Fortier was born in St. James Parish, on Petit Versailles Plantation, which was owned by his maternal grandfather Valcour Aime and had long been cultivated for sugar cane. Alcée Fortier was the son of Florent Louis Fortier and Edwige Aime. His father and grandfathers were sugar cane planters of French Creole ancestry. The Fortier family had been in the Louisiana territory since the early 17th century, which it was a French colony. The families were prominent in the social and political life of the parish and the state. Fortier was a child when the American Civil War broke out. His family suffered a loss in fortune following the war, losing the property value of their slaves and struggling to adapt to a free labor market in a period of agricultural decline. Fortier completed classes at the classical school of A.V. Romain in New Orleans and entered the University of Virginia. Serious illness prevented him from completing his studies there. Fortier returned to New Orleans and read law, then started working as a clerk.
Career
Fortier taught French in the city high school for a time. He was hired as principal in the preparatory department of the University of Louisiana. In 1880 Fortier was elected professor of French in the University of Louisiana. He was reelected when it became Tulane University. He worked as a Professor of Romance Languages there his entire career. In addition to teaching European languages, he expanded his studies to include Louisiana Creole, Acadian French, and the Louisiana folklore of Acadians and African-American freedmen. Fortier was a prolific author, publishing a range of studies on the French literature of Louisiana and France; dialect studies of Louisiana Creoles, Acadians and Isleños; and Louisiana Creole folk tales translated into English. In 1903 he published a four-volume history of Louisiana that was well reviewed by the New York Times. He was a contributor to the Catholic Encyclopedia. He was also active in a range of new local, state, and national professional organizations. He was president of the Louisiana Historical Society and the national Modern Language Association. He was appointed to the State Board of Education. In addition, he was active in the New Orleans Academy of Sciences and American Folklore Society.
Marriage and family
On October 22, 1881, Fortier married Marie Lanauze, daughter of Adolphe Lanauze and Augustine Henriette Ferrand. They had eight children. Her father Adolphe Lanauze was a native of France who had immigrated to New Orleans. He was a hardware merchant and the first commercial tenant in the Pontalba Buildings. Today, his former shop houses the 1850 Museum gift shop.
Works
Books
Sept Grand Auteurs du XIXme Siècle
Histoire de la Littérature Française
Louisiana Folk Tales: In French Dialect and English Translation, 1894
Louisiana Studies: Literature, Customs and Dialects, History and Education. New Orleans: F.F. Hansell, 1894.
Louisiana; Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons. Atlanta: Southern Historical Association, 1909.
The Louisiana Sugar Planters of the Old Regime. New Orleans, 1914.
Papers presented to the Modern Language Association:
"The French Language in Louisiana and the Negro-French Dialect"
"The French Literature of Louisiana"
"Bits of Louisiana Folk Lore", 1887
"The Acadians of Louisiana and Their Dialect"
"The Yalinos of Louisiana and Their Dialect"
Legacy and honors
Fortier was significant in the study of French language and literature in Louisiana and the United States, as well as the study of Louisiana Creole dialects - he did work in Louisiana Creole, Cajun and Isleño forms. By publishing folk tales in Louisiana Creole and English, he honored the origin of the stories in African heritage, as well as making the stories more accessible to larger audiences. His name is remembered in New Orleans:
