa Monica City Council approved loaning Bayou La Batre 18 vehicles, including six pickups, two trucks with large cranes, utility vehicles with smaller cranes, a dump truck, street sweepers, a riding lawnmower, and six chainsaws. The equipment was used to help remove debris and fishing boats from downtown; however, the larger shrimp boats that were washed into the surrounding woods by the flood waters still remain there today.
Notable People From Bayou La Batre
- Antwan OdomAntwan OdomAntwan Deon Odom is an American football defensive end who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the second round of the 2004 NFL Draft. He played college football at Alabama...
- Professional football player, NFL, Cincinnati BengalsCincinnati BengalsThe Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the AFC's North Division in the National Football League . The Bengals began play in 1968 as an expansion team in the American Football League , and joined the NFL in 1970 in the AFL-NFL... - Wade Bosarge - former Professional football player, NFL, New Orleans SaintsNew Orleans SaintsThe New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....
- Regina BenjaminRegina BenjaminVice Admiral Regina Marcia Benjamin, USPHS is an American physician who serves as the 18th Surgeon General of the United States. Dr. Benjamin previously directed a nonprofit primary care medical clinic in Bayou La Batre, Alabama and served on the Board of Trustees for the Morehouse School of...
- United States Surgeon General. - Leroy Wells - TV contestant on American Idol