History is an evolving story. Here at The Historic New Orleans Collection, we gather, research, and share artifacts from New Orleans’ many stories, weaving together the people, places, and events that connect us to the city. First Draft gives readers inside access to our vast institutional holdings and staff expertise in a fresh and dynamic way. Read the latest stories below, or scroll down to browse by theme.

November 17, 2020
By Katherine Jolliff Dunn and Emily Perkins

As New Orleans braces for a vastly downsized Carnival 2021 because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, THNOC is looking back at each cancellation, focusing on what the city was like at that time, the activities of the krewes during the downtime, and the celebrations that did take place despite the shutdown of big parades.




October 27, 2020
By Dave Walker, communication specialist

The Historic New Orleans Collection joins Jessica B. Harris’s friends around the world in celebrating her most recent honor, the 2020 James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award.




October 21, 2020
Nick Weldon, associate editor

In the first presidential election after the Civil War, violence and voter suppression prevented Black voters from exercising their right. 




October 16, 2020
Molly Cleaver, editor

What do we mean when we talk about Cajun Country?  The answers are tied up in race, class, language, and, of course, history.




October 14, 2020
Margit Longbrake, senior editor

Amid the American Civil War, a new civil rights movement was forming in New Orleans—in French.




October 2, 2020
By Lydia Blackmore, decorative arts curator

October 2, 2020, marks the 100th wedding anniversary of General L. Kemper and Leila Moore Williams, founders of The Historic New Orleans Collection. To celebrate this milestone, we look back at their biographies to see how their personal histories set forth the impetus to collect, preserve, and share the history of Louisiana.




September 18, 2020
By Dhani Adomaitis, Madeline Drace, Michelle Harrison, and Cecilia Hock

For years, cinephiles have lamented a lack of originality coming out of Hollywood studios. However, there’s no shortage of stories waiting to be told onscreen, and that’s where we can be of use to studio bosses.




September 18, 2020
By Dave Walker, communication specialist

To help us celebrate one of the triumphs of recent Hollywood South creativity, Benh Zeitlin—who directed, co-wrote, and co-scored Beasts of the Southern Wild—answered a few of our questions.




September 10, 2020
By Judith Bonner, senior curator and curator of art

Over the course of the two years after Hurricane Katrina, Rolland Golden roamed the city’s flooded areas, sketching and painting a series of 26 scenes representing the turmoil and devastation of the city during the flood and the stark desolation after the waters receded.




August 21, 2020
By Robert Bray and R. Barton Palmer

To set the stage (as it were) for the August 24 #NolaMovieNight group screening of the 1951 film version of A Streetcar Named Desire, First Draft reached out to two Tennessee Williams Annual Review principals for insight into the publication and some thoughts on the film’s cultural impact.






 

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