Social Aid & Pleasure Club Narratives
Told in the voices of the interviewees themselves, new narratives shed light on the lineages of parading organizations and the neighborhood traditions and practices of second-line parades.
These narratives were compiled from interviews conducted by the Neighborhood Story Project, a collaborative ethnography organization in partnership with the University of New Orleans, for the Historic New Orleans Collection. The interviews were conducted in connection to HNOC's 2021 exhibition Dancing In The Streets: Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs of New Orleans and included more than 30 club founders, presidents, and longtime members of Black social aid and pleasure clubs and benevolent associations.
Cultural anthropologist Rachel Breunlin worked with the interviewees to develop the narratives and select accompanying images from photographers throughout the city that are important to the organizations.
Told in the voices of the interviewees themselves, these stories shed new light on the lineages of parading organizations and the neighborhood traditions and practices of second-line parades.
Club Narratives
Related Stories
North Side Skull and Bone Gang: “You Next!”
Bruce Sunpie Barnes, big chief of the North Side Skull and Bone Gang, describes a Mardi Gras Black masking tradition.
From the Streets to the Fairgrounds
From the beginning, Jazz Fest sought to showcase culture bearers like Mardi Gras Indians and Black parading clubs alongside musicians.
Music Makers
We talked to HNOC Visitor Services Assistant Douane Waples about what it’s like to play in a New Orleans brass band.
Remembering DJ Action Jackson
New Orleans’s “ambassador to the second line” leaves a lasting legacy.
Related Exhibitions
Dancing in the Streets: Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs of New Orleans
The history, artistry, and power of the Black parading tradition
Related Books
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
