NEW ORLEANS – Livery Tours, the largest luxury tour service in the Gulf Coast, has hired Graham Cooper as the company’s newest Creative Director and Lead Historian.
As Creative Director, Cooper will share the unique charm of New Orleans with visitors and locals alike through historically accurate and colorful tours of the city and surrounding areas. Along with French Quarter History, Plantation, and New Orleans Settlement tours, Cooper will offer custom tours based on clients’ specific interests such as jazz or culinary history. Cooper will encourage historical learning amongst tour guides and guests by setting up a neighborhood library of New Orleans historical information and arranging courses for knowledge sharing. Cooper’s knowledge and enthusiasm ensures that the history, passion and expertise promised by the Livery name will live on.
“I am excited to share my passion for New Orleans’ rich culture, heritage and history with our clients by giving them access to personally curated tours that focus on their own local fascinations,” Cooper said about his new position.
Cooper, a Louisiana native born in Baton Rouge, moved to New Orleans seven years ago and quickly fell in love with the city. Cooper earned a Bachelor of Arts in History at the University of New Orleans (UNO) in 2012. Inspired by his love for New Orleans' rich history and culture, Cooper returned to UNO, where he earned his Master of Arts in Public History in 2015.
Cooper's primary areas of academic research detail local issues on race and education, with period focuses on Union-occupied New Orleans and the 20th century Civil Rights era. Cooper also has professional experience working with The Louisiana State Museum as a research and graduate assistant at UNO.
Projects that Cooper has contributed to include New Orleans Historical, an online platform for discovering the city, and Freedom On The Move, a collaborative effort to compile and transcribe fugitive slave ads from Antebellum newspapers throughout the American South.
