Support for Louisiana.

The state we're in is provided by Entergy.

Louisiana is strengthening our power grid throughout the state.

We're reinforcing infrastructure to prepare for stronger storms, reduce outages, and respond quicker when you do need us.

Because together we power life.

Additional support provided by the Fred B and Ruth B Zigler Foundation and the Zigler Art Museum, located in Jennings City Hall.

The museum focuses on emerging Louisiana artists and is a historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana.

And the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting and viewers like you.

Thank you.

You know I. I. I. I I. Hello, everyone.

I'm Karen LeBlanc, and I'm Dorothea Wilson.

Our summer series continues as this week we take a look at some of the fantastic museums they have across the state.

We will kick things off in New Orleans with the iconic.

Could build a museum in the French Quarter.

It stands as an ambassador for Louisiana Art, culture and history and is one of the most photographed buildings in the state.

The museum attracts tourists from around the world, including dignitaries, former presidents and even royalty.

Take a look.

Musicians and tours mingle on a typical day in front of the Cabildo Museum, a popular attraction and gathering spot in the French quarters.

Jackson Square.

It's one of the most photographed buildings in Louisiana where New Orleans past and present, converge.

It's really one of the greatest objects.

It's not the greatest objects in our collection.

This is such an important edifice, not only in New Orleans history, but for the whole region.

Stephen MC Lansky is our tour guide as we walk these hallowed halls.

Retracing the footsteps of famous people and pivotal moments in history.

In 1803, this was a place where some of the transfer papers that sort of executed the Louisiana Purchase took place right here, right in this space.

And similarly, this was also once the home from Louisiana Supreme Court.

And in this very space is where the Plessy versus Ferguson case was, was adjudicated right here.

Over the years, the Cabildo has hosted many dignitaries and royals in recent history.

French President Emmanuel Macron and the King and Queen of Spain right out these windows.

For example, President Harrison, when he visited New Orleans, gave his hello to the adoring crowds below.

And similarly, general Lafayette, the Marquis de Lafayette, one of the great heroes of the American Revolution.

When he returned to the city on his Grand Tour in 1825, he also addressed and welcomed the crowds from those very tours.

The Cabildo gets its name from the Spanish word for council and dates back to 1795.

Built under Spanish rule, the Cabildo served as the center of New Orleans government before burning to the ground in 1788.

It was rebuilt and in 1908 became a Louisiana State Museum.

The Cabildo caught fire again in 1988, closing for renovations until 1994.

Today the building features three floors of exhibits.

The second floor focuses on Louisiana's history, including the Battle of New Orleans.

The ground floor is an homage to New Orleans, with memorabilia tied to Crescent City nostalgia.

And the third floor showcases limited run exhibits such as this retrospective by artist Hunt Slonim.

He's known for his signature bunny rabbit paintings.

I often say that the museum is a place where history and legacy intersect.

We're looking back, but we're also thinking about our future.

And one of the ways to do that is to analyze our present.

And since Hunt Slonim is such an important contemporary artist, those three parts fit together quite well.

More than two centuries later, the Cabildo attracts a crowd for its Spanish colonial architecture and French Quarter energy, standing next to its architectural twin, the presbyter, and alongside Saint Louis Cathedral.

Together they are a trio of National Historic Landmarks and enduring symbols of Louisiana.

From exploring the great outdoors at one of Louisiana state parks to beating the heat and one of the state's great museums or art exhibits.

Let's check out what's happening across Louisiana this week.

We're here at the Capital Park Museum in downtown Baton Rouge.

Just one of the neat places highlighting Louisiana's history and culture.

Joining me now is James Fox Smith, and he is the man of the hour.

Well, I hope I can live up to that.

I think you can now.

You are in the know of all of the happening events across the state.

And, you know, July gets really hot.

So let's keep it indoors.

Let's look at some museums.

We have a rich array of museums, all within easy striking distance.

Dorothea.

And you're right.

In summertime, it's super hot.

