Backstreet Cultural Museum

Location: New Orleans, LA

Website: www.backstreetmuseum.org

The Museum’s mission is to present and preserve the unique cultural traditions of New Orleans’ African American society, including Mardi Gras Indians, Jazz funerals, and Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs.

Through its programs and exhibitions of artifacts, memorabilia, photos, and videos, the Museum endeavors to protect these treasures of the community.

The Backstreet Cultural Museum is the only museum dedicated to these rich folk-life and musical traditions. The Museum’s goal is to promote a deeper and more widespread understanding of the New Orleans African-American heritage through exhibits and presentations of the art and music surrounding the celebration of these traditions.

The Museum serves as a repository for the cultural traditions of New Orleans’ urban society. The Museum contains exhibits, artifacts, memorabilia, films and videos depicting Mardi Gras Indians, Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs, and Traditional Jazz Funerals.

These three elements represent cultural institutions born from the spirit of the community in an effort to define and express itself. These unique aspects of the African American heritage in New Orleans are guarded by those who still practice these traditions.

The Museum is housed in a creole cottage in the heart of a New Orleans neighborhood known as the “Treme”. The Museum and the Treme are cemented in history by a cultural legacy. The Backstreet Cultural Museum is perfectly at home in its surroundings and serves as a focal point of the Treme and the cultural community it represents. The Treme, located directly adjacent to the French Quarter, has been and continues to be a vibrant enclave of musicians and artists in New Orleans.