Museum sights in New Orleans
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Southern Food & Beverage Museum
Sitting as it does in the commercial crassness of Riverwalk Mall, the Southern Food & Beverage Museum isn’t immediately appealing – from the outside it looks more like a gift shop than anything else. Don’t judge this book by that cover. There’s actually a pretty fascinating, well-executed exhibit behind the fronting shop that includes more information than you’ll probably ever need on the food staples and dishes of the South, and New Orleans and Louisiana in particular. The attached Museum of the American Cocktail isn’t much more than a small gallery hall, but admission is free with the food museum and, hey, how often do you get to see 19th-century ads for Sazer…
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Historic Voodoo Museum
Of the (many) voodoo museums in the French Quarter, this one is probably our favorite. The narrow corridors and dark rooms, stuffed with statues, dolls and paintings, are something approaching spooky, and the information placards, which seem to have been written by an anthropology dissertation student with too much time on their hands, are genuinely informative (if a little dry).
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Confederate Museum
Dedicated to presenting Louisiana life during the Civil War, this museum is housed in sturdy old Confederate Memorial Hall, designed by Thomas Sully. Opened to the public in 1891, it's the oldest operating museum in the state. Entering the hall, with its exposed cypress ceiling beams and exhibition cases, is worth the price of admission alone, and the exhibit itself is likely to exceed expectations.
The museum makes little effort to reinterpret history, or lament past sins. The closest thing to a point of view are a few harsh words (mostly quoting federal officials in Washington, DC) about General Benjamin 'Beast' Butler, the locally reviled head of the Union forces that …
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Cabildo
The former seat of government in colonial Louisiana now serves as the gateway to exploring the history of the state in general, and New Orleans in particular. It’s also a magnificent building in its own right; the elegant Cabildo marries elements of Spanish colonial architecture and French urban design better than most buildings in the city.
Exhibits range from Native American tools to wanted posters for escaped slaves to a gallery’s worth of paintings of stone-faced old New Orleanians. This was the site of the Louisiana Purchase ceremonies, the city council hall of New Orleans up until the 1850s and courtroom for Plessy v. Ferguson, the 1896 landmark US Supreme Court…
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House of Dance & Feathers
The Lower Ninth Ward was one of the neighborhoods hit hardest by Hurricane Katrina, and for many watching coverage of the Storm, ‘Lower Ninth’ became synonymous with destruction and disaster. But residents have a very different view of the neighborhood. Roland Lewis, a Ninth Ward native and former streetcar worker and union rep, showcases the heritage of his home in his actual home, which has been converted into the awesome House of Dance & Feathers. This museum-turned-community-center brims with exhibits on Mardi Gras Indians, Social Aide and Pleasure Clubs, and the basic gestalt of a unique American neighborhood. To get here you’ll need a car and you’ll need to call Lew…
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New Orleans Jazz National Historic Park
The headquarters of the Jazz National Historic Park has educational music programs on most days of the week. Many of the park rangers are musicians and knowledgeable lecturers, and their presentations discuss musical developments, cultural changes, regional styles, myths, legends and musical techniques in relation to the broad subject of jazz. A nearby ‘Jazz Walk of Fame’ ambles by lamp posts dedicated to jazz greats. You can also pick up a self-guided audio walking tour of jazz sites in the Quarter at this office – the tour can be downloaded as MP3s or listened to on your phone. At some point (there have been several delays so far), the center is supposed to relocate to …
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Old Us Mint
The Mint, housed in a somewhat blocky Greek-revival building, was the only one in the USA to have printed both US and Confederate currency. Its roof was badly damaged during Hurricane Katrina and the majority of displays housed here remained closed at the time of writing. There’s a small exhibition in the interior hall on the currency that has been printed here. When they’ve been reopened, the jazz exhibit is worth a visit to see dented horns, busted snare drums and homemade gut-stringed bass fiddles played by some of the Crescent City’s most cherished artists, and the Houma Arts exhibit is an impressive and often humorous collection of colorful wood carvings depicting me…
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Louisiana State Museum
The Louisiana State Museum operates several institutions across the state. The standouts here include the 1911 Cabildo, on the left of the cathedral, a Louisiana history museum located in the old city hall where Plessy vs Ferguson (which legalized segregation) was argued. The huge amount of exhibits inside can easily eat up half a day, the remainder of which can be spent in the Cabildo's sister building, on the right of the church, the 1813 Presbytère. Inside is an excellent Mardi Gras museum, with displays of costumes, parade floats and royal jewelry that explain the deep historical, even mystical, roots Mardi Gras has in New Orleans.
