Archivist Amanda Fallis originally developed this exhibit in 2018 for a Black History Month program at the New Orleans Recreation Development Commission (NORD).  In 2020, City Archives & Special Collections staff converted it to a web exhibit.

This exhibit was based on the earlier digital exhibit, “African Americans in New Orleans: City Government Employees.” This exhibit was created using a City Document as source material.  “In 1981 Mayor Ernest N. “Dutch” Morial’s administration published Blacks in City Government. That little booklet documented the more than 250 African American New Orleanians who held leadership positions at City Hall and its satellites. Many of the black women and men who worked for Dutch Morial twenty years ago hold places in city government today. Others have moved on to positions with other public bodies or in the private sector. A few, including Mayor Morial, are, regrettably, no longer with us.”