10 Black History Tours and Experiences in New Orleans

20.06.2024 - 16:51 / cntraveler.com

New Orleans is one of the most vibrant cities in the world—full of rich history, diverse heritage, and mouthwatering cuisine. And the city’s Black communities and cultures have long been a driving force in shaping New Orleans, which was founded in 1718, into the city we know today. Visitors who only hit Bourbon Street for a hurricane cocktail will largely miss out on the unique and memorable Black experiences that can deepen understanding and appreciation of the very pulse of New Orleans.

From the influence of West and Central Africans who were trafficked to the city through the transatlantic slave trade, to the influence of African Americans born and raised there more recently, there are many tours and experiences uplifting New Orleans’ African and African-American history and culture. From a Black ghost tour (which is incredibly rare to find, due to lack of detailed documentation around Black people in America’s antebellum), to a full day cooking experience centered around the many enslaved cooks that helped the city operate, these tours are sure to ground you in the richness of New Orleans through the city’s most exquisite treasure—her people.

Le Musée de f.p.c.

“Free people of color” (FPC) or gens de couleur libres, was once a legal designation in Louisiana for Black people who were free that included those who were born free and those who were manumitted before the Civil War. Archives show evidence of their presence in New Orleans starting in 1722, and although free Black communities existed all over the US, New Orleans had one of the largest, most economically empowered FPC populations. Le Musée de f.p.c. is one of America’s few attractions dedicated exclusively to preserving the material culture of, and telling the story of, free people of color. The stately home the exhibits sit in is full of historic documents, art, furniture, and photographs that chronicle the rich community of free people of color in New Orleans.

On this walking tour through the French Quarter, discover the haunted history of New Orleans through an Afrocentric lens. Scholars and High Priestesses of Louisiana Plantation Vodou, Malika Hadley Freydberg and Eshé Bleu, lead this tour through the French Quarter, highlighting the experiences of Black people, both enslaved and free. Their lives and deaths are shared through vivid storytelling based on years of archival research and stories passed down in the oral tradition. Each stop along the tour is a location where sightings of their ghosts have occurred throughout the years. From a tragedy at a hotel ballroom to the horrors of the LaLaurie mansion, this tour weaves the supernatural with the historical for a two hour long journey through time.

Join Hollis Burton, a former Mardi