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The Historic New Orleans Collection
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.

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.
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Related Exhibition

Exhibitions

Captive State: Louisiana and the Making of Mass Incarceration

July 19, 2024 to February 16, 2025

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Books

Captive State: Louisiana and the Making of Mass Incarceration

CAPTIVE STATE cover

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First Draft

Death on Display

First Draft

Inside Angola’s Prison Newspaper, the ‘Angolite’

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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.”
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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