Collection Highlights

A cornerstone of HNOC’s holdings chronicles the boom-and-bust speculation that shaped the French colonial era and the founding of New Orleans.

A flock of over 300 bird carvings reveals how generations of regional craftsmen transformed a hunting tradition into fine art.

This nearly-300-year-old songbook is the oldest known music manuscript in Louisiana history.

Smith documented the music, parading, and Black folk traditions of New Orleans for decades.

Through his dreamlike black-and-white images, the surrealist Louisiana photographer explored, amplified, and commented on the mystique of the South.

HNOC’s largest collection related to New Orleans jazz was the life’s work of this prolific collector, producer, historian, and photographer.

It’s the oldest continuously operating restaurant in the United States, and its archive at HNOC tells the story of a family business and its place in New Orleans history.

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

This beautiful document from a grateful king extols Gálvez’s virtues as a soldier and as a man.