Williams Research Center

I. WHERE CAN I RESEARCH MY PROPERTY’S HISTORY?
A. If the property is in the French Quarter the «HNOC» Historic New Orleans Collection’s subsidiary, the Williams Research Center «WRC», has the most complete records. Go online to glean sources: (
)
B. If outside the Quarter go to the NO Public Library’s property site:(
)
II. WHERE CAN I RESEARCH MY CREOLE GENEALOGY?
A. NO Public Library’s site will give you basic birth and death records.
B. WRC has more arcane information:
i. Archdiocesan Records of religious rites
ii. Civil War soldiers’ records
iii. French, British, Cuban and Spanish «in-​country» directories of emigration (unfortunately you Romans and Prussians were too upheaveled!)
iv. Cemetery Plot chronicles and marble photos if available
v. Municipal Recorda, etc.
III. HNOC IS THE PRIMARY ARCHIVE OF NEW ORLEANS CULTURE
A. What you should know:
i. WRC library is by appointment (504) 598‑7171
ii. It’s not a lending library, research only; but you can make copies
iii. Go online (
) to view the card catalog of all items
iv. Holdings are primarily documents. However, it works collegially with local museums and repositories. Ask the WRC Library desk for the location of all pertinent resources.

Went to the «Purchased Lives» exhibit on the history of slavery in New Orleans.
Really great, well done, highly informative and an educational exhibit.
We drove out to the Laura Plantation the following day, and I am SO glad we went to the Williams Center for this exhibit first.
Lovely building. Great air conditioning. Great handout. Did I mention it was FREE?
One of the most informative, moving and humbling historic exhibits we’ve ever seen.
A+++++++

**NERD ALERT**
I’m kind of in love with the New Orleans Historic Collection’s brick + mortar research center. I say brick + mortar, because I’ve been stalking the Historic Collections… collection online for a while now scoping different buildings in the Quarter for Then/​Now and historical information. This current project I’m considering required pictures of Dryades Street, now Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.
This was my first time in the Research Center… Everyone was incredibly pleasant, from the second I met the receptionist when I walked in (to the wrong building next door, woops) to the individuals, like Matt, who walked me through the entire process of checking in and looking at files both from their library and on the computer.
Patience and not being an elephant are two virtues of visiting this space. They have an exhibit if you’re just looking to check out the current collection they’re showing. Right now it’s «Purchased Lives: New Orleans and the Domestic Slave Trade, 1808 – 1865.»
Matt walked me through the process that is the Research Room and requesting different material. He answered all my questions, and showed me what forms I needed to fill out for specific requests. My eenie weenie critique is that the computers aren’t as fast as I am, but again, you can access the directories at home if you want. The research room itself is pretty cool with two nifty spiral staircases and a lot of light if you’re ever looking to carefully thumb through some epherma or photos.
Thank you to the staff being so incredibly pleasant, and I hope that I can share some of the photos I found with the rest of New Orleans!

This place is amazing and so is the staff. Check out Vivien Leigh’s photo albums from Streetcar Named Desire! There is enough awesomeness in this place to keep you busy for a lifetime!

I could spend hours in this place looking up the history of buildings just for the fun of it. If you gig the archivists an address, they can point you in the direction of the records they’ve collected about it. When I opened my business in the french quarter I went in and found out who had owned the property for almost it’s entire history and how the location had been used. It was impressive and the archivists were really very kind and helpful.

I recently had the opportunity to visit the Williams Research Center for two exhibitions and tours and it was awesome. The facilities are wonderful and have a fascinating permanent collection of art, manuscripts, etc. This center has a whole library of Louisiana artifacts, how awesome is that! Within the last couple months they have done a great job of creating exciting exhibitions such as the current one Drawn for life for the Tennessee Williams Centennial. Definitely check out this center. The lady at the front desk is BEYOND sweet.
Parking: Park two blocks up at premium lot and make a day of it in the area!

I just took a class from an archivist at the Williams Research Center (part of the New Orleans Historic Collection) and was able to enjoy this specialty library. Their collection of artwork is lovely as is the facility. The staff is accommodating and helpful. And as Jude F said the collection really is something special. Yes, the university libraries around town all have Louisiana collections, but the WRC is the only one located in the FQ and that makes it unique.

I spent a total of about 16 hours in the reading room at the Williams Center during my last trip to New Orleans. The employees at the Center teased me about coming 3000 miles to sit in the library, but I was captivated, especially by the Vieux Carre Survey books. Picture a huge collection of those 3″ three-​ring binders full of documents, photos, and articles about *every single building* in the French Quarter. For a history and architecture geek like me, indescribably fascinating. The folks there were very helpful and patient, and either knew the answers (or where to find out the answers) to the most ridiculous, obscure questions I had. Not for everyone, certainly, but if you’d like to know who has owned that quiet place with the lovely courtyard going back 250 years, this is the place to come. They need to buzz you in, so ring the bell when you arrive. The reading room is upstairs, and you’ll need to leave all your extraneous stuff in a locker downstairs. Also, like many rare book rooms, pencils only (no pens) are allowed, but you can bring your laptop if you like and they even have power outlets available.