This project brings together materials from LSU Libraries Special Collections, The Historic New Orleans Collection, the Louisiana Research Collection in Tulane University Special Collections, the Historical Center at the Louisiana State Museum, and the Louisiana Division of the New Orleans Public Library.  Digitizing these records will allow us to reunite collections from the same families that were divided across repositories as well as scattered documents, making these materials accessible in one place for the use of historians, genealogists, students, teachers, and the general public. 

Digitized collections include entire collections of papers from families or individuals that were free people of color.  Many of these extend, chronologically, beyond the end of slavery.  Being a free person of color ceased to have legal meaning after emancipation and the passage of the 13th Amendment, but having been a member of that class continued to have cultural, racial, social, economic, and political implications for those who had been free people of color in the antebellum period, and for generations of their descendants.   For this reason, we have chosen to digitize entire collections and not set an arbitrary cut-off date for materials.

Because of the relative dearth of personal and family papers for free people of color, public records are a particularly important source for researchers.  This project will digitize significant collections of public records from the New Orleans Public Library’s Louisiana Division, including a four-volume “Register of free persons of color entitled to remain in the state” (1840-1864), four different collections of emancipation records, which often include testimony regarding why the enslaved person was deserving of freedom and provide other information about the enslaved person and slave owner, and an extensive collection of indenture records (1809-1843) in which at least one participant (the person being indentured, his/her sponsor, or the artisan/merchant to whom the servant was being bound) was a free person of color.

Finally, many items were selected for digitization from larger collections that are not primarily related to free people of color. Bringing these items together from the disparate collections in which they exist will facilitate comparison and help to provide a larger body of information for researchers about the norms of living conditions and race relations for free people of color during the colonial and antebellum eras.

LSU Libraries Special Collections • Louisiana State Museum • Historic New Orleans Collection
Tulane University • New Orleans Public Library

 

Collections from LSU Libraries Special Collections
Meullion family Papers, 1776-1906 (bulk 1776-1796). 121 items. Family of free people of color from St. Landry Parish, La., headed by Jean “Baptiste” Meullion who owned a plantation on Bayou Teche. Collection includes slave bills of sale, land sales, and other financial records; manumission papers for Maria Juana and her son Baptiste Meullion; an amnesty oath and Civil War claims of Miss Belazaire Meullion, and some correspondence about Reconstruction politics. In French, English, and Spanish.	View the online catalog record View the finding aid
Auguste Metoyer Papers, 1835-1846. 13 items. Son of Nicholas Augustin Metoyer and Marie Agnes Poissot, members of the Metoyer family of free people of color of Creole descent of Isle Brevelle, Natchitoches Parish, La. descended from Marie Thérèze Coincoin. Papers consist chiefly of subpoenas to appear in court for non-payment of debts, and petitions and promissory notes supplementing these court orders. In French and English.	View the online catalog record
Adeleda Metoyer Papers, 1845-1897. 52 items. Adeleda Metoyer was a free woman of color of Isle Brevelle, Natchitoches Parish, La. Bills and receipts (1845-1860) are for medical care, taxes, freight, and merchandise. Included are statements of account (1873-1874), from Miltenberger & Pollock, New Orleans factors, to Mrs. Philomene Metoyer. In French and English.	View the online catalog record
Louis Metoyer Conveyance, 1823. 1 conveyance. Son of French Creole planter Claude T. P. Metoyer and the freed slave Marie Thérèze Coincoin, progenitors of the Metoyer family of free people of color of Creole descent of Isle Brevelle, Natchitoches Parish, La. Act of conveyance of sale of land by Metoyer to Augustin Metoyer. In French.	View the online catalog record
