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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

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Exhibitions

Captive State: Louisiana and the Making of Mass Incarceration

July 19, 2024 to February 16, 2025

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First Draft

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

First Draft

Death on Display

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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.

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.

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

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Carceral City book cover
Press Release

HNOC, LHA Select “The Carceral City” to Receive 2024 Williams Prize

March 19, 2025
With powerful and evocative prose, author John K. Bardes boldly reinterprets relations between slavery and prison development in American history.
Exhibit wall with a blue panel stating, The institutions of slavery and mass incarceration are historically linked. A section titled CAPTIVE STATE features text and a colorful quilt with nature and wildlife motifs displayed on the right.
Press Release

“Captive State” Named Museum Exhibition of the Year by Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities

January 15, 2026
HNOC joins eight other Bright Lights Awards recipients that were recognized for their significant contributions to the understanding of Louisiana’s history and culture in the humanities field.
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.
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