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.
“The Blackest” Ghost Tour
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.
Tremé Food Tour
Join Hollis Burton, a former Mardi Gras/Second Line King of Tremé, on a walking food tour and bar crawl through the streets of Tremé, the oldest African American neighborhood in the country. On this tour, experience the richness of Tremé’s African American cuisine, from the best seafood restaurants to delectable street fare. Be sure to come hungry! This tour includes very generous samplings of each dish. As you eat, Hollis shares the history of the neighborhood, and how community members are working to preserve its culture in the present day. The tour ends with a delicious daiquiri at one of Tremé’s many jazz clubs.
The Grand Tour’s Hidden History Tour
Louisiana was home to the largest slave revolt in the US, when approximately 500 enslaved people organized across the River Parishes with the plan to descend upon New Orleans and take the city. Through walking and bus tours, writer, researcher, and historian Leon Waters shares information about Black history in New Orleans, with a particular focus on liberation, in both a historical and present-day context. With full day and half day options, this tour includes visits to local neighborhoods, universities, and historic sights, with introductions to Black artists, music, and cuisine.
Hermann-Grima + Gallier Historic Houses
The discourse around slavery tends to focus on the horrors of plantation slavery. In contrast, HGGHH focuses on urban enslavement in New Orleans, centering the experiences of enslaved people in homes throughout the French Quarter. Here, you can tour the home, interact with the database of enslaved individuals and learn more about their lives, and engage in various live events. HGGHH also offers full and half day live cooking demonstrations that take you through the daily life of an enslaved chef in the French Quarter, preparing open hearth meals using the same techniques that would have been used in the antebellum era.
All Bout Dat Black heritage and jazz tour
Jazz singer and historian Mikhala Iversen founded All Bout Dat Tours in 2013 to offer African American-led tours of Black life in New Orleans, being intentional about Black stories being told by Black people. Pulling from West African and African American tenets of spirituality, this tour uplifts resistance and resilience, and always includes the power of singing. Iversen also occasionally offers a live jazz and Creole dinner experience.
Bounce, Dance, Twerk, and Walk tour
The New Orleans Bounce Dance has been a part of Louisiana Hip Hop history since 1980. This walking tour starts with a crash course in Bounce history, including nuances that entered the dance after Hurricane Katrina. Self-described “Culture-Bearer and Fierce Fun Leader” Mika Terry leads this high-energy tour through the Saint Claude Arts District, including jello shots, a dance challenge, and an overall good time. Bring comfortable shoes and get ready to learn some new moves, check out local graffiti art, and hit historic sites. The tour ends in front of the world famous Kermit's Tremé Mother-in-Law Lounge, where you will put all of your moves together!
Backstreet Cultural Museum
The Backstreet Cultural Museum holds the world’s most comprehensive collection related to New Orleans’s African American community traditions, including Mardi Gras Indians, jazz funerals, social aid and pleasure clubs, Baby Dolls, and Skull and Bone gangs. Tour the exhibits here to observe the intricacy of Mardi Gras costumes up close, and tons of other splendid regalia that has been collected over a period of decades. If you’re lucky, you can also catch one of the museum’s public performances!
The New Orleans Pharmacy Museum
In 1823, a classic Creole townhouse was constructed in the French Quarter by the first licensed pharmacist in the US. Today, it houses a collection of artifacts documenting the history of pharmacy and medicine in the 19th and 20th centuries, with a special focus on New Orleans. Here, you can learn about medicinal techniques brought to New Orleans by enslaved and free West Africans, and further cultivated by African Americans born in Louisiana. There is also an exhibit highlighting the history of African American Pharmacy in New Orleans.
Louisiana Creole language lessons
In antebellum Louisiana, “Registre des Esclaves” (records of enslaved people), denoted enslaved people born in Louisiana as “Creole.” This was in distinct contrast from enslaved people born in an African country (in which case, the country was listed), and enslaved people born in other parts of the US (who would have been listed as “Negro”). Culturally, influences from West Africans, Europeans, and Native Americans combined to become Louisiana Creole culture. Language activist and entertainer Clif St. Laurent is reclaiming and preserving this culture through offering classes in Louisiana Creole, an endangered language. And you don’t need to leave your home to take part in them—they’re also offered virtually.