That middle of the day, you want to be inside a little bit?

Well, fortunately, there are some beautiful and culturally relevant real opportunities to do right that.

To begin with, let's go across the Lafayette.

Yeah, to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette campus, where the Hilliard Museum has an all year long exhibit called tides, Time, and Terrain.

Floyd, Sonia, and the Evolving Cultural Landscape.

Now, Floyd Sonia was a very well renowned, Acadiana artist.

Drew in pen and ink, mostly these beautiful scenes of everyday Acadiana life.

Okay.

And what the museum has done is it's collected a large amount of those works and then tied them together with works by 41 other Acadiana artists, both past and present, to really show the ways that Acadiana culture is transmitted through art and has evolved across time.

Let's go to my hometown city, New Orleans, Louisiana.

We only have there.

Yeah, yeah.

Okay, so August the 5th, this is one for your calendar.

It will be hot.

You will be hot.

Okay.

We will be wearing white, but this white linen night is the day when the entire arts district of the Warehouse District, a New Orleans phrase, opens its doors between the 306 hundred blocks of Julia Street.

Like 25 art galleries, had a huge open house street party.

Yeah.

In and out of the galleries, hundreds of artists on display, food and drinks available up and down, bands playing, thousands of people come out.

Everybody's dressed in their white linen.

It's a fabulous, fabulous opportunity to really see the arts at its most vibrant.

Now let's take it to the capital city.

What's going on here on in Baton Rouge?

Right across the river here, five minutes from where we're standing in downtown Baton Rouge.

Okay.

Is the West Baton Rouge Museum.

That's right there in downtown Port Allen.

And it's a beautiful and fascinating museum with some of the most vibrant programing in the state.

They have an exhibit called Creole Folk Tales at the West Baton Rouge Museum.

It's called Cont Creole.

Yeah, essentially there was a master's thesis written back in the 1930s when an LSU student went and chronicled and and recorded Louisiana Creoles telling folk tales in their own language.

And now artists from around the state have interpreted those stories in works of art that are all on display at the museum.

So it's a fascinating opportunity to see something.

And it's really literally five minutes from here.

And that was a look at what's happening this week.

We'll have James with us each week telling us about all of the beautiful culture and history and everything happening.

But if you want an exclusive look, you can visit his website at country Rose mag.com.

in Lafayette.

The Mason Freetown Museum is a beacon to the area's rich culture and history.

The museum focuses on historic Freetown neighborhood, and it educates visitors about the area's free people of color.

That's right.

And I took a tour to learn more about Freetown.

Mason.

Freetown serves as a cultural museum and African American heritage center situated in the nationally recognized historic Freetown neighborhood.

This community was established prior to the Civil War, and it has a lot of history.

It was the backside of what was Governor Alexander Mouton Plantation.

And a high population of enslaved Africans lived here.

So the Freetown stands for some of the free people of color and the emancipated enslaved that lived in this community.

Wow.

Well, I can't wait to get inside and see what's behind this door.

The property features an oak tree embodying centuries of splendor.

This majestic canopy covers Lafayette's historic Freetown neighborhood, which was once part of Louisiana Governor Alexander importance.

I'll compile sugar plantation.

A short stroll away is good.

Hope Hall, a place reserved for black patrons during the Jim Crow era.

Well, Louis Armstrong captivated audiences while white guests stood outside.

Museum curator Erika Fox says she chose to open the museum after relocating to California and returning to Lafayette, only to find a lack of diversity.

Every time I would come back, I was looking for places that showcase diversity showcase, and people of color, and I honestly wasn't seeing it.

And so for about 14 years, I had been poking and prodding some of our other nonprofits to get it started in our city government.

And everyone kind of just thought it was a good idea, but no one kind of movement pushed forward.

And so finally I said I could keep poking or I could be the solution.

Erica guided me through the museum to showcase what visitors could expect to see.

Visitors can explore Afro Creole art galleries, attend exhibitions on Louisiana's history, participate in literary events, and enjoy cooking demonstrations.