Metoyer Family Papers, 1889-1944. 219 items and 6 volumes. Business and personal papers of Vilfrede Metoyer and John P. Conant of Melrose, Louisiana, and St. Clair and Nazy Metoyer of Derry, Louisiana, farmers and the proprietors of a general merchandising store, who were descendants of free people of color. In French and English.	View the online catalog record View the finding aid
Anonymous daybooks, 1856-1858. 2 volumes. Oscar Dubreuil (born 1817?) was a free man of color of Creole descent and native New Orleanian who settled in the Cane River community of Isle Brevelle, where, among other pursuits, he conducted business as a merchant with Dupré, Metoyer & Company. Includes Dubreil’s accounts with free families of color including the Balthazars, Monettes, Metoyers, Melancons, Meullions, LeCourts, and Badins/Badons. In French.	View the online catalog record
Dupré and Metoyer and Company Account book, 1830-1837, 1873. 1 volume. Inventory of stock for Dupré, Metoyer & Company, a mercantile house and general merchandise store in Isle Brevelle, Natchitoches Parish, La. The business was owned by Emanuel Dupré and Jean Baptiste Dominique Metoyer, both free people of color of Creole descent. An entry of 1873 records a mortgage due to Oscar Dubreuil. The back portion of the book includes song lyrics, addresses, and a list of family ages and deaths written in English. The account book is written in French.	View the online catalog record
William T. Johnson Family Papers, 1793-1937 (bulk 1830-1870). 1,323 items and 58 volumes. Personal and business correspondence, legal and financial documents, diaries, daybooks, and other manuscript volumes pertaining to William T. Johnson (1809?-1851), a free man of color, barber, planter, and slave owner in Natchez, Mississippi, and to his wife, mother-in-law, and descendants. The diaries (14 volumes, 1835-1851) kept by Johnson give details of contemporary life in Natchez. Also includes letters from relatives in New Orleans from the late antebellum era to Reconstruction and materials related to the teaching careers of Johnson’s children. The bulk of the materials are in English, with several documents in French.	View the online catalog record View the finding aid
Atala Chelette Family Papers, 1819-1919 (bulk 1841-1899). 160 items. The Chelette family was a family of free people of color of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. A woman named Angélique, her children Pierre Edmond and Louis Onsime, Mary Athalie Joson (also called Josin), L. Martin Joson, and Joseph and Marie Rosalie Perot were free people of color associated with the Chelette family. Includes a true copy of the act of manumission for Angélique, described as a mulatto woman, by Louis Fort and his will, personal papers of Joseph Perot, a free man of color, and personal and business papers of Emanuel and Atala Chelette. Also includes letters from family members that moved to Texas. In French and English.	View the online catalog record View the finding aid
Norbert Badin Papers, 1829-1937 (bulk 1870-1890). 695 items, 3 manuscript volumes, and 57 printed volumes. Free man of color and planter from the Cane River settlement of Melrose, Natchitoches Parish, La. Personal and business papers document Badin's activities as a planter, and include family correspondence, a journal that includes a list of names with height, age, and skin color, an account book, and miscellaneous printed items. Early papers (1829-1856) relate to the brothers Celestin and Michel LaCaze, who were free men of color. They contain a tax receipt, bills and receipts for various goods, and one receipt issued to their mother Rosalie, an enslaved woman owned by a white planter of Little River named Jacques LaCaze. Many of these papers mention the names of other free people of color from the Cane River colony who were merchants to the community, including Auguste Metoyer. In French, Spanish, Yiddish, and English.	View the online catalog record View the finding aid
Dudley Turnbull Family Papers, 1834-1964. 299 items and 12 manuscript volumes. Papers of Dudley Turnbull, a free man of color of Baton Rouge, La., and his descendants. Papers include personal and religious correspondence, Civil War-era tuition receipts, a picket pass, and tax receipts, financial records, and photographs of Turnbull family members. The family’s devout Catholicism is documented, as is the men of the family’s history of working as plasterers, a trade traditionally associated with free men of color and their descendants. Also includes letters from family that has moved away. In English.	View the online catalog record View the finding aid
