The Historic New Orleans Collection (THNOC) is a museum, research center, and publisher dedicated to the study and preservation of the history and culture of

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

and the Gulf South region of the United States. It is located in New Orleans' French Quarter. The institution was established in 1966 by General and Mrs. L. Kemper Williams to keep their collection of

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

materials intact and available for research and exhibition to the public. The Collection operates a museum, which includes the Williams Gallery, Louisiana History Galleries, the Williams Residence, a house museum, and a museum shop. The Williams Research Center, which opened in 1996, makes The Collection's holdings available to researchers. The holdings consist of some 35,000 library items, and approximately 350,000 photographs, prints, drawings, paintings, and other artifacts. Museum exhibitions have been presented on a wide variety of topics relating to the history and culture of the Gulf South region and the peoples who have influenced it, ranging from the

Battle of New Orleans The Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 8, 1815, between the British Army under Major General Sir Edward Pakenham and the United States Army under Brevet Major General Andrew Jackson, roughly 5 miles (8 km) southeast of the Frenc ...

to the development of New Orleans cuisine to more modern subjects, such as the

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed only ...

and life after

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

. Many of the museum's exhibits are free and open to the public.

History

In 1938, General Lewis Kemper Williams (1887-1971), a World War I veteran, Brigadier General in World War II, businessman, and honorary Consul General of Monaco in New Orleans, and his wife, Leila Hardie Moore Williams (1901-1966) bought two properties in the French Quarter, the ''Spanish Colonial'' Merieult House on Royal Street and a late 19th-century residence next to the Merieult House, facing Toulouse Street. The latter was their home for 17 years, during which time they amassed a substantial collection of important Louisiana materials. With the deaths of Leila and Kemper Williams, in 1966 and 1971 respectively, a foundation bearing their names was established, creating The Historic New Orleans Collection.

Museum buildings

Merieult House

The Merieult House on 533 Royal Street serves as the entrance to the Historic New Orleans Collection and main museum facility. Dating from the 18th century, the house occupies land that has been in continuous use since the early colonial days in the 1720s. The house is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. THNOC opened the Louisiana History Galleries on the second floor and located the museum shop and the Williams Gallery for changing exhibitions about Louisiana's history on the first floor.

Williams Residence

Built in 1889, the Williams Residence is an

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

, two-story brick historic house museum with galleries. The history of the property dates to Jean François Merieult, who, after purchasing the Royal Street lot in 1792, increased his land a few years later, adding depth to the lot toward Bourbon Street where he erected a warehouse. The residence, surrounded by three courtyards, is often described as a hidden house. The furnishings and decor today remain as they were in the 1940s and 1950s when the Williamses lived there. Tours are offered daily.

Other buildings

Counting House

The Counting House is named for the banking activities conducted on site in the 19th century. It was built as a warehouse by Jean François Merieult between 1794 and 1795. Today, the first floor is used for office space, meetings, receptions, and exhibitions when additional space is needed.

Maisonette

Across the courtyard from the Counting House, the three-story Maisonette stretches along the Toulouse Street side of THNOC. This service wing was constructed over an earlier structure that was built at the same time as the Merieult House in the 1790s. The Maisonette houses staff offices.

Townhouse

This two-story brick building, dating from the late 19th century, was used as a banking house, according to an act of sale in 1888. Leila Moore Williams purchased the property in 1947 and sold it in 1965. The townhouse once again became part of The Collection when the Williams Foundation purchased it in 1980.

Louis Adam House

The house that Louis Adam built in 1788, after the first great New Orleans fire destroyed an earlier structure, appears to have escaped the second great New Orleans fire of 1794. In the 1930s, the house was opened to boarders and for a short time a young

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three ...

lived there. Restoration to the original Spanish Colonial style did not occur until the 1970s.

Creole Cottage

The double cottage on Toulouse Street was purchased by the Collection in 1990. During the summer of 1991, an archaeological dig revealed evidence of all the structures that existed prior to the house now on the site. Archaeologists found indications of French

barracks Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks ar ...

from the 1720s; a structure burned in the fire of 1788; a residence from the period 1790 to 1820; and debris related to the existing cottage that was built around 1830.

Williams Research Center

Built in 1915 in the Beaux Arts style, the two-story brick structure was erected to house the Second City Criminal Court and the Third District Police Station. After an extensive restoration, the Chartres Street building opened as the Williams Research Center in January 1996. The Collection's rare and important holdings at the Williams Research Center are available to the general public via the public reading room. The building's annex, which opened in 2007, was the first new construction completed in the French Quarter since Hurricane Katrina.

