The Historic New Orleans Collection facts for kids
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| Established | 1966 |
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| Location | Royal Street Complex: 533 Royal Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, US Williams Research Center:< 410 Chartres StreetNew Orleans |
The Historic New Orleans Collection (THNOC) is a special place in New Orleans. It's like a museum, a library for researchers, and a book publisher all in one! Its main goal is to learn about and protect the amazing history and culture of New Orleans and the nearby Gulf South area. You can find it right in the famous French Quarter.
This important place was started in 1966. A couple named General and Mrs. L. Kemper Williams created it. They wanted to make sure their huge collection of items about Louisiana history stayed together. They also wanted everyone to be able to see and learn from it.
THNOC has a museum with different galleries. These include the Williams Gallery and the Louisiana History Galleries. There's also the Williams Residence, which is a house museum. The Williams Research Center opened in 1996. It lets people study the collection's many items. These include about 35,000 library books and over 350,000 photos, drawings, paintings, and other cool artifacts.
The museum often has new exhibits. These shows cover many topics about the Gulf South. They explore the people and events that shaped the region. Past exhibits have covered the Battle of New Orleans and the history of New Orleans food. They have also shown how the city recovered after Hurricane Katrina. Many of these exhibits are free to visit.
Contents
How The Collection Started
In 1938, General Lewis Kemper Williams and his wife, Leila Hardie Moore Williams, bought two buildings in the French Quarter. General Williams was a veteran and a businessman. Their new home was a late 19th-century house. It was next to the Merieult House on Royal Street. For 17 years, they lived there and gathered a huge collection of important Louisiana items.
After Leila passed away in 1966 and Kemper in 1971, a special foundation was set up. This foundation, named after them, created The Historic New Orleans Collection. It made sure their amazing collection would be shared with everyone.
Exploring the Museum Buildings
The Merieult House: A Historic Entrance
The Merieult House at 533 Royal Street is the main entrance to The Historic New Orleans Collection. This building is very old, dating back to the 1700s. People have used this land since the early 1720s! The house is so important that it's listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Today, the second floor has the Louisiana History Galleries. The first floor holds the museum shop and the Williams Gallery. This gallery features changing exhibits about Louisiana's past.
The Williams Residence: A Step Back in Time
The Williams Residence was built in 1889. It's a two-story brick house with galleries. It looks like an Italianate style home. This house is now a historic house museum. The property's history goes back to 1792. That's when Jean François Merieult bought the land. He later added a warehouse. The residence is surrounded by three courtyards. It's often called a "hidden house." Inside, the furniture and decorations look just as they did when the Williams family lived there in the 1940s and 1950s. You can take tours of the house every day.
Other Important Buildings
The Counting House: Where Business Happened
The Counting House gets its name from the banking activities that took place there in the 1800s. Jean François Merieult built it as a warehouse between 1794 and 1795. Today, the first floor is used for offices, meetings, and sometimes extra exhibition space.
The Maisonette: Staff Offices and History
Across the courtyard from the Counting House is the Maisonette. This three-story building runs along the Toulouse Street side of THNOC. It was built over an older structure from the 1790s. The Maisonette now holds staff offices.
The Townhouse: A Reclaimed Property
This two-story brick building is from the late 1800s. It was once used as a banking house. Leila Moore Williams bought it in 1947. She sold it in 1965. But in 1980, the Williams Foundation bought it back. So, it became part of The Collection again.
The Louis Adam House: Surviving Fires
Louis Adam built this house in 1788. It was after the first big New Orleans fire destroyed an earlier building. This house seems to have survived the second big fire in 1794. In the 1930s, people could rent rooms there. For a short time, a young writer named Tennessee Williams lived in it. The house was restored to its original Spanish Colonial style in the 1970s.
The Creole Cottage: Digging Up the Past
The double cottage on Toulouse Street was bought by The Collection in 1990. In the summer of 1991, archaeologists dug there. They found clues about all the buildings that stood on the site before the current house. They found signs of French barracks from the 1720s. They also found a building that burned in the 1788 fire. There was evidence of a home from 1790 to 1820. And they found items related to the current cottage, which was built around 1830.
The Williams Research Center: A Hub for Learning
The Williams Research Center building was built in 1915. It has a grand Beaux Arts style. It used to be a criminal court and police station. After a lot of restoration work, it opened as the Williams Research Center in January 1996. Here, the public can use a reading room to access The Collection's rare and important items. An annex building opened in 2007. It was the first new building in the French Quarter since Hurricane Katrina.
Special Collections to Explore
The Historic New Orleans Collection has many maps, photos, and documents about New Orleans. It also has several very special collections.
The Tennessee Williams Collection
In 2001, THNOC got the largest private collection of items about Tennessee Williams. He was a famous American playwright. This collection includes many handwritten and typed copies of his plays. These include A Streetcar Named Desire and The Glass Menagerie. There are also playbills, signed first editions of his works, and letters. You can find books about him, translations of his plays, and photos of him with friends. Some rare items include notes from the filming of The Rose Tattoo. There's also an opera version of Summer and Smoke. The collection even has notes from the director of the film Baby Doll.
THNOC also publishes the Tennessee Williams Annual Review. This is the only regular magazine just about Tennessee Williams's work. You can read it in print or online.
The William Russell Jazz Collection
The William Russell Jazz Collection is a huge collection of jazz items. It has musical instruments, records, sheet music, photos, and books. It shows how jazz grew in New Orleans. It also follows how musicians moved to places like New York City and Chicago. The collection includes Mr. Russell's research notes, audio tapes, posters, and letters. It has many items about musicians like Manuel "Fess" Manetta, Bunk Johnson, and Jelly Roll Morton. You can also find materials on brass bands, ragtime, and gospel music.
The William C. Cook War of 1812 in the South Collection
This collection focuses on the War of 1812 in the Southern United States. It especially covers the Creek War and the Battle of New Orleans. Major General Andrew Jackson, who led the military during these events, is well represented. The collection also has important U.S. Army and militia documents. It includes materials about the role of southern Indian tribes. There are also manuscripts from the British side.
The Clarence John Laughlin Collection
THNOC also has a large collection from Clarence John Laughlin. He was a photographer. This collection includes film negatives, photos, and prints. They cover the years from the 1930s to the 1980s. The collection shows Laughlin's life and work in New Orleans and around the world.
Germans in New Orleans Collection
The Williams Research Center has many items about German settlers in New Orleans. It covers their organizations, music, businesses, and rural communities. The collection includes prints, photos, postcards, and maps. The J. Hanno Deiler Papers have handwritten drafts of a historian's books and speeches. They also include family trees of Louisiana-German families.
The Sugar Bowl Archives
Before 2007, the Sugar Bowl kept its historical records at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. But the Superdome was damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Even though the records were safe, the Sugar Bowl decided they needed a better home. So, they gave the materials to The Historic New Orleans Collection.
See also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Orleans Parish, Louisiana
- History of New Orleans
- French Quarter
- List of historical societies in Louisiana
