The Presbytere’s new exhibit “Origins of New Orleans Black Carnival Society: The Story of the Illinois Clubs” will put the important social, cultural – and yes, Carnival – history it tells in front of a lot of tourists. But locals will benefit from the exhibit’s narrative as well.
“Our approach was, we know that many people in the city know of the name,” said Kelly Dorsey Parker, with Kim Vaz-Deville co-curators of the exhibit. “But they’re not educated or enlightened on the actual story, the backstory and the history. Some people will say, ‘Well, I figured it had something to do with the railroad because of the name,’ right? Okay, but let’s peel back the layers, and there are so many layers as far as the development, the how and the why it got started. How did Wiley Knight find himself here in New Orleans? How did he come to the realization that, ‘Wow, there’s a serious need to introduce young men and women of color to social etiquette and graces. How did he come to that realization and how did his mission start? That’s what this exhibit will tell.”
The stories of the Original Illinois Club, founded in 1895, and the Young Men Illinois Club, a 1926 offshoot, are told in the exhibit through text, images, video (transferred from home movies of 1960s-era balls), ball gowns and invitations and crowns and scepters. Even a tableau backdrop — portions of the 1968 Original Illinois Club ball set that recalled the French Opera House, somehow remarkably preserved. The exhibit will remain on view through Mardi Gras 2027.
Print and podcast coverage is here and here. Images, courtesy of the Louisiana State Museum and co-curator Parker, are below.
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