by Jessica Dorman, Director of Publications, The Historic New Orleans Collection

What a treat it was, earlier this fall, to welcome SIBA to The Historic New Orleans Collection—a chance to show off our history galleries and our history books. Last week, we were honored by another visitor: French President Emmanuel Macron, who toured our museum as part of his official state visit to the US. After viewing artifacts illustrating the historic ties between France and Louisiana—including a 17th- century manuscript establishing the French colony and diplomatic documents securing the Louisiana Purchase—President Macron met with Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards to discuss environmental and educational initiatives. History in the making, right here in our galleries

Our editorial team had a chance to hunker down with the French press corps that accompanied the president on his travels to Washington, DC, and Louisiana. We created a “book nook” as a gesture of cross-cultural friendship: a place for the journalists to relax, file their stories, browse our publications, and take home a souvenir. Among the titles that flew off the shelves were New Orleans: The Founding Era, a bilingual catalog published in 2018 on the occasion of our city’s 300th birthday; Richard Sexton’s luscious photographic survey of French Caribbean architecture, Creole World; and Afro-Creole Poetry in French from Louisiana’s Radical Civil War–Era Newspapers, familiar to SIBA audiences through our VIndie-award-winning poetry video. Several of the French journalists mentioned that the books would make perfect gifts for their families. In this holiday season, we love to think of THNOC books traveling far and wide, bringing with them tidings of joy.