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THNOC, LHA Announce 2012 Williams Prize Winner
On March 22, at the annual _ meeting of the »
Louisiana Historical Association (LHA) in Alexandria, The Historic New Orleans Collection ’	. ^ "*'
and the LHA announced ‘
Lawrence N. Powell’s The Accidental City:
Improvising New Orleans (Harvard University Press,
2012) as the winner of the 2012 Kemper and Leila Williams Prize in Louisiana History.
In The Accidental City, Powell—an emeritus faculty member in Tulane University’s history department and former director of the university’s New Orleans Center for the Gulf South—examines the full sweep of early New Orleans history, from its founding in 1718 through Louisiana statehood in 1812. Powell’s light and swift prose takes the reader through the Crescent City’s evolution from a French village, to an African market town, to a Spanish fortress, and finally to an Anglo-American center of trade and commerce. Along the way, there are land-jobbing schemes, stock market crashes, and nonstop squabbles over status, power, and position, with enough rogues, smugglers, and self-fashioners to fill a picaresque novel.
The prize panel commended the work, saying it “offers unprecedented insight into the emergence of the most curious city in America. The impressive research supporting the author’s arguments is matched by his masterful prose. It is a book certain to educate as much as it entertains!”
The Kemper and Leila Williams Prize, named for the founders of The Historic New Orleans Collection, is offered annually by THNOC and the LHA. Since its inception in 1974, the prize has recognized excellence in research and writing on Louisiana history. Recipients receive a cash award of $1,500.
A list of past Williams Prize recipients and the application information for next year’s prize are available at www.hnoc.org/programs/ williams-prize.php. The Accidental City is available for purchase at The Shop at The Collection, 533 Royal Street, and online at www.hnoc.org.
Concerts in the Courtyard Series
THNOC’s spring concert series closes out with cellist Helen Gillet. Praline Pecan Liqueur cocktails will be provided by Sazerac. Sponsored by Associated Office Systems.
Friday, June 21 533 Royal St.
6—8 p.m. (Doors open at 5:30 p.m.)
Admission: $10 or free forTHNOC members (includes three complimentary cocktails)
Summer Book Festival
The Collection’s Counting House will turn into a booklover’s paradise as regional publishers show off their latest titles.
Saturday, June 22 533 Royal St.
Noon-3:30 p.m.
Admission: Free
The Upstairs Lounge Fire Memorial
In 1973, 32 people at the Upstairs Lounge, a French Quarter gay bar, were killed in a hate-motivated arson attack. Artist Skylar Fein, whose Remember the Upstairs Lounge was recently installed at the New Orleans Museum of Art, and historian Clayton Delery will each give a lecture about the tragic event. A jazz funeral from the WRC to the site of the lounge will follow.
Monday, June 24
Williams Research Center, 410 Chartres St.
3	p.m.
Admission: Free
Pipe Dreams Opening Reception
The Collection will celebrate the opening of its newest exhibition, Pipe Dreams: Louisiana under the French Company of the Indies, 1717—1731. Wednesday, June 26 533 Royal St.
6:30-8 p.m., (private viewing forTHNOC members, 5:30-6:30 p.m.) Admission: Free
Francisco Bouligny Lecture
The Fountains of Bimini
The Spanish baroque ensemble La Folia will give a concert of works from the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, hearkening back to the age of European exploration and colonization. Sponsored by the Spanish Ministry of Culture. Seating is limited; for reservations, call (504) 523-4662.
Thursday, July 11
Williams Research Center, 410 Chartres St.
6:30 p.m.
Admission: Free
Cartography and Natural History
This map exhibition explores how cartography and its representation of the natural world has evolved over the past three centuries.
On view through August 4
Williams Research Center, 410 Chartres St.
Tuesday—Saturday, 9:30 a.m.—4:30 p.m.
Admission: Free
The Historic New Orleans Collection Quarterly 11
ON THE CALENDAR