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NOLA.com: 50 Years after Fall of Saigon, Taking a Look at Settlement of Vietnamese in New Orleans

April 7, 2025

Contributing writer Dave Walker visited HNOC’s “Making It Home” exhibition, which explores how the Vietnamese made the city their home.

A vintage black and white photo shows a group of Vietnamese Americans engaged in a ring toss game to win a live duck at a Christmas Day youth fair. The image shows four ducks in the foreground, with a group of smiling community members about to toss their rings.
Ring toss to win a live duck at a Christmas Day youth fair in the Versailles community, 1981, photograph by Mark J. Sindler. HNOC, acquisition made possible by the Laussat Society, MSS 1074.1.207.1
NOLA.com / The Times Picyaune
“Spotlights for [the exhibition’s] concept [of home] are a family’s recreated dining space and living room. Actual news footage of one local family’s perilous boat rescue plays on the living room’s vintage TV set. An interactive display allows visitors to track the family’s Vietnam-to-New Orleans journey. Visitors can sit at the dining table to hear individuals tell their resettlement stories. Each visitor will also receive a pamphlet containing excerpts from the many individual stories told in the exhibit.”

Dave Walker, contributing writer for the Times Picayune | NOLA.com

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Explore the Exhibition

Dave Walker is the founder of TheMuseumGoer.com, a digital destination for those interested in visiting museums and museum-adjacent attractions of New Orleans and the Gulf South. Read his recent blog post about Making It Home, and listen to his accompanying podcast interview with HNOC senior curator Mark Cave and interactives designer Candy Ellison, via the links below.

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A gallery view of "Making It Home: From Vietnam to New Orleans" on view at HNOC.

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A black-and-white photo of a man and woman standing in traditional attire in front of a shrine with religious images and candles. A vintage television sits nearby. The floor has a patterned design.

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A vintage black and white photo shows a group of Vietnamese American teenagers at a Christmas Day youth fair playing a game.
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HNOC Unveils Landmark Exhibition Honoring Vietnamese Refugee Resilience and Community Legacy

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The new exhibition “Making It Home: From Vietnam to New Orleans” marks 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon.
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WGNO: VietNOLA 50 Commemorates Arrival of Vietnamese Community in New Orleans

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A black-and-white photo of a man and woman standing in traditional attire in front of a shrine with religious images and candles. A vintage television sits nearby. The floor has a patterned design.
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Beyond Bourbon St. Podcast Explores “Making It Home” Exhibition

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