They can also delve into over 400 cataloged oral narratives of Louisiana residents preserved at the Library of Congress.

The center also serves as a repository for Louisiana culture, enabling guests to connect directly with local artisans and musicians.

I'd like to start with talking about the benevolence group True Friends Society of Lafayette.

This was an organization of neighbors that were helping each other from some very trying times.

They were established just after the Civil War, circa 1883 is the exact date when true friends came together and it was neighbors promoting support for everything from burials and funerals.

The true French society was founded in Freetown to protect its citizens of color from vigilante groups and attacks on black residents.

Mason Free Town's goal is to continue the century long mission of true friends, and to serve as a repository to document and preserve diverse histories and cultures.

So this is kind of our Mardi Gras room.

Many people think that there's only Mardi Gras Indians in New Orleans, but we also have a mardi Gras tradition, particularly in Freetown.

Some of the actual original members of True Friends were designers, seamstresses and maskers and the local Mardi Gras association.

And when they asked to be a part of the main organization, they were denied access because of their color.

So they began their own tradition, and it still exists to this day.

Next, we explored the Creole Legends Room, a space dedicated to honoring the icons of Creole music and culture.

So here we have our Creole Legends room, where we honor some of our Creole musicians of the area, like Buckwheat Zydeco and Clifton Chenier.

Buckwheat was instrumental in bringing zydeco or Creole music, also known as La La to the nation, to the world, really and truly.

And they all came from this area.

Many of the people in this community were farmers, agriculture unions.

And so at the end of the day, this was their way of kind of letting off some steam by playing the accordion or, you know, or the scrub board report that you see here.

So it's our way to continue telling the story of these everyday people doing some incredible things in the world.

Karen, it was a quaint little place.

And the museum, it hosts loads of events like concerts and cooking demonstrations that Louisiana has.

So many great museums, great summertime fun.

And you can learn more about Mason Freetown at its website.

May some freetown.org.

That's right.

Now Louisiana is known for its music in the small town of Faraday has a huge claim to musical fame.

The town of just 3000 people has an outsized reputation as the hometown of Jerry Lee Lewis and his cousins, Mickey Gilley and Jimmy Swaggart, the Delta music Museum is a featured stop on the famed Mississippi Blues Trail.

Check it out!

And every morning.

I wake up, look at blue y z. Eli is in his late 80s and still performs his signature Delta blues tunes that helped put Ferriday on the musical map in the 1950s, Y Z performed at Haney's Big House as the house band opening for Big-name acts traveling the Chitlin Trail, a performance circuit for black musicians.

We had the opportunity to be the opening act for God like B.B.

King, Lil Milton, Larry Boyd, so Big Joe Turner, God of James.

I'm honored to have had that privilege to be the opening act for such a big no man.

Today, Whitey is playing in an exhibit that pays homage to his legacy at the Delta music Museum and Arcade Theater in downtown Ferriday.

Hi, Karen.

Nice to see you.

Welcome to the Delta music Museum.

I think you're going to be really glad you came today.

This is a great little jewel that, houses a lot of musical history.

That all happened in this tiny little town.

You are in the old Faraday post office.

This old building was built in 1939 by the WPA.

And a local gentleman saved the building.

It was going to be torn down and donated it to the state of Louisiana.

The Secretary of State's Office for the State of Louisiana operates this museum.

And we're just very fortunate that, we get to honor, our three famous cousins that are from this town.

Of course, Reverend Jimmy Swaggart, one of the first televangelist, on television.

Mickey Gilley, urban cowboy, and, of course, the killer, Jerry Lee Lewis, all born in the year 1935, learned to play in the Pentecostal church, and everybody knew them around town.

There's, some other stuff I'd like to show you, too.

Here, I listen to the.

Let's take, let's take a walk.

During the 1950s, blues, gospel and country music in the Delta region converged in a musical mash up known as rockabilly.

The museum honors these genres and musicians with ties to Louisiana.

