New Orleans History

John Magill, museum curator, discusses an exhibition of the earliest-known paper photos of New Orleans. The show, called “A Closer Look: The Antebellum Photographs of Jay Dearborn Edwards, 1858-1861,” features three dozen images of a thriving southern city on the brink of the Civil War.

John Magill, museum curator, discusses an exhibition of the earliest-known paper photos of New Orleans. The show, called “A Closer Look: The Antebellum Photographs of Jay Dearborn Edwards, 1858-1861,” features three dozen images of a thriving southern city on the brink of the Civil War.

John Magill, museum curator, discusses an exhibition of the earliest-known paper photos of New Orleans. The show, called “A Closer Look: The Antebellum Photographs of Jay Dearborn Edwards, 1858-1861,” features three dozen images of a thriving southern city on the brink of the Civil War.

John Lawrence, museum curator, discusses an exhibition of the earliest-known paper photos of New Orleans. The show, called “A Closer Look: The Antebellum Photographs of Jay Dearborn Edwards, 1858-1861,” features three dozen images of a thriving southern city on the brink of the Civil War.

John Lawrence, museum curator, discusses an exhibition of the earliest-known paper photos of New Orleans. The show, called “A Closer Look: The Antebellum Photographs of Jay Dearborn Edwards, 1858-1861,” features three dozen images of a thriving southern city on the brink of the Civil War.

John Lawrence, museum curator, discusses an exhibition of the earliest-known paper photos of New Orleans. The show, called “A Closer Look: The Antebellum Photographs of Jay Dearborn Edwards, 1858-1861,” features three dozen images of a thriving southern city on the brink of the Civil War.

Pamela Arceneaux, museum curator, discusses an exhibition of the earliest-known paper photos of New Orleans. The show, called “A Closer Look: The Antebellum Photographs of Jay Dearborn Edwards, 1858-1861,” features three dozen images of a thriving southern city on the brink of the Civil War.

Pamela Arceneaux, museum curator, discusses an exhibition of the earliest-known paper photos of New Orleans. The show, called “A Closer Look: The Antebellum Photographs of Jay Dearborn Edwards, 1858-1861,” features three dozen images of a thriving southern city on the brink of the Civil War.

Pamela Arceneaux, museum curator, discusses an exhibition of the earliest-known paper photos of New Orleans. The show, called “A Closer Look: The Antebellum Photographs of Jay Dearborn Edwards, 1858-1861,” features three dozen images of a thriving southern city on the brink of the Civil War.

An audio interview of John Lawrence, exhibition curator, broadcast on WLAE’s public affairs program “Greater New Orleans,” about the exhibition In the Spirit: The Photography of Michael P. Smith from The Historic New Orleans Collection

Introduction to The Historic New Orleans Collection's architectural tour of some of its French Quarter buildings.

Architectural audio tour of the Merieult House at 533 Royal Street in New Orleans, Louisiana

Architectural audio tour of the Townhouse at 718 Toulouse Street in New Orleans, Louisiana

Architectural audio tour of the Williams residence at 718 Toulouse Street in New Orleans, Louisiana

Architectural audio tour of the Creole cottage at 726-728 Toulouse Street in New Orleans, Louisiana

The Historic New Orleans Collection's guided tour times.

Architectural audio tour of the Louis Adam house at 722 Toulouse Street in New Orleans, Louisiana

Biographies of Kemper and Leila Williams, founders of The Historic New Orleans Collection

The exhibition Seeking the Unknown: Natural History Observations in Louisiana,1698—1840 presents objects that provide a broad historical background for the study of Louisiana’s natural history—from taxidermied animals, specimens in jars, and pressed plants to lavishly illustrated folios. Exhibition curators Gilles-Antoine Langlois and John H. Lawrence present some thoughts on the reasons for staging the exhibition.

In this segment personalities and motives of the official and unofficial botanists and other naturalists are discussed by the curators. The exhibition Seeking the Unknown: Natural History Observations in Louisiana, 1698—1840 presents objects that provide a broad historical background for the study of Louisiana’s natural history—from taxidermied animals, specimens in jars, and pressed plants to lavishly illustrated folios.

Langlois discusses the careers of the Prat Brothers, Jean and Louis, who sent botanical samples and information from Louisiana to France for nearly 20 years. The exhibition Seeking the Unknown: Natural History Observations in Louisiana, 1698—1840 presents objects that provide a broad historical background for the study of Louisiana’s natural history—from taxidermied animals, specimens in jars, and pressed plants to lavishly illustrated folios.

Langlois presents some thoughts on the dual motives for studying the natural environment in French colonial Louisiana: profit and knowledge. The exhibition Seeking the Unknown: Natural History Observations in Louisiana, 1698—1840 presents objects that provide a broad historical background for the study of Louisiana’s natural history—from taxidermied animals, specimens in jars, and pressed plants to lavishly illustrated folios.

Langlois presents additional information on the commercial and scientific aspects of natural history discoveries in French colonial Louisiana. The exhibition Seeking the Unknown: Natural History Observations in Louisiana, 1698—1840 presents objects that provide a broad historical background for the study of Louisiana’s natural history—from taxidermied animals, specimens in jars, and pressed plants to lavishly illustrated folios.

The curators share some thoughts on Thomas Jefferson and science, including his connections to France and his official sponsorship of expeditions to gather information about Louisiana. The exhibition Seeking the Unknown: Natural History Observations in Louisiana, 1698—1840 presents objects that provide a broad historical background for the study of Louisiana’s natural history—from taxidermied animals, specimens in jars, and pressed plants to lavishly illustrated folios.

