Skip to content
The Historic New Orleans Collection
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.

Captive State book WGNO thumb 2

Watch: WGNO Covers “Captive State” Launch

CAPTIVE STATE cover

Captive State: Louisiana and the Making of Mass Incarceration

Related Exhibitions

View More
Exhibitions

Captive State: Louisiana and the Making of Mass Incarceration

July 19, 2024 to February 16, 2025

Related Stories

View More
First Draft

Death on Display

First Draft

A Long Arc of Injustice

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.

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

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.

Related News

View More
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 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.
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.
Innocence & Justice Louisiana presented HNOC with the John Thompson Award for Courage and Justice at the “Oh, Freedom!” Gala on September 13, 2025.
Press Release

HNOC Awarded John Thompson Award for Courage & Justice

September 22, 2025
Presented by Innocence & Justice Louisiana, the honor was received for HNOC’s “Captive State” exhibition and companion book that confront the historical roots of mass incarceration in Louisiana.
Stay Connected

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

1959 210 o6 2024 06 05 202329 tavg