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The Historic New Orleans Collection

Runnin’ and Runnin’ in Louisiana: The Underground Railroad

October 15, 2024

First-person accounts of enslaved people who sought freedom enliven this exploration of the Underground Railroad in Louisiana.

A black and white illustration depicts a group of African-American individuals walking with determination. A prominent figure in the foreground, wearing a headscarf and long dress, points forward, leading the group. The artwork is dynamic and expressive.

Learn about the Underground Railroad from primary sources in this interactive presentation. Excerpts from runaway slave ads, oral histories of formerly enslaved people, photographs, and more illustrate the stakes, challenges, and triumphs of freedom seekers.

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Derven Scholars

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“The Scourged Back”

HNOC acquired an original copy of the infamous image that took Civil War-era America by storm, quickly becoming a tool of the abolitionist cause.

Portrait of a woman with dark hair, wearing a black dress with a white collar. She is seated, holding a small object in her left hand, against a plain background. Her expression is calm and composed.

Cane River Collection

Over 1,400 legal and financial documents amount to a detailed record of one slice of 19th-century Black Creole life.

Detail of the back cover from the Elmwood Plantation menu, showing an illustration featuring the columns of the building.

Elmwood Plantation Menu

This stylish menu from a restaurant in a former plantation home belies the site’s dark history of human enslavement.

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Purchased Lives: New Orleans and the Domestic Slave Trade, 1808–1865

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Two men stand in front of a large painting, engaged in conversation.
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WGNO: Born a Slave, Sold Six Times. Meet New Orleans's First Coffee Barista

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