Faraday's claim to fame begins with the birth of Jerry Lee Lewis, a piano singer and songwriter nicknamed the killer, rock and roll's first great wild man.

He was a good Ole homegrown boy.

He always was introduced, and that was part of what he would tell everybody.

Jerry Lee Lewis from Verdi, Louisiana, that's what he always wanted, and he got it.

Sherry McMahon helped foster the museum in its infancy.

It's a tribute to her famous cousins Jerry Lee Lewis, Jimmy Swaggart and Mickey Gilley.

It was like a vortex.

Just met here.

And that was mama's hair.

He got pregnant with those babies.

That will never be anybody else like them in the world but Jerry Lee.

They'll never be another killer.

We do hope people will come and see all the exhibits here.

Of all the fabulous people.

Faraday is the unlikely wellspring of talent with local and regional ties.

Country singer Conway Twitty lived in nearby Tallulah.

An exhibit of his stage costumes, Awards and records stand alongside exhibits of living legend Irma Thomas.

Tributes to frogman Henry of New Orleans, who was the opening act for the Beatles and Louisiana Hayride radio star Johnny Horton.

The principal genres of music that went into making early rock n roll and rockabilly music were gospel, country music and rhythm and blues, and all of that was in abundance right here in the central part of the Mississippi Delta.

People latched on to it.

There was just something in the soil, as they say.

Delta Blues is at the core of Faraday's musical legacy, fostered by Janie's Big House, which put on Sunday night shows.

Mr. real Haney, we loved him.

I grew up about three blocks from his juke joint, and I would hear the music from Mr. Real hand is wafting in the window, and that's where Jerry Lee would sneak in.

This is our replica of the famous internationally famous paintings, big House.

It was the launching pad for the greatest musical artist of the day.

This was a place where people like Ray Charles, B.B.

King, Little Richard, they all played at Haney's big house because it was on what was known as the Chitlin Circuit, and both of the Blues came from slavery.

The way of life or slavery?

Not only in my point of view is to find a peace of mind.

Was you just sing and and hum.

It used me to promise is to hold on to something that belonged to me and belong to my race.

The old Arcade Theater stands next door to the museum, and on this day we find artist Grant the Molnar painting the murals of Faraday's musical roots.

The theater serves as a community gathering space for culture and arts events.

Admission is free and marketing is by word of mouth.

Yet somehow international tourists find their way to downtown Ferriday.

Many superfans of these celebrated musical greats.

What is it about Faraday that breeds all this homegrown talent, these musical greats?

I don't know, it.

Just something in the Delta.

It drifted into Verdi.

Up the river or down the river.

It just raised a whole lot of talent.

For.

So there's this long running joke at the museum that there must be something in the water in our day that turns out all of this world famous musical talent.

Oh, I want some of that water.

It's a jewel of a museum that I highly recommend it.

Yeah.

Now, speaking of other great places to visit, the great River Road Museum in Darrow confronts Louisiana's often challenging history head on.

The museum traces the history of estates and plantations along the River road from Baton Rouge to New Orleans.

Here's a look at the museum's vast collection.

Hummus House in Darrow, Louisiana, prospered as a largest sugarcane plantation in the south under the ownership of John Burnside, known as the Sugar Prince.

The estate doesn't sugarcoat how its fortunes were made, as well as those of its neighbors along the River road.

The narrative unfolds next door at the great River Road Museum.

We have about 20,000ft█ of exhibit space here, showing and focusing on the great River road, pretty much from New Orleans to Baton Rouge, and the rich soil on each side of the river created the greatest empires of the sugar sugar cane farmers.

And that sugar industry which built Louisiana.

My guide is Jim Blanchard, an artist and historian.

A large map of the River Rhodes Plantations puts the exhibit in context.

When you see a lot of these properties on here, you'll find out that a lot of them were actually owned by different races.

You have, you know, freed blacks who actually owned plantations and owned slaves and were part of society from the map.

You can walk through exhibits of photos and facts chronicling more than 600 homes along this stretch of the River road, most of which no longer exist.

