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An antique wooden box with hinged doors, displaying intricate scenes of grand architecture. The box is open, revealing a light green interior. The exterior paintings feature detailed buildings and trees, with a vintage, ornate style.

Card box, between 1824 and 1839. HNOC, the L. Kemper and Leila Moore Williams Founders Collection, 72.32 WR

An antique wooden box with hinged doors, displaying intricate scenes of grand architecture. The box is open, revealing a light green interior. The exterior paintings feature detailed buildings and trees, with a vintage, ornate style.

Card box, between 1824 and 1839. HNOC, the L. Kemper and Leila Moore Williams Founders Collection, 72.32 WR

Show-and-Tell

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.

Show-and-Tell

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.

Home
Research & Collections
Collection Highlights
Leila’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. 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

October 27, 2020

Visit

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.

A spacious, elegant bedroom with pale yellow walls features a classic fireplace, a large bed, a chaise lounge, and multiple windows draped with lace curtains, allowing soft light to illuminate the room. Vintage furniture and decor complete the setting.

A charming courtyard with brick flooring features a traditional black lamppost in the center. Surrounding the area are lush green plants, and behind is a two-story building with ornate wrought-iron balconies and tall windows.

Research

718 Toulouse Street: Williams Residence

A man in a tuxedo stands next to a seated woman in a dress who is laughing and covering her face with her hands. They are in a room with ornate furnishings and a cabinet in the background.

About

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.

A woman in a white, off-the-shoulder blouse and a red headscarf gazes softly at the viewer. Her hands rest gently on her knee against a dark background. The painting has rich, warm tones and intricate details.

Related Stories

A colorful tapestry hangs on a light blue wall. It features an intricate design with a central golden figure surrounded by detailed patterns and smaller figures. The tapestry has rich red, black, and gold tones with an ornate border.

First Draft

The Stories behind Readers’ Prized Possessions

We asked our audience to tell us the histories of their dearest heirlooms and household objects. They delivered.

Elegant dining room with a large wooden table surrounded by chairs. A chandelier hangs from the ceiling, and a fireplace with a mirror is on one wall. The room features large windows, ornate curtains, and a decorative rug on the hardwood floor.

First Draft

Ten Thanksgiving Home Hacks Using 19th-Century Technology

Practical period furniture that solves the problems of holidays past.

Material Culture from our Holdings

A vintage wooden dresser with four large drawers and ornate handles. It features a tall, rectangular mirror framed in the same wood, supported by two turned posts on either side. The dresser has a polished, dark wood finish.

Meeks Dresser

A fine example of early 19th-century furniture, this dresser has a hidden drawer.

Learn More

A black conductors hat with a glossy visor and metallic band. It features a round badge with RAPID TRANSIT and BIG FOUR on the front, along with the number 1015 on a rectangular plaque below. The background is a neutral gray.

Streetcar Operator’s Cap

A cap from the Marie Finhold Streetcar Collection anchors an in-gallery display of streetcar memorabilia and artifacts.

Learn More

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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.

Learn More

Related Virtual Exhibitions

Virtual exhibitions

Goods of Every Description: Shopping in New Orleans, 1825–1925

Peer into shop windows of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

A vintage illustration of a 19th-century pharmacy interior. The room is filled with shelves of bottles. Several people, including pharmacists and customers, are engaged in transactions and conversations. The ceiling is ornately decorated.

Related Books

Blue background with a white illustration of an ornate silver pitcher. The text at the top reads Crescent City Silver. The pitcher features intricate floral and filigree designs.

Crescent City Silver

Learn More Buy Now Buy Now

Cover of Nelly Custis Lewis’s Housekeeping Book edited by Patricia Brady Schmit. Features a silhouette cameo and cursive writing in the background.

Nelly Custis Lewis’s Housekeeping Book

edited by Patricia Brady Schmit

Learn More

Historical painting depicting the founding era of New Orleans. The scene includes sailors, Indigenous people, and European settlers alongside a ship. The title, New Orleans, the Founding Era, appears at the top in English and French.

New Orleans, the Founding Era

edited by / édité par Erin M. Greenwald
translated by / traduit par Henry Colomer

Learn More Buy Now Buy Now

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