Browse Exhibits (11 total)
A Brief History of the Archaeology of New Orleans
This exhibit tells the history of the archaeology of New Orleans. It describes accounts of unexpected discoveries, excavations by the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s, and the beginning of regulatory archaeology in the 1970s.
A Guide to Archaeological Features related to Sanitation
This exhibit describes sanitary practice in urban New Orleans and its evolution throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. By analyzing the source of archaeological deposits - privy shafts, well shafts, and cistern bases - this exhibit will explain what we can learn about the city by studying these archaeological features and the artifacts within.
A Guide to Typical Artifacts Found in Urban New Orleans
This exhibit will guide you through some common (and not so common) artifacts found in the New Orleans area.
A Historic School and a Yellow Fever Hospital: Excavations from Thurgood Marshall School
Archaeology gives us the tools to understand how people lived. Historic archaeology allows us to compare the written descriptions of the past with the actual things that people left behind. We can fill in the gaps that the written word leaves and tell stories of how people lived, ate, healed from sickness, and practiced self-care. At Thurgood Marshall School (1909-), archaeologists could tell two broad stories that historically happened on the site: the story of the on-site caretaker, Hannah Ford, who lived at the school until 1913; and, the story of a major public health crisis when that earlier school was used as a yellow fever hospital in 1897.
FEMA provided funding for its refurbishment and, in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, FEMA funded an archaeological investigation and this web content.
Archaeology at Woodland Plantation
In 2021, the 1811/Kid Ory Historic House Museum invited UNO Archaeology to begin an archaeological survey of Woodland Plantation. Ryan Gray from the Midlo Center worked with Kenetha Harrington frmo LSU and Rosanne Adderley from Tulane to launch a pilot study of the project. A team of UNO students and volunteers began a shovel test survey around the historic house site, recovering artifacts that dated throughout the period of occupation of this nationally significant property. Since Woodland was purchased by Joy and Jo Banner of The Descendants Project in 2024, UNO and the Midlo Center have continued their involvement with Woodland, and new Executive Director Sultana Harris has made preserving and documenting the site and its surrounding landscape a central component of planning for its future.
The exhibit featured here, which includes some of the artifacts found during the excavations, is the work of Tori Harris, a University of Chicago undergraduate who joined the UNO team over the Summer of 2025 in a small public archaeology project at Woodland.
Development of Bayou Road: Excavations at John McDonogh Senior High School
The old John McDonogh Senior High School at 2426 Esplanade Avenue (now Bricolage Academy) was seriously damaged by Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding. The school is in the Tremé neighborhood near Bayou Road, a route used long before the City of New Orleans was founded. As New Orleans grew, people built homes and businesses along Bayou Road, including in the present-day schoolyard. In the mid-1800s, the street grid we use today was constructed. Repairing the hurricane-damaged old John McDonogh Senior High School provided a rare opportunity to explore the complex history near Bayou Road. Archaeologists studied the people who lived there and how they lived, comparing the written records with below-ground investigations. This web content shares what was found and provides an opportunity to learn about the history and culture that can sometimes be just beneath our feet.
FEMA provided funding for its refurbishment and, in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, FEMA funded an archaeological investigation and this web content.
Excavations at 810 Royal Street
This exhibit details the archaeological excavations from St. Peter Street Cemetery.
It was originally published to the web from the "City Beneath the City" New Orleans Historical Tour.
Excavations at Spanish Fort
University of New Orleans and the City of New Orleans monitored excavation of a new waterline installation to Lake Vista near the historic property known as "Spanish Fort". The excavations illustrated the rich historical place as it evolved over time.
Immigrant Households in Mid-City: Excavations from Albert Wicker Elementary School
After Hurricane Katrina severely damaged the Albert Wicker Elementary School on Bienville Avenue, the Orleans Parish School Board chose to clear the block and build a new school. Archaeologists uncovered that many of the neighborhood's first residents were German and Irish immigrants who moved here right before the Civil War. They were carpenters, shoemakers, pharmacists, merchants, and grocers. Families often had many children and lived in homes with multiple generations. How did archaeologists find artifacts from the 1800s? During excavation of Wicker Elementary School, archaeologists uncovered the homes and artifacts from the immigrant families, the Haabs, Cunninghams, Kodlins, and Boyles.
FEMA provided funding for its refurbishment and, in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, FEMA funded an archaeological investigation and this web content.
Reconstructing the Lives of People Buried at the St. Peter Street Cemetery
This exhibit details the archaeological excavations from St. Peter Street Cemetery.
It was originally published to the web from the "City Beneath the City" New Orleans Historical Tour.