What we try to do is do small bullets of information and timelines and information about who owned it, its chain of title, and things that happened in those areas.

The museum doesn't shy away from the historical fact that people owned people on the River road properties that prospered, growing sugar, indigo, tobacco and cotton.

The Africans and Louisiana exhibit shows all sides of the story we see right when we walk in a slave auction.

Yeah, the slave auctions were very popular at that time, mostly in New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

A lot of people don't realize that in Louisiana, an African could own property owned slaves and live in big plantation houses and crops, and they were part of society.

Here we have something that scares some people, but it's one of the grand wizards of the KKK.

His outfit, we were not going to show it because we thought it was a little too much.

But then we discovered that the Henry Ford Museum, the Smithsonian, and many others all have their own exhibit.

So we have it here to tell how bad of a story that was.

The museum traces Louisiana's origins from its earliest settlers, including the Thomas Indians, who once inhabited this site, to the death mask of Napoleon Bonaparte, the third who sold Louisiana to the United States.

Here we have three of the journals for the first explorers with the native Louisiana Indians, a vast collection of artifacts and relics from the Civil War and the South Succession are on loan from private collections.

These are the first time they've ever been shown.

This is the first time this flag has been unfurled and mounted to be seen.

It's quite a collection.

We have some artifacts here about the battles of New Orleans, the Civil War.

Throughout the museum, you'll find a cast of Louisiana characters, cast and wax.

From Civil War generals to infamous politicians.

These figures were all in the museum.

The wax museum in New Orleans.

The wax museum closed down and the building was repurposed.

So we acquired all the figures, and we've restored them and we putting them back in to tell the stories of Louisiana.

This is how history will remember Governor Edwin Edwards and his history will remember who we belong.

The governor lived right down the road right before he passed away.

He came here and spent the day with his wife and his son, and he posed with this.

And, it was just, it was quite a moment.

We paused to listen to a restored pipe organ.

The early theater organ was originally housed in the Lyric Theater in New Orleans, so one of their newest exhibits is the Pipe Collection, our new exhibit.

It's a local collector.

The collection is over 5000 pipes, ranging from, you know, 50 years ago to a thousand years ago, from Mardi Gras costumes to nostalgic items.

The museum also serves as a love letter to Louisiana.

It's funded by a federal Department of Transportation grant as part of the National Byways Program to introduce people to the roads in the bayous and rivers of Louisiana.

The owner of Homer's house put up a 20% match and donated the land to build the museum.

A lot of museums, when you go into them, you're almost you feel intimidated that they're so, oh, don't look at that.

Don't touch that.

Don't you know we don't want to be that way?

And.

The thing about the great River right Museum is they don't candy coat history.

In fact, some of the exhibits are quite graphic but accurate depictions of history.

So I can really appreciate that.

Absolutely.

That's important.

You want accuracy and such a rich history there.

And now to learn more.

Head to great River Road museum.org.

Well that is our show for this week.

Remember you can watch anything LPB any time wherever you are with our LPB app.

That's right.

And you can catch LPB news and public affairs shows as well as other Louisiana programs you've come to enjoy over the years.

And please like us on Facebook and Instagram for everyone that Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

I'm Karen LeBlanc and I'm Dorothea Wilson.

Until next time.

That's the state we're in.

All right.

Two down, two to go.

Here.

Yay!

Okay.

All right.

I'm pretty good at him.

So we have another.

So we're doing.

Do we have another interview with the I I.

Support for Louisiana.

The state we're in is provided by Entergy.

Louisiana is strengthening our power grid throughout the state.

We're reinforcing infrastructure to prepare for stronger storms, reduce outages, and respond quicker when you do need us.

Because together we power life.

Additional support provided by the Fred B and Ruth B Zigler Foundation and the Zigler Art Museum, located in Jennings City Hall.

The museum focuses on emerging Louisiana artists and is a historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana and by Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center.

Visit Baton Rouge and the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting and viewers like you.

Thank you.