HNOC in the News

WGNO: “The Trail They Blazed” at the Historic New Orleans Collection

June 25, 2025

Journalist Christopher Leach explores HNOC’s exhibition honoring the achievements and sacrifices of local leaders during the Civil Rights Movement in New Orleans.

Exhibition curator Eric Seiferth speaks with WGNO about The Trail They Blazed at HNOC.

“One of the highlights of the exhibit is a streetcar bench with a race screen. The race screen was a movable plaque that segregated busses and streetcars. Some Black New Orleanians moved it further up to push back against restrictive seating in the streetcar or threw it out the window. It was a real battleground.”

Christopher Leach, WGNO-TV

Watch Watch

Related Exhibitions

Exhibitions

The Trail They Blazed

June 6, 2025 to June 7, 2026

Leaders of the local Civil Rights Movement tell their stories of resistance and persistence.

View View

Black and white photo of people in line for voting registration outside a building. Two men are seated near a Voting Applications sign, and several individuals are standing in line, some wearing hats and summer clothing.

Related Collection Highlights

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.

Learn More

American Black Directory

A post-segregation sibling to the Green Book, this directory compiled information on Black-owned businesses across the country.

Learn More

Related Virtual Exhibitions

A group of people walking on a street, several wearing Vote 3 Dutch Morial shirts. Some are smiling and waving. Trees and houses are in the background. The mood appears lively and supportive.

Women's Rights

“Yet She Is Advancing”: New Orleans Women and the Right to Vote, 1878–1970

The story of women’s suffrage, leading up to and beyond the passage of the 19th Amendment

View View

Four women stand behind a table set with a tablecloth, glassware, and a candle holder. Three of them wear light-colored dresses with floral corsages, and one wears a dark dress with a white collar. They are smiling and posed for a photograph.

Women's Rights

Voices of Progress: Twenty Women Who Changed New Orleans

Portraits of women who fought for equality, justice, and charity

View View

Related News

HNOC in the News

Verite News: New Exhibit Showcases Local Figures of Civil Rights Movement

June 13, 2025

“The Trail The Blazed” comes to the Historic New Orleans Collection after appearing as a traveling exhibition at different locations throughout the city.

HNOC in the News

WVUE-TV: HNOC Debuts “The Trail They Blazed” Exhibition

June 4, 2025

Curator Eric Seiferth explains how HNOC’s new exhibition showcases New Orleans’s important role in the local and national Civil Rights Movement.

HNOC senior curator Eric Seiferth discusses the Dryades Street boycotts of 1960 in a segment by WVUE Fox 8 New Orleans.

HNOC in the News

WVUE: HNOC Curator Discusses the Dryades Street Boycott of 1960

May 26, 2026

Eric Seiferth joined WVUE Fox 8 New Orleans to discuss a key moment of the Civil Rights Movement in New Orleans, as told in HNOC’s “The Trail They Blazed” exhibition.