Home to an incredible wealth of artifacts about the city and its history, the Historic New Orleans Collection offers research materials and exhibitions free of charge from its location in the French Quarter. Since its founding in 1966, this vital historical and cultural resource for the city has educated countless visitors and residents with their public research collections, exhibitions, and many more resources.
Daniel Hammer began working at The Historic New Orleans Collection 19 years ago, focusing on data entry and a database project. Thanks to his fluency in German, Hammer also worked on the collection’s German language materials. In addition, he helped researchers in the reading room, as THNOC opens its collections to the public for research purposes.
In 2014, Hammer began work as deputy director, later becoming president and CEO in 2019. Hammer was recently awarded the rank of Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture to recognize his work documenting and preserving French culture in Louisiana.
Avenue spoke with Hammer about the exciting plans for the museum’s future, including an ongoing renovation and expansion to serve even more community members.
“In the future, we want to see New Orleans as the country’s premier museum city,” said Hammer. The museum is leading the way to make this possible. New Orleans is home to many museum assets, both major and neighborhood-sized. However, the French Quarter is the missing piece. With 15 to 20 million visitors a year, it is a critical space for making New Orleans a premier museum city in the United States.
With this major focus in mind, the team at THNOC has done a lot of work to make this a reality. As part of their expansions over the past decade, they are now renovating buildings on Royal street. By expanding and working with other museums in the French Quarter area, they hope to attract over one million visitors to the city’s museums per year.
In addition to visitors, these downtown museums are also spaces for students to come for field trips, families to visit for education and leisure, and companies to host stakeholders. They aim to serve visitors and residents equally.
“Everything we do is for the benefit of the community,” said Hammer.
The Historic New Orleans Collection includes 15 properties throughout the city, including the seven connected buildings on Royal Street. THNOC’s recent acquisition at 416 Chartres, the former K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen, provides a space right next to THNOC’s Williams Research Center. This will permit the organization’s 150 employees to have workspaces in the new building, freeing up all of its Royal Street locations for museum use.
Due in part to the effects of the coronavirus, the museum has also expanded its digital catalog of materials significantly. Thousands of historically significant images, audio, and video content are available in a searchable online catalog. Browse images documenting everyday life in the city across many decades in the fascinating photograph collections. Explore the fine arts collections to learn more about the many artists and craftsmen associated with New Orleans, or check out the map collection to see how the city has changed (and in some cases remained the same) over the centuries.
Continuing to build diverse, dynamic collections that capture the city’s history from multiple viewpoints is another mission of Hammer and his team. Preserving New Orleans’ history for current and future generations is a key goal at THNOC, and they work tirelessly to create world-class museum experiences for visitors and residents alike.
Get Involved
As Hammer explained, community partnership is key to HNOC’s success. A membership program is available to the general public at a range of levels, from $45 to $5,000. Business sponsorships offer a crucial level of support as well. In addition to member support, the museum also relies on people engaging with their activities. Drop by the museum or research center to learn something new about New Orleans history and culture.
“We want people to know that visiting THNOC is an important part of having an experience in the French Quarter. It’s a place where you can engage with the history and culture of the city, and what makes the city special,” said Hammer.
The Historic New Orleans Collection
520 Royal Street, New Orleans, LA 70130
hnoc.org
Open Tuesday to Saturday
9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Sunday 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Williams Research Center
410 Chartres Street, New Orleans, LA 70130
reference@hnoc.org