Notable collections

In addition to its massive collection of New Orleans-related maps, photographs, surveys and other documents, the Historic New Orleans Collection contains a number of collections of rare or otherwise specialty materials.

Tennessee Williams Collection

In 2001, THNOC acquired the largest private collection of Tennessee Williams materials anywhere in the world from collector Fred Todd. In addition to the many typescripts and manuscripts of works such as ''

A Streetcar Named Desire ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of pe ...

'' and '' The Glass Menagerie'', there are dozens of

playbill ''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for Audience, theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the ...

s, as well as signed first editions of Williams' plays and other works, unpublished letters, a myriad books about Williams, translations of his work, film scripts, and photos of Williams with friends and associates. The more rare items include notes on the filming of '' The Rose Tattoo'', an operatic version of '' Summer and Smoke'', a playscript for a western, a prose-poem to lover Frank Merlo, and numerous promotional materials and memorabilia from '' Baby Doll'', including the film script with notes from director

Elia Kazan Elias Kazantzoglou (, ; September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003), known as Elia Kazan ( ), was a Greek-American film and theatre director, producer, screenwriter and actor, described by ''The New York Times'' as "one of the most honored and inf ...

and some of Williams' own financial records. Additionally, the Historic New Orleans Collection publishes the ''Tennessee Williams Annual Review'', the only regularly published journal devoted exclusively to the works of Tennessee Williams. It is available in print and electronically.Tennessee Williams Annual Review
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William Russell Jazz Collection

The William Russell Jazz Collection is an extensive collection of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

memorabilia including musical instruments, records, piano rolls, sheet music, photographs, books and periodicals. It traces the development of jazz in New Orleans and follows the movement of musicians to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and beyond. It encompasses notes from Mr. Russell's research, audiotapes, programs, posters, correspondence, films, business cards, notes, clippings, and scrapbooks. Large portions of the collection focus on the lives of Manuel "Fess" Manetta, Bunk Johnson, and

Jelly Roll Morton Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe ( Lemott, later Morton; c. September 20, 1890 – July 10, 1941), known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American blues and jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer of Louisiana Creole descent. Morton was jazz ...

. The collection includes correspondence between composer Anita Socola Specht and her husband, conductor William Specht. The collection also features materials on

brass band A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting primarily of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands (particularl ...

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that had its peak from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its Syncopation, syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers ...

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music vary according to culture and social context. Gospel music is compo ...

, and William Russell's own compositions.

William C. Cook War of 1812 in the South Collection

The William C. Cook collection focuses on the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

in the South, particularly the Creek War, the war in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

, and the

. Major General

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

, military commander during these events, is well represented, and the collection also includes various important U.S. Army and

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

documents, as well as materials concerning the participation of the southern Indian tribes and manuscripts from the British perspective. Also present are related materials concerning the War of 1812 in the South from a later date, the largest single grouping of which contains campaign materials from the 1828 presidential election. These principally focus on the 1815 execution of the six militia men that were most dramatically executed in the infamous " Coffin broadsides."

Clarence John Laughlin Collection

THNOC also maintains the substantial Clarence John Laughlin collection, which contains film negatives, transparencies, photographs and prints spanning the decades from the 1930s to the 1980s, taken both by and of Laughlin. The collection documents Laughlin's life and work throughout both New Orleans and the world.

Germans in New Orleans

The Williams Research Center contains an abundance of materials relating to New Orleans' German settlers, organizations, music, businesses, and rural German enclaves. The collection includes an assortment of prints, photographs, postcards, letterheads, maps, sheet music and other objects. The J. Hanno Deiler Papers contain hand-written and typescript drafts of the historian's major books, articles, and speeches, as well as a number of genealogies of Louisiana-German families.

Sugar Bowl archives

Prior to 2007 the

maintained its archives at the

Mercedes-Benz Superdome Caesars Superdome (originally Louisiana Superdome and formerly Mercedes-Benz Superdome), commonly known as the Superdome, is a domed multi-purpose stadium in the southern United States, located in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the home st ...

. However, the Superdome was damaged by

; and although the archives were not damaged, the Bowl decided the archives needed a more suitable home and donated the materials to the Collection.

References

External links

The Historic New Orleans Collection
– official website
WRC Online Catalogue
- Williams Research Center online catalogue
Moving Image Archiving and Preservation
– THNOC preparations for Hurricane Katrina {{DEFAULTSORT:Historic New Orleans Collection, The Museums in New Orleans Culture of New Orleans Historic house museums in Louisiana French Quarter

History museums in Louisiana Museums established in 1966 1966 establishments in Louisiana Houses completed in 1889 Houses in New Orleans Research libraries in the United States