History is an evolving story. Here at The Historic New Orleans Collection, we gather, research, and share artifacts from New Orleans’ many stories, weaving together the people, places, and events that connect us to the city. First Draft gives readers inside access to our vast institutional holdings and staff expertise in a fresh and dynamic way. Read the latest stories below, or scroll down to browse by theme.

December 9, 2019
By Eli A. Haddow, marketing associate

Though a local school is named for him, Isidore Newman's cultural contributions to New Orleans are much further reaching.




November 22, 2019
By Nick Weldon, associate editor

Already a fixture in the South, Reverend Benjamin Palmer gained national fame—he went viral, in an 1860 sense—just as Southern states were deciding how to respond to Lincoln’s election. 




November 15, 2019
By Mark Cave, senior curator

Here in New Orleans, the evolution of organized sports over the last 150 years has paralleled the fundamental transformations brought to the city after the Civil War.




November 8, 2019
By Emily Perkins, curatorial cataloger

Before he played Dr. Evil's son, Seth Green was a household figure in New Orleans for his role in a Rally's commercial that sparked a beloved Saints cheer.




November 1, 2019
By THNOC staff

THNOC staff members discuss four recent additions to the museum's holdings, each touching on arts and artists in New Orleans.




October 25, 2019
By Dylan Jordan, interpretation assistant

A pair of gruesome murders in the French Quarter, remembered as the “New Orleans Trunk Murders,” was one of the most violent crimes in 1920s New Orleans.




October 18, 2019
By Lissa Capo

New Orleans actor Sid Noel stepped into one of the most iconic local television roles when he created the mad scientist known as Morgus the Magnificent.




October 11, 2019
By Eli A. Haddow, marketing associate

In honor of THNOC's 2019 culinary symposium "Uncorked: A History of Wine in New Orleans," we're breaking out an old recipe from Lafcadio Hearn for Wine Jelly.




September 18, 2019
By Eli A. Haddow, marketing associate

A month ago, we wrote an article about THNOC’s acquisition of an iron pipe long buried beneath Bourbon Street. It quickly became the most popular story we have posted, so we thought our readers might enjoy hearing about another recently acquired piece of antiquated infrastructure—an original city water pipe made out of cypress wood. That’s right: wood.




September 13, 2019
By Nick Weldon, associate editor

In 1935, fried chicken history was made—not with a clever tweet or a sandwich war, but with one man, one bird, and a timer. That year, James “Buck” Fulford set a record when he killed, plucked, cooked, and ate a chicken all in one minute and 50 seconds. 






 

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