Leila Williams’s Collectible Boxes
A look inside the Williams Residence offers insight into some of the interior decorating styles of the late 1940s and early ’50s, as well as Leila Williams’s personal collecting interests.
A look inside the Williams Residence offers insight into some of the interior decorating styles of the late 1940s and early ’50s, as well as Leila Williams’s personal collecting interests. In this video, Interpretation Assistant Kurt Owens takes you through several rooms of the house, examining the unique little boxes—tea caddies, card boxes, and more—that can be found throughout the home.
By Xiomara Blanco, media producer
Williams Residence
Currently closed for repairs, the historic townhouse offers a window into the day-to-day life of HNOC’s founders in midcentury New Orleans.
Meet Our Founders
Kemper and Leila Williams turned their interests in Louisiana history and French Quarter preservation into a lasting legacy.
Online Catalog
Search or browse through HNOC’s vast collection of manuscripts, artifacts, books, artwork, and more in our online catalog.
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Two decorative arts fellows are part of a growing wave of scholars challenging established norms in the field.
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Material Culture from our Holdings
Meeks Dresser
A fine example of early 19th-century furniture, this dresser has a hidden drawer.
Fortier Embroidery Sampler
A 200-year-old piece of needlework by a young student at the Ursuline Convent sheds light on the lives of Catholic Creole girls in early 19th-century Louisiana.
Tennessee Williams’s “Streetcar” Typewriter
Working on a black Remington, Williams wrote his masterpiece in a French Quarter apartment near the Desire streetcar line.
Related Virtual Exhibitions
Goods of Every Description: Shopping in New Orleans, 1825–1925
Peer into shop windows of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Related Books
Garden Legacy
by Mary Louise Mossy Christovich and Roulhac Bunkley Toledano
with a foreword by S. Frederick Starr
New Orleans, the Founding Era
edited by / édité par Erin M. Greenwald
translated by / traduit par Henry Colomer
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