The History of New Orleans Jazz Week

By: Mindy Jarrett | November 12, 2019

The opening of the New Orleans Jazz Museum on November 12, 1961. Accession number 1978.118(B).05348i.

In 1961, New Orleans Mayor Vic Schiro declared November 12-19 New Orleans Jazz Week. His declaration was made at the official dedication of the city’s first New Orleans Jazz Museum, which opened at 1017 Dumaine Street on Sunday, November 12, 1961. To celebrate the museum’s opening, festivities began in Armstrong Park, which included the mayor’s speech and, of course, several live performances. Then, the ceremony wrapped up the way most do in New Orleans: with a second line.

Invitation for the opening of the New Orleans Jazz Museum. Accession number 1978.118(N).272.

“The trumpet gave its warning toots, the snare drum rolled, the bass drum hit the customary ‘Boom-Boom-Boom,’ and off they went,” reported The Second Line—the official publication of the New Orleans Jazz Club.[1]

The NOJC had its first meeting in February of 1948—thirteen years prior to the museum’s opening. Throughout the 1950s, they organized fundraising concerts, including the city’s first jazz festivals, with the hope of saving for a museum.

And on November 12, 1961, that hope was finally realized. The Eureka Brass Band led the second-lining crowd weaving through the French Quarter to the doors of the New Orleans Jazz Museum. 2,000 people stood outside the doors of 1017 Dumaine, with Eureka playing on. “The Eureka Band played on and on. Couples danced in the streets, and single enthusiasts were moved to express their pleasure by some mighty fancy ‘jazz interpretive dancing’ — well worth walking miles to see.”[2]

Harry Souchon, one of the museum’s founders, summed up the day appropriately: “Jazz has come home to roost in its own birthplace! Amen, Brothers!”[3]

Dunc’s Honky Tonks at the opening of the New Orleans Jazz Museum on November 12, 1961. Accession number 1978.118(B).02750.

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[1] “New Orleans Jazz Museum Formally Dedicated,” The Second Line 12, no. 11 (1961): 4, http://www.nojazzclub.org/V12.11.htm#121103.

[2] “New Orleans Jazz Museum Formally Dedicated,” The Second Line 12, no. 11 (1961): 5, http://www.nojazzclub.org/V12.11.htm#121104.

[3] Harry Souchon, “Jazz Mecca Comes Home to Roost,” The Second Line 12, no. 11 (1961): 33, http://www.nojazzclub.org/V12.11.htm#121132.