NEW ORLEANS – On Feb. 27, The Historic New Orleans Collection opened the doors to its monumental exhibition “New Orleans, the Founding Era,” marking New Orleans’s tricentennial, at a special event held just outside of its flagship French Quarter location at 533 Royal St.
THNOC Executive Director Priscilla Lawrence welcomed attendees to the event, which included the following speakers: Mitch Landrieu, mayor of New Orleans; Vincent Sciama, consul general de France en Louisiane; Mark Romig, president and CEO of New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corp; Erin M. Greenwald, historian and curator of “New Orleans, the Founding Era;” and John M. Hairston, president and CEO of Hancock Holding Company, the lead exhibition sponsor.
“The Historic New Orleans Collection is one of the premier museums, research centers, and publishers in the Gulf South, and it is our privilege to present this milestone exhibition on this important anniversary,” said Lawrence in a press release about the opening.
“New Orleans, the Founding Era”—which includes a companion bilingual book published by THNOC—explores the complicated and often messy nature of New Orleans’s birth and the early years of the French settlement. Both the display and the book pay particular attention to the multiple perspectives of those living in and around the settlement, including the native populations who inhabited the land prior to France’s arrival and during its early years, enslaved Africans forcibly brought to the colony, and willing and unwilling European settlers.
In the display, 135 original objects are complemented by large-scale reproductions and digital interactive items. Dozens of items are on loan from organizations in Spain, France, Canada and around the United States, many of which rarely travel beyond their home institution.
“As a curator, having the support of these institutions, as well as access to the unparalleled knowledge of their staffs, has made this exhibition possible. We cannot thank them enough for entrusting their precious artifacts to The Historic New Orleans Collection,” said Greenwald, who started this exhibition during her tenure at THNOC and is now curator of programs at the New Orleans Museum of Art, in a press release about the opening.
The companion book—published by THNOC in both English and French—contains essays from eight scholars of the French Atlantic World describing the different populations who inhabited precolonial New Orleans and the surrounding areas, as well as the forces driving the settlement’s growth.
“The catalog, like the exhibition, is a scholarly marvel that reconstructs the early years of the city by examining the lives of those who were here,” said Sciama in a press release about the opening. “These stories compose a portrait of the fascinating and often harrowing experiences of those people who were present in the first few decades of the city’s existence. Together, the perspectives of these groups reveal the common story of the founding of this great city and underscore the lasting diversity that continues to make it a city like no other.”
“New Orleans, the Founding Era,” which is supported in part by Whitney Bank and Arnaud’s Restaurant, is on view at 533 Royal St. now through May 27. Admission is free, and the galleries are open to the public Tuesday–Saturday, 9:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m., and Sunday, 10:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Tours will be offered regularly at 11 a.m. for $5 per person, and a robust schedule of programming—including lectures, demonstrations, and a concert—are scheduled throughout the display’s run. More information is available at www.hnoc.org or by calling (504) 523-4662.
