The Williams Research Center

Researching The Mardi Gras Indians

Website: http://www.hnoc.org/collections/research-center.html

The main purpose of my time here in New Orleans is to research the Mardi Gras Indians for their Council. The specific research I am doing is to obtain the necessary permissions needed so that the work we have been doing for the Indians at Ohio State can be finished. I have been working on an honors based research project for two academic years involving the Mardi Gras Indian Council (MGIC). Last year I worked with a group of students (Tessa Feick, Steven Foley, Vikas Pulluru and Tiffany O’Connor) and creative director  Mike Yearling to help develop and create a documentary and website for the Council.

Last year we finished the documentary, but still needed to obtain permissions for photos and videos. The website also was not finished. My work at the Williams Research Center will help to do both. The Williams Research Center owns the rights to some of the work of film creator, photographer and artist Jules Cahn, as well as the collection of photographer Michael P. Smith. Both artists have a large number of Mardi Gras Indian materials located at the Williams. A description of their work is located on their digital online collection, but the majority of the images and videos are not available online. I had to go to the Williams to view these in-person. I will bring my research findings back to Ohio, and with the guidance of Mike Yearling and Dr. Virginia Cope, we will identify the best images and video for the documentary and website.