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Forbes: HNOC Explores Human Tragedy of Mass Incarceration in Louisiana

September 23, 2024

A woman in a red dress looks at an exhibit wall displaying information and images about the rise of mass incarceration in the United States. A graph on the wall shows historical incarceration rates and trends.
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“Since Louisiana’s colonial era, those in power have used the law to control, punish, and exploit others . . . . Captive State documents how slavery and incarceration were mutually reinforcing in ways that have had long-term impacts on people in this state, particularly Black Louisianians.”

Chadd Scott, contributing writer for Forbes, in his story exploring HNOC’s exhibition Captive State

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Related Exhibitions

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Exhibitions

Captive State: Louisiana and the Making of Mass Incarceration

July 19, 2024 to February 16, 2025

Learn how the institutions of slavery and mass incarceration are historically linked, and how these connections have made Louisiana the world leader in incarceration today.

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Historical illustration of a street scene with enslaved individuals working, a man on horseback, and people walking or observing. Wooden buildings and trees are in the background.

Related Books

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Books

Captive State: Louisiana and the Making of Mass Incarceration

by Eric Seiferth, Katherine Jolliff Dunn, and Kevin T. Harrell (curators) and Nick Weldon (editor)

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CAPTIVE STATE cover

Related Stories

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First Draft

Inside Angola’s Prison Newspaper, the ‘Angolite’

John Corley, associate editor at Louisiana State Penitentiary, discusses the history and operations of the award-winning periodical.

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First Draft

A Long Arc of Injustice

Once the hub of the domestic slave trade, Louisiana now leads the world in incarceration, with Black people disproportionately affected. HNOC’s exhibition Captive State traces the roots of this inequity all the way back to the founding of the state.

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Related Collection Highlights

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A screenshot from a vintage color film shows part of a ship with the name "VERNON C. BAIN" written on the side.

“Vernon C. Bain” Christening Ceremony Video

When New York City’s war on drugs sent incarceration rates soaring, officials commissioned a floating jail built and christened downriver from New Orleans.

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The cover of the newspaper "Hospital Banner" from August of 1955.

Hospital Banner Newsletters

An unusual periodical, written and produced by residents of the state mental hospital in the mid-20th century

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Related News

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A painting depicting a New Orleans police car with two officers inside and a distressed Black man in the back seat. Another officer is in a second police car, and houses are visible in the background under a dark blue sky.
Content Feature

Reflecting on “Captive State”: How to Take Action

February 26, 2025
Explore resources from our curatorial team about how to advocate for change in America’s carceral system.
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A tour guide gestures towards an exhibition display at HNOC.
HNOC in the News

In NOLA.com Guest Column, HNOC Historian Discusses “Captive State” As Public History Project

October 20, 2025
Curator Eric Seiferth explains how HNOC’s 2025 exhibition and companion book serve as an important public telling of privately known truths.
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Carceral City book cover
Press Release

HNOC, LHA Select “The Carceral City” to Receive 2024 Williams Prize

March 19, 2025
With powerful and evocative prose, author John K. Bardes boldly reinterprets relations between slavery and prison development in American history.
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