How ‘Chocolate Santa’ brought joy to New Orleans again after tragedy

When the original Santa for the majority-Black Seventh Ward died a new one stepped into his boots, inspired by his memory

For Theron Murphy, the only thing cooler than taking pictures as a child with a Santa Claus who – like him – was Black was eventually getting the jolly guy’s blessing to carry on his spirit. Murphy, 33, was among the generations of children taken by their parents to Dennis Photofinish studio at the corner of St Bernard Avenue and North Tonti Street in New Orleans’s majority-Black Seventh Ward neighborhood to have their portrait taken with the man countless folks in the city simply knew affectionately by his preferred nickname: “Chocolate Santa”.

Chocolate Santa for most of the year was school bus driver Fred Parker. But when the holidays rolled around, Parker transformed into Chocolate – or Seventh Ward – Santa, complete with the traditional red suit and hat. He sat patiently listening to wishes for toys and other Christmas miracles at the portrait studio or at the schools, daycares, hospitals, markets and malls he visited during “the most wonderful time of the year” for nearly five decades.

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