Skip to content
The Historic New Orleans Collection
Visit
Calendar
HNOC in the News

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.
Forbes logo
“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

Read More Read More

Related Books

View More
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)

View View
Buy Now
CAPTIVE STATE cover

Related Exhibitions

View More
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.

View View
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 Stories

View More
First Draft

Death on Display

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

View View
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.

View View

Related Collection Highlights

View More
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.

Learn More
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

Learn More

Related News

View More
A press photograph of an inmate cell inside Orleans Parish Prison. Three Black men can be seen lying on metal rack beds and another man is partially visible lying on a cot on the ground. Newspapers, empty milk cartons, candy boxes, and cups can be seen on a shelf beneath the window.
Announcement

HNOC Book “Captive State” Receives Southeastern Museum Conference Publication Award

August 12, 2026
The 2025 publication was awarded Second Place (Silver) by the SEMC Publications Competitions jury.
Read More
Captive State book WGNO thumb 2
HNOC in the News

WGNO: Video Explores HNOC’s New “Captive State” Book

September 30, 2025
Available October 1, the book is a companion to HNOC’s award-winning exhibition of the same name that draws historical connections between slavery and mass incarceration.
Read More
A tour guide gestures towards an exhibition display at HNOC.
Announcement

“Captive State” Book: Upcoming Local and Regional Literary Events

September 17, 2025
Explore opportunities to learn more about HNOC’s latest publication at upcoming community events.
Read More
Stay Connected

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Esto 2019 JG23 544 o6