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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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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

Death on Display

Louisiana’s travelling electric chair, and the shift from public to private executions

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First Draft

Processing Hope and Loss in the Prison Portraits of “One Big Self”

Deborah Luster’s portrait series, taken inside prisons across Louisiana, confronts viewers with the human lives at stake in the incarceration capital of the world.

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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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Two men are observing an exhibit in a museum. One holds a book while explaining something. Behind them are informational panels and photographs. Text overlays mention a display through January 19, 2025, at 520 Royal St., sponsored by the Historic New Orleans Collection.
HNOC in the News

WWL-TV: Inside a New Exhibit on Mass Incarceration

October 25, 2024
WWL-TV's Great Day Louisiana visited HNOC's new exhibition about the history of mass incarceration in Louisiana.
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A historical museum exhibit features a large black-and-white photograph of an old prison building. In front, there is a wooden stock used for restraining prisoners, with openings for neck and wrists. The quote on the photo describes the harsh prison conditions.
HNOC in the News

Louisiana Weekly: HNOC Receives LEH Award for Louisiana Mass Incarceration Exhibit

January 29, 2026
Officials praised “Captive State” for addressing a difficult and often polarizing subject with scholarly depth while remaining accessible to a broad audience.
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A person wearing a coat holds a rifle while standing in a field. Several others in the background are bent over, working the land. The landscape is barren, suggesting winter or early spring. Sparse trees and a building are visible at a distance.
Press Release

New Exhibition Explores Historical Links Between Slavery and Mass Incarceration

July 10, 2024
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