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Hula Mae’s Laundry
Cossimo Matassa’s J&M Music shop was the place where New Orleans musicians recorded some of the biggest R&B hits in the 1950s. It closed down years ago, but the site, now a busy Laundromat, preserves some fine musical heritage. The pebbly J&M sign is still inlaid on the front threshold; inside, one wall is dedicated to a photo-and-history exhibit. It was in this building that Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew established the ‘New Orleans Sound.’ Countless oldies but goodies, including Lloyd Price’s ‘Lawdy Miss Clawdy, ’ were recorded right there by that box of Tide.
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National World War II Museum
The extensive, heart-wrenching National World War II Museum should satisfy the historical curiosity of anyone who possesses even a passing interest in WWII. The museum presents an admirably nuanced and always thorough analysis of the biggest war of the 20th century. Of particular note is the D-Day exhibition, arguably the most in-depth of its type in the country. The oral history sections are fascinating and a gaggle of expansions that includes pavilions dedicated to every major campaign America participated in during the war are upcoming; some of this work is being directed by actor Tom Hanks.
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Presbytère
The lovely Presbytère building, designed in 1791 as a rectory for the St Louis Cathedral, serves as New Orleans’ Mardi Gras museum. You’ll find there’s more to the city’s most famous celebration than wanton debauchery – or, at least, discover the many levels of meaning behind the debauchery. There’s an encyclopedia’s worth of material on the krewes, secret societies, costumes and racial histories of the Mardi Gras tapestry, all intensely illuminating and easy to follow.
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Preservation Resource Center
For anyone with a special interest in the architecture of New Orleans, this is a great place to get a sense of the city’s historic neighborhoods. The display is modest, but you can still grab some of the dozens of pamphlets, free walking-tour maps and literature on virtually every part of town. Engaging staff provide information on everything from cycling routes to how to secure low-interest loans to buy and restore your dream shotgun house. Upstairs, a library contains volumes on local history and architecture.
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Backstreet Cultural Museum
This is the place to see one facet of this town's distinctive customs - its African American side - and how they're expressed in daily life. The term 'backstreet' refers to New Orleans' 'back o' town, ' or the poor black neighborhoods. If you have any interest in Mardi Gras Indian suits (African Americans who dress up in Carnival-esque Native American costume), second lines and the activities of social aid and pleasure clubs (the local black community version of civic associations), you need to stop by.
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Musée Conti Historical Wax Museum
This place sells itself as one of New Orleans’ ‘best kept secrets, ’ which is like saying po’boys are undiscovered culinary gems. It’s a wax museum that’s kitschy and entertaining in the way wax museums should be: local historical figures include Andrew Jackson, Huey Long, Louis Armstrong and Napoleon Bonaparte (caught in the bathtub for some reason), then Frankenstein’s monster (chained down, for your protection) and Swamp Thing (unchained!).
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Civil War Museum
This smallish space is still more of a collection of ‘things’ as opposed to a contemporary, interpretation-driven educational museum. The permanent exhibition includes the second-largest compilation of Confederate artifacts in the world, although the museum is to be commended for newer and temporary exhibits: the section on the Creole black regiments that fought for the Confederacy (many free blacks in New Orleans owned slaves) is particularly fascinating.
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Mckenna Museum of African American Art
The permanent exhibition at this beautiful little institution is the amassed collecting efforts of Dr Dwight McKenna. Although the displayed work comes from all over the African diaspora, most of it is created by local New Orleans artists. Temporary exhibitions tend to be the real standout; examples include photo-portrait essays on black intellectuals Romare Bearden, Ralph Ellison and Albert Murray.
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New Orleans Pharmacy Museum
This beautifully preserved shop was established in 1816 by Louis J Dufilho at a time when the pharmaceutical arts were, shall we say, in their infancy. The museum claims Dufilho was the nation’s first licensed pharmacist, although his practices would be suspect today (gold-coated pills for the wealthy; opium, alcohol and cannabis for those who needed to feel better for less money).
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Amistad Research Center
Part of Tulane University, the Amistad Research Center is one of the nation’s largest repositories of African American history. The rotating exhibits offer insight on ethnic heritage you’re not likely to get from any other source. The displayed works of art from the Aaron Douglas Collection are another reason to drop by.
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Historic New Orleans Collection
Ensconced in several exquisitely restored buildings, the Historic New Orleans Collection displays thoughtfully curated exhibits with an emphasis on archival materials, such as the original transfer documents of the Louisiana Purchase. It's one of the best quick introductions to the city's history on offer.
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Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World
The garish and good-fun Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World houses (and constructs) many of the greatest floats used in Mardi Gras parades. You can see them being built or on display any time of the year by popping by the facilities, located just behind the southern end of the Convention Center.
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New Orleans African American Museum of Art, Culture & History
The New Orleans African American Museum of Art, Culture & History exhibits local artists and hit-and-miss rotating displays in a tidy Creole cottage with terraced grounds.
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