-
“They Call Me Baby Doll”: A Mardi Gras Tradition tells the untold story of one of the first women’s street masking practices in the United States. For a century Black working class women have used the public street to make themselves visible in a city and nation that conspired to minimize their very humanity. Using...
Who is this Baby Doll, and why is she referred to as such? This is her story. ~Robert McKinney, February 9, 1940
More About the Exhibition
This exhibition is about the preservation and resurgence of 100 years of the “Baby Doll” masking, song and dance traditions in New Orleans. Our central educational message focuses on the value of exploring the freedom of expression thru live art. A second message highlights the recognition of the struggles and the celebration of the accomplishments of being a woman over the course of the last hundred years. The exhibition will present the origins, transformations, and heritage of the African American Mardi Gras masking tradition of the Baby Dolls which started in New Orleans in 1912. This photo by Charles Chamberlain captures young women from The Porch, a seventh-ward community organization.
Upcoming Events
March 15, 2013 |
Kim Vaz talks about “The Baby Dolls”, Fri. March 22 at 2pm for The New Orleans Jazz NHP program series
The New Orleans Jazz NHP hosts live educational performances most days of the week at the Old U.S. Mint, our...
February 18, 2013 |
Xavier University Jazz Performance–April 16-18 at the Old U.S. Mint–Baby Dolls Were and Are “Women who Dance the Jazz”-Come to this free event to learn about New Orleans Music’s Past and Present
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA JAZZ FESTIVAL April 16 – 18, 2013 The Xavier University Jazz Festival is a...
February 7, 2013 |
Kim Vaz discusses “The Baby Dolls on “The Reading Circle with Marc Medley”Saturday, April 6th, 2013 at 6am EST
“The Reading Circle with Marc Medley” airs live every Saturday morning from 6:00 A.M. to 7:00 A.M. Eastern...