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The Historic New Orleans Collection
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.

A tour guide gestures towards an exhibition display at HNOC.
NOLA.com / The Times Picyaune
CAPTIVE STATE cover

Captive State: Louisiana and the Making of Mass Incarceration

softcover • 9" × 11" • 106 pp.
57 color images
ISBN 9780917860942

$19.95

News

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

Related Exhibitions

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Exhibitions

Captive State: Louisiana and the Making of Mass Incarceration

July 19, 2024 to February 16, 2025

Related Stories

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First Draft

A Long Arc of Injustice

First Draft

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

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.

A vintage sheet music cover titled The Mysterious Axmans Jazz (Dont Scare Me Papa). It shows a chaotic scene with musicians playing and a startled woman at a piano. Two inset portraits are at the bottom.

The Mysterious Axman’s Jazz

At the turn of the 20th century, a music-loving serial killer proclaimed that only jazz lovers would be safe from his reign of terror.

The death notice for John Ward Gurley, dated 1808. The notice in the middle is surrounded with drawings depicting a skull and crossbones, funerial trees, a coffin, and broken column.

Death Notice for John Ward Gurley 

One hot-headed young upstart in early 19th-century Louisiana found his way onto the dueling field, where the odds were not in his favor.

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A group of people view an exhibit in a gallery featuring a large historical illustration and several framed documents. A guide discusses the display, which includes a quote about shame and humiliation in a prison setting.
Announcement

Innocence Project New Orleans to Honor HNOC with John Thompson Award for Courage & Justice

August 13, 2025
The Collection will receive the award for its work on the exhibition “Captive State: Louisiana and the Making of Mass Incarceration.”
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.
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