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The Historic New Orleans Collection
HNOC in the News

NOLA.com Names HNOC Historian Jari Honora as 2025 “Louisianan of the Year”

January 5, 2026

The family historian and certified genealogist received the honor for his work connecting the pope’s heritage to the state’s history and culture.

Jari Honora, HNOC Family Historian
NOLA.com / The Times Picyaune

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Further Reading

Check out our First Draft blog post about Jari’s discovery of Pope Leo XIV’s Louisiana heritage.

First Draft

From the French Quarter to the Vatican

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What’s the Difference Between Cajun and Creole—Or Is There One?

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The Civil War and the Rise of Black Activism

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One of a series of images showing the front cover, endpapers, preface, and notation pages from the Ursuline Music Manuscript.

Ursuline Music Manuscript

This nearly-300-year-old songbook is the oldest known music manuscript in Louisiana history.

A sepia-toned vintage photograph of a man with curly dark hair and a mustache. He is dressed in a 19th-century suit with a double-breasted coat and bow tie. The image has an old, slightly worn appearance.

Dr. Louis Charles Roudanez Papers

A rare collection of manuscript essays and family correspondence offers a thrilling look at one of the most influential people in the early struggle for African American civil rights in Louisiana.

The inside back cover of the book volume for Le Spiritualiste shows a marbled printed pattern.

Le Spiritualiste

When séances were all the rage, New Orleans produced the nation’s first and only French-language publication devoted to Spiritualism.

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A boy in white lay garments leads a church procession down the street, followed by other boys in white lay garments wearing crucifixes and holding chalices.
HNOC in the News

NPR: Why Black Catholics in New Orleans Feel a Special Connection to Pope Leo XIV

June 5, 2025
HNOC family historian Jari Honora spoke with “All Things Considered” about the new pope’s Creole ancestry and what it means for residents of the 7th Ward.
Dede and Basile
Announcement

New Orleans Jazz Museum to Screen Award-Winning Documentary Made with HNOC Support

March 17, 2026
“What We Can Know About Edmond and Basile” was named 2026 Humanity Documentary of the Year by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities.
A screen capture of HNOC historian Jari Honora appearing on CBS Mornings.
HNOC in the News

CBS Mornings: What to Know about Pope Leo XIV’s Ancestry

May 27, 2025
It was recently revealed that new pope has Louisiana Creole ancestry. Jari Honora, a family historian at the Historic New Orleans Collection, made the discovery and joined “CBS Mornings Plus” to explain.

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