Miles Terrell Family Papers, 1859-1929. 317 items. Miles Terrell, a free man of color and planter of Rapides Parish, La., married Sarah Metoyer, a free woman of color and the daughter of Joseph J. Metoyer. Papers include bills, registration certificates for voting, receipts for payments on notes, subpoenas in civil cases for failure to pay debts, and tax receipts of Miles Terrell (1859-1879). After 1880, similar papers are addressed to Sarah Terrell. Includes correspondence from family that migrated to Texas and Mexico. In English.	View the online catalog record View the finding aid

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Collections from the Historical Center of the Louisiana State Museum
John and Jean Rousseau Collection, 1814-1838. 13 items. Married free persons of color. Collection includes legal documents regarding the purchase and ownership of enslaved persons, tutorship of their children after their mother's death, statement of parents separate and joint assets. In French.	View the finding aid
John McDonogh Papers, 1813-1846. 247 items. John McDonogh was a New Orleans merchant, planter, slaveholder, and philanthropist. Correspondence includes letters to and from business associates, members of American Colonization Society, and former slaves residing in Liberia. Some financial records and slave bills of sale are also present. Majority of collection is correspondence to McDonogh from Andrew Durnford, a free man of color, sugar planter, and slaveholder from Plaquemines Parish, during the years 1831-1845. In English, with some documents in French.	View the finding aid
Nicholas Bauer Collection, 1830-1859. 6 items. Includes records regarding the disposition of John McDonogh’s estate. Several letters of McDonogh discuss his relationship with Andrew Durnford, a free man of color, sugar planter, and slaveholder of Plaquemines Parish. A receipt issued to Durnford is also present. In English.	View the finding aid

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Collections from The Historic New Orleans Collection
Cane River Collection, 1817-1859. 1409 items. The Cane River collection consists primarily of legal papers such as wills, estate inventories, land transfers, mortgages, receipts, and purchases of enslaved persons. The people of Cane River developed a highly influential and wealthy lifestyle prior to the 1850's in Central Louisiana. Comprised of free people of color, they traded enslaved persons, land, and imported the various goods which they needed to maintain their lifestyle. The collection contains a great number of legal documents concerning successions of these peoples' estates. The documents range from appointments of proxy, to estate inventories, and guardianship of minors. In French and English.	View the online catalog record
Free Persons of Color in Louisiana Collection, 1793-1867. 12 items. The papers include an agreement exchanging labor for rent (1793); the lease of a city-owned house (1808); a recognizance or peace bond (1830); and four promise-to-pay notes by the City of New Orleans: three for land sold to the city (1821) and one for labor (1816). Two reports by a New Orleans doctor indicate the number of persons under his care (1817). Of special interest is the printed copy of the Louisiana Constitutional Convention's Emancipation Report (1864) and two labor agreements (1865 and 1867) between Louisiana planters and freedmen. In French, Spanish, and English.	View the online catalog record
Soulié Family Ledgers, 1843-1880. 5 volumes. Manuscript volumes and account books of the Soulié family, who were free people of color, document their business activity both before and after the American Civil War. In French and English.	View the online catalog record
Andrew Durnford Memorandum Book, 1855-1858. 1 volume. Andrew Durnford was a free man of color, sugar planter, and slave owner Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. His memorandum book, in which he noted supplies he purchased and from whom, also notes credits and debts incurred by his enslaved persons. He also kept a journal of daily activities in the book. In English.	View the online catalog record
Victor Séjour Collection, 1864-1874, bulk 1864-1983. 6 items digitized An artificial collection of publications and other materials relating to the life and work of playwright and author Victor Séjour (1817-1874), a free man of color from New Orleans. Séjour published the short story “Le Mulâtre,”, 23 plays, and one serialized novel in France, where he had gone to complete his formal education. The collection includes two French newspapers, La Presse Illustree (October 1874) and L'Autographe (November 1864) with articles concerning Séjour. In French.	View the online catalog record
