Picture of Louis Armstrong with trumpet, Bop City, 1950. 1978.118(B).07279.

[NEW ORLEANS, LA – MARCH 3, 2021] –The New Orleans Jazz Museum is in the midst of digitizing its collection of its over 25,000 holdings— the most extensive collection related to New Orleans jazz in the world. The artifacts chronicle the history and evolution of jazz, both locally and internationally, and include instruments, sheet music, records, tape reels, and personal effects of legendary figures related to the genre. While the project has taken on increased significance during the age of COVID-19, when virtual accessibility and alternative forms of interaction have become of paramount importance, digitization of the museum’s collections in fact constitutes a much broader ongoing project. Through digitization, the New Orleans Jazz Museum aims to increase access and education for students, researchers, and enthusiasts alike, as well as to ensure long-term preservation and broad integration of resources. The long-term digitization process will ultimately result in an accessible, organized collection that is both digitally and physically secure for museum staff, visitors, and jazz enthusiasts alike.

Edward "Kid" Ory relaxing in armchair with trombone. 1978.118(B).07222.

Begun in 2017 thanks to a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the digitization project is overseen by digital assets manager Jennifer Long and assistant archivist Bryanne Schexnayder. Long and Schexnayder, who have previously worked together to digitize and index collections from the Louisiana Historical Center, must be highly organized and patient with delicate documents and artifacts, which grow increasingly fragile with age and often have their own unique individual storage and preservation needs. In addition to exercising caution with fragile artifacts, Long and Sxhecnayder must also keep their digital data and protocols cohesively organized in order to ensure proper physical and digital stewardship of the collections.

Long and Schexnayder’s process effectively consists of three stages: (1) creating the digitized files; (2) reorganizing, stabilizing, and rehousing the physical artifacts after their digital documentation; and (3) developing and managing an organization system for the digital database as it becomes populated. First, digital records of artifacts are produced by taking high-resolution photographs and/ or scans of physical objects from the permanent collection. As Long and Schexnayder work through each individual artifact, they simultaneously reorganize and rehouse them in new, non-reactive storage materials to ensure the artifact’s stability, security, and ease of accessibility to museum staff. The final stage of the process consists of management of the incipient digital database. While digital records of artifacts are uploaded and organized in real time— i.e., as photographs and scans of artifacts are created— stewardship of the digital database constitutes an ongoing, long-term process.

Color photo of Blue Lu Barker at dedication of plaque honoring Danny Barker; May 3, 1995. 1995.122

To date, Long and Schexnayder have overseen the digitization of the collection's nearly 12,000 photographs, 1,821 pieces of sheet music, and 749 large-format posters; however, upon completion, these artifacts will constitute only a portion of the digital catalogue. As a full virtual record of the museum’s permanent and archival collection, the digital collection will additionally include records of the museum’s musical instruments, film reels, video and audio cassettes, reel-to-reel tapes, 78s, LPs, and 45s, as well as digitized records of the museum’s many paintings, sculptures, and architectural fragments from music halls and nightclubs. Archival elements include music magazine titles, posters, prints, letters, maps, vertical files on musicians, bands, night clubs, and festivals as well as an extensive jazz library. The photography collection, in particular, is one of the most extensive documentary collections of New Orleans jazz in the United States, showcasing the work of most major jazz photographers, including Grauman Marks, Marcel Joly, Floyd Levin, Syndey Byrd, Duncan Schiedt, Ed Lawless, George Fletcher, Ray Avery, and John Kuhlman.

In the process of digitizing these thousands of items, Long and Schexnayder have come across many notable highlights within the collection. Some items of particular historic value include the sheet music for “Livery Stable Blues,” acknowledged as the first commercially available jazz recording in 1917 by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, as well as the sheet music for “The Bamboula” by New Orleans-born Louis Moreau Gottschalk, often cited as the first American composer to rise to international acclaim. A personal favorite of Long’s is “[...] a wonderful 5-page letter written by Louis Armstrong in 1952 to a Miss Betty Jane Holder,” in which he writes about what he considered to be one of his most monumental achievements: being crowned Mardi Gras King of the Zulu Parade in 1949. “He is so personable and funny in this letter,” Long remarks, “you really get a sense of who he was as a person. I think about this letter every Mardi Gras when I watch the Zulu parade.” Schexnayder similarly enjoys the aspects of individualism preserved by the collection, noting in particular the signatures, notations, and reminders scribbled across various pages of sheet music. “It makes you wonder who all the different people were that once handled the item I’m now working with,” she muses.

From early in the project's conception, Long has been adding the digitized collection item-by-item onto the Louisiana Digital Library, an online library of Louisiana-based historical and academic institutions with a wide range of materials. A similar digital initiative aimed at broadening access to the museum’s programs and collections, the New Orleans Jazz Museum has likewise partnered with Google Arts and Culture, an online and app-based platform through which the public can view high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from partnered organizations across the globe. As Long states, “Giving free public access to the New Orleans Jazz Museum collection has been an important goal from the start. Creating entries for each item is a timely process, but a valuable one. Eventually the entirety of the museum collection will be accessible.” Thus, in addition to the in-person and virtual forms of exhibits showcasing specifically curated selections from the collection, students, researchers, and enthusiasts alike are now increasingly able to peruse the entirety of the museum’s holdings.

The New Orleans Jazz Museum’s collection is available online at the Louisiana Digital Library. Likewise, specially curated digital exhibits from the New Orleans Jazz Museum are available via Google Arts and Culture, both online and via their app (iOS | Android).

To access the Jazz Collection for research purposes or to request image reproductions, please contact the Reading Room at: ReadingRoom@crt.la.gov or 504-568-3659.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Greg Lambousy, Director

New Orleans Jazz Museum

504-427-2190

glambousy@crt.la.gov

Baylee Badawy, Digital Strategist

New Orleans Jazz Museum

216-372-8268

bbadawy@crt.la.gov