Street cred in a shed
Ronald W. Lewis, a retired streetcar worker and lifelong resident of the Lower Ninth Ward, has turned his backyard into what is perhaps New Orleans’ most eccentric museum. And in this city, which features a Voodoo museum, a haunted pharmacy museum, and the Museum of the American Cocktail, that’s saying something.
Mr. Ronald, as he’s known, is also president of the Big Nine Social Aid & Pleasure Club, the former council chief of the Mardi Gras Indian tribe of Choctaw Hunters, and the former king of Krewe de Vieux. These benevolent societies were uniquely founded in New Orleans in the 1800s by different ethnic groups to help dues-paying members defray health-care costs, funeral expenses, and financial hardship. They also fostered a sense of unity in the community, performed charitable works, and hosted social events and parades.
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Address 1317 Tupelo Street, New Orleans, LA 70117, +1 504.957.2678, www.houseofdanceandfeathers.org | Hours Visits by appointment only| Tip The nearby Lower Ninth Ward Living Museum (1235 Deslonde St), features illuminating exhibits that detail the neighborhood’s history of social activism, from when the Lower Ninth was an enclave of former slaves, through desegregation, and up to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.
Mardi Gras Indians work an entire year on their elaborate outfits of feathers with West-African beading to wear them on only two occasions: Mardi Gras and St. Joseph’s Day. A suit can cost thousands of dollars and weigh upwards of 100 pounds. One day, while Mr. Ronald was working on his costumes, his wife, Minnie, came home to find feathers, beads, and memorabilia strewn all over the house. “I can’t take this anymore!” she announced. So he took all his “stuff” out back to a shed. Kids in the neighborhood started calling it a museum and Mr. Ronald christened his outbuilding the House of Dance & Feathers, his personal tribute to the New Orleans parade culture and Mardi Gras Indians.
The museum officially opened in 2003, only to be flooded by Katrina two years later and rebuilt through Mr. Ronald’s resolve. Call ahead to schedule a time to meet with him. He is as much (or more) the reason to visit as all of his masks, suits, figures, books, photographs, and other quirky curios. As posted on his shed and website, “Come in a stranger, leave a friend!”
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