A. P. Tureaud Family Papers, 1860-1883. 7 items and 2 volumes. Includes a ledger with transcriptions of poems in Les Cenelles, a literary journal published by New Orleans free people of color, and prose text (in French) transcribed by Pierre Aristide Desdunes, an activist New Orleans author and free man of color of Creole descent, and another ledger with writings by Desdunes and others. In French.	View the online catalog record
Samuel Wilson, Jr. Collection of St. Louis Cathedral Papers, 1808-1854. 2 items digitized. An assembled collection of correspondence, financial records and related documents concerns the St. Louis Cathedral and efforts by the churchwardens to improve and embellish the Cathedral. Includes an offer from Jules Lion, a New Orleans artist and free man of color, to decorate the ceiling, the altar, and the pendentives (1850) and a letter from Eugene Warburg, a sculptor, marble merchant, and free man of color, submitting his proposal for the flooring of the Cathedral and estimated costs (1851). Accompanied by an undated sketch of the proposed flooring pattern. In French.	View the online catalog record
Jacques, Free Man of Color passport, 1859. 1 passport. 1859 Passport of "Jacques," a free man of color, issued by the State of Louisiana for a trip to Porte au Prince. In English.	View the online catalog record
Sampson letter introducing Eugene Warburg, 1852. 1 letter. Letter of introduction from A. Sampson of New Orleans to Monsieur Lafaure, Paris, in which he asks for Lafaure’s help to arrange lodgings in Paris for Eugène Warburg, a young artist and free person of color who hopes to work as a sculptor in Paris, and to develop his general knowledge of art. In French.	View the online catalog record
Sheriff's Sale Broadside Collection, 1860-1863. 1 broadside. Includes a broadside for a sheriff’s sale on 7 November 1860 of a lot of ground in the First District of the city, which is being sold as part of the succession of John Taylor, a free man of color. In English.	View the online catalog record
Antebellum Letter Collection, 1823-1860. 1 letter digitized. Letter from William H. Hunt of New Orleans, to Hon. Mr. Crossman, Mayor, asking that he furnish John Jones, a free man of color, with the document he desires. States that Jones is a man of good character and responsibility, and the owner of considerable property. In English.	View the online catalog record
Réflexions sur la Campagne du Général André Jackson, en Louisiane, en 1814 et 1815, par Bernard Marigny, né à la Nouvelle-Orléans en 1785, membre du Comité de Défense nommé par la Chambre des Reprèsentans en 1814; ex-Président du Sénat de la Louisiane; membre de la Convention qui Érigea le Territoire d'Orléans en État, en 1812; et membre de la Convention de 1844 et 1845 qui Donna une Nouvelle Constitution àcet État. (Nouvelle- Orléans: Imprimerie de J. L. Sollée, Rue de Chartres, no. 137, 1848.) 1 pamphlet. Marigny attempts to correct the impression of most Americans that Louisianians of French descent were not zealous in their defense of New Orleans by discussing those who fought in the Battle, organized committees of defense, etc., trying to make the point that the battle could not have been won without the locals. He includes in his descriptions the actions of many specific individuals, including free people of color. The pamphlet is part of The William C. Cook War of 1812 in the South Collection. In French.	View the online catalog record
Receipt for Payment to Rose, a free Girl of Colour, for living one month as washerwoman in the Hospital for Genl. Coffees' Brigade, 1815. 1 receipt. Robert L. Cobb, [Surgeon, 2nd Regiment of Tennessee Militia], certifies that Rose is entitled to be paid $10 for the month, and the claim is attested to by David C. Ker, Hospital Surgeon [Mate], US Army. Signatures: Robert L. Cobb, SSCB; and David C. Ker, Hosp. Surg. USA. Endorsed by Maj. General Andrew Jackson; signature: Andrew Jackson, Major Gen. Comdg. Receipted by Rose, who made her mark, which was witnessed by John M. Walker; signed: John M. Walker. The receipt is part of The William C. Cook War of 1812 in the South Collection. In English.	View the online catalog record
L. Durand Letter, 1783. 1 letter. L. Durand of Louisiana, to Mademoiselle Géneviévé Voyart, described as free mulatress living at the Cape [Français] (Cap-Haïtien), relating his safe arrival in Louisiana and inquiring after family and friends. In French.	View the online catalog record
