The untold history of free people of color
Located in a Greek Revival–style house in Tremé, Le Musée de f.p.c. is a museum dedicated to black history, yet it is not a generalized African-American museum, and it only passingly has to do with slavery. Rather, the museum—one of the only institutions of its kind—is solely focused on sharing the largely unknown and fascinating tale of people of color who were born free or set free before the Civil War.
Founders Dr. Dwight and Beverly McKenna spent more than three decades collecting numerous documents, works of art, artifacts, and objects that together span 300 years of New Orleans history, dating back to 1708, when the first black Africans—two slaves named George and Marie—arrived in the city with Montreal Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, recognized as the “Father” of New Orleans.
Info
Address 2336 Esplanade Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70119, +1 504.914.5401, www.lemuseedefpc.com | Hours Sat and Sun noon–4:30pm or by appointment| Tip If you look up when entering Le Musée, you’ll notice that the ceilings of both the first- and second-floor porches (or galleries) are painted light blue. This is a tradition common throughout the South. “Haint blue” was supposedly intended to keep away “haints,” which are restless spirits of the dead who have not moved on.
Throughout the exhibition rooms are paintings, sculptures, and photographs by and about free people of color (f.p.c. for short)—including the lithographs of Jules Lion. Few remember Lion. He was the first African-American photographer, opening his daguerreotype studio in New Orleans in 1840, just a single year after the invention of the process. There is also ephemera such as an 1860 copy of the Dred Scott decision—from the landmark Supreme Court case—which stated that African Americans, whether free or enslaved, could not become U.S. citizens; and Les Cenelles, a 210-page book of poems, published in the 1840s, written by 17 free people of color.
The museum is filled with the stories of men and women from all walks of life—from tradesmen and laborers to doctors and scientists, such as the New Orleans-born chemical engineer Norbert Rillieux, who revolutionized sugar processing with his invention of a new kind of evaporator.
Le Musée offers guided tours, sponsors lectures and musical events, and on occasion presents historical reenactments with actors.
Back
To the online map