THNOC maintains a YouTube channel with videos of special events and gallery talks. In addition, the following short documentary videos were produced in conjunction with past exhibitions at The Historic New Orleans Collection.
To Be Sold: The American Slave Trade from Virginia to New Orleans
On Saturday, March 21, 2015, The Historic New Orleans Collection, Library of Virginia, and University of New Orleans’s Midlo Center for New Orleans Studies co-hosted a one-day, two-city symposium, To Be Sold: The American Slave Trade from Virginia to New Orleans. Morning sessions were held at the Library of Virginia in Richmond, and the afternoon sessions were at the THNOC. Funding for the symposium was provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the University of Richmond edited the videos.
Streaming Documentaries
In 2010, the Katrina +5: Documenting Disaster exhibition featured a series of short videos about the experiences of first responders who served in the greater New Orleans area during the aftermath of the levee system's failure. These responders, members of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and Louisiana Department of Corrections, recall the first days of search and rescue efforts after the storm. These video excerpts are but six examples among the hundreds of first responder oral histories recorded by The Collection since October 2005. The oral histories and accompanying slide shows were drawn from the exhibit.
Calls for Help ♦ The Darkness ♦ The Most Frustrating Thing ♦ I Wonder if the Child Made It or Not ♦ They Thought They Were Just Abandoned ♦ Can Anybody Start a School Bus?
Louisiana: Purchase to Statehood was created by filmmaker Walter Williams to accompany the exhibition Between Colony and State: Louisiana in the Territorial Period, 1803–1812. Through maps, original documents, and interviews with local historians, Williams’s film explores the people and events that shaped one of the most complex and chaotic periods in Louisiana history. 2009 • 22 minutes
In The Spirit: The Photography of Michael P. Smith (Part One and Part Two) was created by filmmaker Kevin McCaffrey to accompany the inaugural public exhibition of the Michael P. Smith Archive. The video addresses the life and work of Michael P. Smith (1937–2008), a New Orleans documentary photographer perhaps best known for his coverage of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (Jazz Fest). Included are photographs and interviews with friends and family members. 2009 • 11 minutes
Part One
Part Two
Surrounded By Water, produced by Walter Williams, examines the roles the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain have played in New Orleans’s economic, social, and cultural development, while reflecting upon the effects that the city’s expansion has had upon the bodies of water themselves. 2008 • 30 minutes
The Battle of New Orleans: producer Walter Williams uses historical materials, expert interviews, and skillful reenactments, to bring to life the major events of this decisive 1815 battle. 2005 • 38 minutes
Common Routes: St. Domingue–Louisiana, produced by Walter Williams, presents a comprehensive look at the history of St. Domingue (present-day Haiti) and the impact of its revolution on Louisiana, placing particular emphasis on the populations of free people of color on the island and in Louisiana. 2006 • 20 minutes
In Search of Yesterday's Gardens, produced and written by Karen Snyder, takes viewers on a stroll through the vanished gardens of 18th- and 19th-century New Orleans, exploring the native and imported plants found in the city’s lush ornamental and practical kitchen gardens. Features original music by Sanford Hinderlie; narrated by John McConnell. 2001• 30 minutes • $9.99