New Orleans Historical

Popping in to share one of our newest pieces on the Bridge City Gumbo Festival, celebrating it’s 50th anniversary this weekend!

Bridge City Gumbo Festival - A Celebration of Food and Community | New Orleans Historical For over fifty years, the Bridge City Gumbo Festival has served up a family-oriented and fun-filled weekend at the base of the Huey P. Long Bridge across from New Orleans on the Westbank of the Mississippi River. It began in 1967 as a small, local fair to benefit Holy Guardian Angels Catholic Church...

We've been a little quiet lately, and wanted to let you know why!

Now that New Orleans Historical is entering its second decade, we thought it was time for a redesign. The site will still have all of the stories you love, but will look and feel a little different. We also have some new content in the works for you, too! In the meantime, the website and app are up and running as usual.

Thanks to all of you for your interest and support, and stay tuned!

Last week we brought you the story of the Temple of the Innocent Blood. Today, learn more about the people in the Lower Ninth Ward who built a community nearby after the Temple's closure.

New Orleans Historical is a project of the Midlo Center for New Orleans Studies at the Of New Orleans.

Community and Placemaking in the Lower Ninth Ward - Stop 3 of 3 of Temple of the Innocent Blood tour | New Orleans Historical A hundred years ago, the area around the 2400 block of Lamanche Street was occupied by the Temple of the Innocent Blood, a spiritism church that was created and run by Mother Catherine Seals. From 1922 until her death in 1930, Mother Catherine maintained what has been described as a “Bethlehem” ...

At first glance, there is nothing marking the former site of the Temple of the Innocent Blood. However, the archaeological evidence under foot lets us piece together the story. Click through to learn more.

New Orleans Historical is a project of the Midlo Center for New Orleans Studies at the University of New Orleans.

Temple of the Innocent Blood - Part of The City Beneath the City: Archaeology of New Orleans tourStop 2 of 3 of Temple of the Innocent Blood tour | New Orleans Historical Today, nothing identifies the location in the Lower Ninth Ward where Mother Catherine Seals' “Temple of the Innocent Blood” once stood. This was true even before Hurricane Katrina devastated the area in 2005 when the nondescript block where it was located was home to an array of post-World War I...

New Orleans is layered with history. Click through to learn abut the many pasts of this now-vacant lot in Central City.

New Orleans Historical is a project of the Midlo Center for New Orleans Studies at the University of New Orleans.

Locust Grove Cemeteries No. 1 and 2 and Thomy Lafon School - Part of The City Beneath the City: Archaeology of New Orleans tour | New Orleans Historical Today the blocks bound by Magnolia, Seventh, Freret, and Sixth streets appear to be a vacant greenspace. However, for nearly a century, these two blocks housed the Thomy Lafon School complex. Originally built in 1906, the property operated as a school throughout the twentieth century until 2005, whe...

What can we learn from a privy full of goat skulls? Click through to find out from our latest published site.

New Orleans Historical is a project of the Midlo Center for New Orleans Studies at the University of New Orleans.

A Privy Full of Goat Skulls: The Archaeology of 936 St. Peter Street - Part of The City Beneath the City: Archaeology of New Orleans tour | New Orleans Historical In 2014, the University of New Orleans was invited to conduct archaeological testing at 936 St. Peter Street while the property was undergoing renovations. Below the surface layer, archaeologists discovered the opening of a privy shaft. The privy was brick-lined with a wood-lined base. The privy dep...

Our latest tour revises and adds to the history of excavations on the site of Charity Hospital Cemetery No. 2, which lies below present-day Canal Boulevard.

New Orleans Historical is a project of the Midlo Center for New Orleans Studies at the University of New Orleans.

Charity Hospital Cemetery No. 2 (Introduction) - Part of The City Beneath the City : Archaeology of New Orleans TourStop 1 of 3 on the Charity Hospital Cemetery No. 2 Tour | New Orleans Historical Nearly 50,000 burials lie beneath Canal Boulevard, originally Charity Hospital Cemetery No. 2. Nearly forgotten since Canal Boulevard's addition to the city's roadways in 1937, road crews rediscovered the cemetery when they added a south-bound lane to Canal Boulevard in the 1980s. They called Univer...

Click through to explore the archaeological history of Charity Hospital Cemetery #1, the current location of the Hurricane Katrina Memorial.

New Orleans Historical is a project of the Midlo Center for New Orleans Studies at the University of New Orleans.

Charity Hospital Cemetery No. 1 and Hurricane Katrina Memorial - Part of The City Beneath the City: Archaeology of New Orleans tour | New Orleans Historical Charity Hospital was an iconic institution in the history of New Orleans, and at the time of its closure in 2015, one of the longest lasting public institutions in the United States. Both Charity Hospital and its cemeteries are indelibly linked to the changed landscape of the city after Hurricane Ka...

We are excited to add a new story to our archaeology collection! Click through to learn more about what we can learn from the excavation of crucibles and the magical power they held in the imaginations of antebellum New Orleanians.

New Orleans Historical is a project of the Midlo Center for New Orleans Studies at the University of New Orleans.

Crucibles in the Antebellum Imagination - Part of the The City Beneath The City: Archaeology of New Orleans Tour | New Orleans Historical In 2017, Dr. D. Ryan Gray led students and volunteers from University of New Orleans to excavate a portion of a private residence in the French Quarter located at 626 Bourbon Street. The team excavated a series of test units and shovel tests in the historical footprint of the modern property’s bac...

On this Saint Patrick's Day, take a listen to this episode of the Streets on the Table podcast that talks about the history of Irish immigrants in New Orleans and how historians uncover the story of underrepresented people.

New Orleans Historical is a project of the Midlo Center for New Orleans Studies at the University of New Orleans.

Streets on the Table Episode 5: Charles McKenna | New Orleans Historical In 2019, the New Orleans City Council launched a city-wide effort to change the names of streets honoring white supremacists. While the city implemented its renaming efforts, a clear need for an educational component to give context to the changes presented itself. Filling the gap, public history gr...

This International Women's Day, browse through the following tour to learn about the women and girls who challenged racial segregation and fought for equality in New Orleans.

New Orleans Historical is a project of the Midlo Center for New Orleans Studies at the University of New Orleans.

Leona Tate: Integrating McDonogh 19 Elementary School - Stop 1 of 7 on the Ladies First tour | New Orleans Historical In the 1954 Supreme Court Case Brown v. Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that racial segregation in public schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment prohibiting states from denying equal protection of the laws to any person. (1) This court decision declared separate educa...

In 1887, a bicycle parade on Ash Wednesday extended the spectacle of Carnival season for one more day. Click below to learn more about the day.

New Orleans Historical is a project of the Midlo Center for New Orleans Studies at the University of New Orleans.

Carnival on Wheels 1887 - Stop 4 of 10 in the Shadow Steeds of the Crescent City tour | New Orleans Historical On the evening of February 23, 1887, a crowd lined St. Charles Avenue to witness a procession of lanterns floating like a swarm of fireflies through the darkened street. First came the bandwagon, pulled along by four horses led by the famous acrobat and vaudeville theater magnate Signor Faranta. Beh...