Upcoming Programming Explores Free People of Color in New Orlean

Exhibition, book, symposium and concert celebrate largest free-colored community

 This month, The Historic New Orleans Collection begins a series of programs examining free people of color and their legacy in New Orleans. Historically, free people of color, or gens de couleur libres, were people of African and often mixed Afro-European descent who had either been born into freedom or gained their liberty through other means. Before the Civil War, communities of free people of color flourished in several American cities, including Baltimore and Charleston, but New Orleans was home to the largest such population in the nation. In 1810, free people of color represented 29 percent of the city’s population.

From the city’s founding in 1718 to its sale to the United States in 1803, free people of color were often considered a third caste, one whose legal and social status placed them in a complicated position between the enslaved and free white populations. Like whites, they could own property, enter legal contracts, study and teach, work in many capacities and even amass personal wealth. Yet they were restricted in where they were allowed to live and travel and were required to show deference to former masters. As the 19th century progressed, bureaucratic measures threatened and ultimately limited the community’s rights.
After the Civil War, the world permanently changed for New Orleans’s free people of color. Although in theory freedom brought opportunities, in practice, Reconstruction eroded the community’s standing. Those who were once set apart by their economic, cultural and even civic participation found themselves categorized with former slaves as “black,” their pre-war contributions brushed aside.
With an exhibition, book, symposium and concert, The Collection strives to bring to the light the history of free people of color and how its members dealt with issues of race, class and ethnicity.

Programming Details

Exhibition
“In Search of Julien Hudson: Free Artist of Color in Pre–Civil War New Orleans”
January 20–April 20, 2011
533 Royal St.
Gallery Hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 9:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.; Sunday, 10:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
Opening Reception: Friday, February 4, 2011, 6–8 p.m.
Free and open to the public.

Julien Hudson, one of the earliest documented free artists of color in American art history, was born into freedom in 1811. The son of a free woman of color and a white English merchant, he began studying art as a boy in his native New Orleans, and later studied with skilled master Alexandre-Denis Abel de Pujol in Paris. Although his untimely death at age 33 limited his body of work, its significance fuels this traveling exhibition.
Organized by The Historic New Orleans Collection and Worcester Art Museum, this display marks the first time Hudson’s complete catalogue has been displayed. Accompanying his works are pieces by Hudson’s European and American instructors, colleagues and competitors, including examples by other free artists of color—who, like Hudson, made indelible impressions upon the art and history of New Orleans.
Following its run in New Orleans, “In Search of Julien Hudson: Free Artist of Color in Pre–Civil War New Orleans” will travel to the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, S.C., and then to the Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts. The exhibition is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, and initial research support for the project was provided by a grant from the Terra Foundation for American Art. Related programming is made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Arts as part of American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius.


Fourth Installment in the Louisiana Artists Biography Series
In Search of Julien Hudson: Free Artist of Color in Pre–Civil War New Orleans
With essays by William Keyse Rudolph and Patricia Brady
Edited and with an introduction by Erin Greenwald
Published by The Historic New Orleans Collection 2010
Hardcover • 116 pages • 60+ color illustrations • $35

In Search of Julien Hudson: Free Artist of Color in Pre–Civil War New Orleans, the fourth installment in The Historic New Orleans Collection’s Louisiana Artists Biography Series, is the most thorough examination to date of Julien Hudson and his world. Carefully researched and written by art historian William Keyse Rudolph and historian Patricia Brady, this lavishly illustrated work captures the artist’s alluring, frustrating and poignant story.


Sixteenth Annual Williams Research Center Symposium
“Identity, History, Legacy: Free People of Color in Louisiana”
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Registration: 8–8:30 a.m.; Sessions: 8:45 a.m.–4 p.m.
Omni Royal Orleans Hotel, 621 St. Louis St.
Registration is required and is now open. Visit www.hnoc.org or call (504) 523-4662 for more information.

The Collection’s sixteenth annual Williams Research Center Symposium, “Identity, History, Legacy: Free People of Color in Louisiana,” will delve further into the subject with speakers from around the country discussing such topics as paths to freedom, fashion as a symbol of status, the free-colored militia and more. A full schedule of talks is available at www.hnoc.org/programs/symposia.html.
This project has been made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts as part of American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius. Additional support is provided by ClearBridge Advisors, a Legg Mason Company; Villere & Co.; Associated Office Systems; LaPorte Sehrt Romig and Hand, Certified Public Accountants; Antoine’s Restaurant; Omni Royal Orleans; and Premium Parking.


Fifth Annual Concert with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra
“Identity, History, Legacy: La Société Philharmonique”
St. Louis Cathedral, Jackson Square
Thursday, February 10, 2011, 7:30 p.m.
Free and open to the public. No registration is necessary.

The Collection’s annual free concert with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, “Musical Louisiana: America’s Cultural Heritage,” will this year feature music once performed by a mid-19th century orchestra composed of free men of color. “Identity, History, Legacy: La Société Philharmonique,” the fifth installment, will include Gioachino Rossini’s Overture to Semiramide and Jean-Delphin Alard’s La Traviata, Fantasy for Violin and Piano, op.38, amongst other pieces, under the direction of guest conductor Thomas Wilkins. Featured performers include Walter Harris Jr., speaker; Kisma Jordan, soprano; Joseph Meyer, violin; Jean-Baptiste Monnot, organ/piano; and Phumzile Sojola, tenor.
This project has been made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts as part of American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius with additional support from the Hotel Monteleone.

*HNOC Press Release