The Historic New Orleans Collection

The Historic New Orleans Collection (HNOC) is dedicated to the stewardship of the history and culture of New Orleans and the Gulf South.

The past is vast, memory fragile, and records incomplete. The Historic New Orleans Collection (HNOC) strives to expand our understanding of the past, present, and future through research, stories, objects, documents, and works of art. We share our passion for the meanings of history and culture so people from our diverse communities and beyond recognize their own experiences and relevance to their own lives. Through our respect for the traditions, culture, and history of all people, we welcome everyone in our quest to build an equitable and enlightened future.

The Historic New Orleans Collection is a museum, research center, and publisher dedicated to the study and preservation of the history and culture of New Orleans and the Gulf South region. General and Mrs. L. Kemper Williams, private collectors of Louisiana materials, established the institution in 1966 to keep their collection intact and available for research and exhibition to the public. Over the 60 years since its founding, HNOC has added to its holdings and augmented the physical structures that house them; established ambitious publishing and exhibition schedules; and developed innovative educational programs.

Named Museum of the Year in 2023 by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, HNOC produces exhibitions that explore Gulf South history from a variety of perspectives—civil rights leaders, makers and builders, early Louisianians, Carnival revelers, artists and musicians, and people affected by incarceration. We offer two permanent exhibitions, one on the history of the French Quarter and the other on coastal Louisiana and the environment.

HNOC’s publishing program began in 1983 and encompasses over 50 nonfiction titles; a scholarly journal, the Tennessee Williams Annual Review; a magazine, the Historic New Orleans Collection Quarterly; and our blog, First Draft.