Recently, Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart has been topped by an artist that has come as a surprise to some people: Beyoncé. Released in March 2024, Queen Bey’s Cowboy Carter is a country-inspired album, influenced by the country and zydeco music she heard growing up in Houston and attending rodeos with her grandfather. Like her first country song, “Daddy Lessons,” off 2016’s Lemonade, Cowboy Carter has stirred up conversation about Black artists’ place in the predominantly white world of contemporary country music—and their role in the genre’s history. In fact, Black musicians have played ..read more

Since 2015 THNOC has sought to acquire a collection of essays and family papers related to Dr. Louis Charles Roudanez, the Creole physician and newspaperman who became a leader of the Reconstruction-era civil rights movement in New Orleans. This summer, they arrived at The Collection following a lengthy trip from France, where they had been passed down through the Roudanez family to Dr. Catherine Jouve, his great-granddaughter. This substantial collection—41 items including undated manuscript essays and family correspondence—offers a thrilling look at one of the most influential people in the ..read more

For centuries, Freemasons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows have been central to civic, social, and cultural life in the United States. These fraternal orders’ roots go back to guilds formed by stonemasons and craftsmen in Europe near the end of the Middle Ages. In addition to overseeing standards for education and pay, guilds provided shelter and fellowship to members who were constantly on the move for work. Members of European fraternal orders traveled to colonies in the Americas, where their organizations thrived. By 1900, some 20 to 40 percent of men in the US were members of at l ..read more

Researching a makeover, teams of Disney Imagineers have made multiple trips to The Historic New Orleans Collection and the Williams Research Center during the past couple of years. Their goal is to transform the theme park attraction Splash Mountain into an immersive journey into the New Orleans of the 2009 animated film The Princess and the Frog. Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is expected to debut in California’s Disneyland and Florida’s Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom in the later months of 2024. One of the research trips coincided with the 2022 exhibition Making Mardi Gras, which took visitors be ..read more

Founded in 1840 by Italian-born chef Antoine Alciatore and run by his family for over 180 years, Antoine’s Restaurant is the oldest continually family-owned and -operated restaurant in the US.   Antoine’s Restaurant’s exterior from a 1960 drawing (THNOC, 1974.25.29.142) In the nearly two centuries since Antoine’s opened its doors, its proprietors have collected a massive number of objects related to the history of the restaurant and the family that runs it. Many of those objects were stored in the attic of a back building at the restaurant’s French Quarter location. Hurricane Katri ..read more

Thirty miles north of New Orleans, there is a peculiar break on the interstate—an unassuming boat launch eclipsed by Lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas, identified only by an exit sign that reads “Ruddock.” Steeped in superstition, the region muddies the barrier between the natural and supernatural, local trauma and tall tale. Clinging to a strip of land between LaPlace and Hammond, it feels remote and inaccessible, home to cottonmouths, wiregrass and, perhaps, more.   Flood waters at an unidentified shoreline, photograph by Reginald McClure Schmidt, ca. 1900 (THNOC, 1980.194.186) Explore ..read more

The “Coming to New Orleans” series, presented in conjunction with American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith, tells stories of New Orleans immigration history through items in our holdings. Read the first part of the series, a timeline that looks at New Orleans immigration in the context of immigration to the US, here. Immigration to New Orleans between 1965 and 2005 was precipitated by two disasters: the fall of Saigon and Hurricane Katrina. In one case, New Orleans welcomed refugees from war-ravaged Vietnam, and in the other, Mexican immigrants came to help New Orleans rebuild and ..read more

If you’ve been on Instagram or TikTok recently, then you’ve probably come across women asking the men in their lives a very important question: How often do you think about the Roman Empire? Without fail, the men respond that they think about the Romans often—monthly, weekly, even daily. And without fail, their girlfriends and wives are surprised to find that, apparently, all roads and thoughts lead to Rome. The meme’s comedy relies on a gendered gap in interest more than on the specific topic of interest. Of course, not all men regularly ruminate on Rome, and many women ponder Pompeii. And ..read more

For many years in the mid-20th century, New Orleans photographer John E. Kuhlman (1919–1978) documented the local traditional jazz scene on top of his regular for-hire work, shooting concerts and clubs in addition to families, weddings, and special events. Kuhlman was a talented photographer and longtime member of the Louisiana Professional Photographers Association, serving as president starting in 1960 and then as executive manager, a role he held until he passed away in 1978. Following his death, his photographic archive, consisting of thousands of negatives, was passed down through family ..read more

In January 1955, a group of African American women gathered at 2100 Dryades Street to form the Metropolitan Women’s Voters League (MWVL). Their purpose, as stated in the Louisiana Weekly, was to register “every eligible woman who desires to become a voter.” The meeting took place at Katie’s School of Beauty Culture and Barbering, and the group appointed the owner, Katie E. Whickam, as chair. Under her leadership, the MWVL launched a voter registration drive, canvassing door to door and running voter education workshops. They were supported by the National Democratic Committee and hoped to re ..read more