Caring for Your Family Tree
Explore resources for researching genealogy, burial records, and more.
workshops & lectures
This space will be updated periodically with workshops, lectures, and other resources as they become available.
Researching Your Catholic Ancestry with Jari C. Honora
Learn how to uncover your Catholic family history in this free virtual presentation, featuring HNOC family historian and genealogist Jari C. Honora. A Certified Genealogist®, Honora recently made international news as the first historian to uncover the Creole heritage of Pope Leo XIV.
Whether you are just getting started or need help breaking through “brick walls” in your research, this presentation introduces tips for searching and understanding sacramental records. Honora shares effective research strategies, highlights key resources, and provides practical advice for engaging with the diocesan and religious archives.
Genealogy Resources
Our experts at the Williams Research Center are available to help you dive into your family history.
Lost Friends Database
A database of more than 2,500 advertisements placed in the decades following the Civil War chronicles individuals searching for loved ones lost in slavery.
New Orleans Cemetery Database
Explore data contained in the Survey of Historic New Orleans Cemeteries, which covers St. Louis No. 1 and St. Louis No. 2 in New Orleans.
Upcoming Genealogy Events
Caring For Your Collections Resource Guide
Download HNOC’s comprehensive resource guide to home collections care, which includes a list of vetted vendors who can help with your preservation or research efforts.
Explore Caring for Your Collection
Since 1992, HNOC has developed programs about caring for the personal collections of our community. Explore our series of workshops designed to help you learn to properly inventory, handle, care for, and augment your objects and papers with HNOC staff and outside experts.
Related Stories
From the French Quarter to the Vatican
Shortly after Robert Francis Prevost was announced as the first American pope, HNOC’s Jari C. Honora uncovered a surprising New Orleans connection, revealing the pontiff’s maternal grandparents to be Creoles of color from the Seventh Ward.
The 19th-Century Family Found in an Attic
When one New Orleans couple unsealed the attic of their Algiers house, they discovered a remarkable set of family portraits going back 135 years.
Related News
Video: How A Historian Discovered Pope Leo XIV’s New Orleans Roots
CBS Mornings: What to Know about Pope Leo XIV’s Ancestry
CNN: Pope Leo XIV has Creole Lineage, New Orleans Genealogist Says
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