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Maroons in Antebellum New Orleans: Independence at Any Cost
The term ‘Maroon’ refers to enslaved people who ran away from slave owners and remained in the south to join or establish independent, hidden settlements. Maroons utilized the area’s topography to…
Harry Macarthy and the Academy of Music
In August 1861, Harry Macarthy, also known as "The Arkansas Comedian," arrived in New Orleans to perform a three-month stint of "Personation Concerts" at the Academy of Music, a then popular play…
"Bonnie Blue Flag:" The Most Dangerous Song of the Civil War
The popularity of sheet music in the United States had reached its peak by the start of the Civil War. Well before the development of recording and broadcasting technology, the commercial music…
Streetcar Protest 1867: April 28, 1867
Paper Monument Project #022: On May 8, 1867, New Orleans’ streetcars were integrated, and would remain so until Louisiana law mandated segregation again in 1902.
Oscar James Dunn
Black civil rights activist and Reconstruction Era politician, whom W.E.B. Du Bois called, "an unselfish, incorruptible, leader."
O-K Line: Railroad Collision at Southport, 1926
On the evening of November 18, 1926, a railcar of the Orleans-Kenner Traction Co. (popularly called the "O-K Line") was traveling through Southport when it was hit by the rear end of a Louisiana…
O-K Line: S. Rampart Station & Overview
The headquarters and downtown station of the Orleans-Kenner Electric Railway were located at 127 South Rampart Street between Canal Street and Tulane Avenue. Better known as the "O-K Line," it was…
O-K Line: Harahan Barn & Ferry Crossing
About midway through Jefferson Parish, the Orleans-Kenner interurban (or O-K Line) passed through the village of Harahan. The company's car barn and power station were located here as well as one of…
O-K Line: Kenner Depot & Felix Park
The town of Kenner was the western (or upper) terminus of the Orleans-Kenner interurban line from 1915 until service was discontinued in 1930.
During this time, the company also operated a "trolley…
Battle of New Orleans: Pirate's Alley, The Arsenal, Creole House & Jackson House
Walking out of Jackson Square toward St. Louis Cathedral, Pirate’s Alley appears on the left, between the Cathedral and the Cabildo. Formerly known as “Orleans Alley,” the passage is one block long,…
Faulkner's House
William Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi in 1897, and frequently used his familiar Southern surroundings as the setting for many of his works. Faulkner was an American novelist and poet…
Mahalia Jackson
Mahalia Jackson, also known as the Queen of Gospel, was born and raised in New Orleans. In 1995, the performing arts center located in Louis Armstrong Park was name in her honor.
Marie Baron and Les Forcats
Paper Monument #023: Marie Baron was among thousands of forçats, or French criminals sent to Louisiana in the early 1700s as forced laborers. Marie’s life illustrates the harsh conditions of French…
St. Louis La Nuit: Soldier, Slave, CItizen
Paper Monuments Project #017: Freed from slavery for extraordinary service by his French planter “owner,” La Nuit’s was in the vanguard of black entrepreneurial men and women who claimed civic…
1946 Flambeaux Strike
Paper Monuments Project #021: In 1946, Carnival triumphantly returned to New Orleans’ streets after four years of canceled celebrations due to World War II. On the Thursday before Mardi Gras, a wage…
Leland University
Founded in 1870, Leland University was created with the purpose of educating free black people living in Southern Louisiana. Originally meant to educate only freemen (black people that were free prior…
Reviving the Vieux Carre: Home of the Louisiana Supreme Court, 1910-1958 & 2004-present
The Louisiana State Legislature established the Courthouse Commission in 1902 in response to the persistent need for a new courthouse for the Louisiana Supreme Court and the New Orleans Civil District…
Dorothée Lassize's Family Business
Harriet Martineau, Saxe Weimar, and numerous other antebellum writers described New Orleans free women of color as promiscuous, seductive characters who sought partnerships with wealthy white men so…
Desire Neighborhood: Destroyed to build Desire Housing Development: A perspective from a former Desire neighborhood resident.
As a former resident of the Desire neighborhood, I am taking the opportunity to defend the integrity of our African-American community in the Upper Ninth Ward. These photographs depict our…
Le Petit Salon
Le Petit Salon was once the most exclusive and prestigious private women’s organization in New Orleans. Founded in 1924 and described as a “circle of distinguished ladies,” the Salon quickly became an…
Courting 1910's Film Industry: New Orleans Association of Commerce
The New Orleans Association of Commerce was an organization dedicated to stimulating New Orleans-based industries, the organization increasingly saw film as part of their public relations strategies…
Farewell to the Honorable Marcus Garvey
Paper Monument Poster #023: Remembering Marcus Garvey's deportation and commemorates the New Orleans members of the United Negro Improvement Association who stood on the shores of Mississippi to bid…
Charity Hospital
Paper Monument Project #025: Charity was the second-oldest continually operating public hospital in the country.
The General Strike of 1892
Over 120 years ago, one of the greatest united strikes happened here in New Orleans.