A brief history of Houston’s segregated Mardi Gras: “No-Tsu-Oh” and “De-Ro-Loc No-Tsu Oh”

No-Tsu-Oh Origins

No-Tsu-Oh, Houston spelled backwards, was a city-wide festival that began in 1899. The Mardi Gras-esque celebration took place in Downtown Houston and usually lasted for several days on end. Festivities were filled with cross-dressing, wacky costumes, colorful floats, balls, and lots of alcohol.

Each year’s No-Tsu-Oh festival had a theme and an elected king similar to the Mardi Gras Rex. In No-Tsu-Oh‘s case, the elected king, usually a local businessman, received the title of King Nottoc or King Retaw.

Backward words were a huge part of No-Tsu-Oh‘s quirkiness. The titles were references to Houston’s main sources of income at the time, mainly cotton and the Houston Ship Channel (water). Later, King Lio (oil) was also added as a title.

De-Ro-Loc No-Tsu-Oh

Like most things in the South at this time, No-Tsu-Oh was segregated. Black people were not allowed to partake in or even attend the festivities.

In response, Houston’s Black community created their own version of No-Tsu-Oh called De-Ro-Loc No-Tsu-Oh (“Colored Houston”) in 1909. The festival was held around the same time as No-Tsu-Oh, but took place in the Third Ward’s Emancipation Park.

The elected kings of De-Ro-Loc No-Tsu-Oh were usually prominent businessmen in the Black community and received titles such as La-Yol E-Civ-Res (“Loyal Service”).

The fourth elected king of De-Ro-Loc No-Tsu-Oh was Dr. Benjamin Covington (1869-1961), esteemed doctor and founder of Houston’s first Black hospital. If you’re a musician, you may recognize the last name as he was the father of Jessie Covington Dent (1904-2001), renowned pianist and educator^*.

End to the Festivities

No-Tsu-Oh ended in 1915, when it was banned under mounting pressure from local newspapers. The United States’ involvement in World War I changed the overall sentiment towards the festival.

De-Ro-Loc No-Tsu-Oh, however, continued until 1920, when it ceased due to lack of funding.

For a deeper dive into the history of De-Ro-Loc No-Tsu-Oh, here’s an awesome PDF courtesy of Houston History Magazine.

_{*The Covington Family was phenomenal in their own right and I did my best to highlight their impact on the Houston/New Orleans Black communities in this post.}