Certification that Marie Jeanne Lemmele, free person of color of the Country of Opelousas, has claim to 160 superficial arpents, 1811. 1 certificate. By John Thompson, Junior--Clerk of the Board, Western District, Orleans Territory. Register’s No. 3640 Opelousas. This is a copy of the land record and relates to Joseph Cretien’s grant received from Unzaga. The certificate is part of Spanish Colonial Land Grant Papers, Mss. 79. In English.	View the online catalog record
Free Persons of Color and Slave Documents, 1808-1919. 9 items. Invoices, legal documents, certifications, and manumission statements. The documents are in French; some are in English, and one has a notation in Spanish.	View the online catalog record
City of New Orleans Antebellum Collection. 3 items digitized. Includes three sheets from an 1858? tax assessment roll, which list the names of individuals, streets on which their houses front, measurement of property, cash value of house and lot, and the number and value of enslaved persons. Listings were made by city squares and include names such as the Estate of John McDonogh and the following free persons of color: Annette Lana, Filliette Richard, Widow Maximilin Hanry, Joseph Bellevue, and Felixe Martine. In English.	View the online catalog record

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Collections from Louisiana Research Collection, Special Collections, Tulane University
New Orleans Tax Assessment books, 1857-1871. 81 volumes digitized. These volumes contain the New Orleans property tax rolls for districts 1-4, 1857-1866. The rolls give the size and location of each property, the name of the owner, the value of the real estate, and the number and value of enslaved persons. The rolls include notations indicating free persons of color. In English.	View the finding aid
Jean Baptiste Meullion papers, 1798-1889. 1 box. Business papers of Jean Baptiste Meullion, a free man of color, who was a sugar and cotton planter in Saint Landry Parish, Louisiana. Comprised of correspondence with merchants, bills of sale, receipts, price lists, slave records (including a manumission), as well as estate and succession records. Among the latter is an inventory of Meullion's estate. In French and English.	View the online catalog record View the finding aid
St. Rosalie Plantation record book, 1840-1868. 1 volume. Record book of St. Rosalie Plantation in Plaquemines Parish, which was owned by Andrew Durnford, a free man of color. Included are records of business transactions with John McDonogh, a close friend of Durnford's, lists of workers, cash accounts, and copies of a few letters concerning his son, Thomas Durnford, while a student in Easton, Pennsylvania. In English.
Rosemonde E. and Emile Kuntz Collection. 39 items digitized. This wide-ranging, artificial collection contains 210 pages of documents relating to free people of color, ca. 1768-1876, including land transfers, legal documents, financial documents, permits, orders, and correspondence. In French, Spanish, and English.	View the finding aid
John McDonogh Papers, 1789-1869. 126 items digitized. The papers of New Orleans merchant, planter, slaveholder, and philanthropist John McDonogh contain two important sets of documents related to free people of color, comprising about 150 pages. The first is a series of letters between McDonogh and his business associate and friend Andrew Durnford, a free man of color, sugar planter, and slaveholder of Plaquemines Parish, La. The second is a series of letters written by several of McDonogh's emancipated former slaves who settled Liberia after gaining freedom. There are also several land transactions involving free people of color. Of special interest are the land sales in which John McDonogh sells Andrew Durnford a tract of land in Plaquemines Parish (1829 July 22) and a tract of land situated 11 leagues below New Orleans on the right bank (1832 March 1). In addition, there is a land sale in which John McDonogh sells to Marie Rose Jusson, a free woman of color, land in the city of McDonogh (1830 February 22)] (box 14). In English.	View the online catalog record View the finding aid View guide to correspondence
John Minor Wisdom Collection, 1710-1960. 12 items digitized. This assembled collection of documents includes 40 pages of legal and financial documents, letters, and municipal ordinances related to free people of color. In French, English, and Spanish.	View the online catalog record View the finding aid View research guide
Property transactions for Gravier and Circus Streets, 1845-1859. 3 items. A series of property transactions between William Malcolm and Jane McCall Woods, a free woman of color. In English.