Langlois discusses aspects of this scientific friendship between Charles-Alexandre Lesueur and Joseph Barabino, centered in New Orleans about 1830. The exhibition Seeking the Unknown: Natural History Observations in Louisiana, 1698—1840 presents objects that provide a broad historical background for the study of Louisiana’s natural history—from taxidermied animals, specimens in jars, and pressed plants to lavishly illustrated folios.

Lawrence presents information on some of the visual treasures in the exhibition. The exhibition Seeking the Unknown: Natural History Observations in Louisiana, 1698—1840 presents objects that provide a broad historical background for the study of Louisiana’s natural history—from taxidermied animals, specimens in jars, and pressed plants to lavishly illustrated folios.

Erin Greenwald historian and curator of the exhibition Pipe Dreams:Louisiana under the French Company of the Indies, 1717—1731 discuses colonization, John Law, the Mississippi Bubble and the dreams of the French Company of the Indies to establish a tobacco empire in French colonial Louisiana.

Alfred E. Lemmon, Director of the Williams Research Center at the Historic New Orleans Collection introduces Bill Russell. For the first annual Bill Russell lecture, Dr. Michael White, Professor of Spanish and African Music at Xavier University and historian of New Orleans jazz and performer, presents Millennial Reflections on the Impact of Jelly Roll Morton. Jelly Roll Morton (1890-1941) was a jazz pianist and composer who was born and raised in New Orleans. Recorded in 2000.

Alfred E. Lemmon, Director of the Williams Research Center at the Historic New Orleans Collection introduces Barry Martyn with Bruce Boyd Raeburn. Martyn is a drummer originally from England who has ties to New Orleans. Raeburn is a Curator at the Tulane University’s Hogan Jazz Archive and plays the drums. Martyn and Raeburn present Drumming New Orleans Style. Recorded in 2001.

Alfred E. Lemmon, Director of the Williams Research Center at the Historic New Orleans Collection introduces James Dapogny. Dapogny is a performer and Professor Emeritus of Music Theory at University of Michigan. He presents Jelly Roll Morton’s Piano Music: The Known and Unknown. Recorded in 2002.

John H. Lawrence, Director of Museum Programs at the Historic New Orleans Collection introduces Butch Thompson. Thompson is a Jazz pianist and clarinetist who is one of the few non-locals to play at Preservation Hall in New Orleans. He presents Old New Orleans Blues: Bill Russell and “Fess” Manetta. Recorded in 2003.

John H. Lawrence, Director of Museum Programs at the Historic New Orleans Collection introduces Bruce Boyd Raeburn. Raeburn is a Curator at the Tulane University’s Hogan Jazz Archive and plays the drums. He presents Reflections of Bechet, A New Orleans Jazz Original: The Man and the Music. Recorded in 2012.

John H. Lawrence, Director of Museum Programs at the Historic New Orleans Collection introduces Bruce Boyd Raeburn. Raeburn is a Curator at the Tulane University’s Hogan Jazz Archive and plays the drums. He presents Reflections of Bechet, A New Orleans Jazz Original: The Man and the Music. Recorded in 2012.

Alfred E. Lemmon, Director of the Williams Research Center at the Historic New Orleans Collection introduces OperaCréole with pianists Wilfred Delphin and Samuel Liégeon and narration by Walter Harris Jr. Treemonisha is an opera composed by Scott Joplin. Recorded in 2013.

Tom Savage, Director of Museum Affairs at the Winterhur Museum presents Among the First French: The Early Huguenot Experience in the Carolina Lowcountry for the 2011 Antiques Forum at the Historic New Orleans Collection. It is followed by John H Lawrence, Director of Museum Programs at the Historic New Orleans Collection presenting Following the Trail of (French) Bread Crumbs in the Coastal South.

Jason Wiese Assistant Director, Williams Research Center at the Historic New Orleans Collection, presents Cartes Très Curieuses: French Mapmakers and the New World for the 2011 Antiques Forum at the Historic New Orleans Collection.

Graham C. Boettcher, PhD, the William Cary Hulsey Curator of American Art at the Birmingham Museum of Art in Alabama, presents Paris on the Bayou: The French Artistic Presence on the Gulf Coast for the 2011 Antiques Forum at the Historic New Orleans Collection.

Donna Corbin, Associate Curator European Decorative Arts Philadelphia Museum of Art, presents Received from different factories in France: 19th-Century Paris Porcelain in the American South for the 2011 Antiques Forum at the Historic New Orleans Collection.

Janine Skerry, Curator of Metals, Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia, presents American Silver with a French Accent? for the 2011 Antiques Forum at the Historic New Orleans Collection.

Daniel F. Brooks, Director(retired) at the Arlington Historic House and Gardens in Birmingham, Alabama, presents Opulence and Intrigue: Odiot, Rihouët, and the Diplomatic Service of Alabama’s William Rufus King for the 2011 Antiques Forum at the Historic New Orleans Collection.

John T. Magill, Curator/Historian at The Historic New Orleans Collection, presents From Panniers to Bustles: French Influence on the Fashion of the Gulf Coast South for the 2011 Antiques Forum at the Historic New Orleans Collection.

Priscilla Lawrence, Executive Director at The Historic New Orleans Collection, presents New Treasures at The Historic New Orleans Collection for the 2011 Antiques Forum at the Historic New Orleans Collection.

Neil G. Odenwald, PhD, Professor Emeritus and Former Director at the School of Landscape Architecture at Louisiana State University, presents Louisiana Garden Design- Early French Influence: People-Plans-Plants-Embellishments for the 2011 Antiques Forum at the Historic New Orleans Collection.

Madeleine Deschamps, PhD, Adjunct Professor at the New York Univserity School of Continuing and Professional Studies, presents The French Empire Style and Its Influence in the American South for the 2011 Antiques Forum at the Historic New Orleans Collection.