Upcoming Shows
The sights and sounds of a defining local cultural practice, second line parades, come alive in “Dancing in the Streets: Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs of New Orleans,” on view at The Historic New Orleans Collection from February 25 to June 13, 2021.
Assembled in collaboration with more than 30 community partners and club members, the exhibition offers an intimate look at New Orleans street parades while also providing historical context of the tradition. Black mutual aid societies were founded in the 19th century to support African Americans and Afro-Creoles at a time when they were denied many social services, and second line parades are one of their most enduring legacies. Full of color, music, footwork, friends and neighbors, second line parades provide a weekly physical and symbolic gathering place for Black history and expression.
Published April 16, 2021 at 8:00 AM CDT Listen • 4:30
/
Before the pandemic, a walk down Bourbon Street or a parade down Canal was always more memorable if you spotted Mamie Marie Francois on her adult tricycle. During the COVID surge last March, Ms. Francois contracted the virus. The street performer’s absence on Bourbon Street led locals to believe she had passed away, and the false news caught on. Thankfully, Ms. Francois recovered and reflects here on her life before and after the COVID outbreak. This story comes from the Historic New Orleans Collection’s series,
From The Frontline: Narratives of the COVID-19 Pandemic in New Orleans.
4/11/2021
Unsung and Unknown Graphic Biography Details Life of First Black Lieutenant Governor, Oscar Dunn Historians in the News
Brian Mitchell s second-grade teacher set him straight: No Black man ever had been the lieutenant governor of Louisiana and he was wrong for saying his ancestor, Oscar Dunn, had been just that.
The class made fun, and I still feel the sting, Mitchell writes 45 years later in the introduction to his new biography, Monumental: Oscar Dunn and His Radical Fight in Reconstruction Louisiana (Historic New Orleans Collection).
It reads like a comic book story of panels and pictures, and the first page shows the scolded 8-year-old Brian at his school desk thinking, How could she not know?
My New Orleans
04/12/2021
NEW ORLEANS (press release) – For nearly 70 years, sculptor Enrique Alférez helped shape the visual landscape of New Orleans. His figurative sculptures, monuments, fountains and architectural friezes, bas-reliefs and carvings grace dozens of spaces and structures from City Park to the Central Business District, and from Algiers Point to Lakefront Airport.It’s difficult to drive even a few miles around the Crescent City without encountering Alférez’s striking creations.
For the first time, the life and work of this preeminent artist has been celebrated in book form Katie Bowler Young’s
“Enrique Alférez: Sculptor,”
Upcoming Shows
The sights and sounds of a defining local cultural practice, second line parades, come alive in “Dancing in the Streets: Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs of New Orleans,” on view at The Historic New Orleans Collection from February 25 to June 13, 2021.
Assembled in collaboration with more than 30 community partners and club members, the exhibition offers an intimate look at New Orleans street parades while also providing historical context of the tradition. Black mutual aid societies were founded in the 19th century to support African Americans and Afro-Creoles at a time when they were denied many social services, and second line parades are one of their most enduring legacies. Full of color, music, footwork, friends and neighbors, second line parades provide a weekly physical and symbolic gathering place for Black history and expression.