NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – Tucked away in the Treme neighborhood, there’s a two-room treasure chest where you could spend hours learning about some of the long-time traditions that helped create the colorful personality of New Orleans.
It’s a museum that owns hundreds of videos of jazz funerals, and dozens of authentic Mardi Gras Indian suits. According to Bruce Sunpie Barnes, the president of the museum’s board of directors, it’s the most elaborate collection of these suits in the world.
“People throw their suits away or they burn ‘em, or they throw them in the trash can when the day was done,” recalls Barnes.
A man named Sylvester Francis couldn’t stand to see that happen, so he created The Backstreet Cultural Museum inside an old funeral home.
The room of suits is a cultural rainbow made of beads, shells, feathers and bling. The suits get a spotlight during Carnival, Super Sunday and during events such as Jazz Fest—but if you want a colorful history lesson, stop by the museum for a guided tour.
Barnes calls this the epicenter of black history in New Orleans.
“You can really get the information on how to make a Mardi Gras Indian suit, who the Baby Dolls are, what the Skull and Bone Gang is,” says Barnes.
But the museum is desperately in need of financial support, since its founder fell ill about a year ago.
“We’re trying to keep the lights on,” says Barnes, adding, “School kids come here, people visiting from all over the world come through the doors here.”
Every item on display here has a story, and it’s all part of the street culture that’s a foundation for some of the city’s greatest traditions.