Burruss family papers, 1827-1902. 1 annual report digitized. Includes the pamphlet First Annual Report of the Mississippi State Colonization Society (1832). The Mississippi State Colonization Society was an auxillary of the American Colonization Society, a group formed in 1817 to resettle free people of color in Africa. In English.	View the online catalog record View the finding aid
Slavery documents collection, 1758-1865. 2 items digitized. Includes emancipation papers and a slave bill of sale, in which a planter sells fifteen enslaved persons to Ann Maria, his emancipated housekeeper and a free woman of color, in consideration of the amount owed her for services and cash on hand, both totaling $13,000 (1839). In English.	View the finding aid
New Orleans municipal records, 1782-1925. 3 items digitized. This collection includes six pages of bills and receipts for financial transactions involving free people of color. The larger collection consists of the ordinances, decisions, and resolutions passed by New Orleans City Council and financial records from the Spanish and American periods. In French and English.	View the finding aid
Prairie Parishes Legal Documents, 1788-1792. 2 items digitized. Includes two colonial-era documents granting freedom to enslaved persons. In French.	View the finding aid
Land Transactions Collection, 1721-1935. 2 items digitized. Two documents were selected for this project. The first is an 1800 grant of land to two free people of color in the Attakapas district, which includes a map of the property. The second is an 1847 sale of New Orleans property on Phillipa (Dryades) Street to Mary Tinsley, a free woman of color and widow of Joseph Villoret. A translation from the French is included. In French, Spanish, and English.	View the finding aid
Prosper Foy papers, 1790-1858. 2 items digitized. Documents relating to financial transactions between free people of color and Prosper Foy, a white, French-born marble cutter, sculptor, engraver, teacher of architecture, and slaveholder, are included in the project. In French and English.	View the online catalog record View the finding aid
Lambert family papers, 1798-1905. 1 baptismal certificate digitized. A certificate recording that Charles-Pierre Lambert, natural son of the enslaved woman Zoe who belongs to Madame de St. Georges, was baptized. The document states that Madame de St. Georges gave him to Monsieur Lambert, his natural father, who promised to set him free (1798). Part of a larger collection of papers of of Pierre Antoine Lambert (died 1827) and of his son, Pierre Alexandre Lambert (1806-1895). In French.	View the online catalog record View the finding aid
St. Charles Hotel records, 1789-1930. 1 civil court record digitized. Includes a February 5, 1828 document showing debts owed to Barthelemy Campanel, a free man of color, by Ferdinand Percy. In English.	View the online catalog record View the finding aid
Bouny and Sanchez families papers, 1828-1907. 1 petition digitized. Includes an 1842 petition from Mrs. Bouny for the emancipation of her slave, Coralie. In French.	View the online catalog record View the finding aid
Honoré Doussan papers, 1779-1910. 1 petition digitized. Includes the 1827 emancipation papers of an enslaved woman named Charlotte, who is about sixteen years of age. In French and English.	View the online catalog record View the finding aid
Personal Documents collection, 1671-1959. 1 marriage record digitized. Includes an 1829 marriage contract between Jean Jacques Montfort of New Orleans, a free man of color, and Marie Eulalie Blais of New Orleans, a free woman of color. In French.	View the finding aid
Hospital de San Lazaro document, 1801. 1 account. Account by Juan Castanedo, mayordomo de proprios for New Orleans, on the income and expenses of the San Lazaro leper colony. Four of the five nurses are free people of color. In Spanish.
Registration of Free Person of Color certificate, 1860. 1 certificate. Certificate registering Josephine M. Bullen as a free person of color, as required by the Louisiana Legislature. In English.

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Collections from the Louisiana Division of New Orleans Public Library
Register of free persons of color entitled to remain in the state, 1840-1864. 4 volumes. Each volume lists the name of the person registering, sex and color, age, profession, place of birth, time of arrival in the state (or date of emancipation), and "observations" or "remarks." The observations or remarks generally consist of statements substantiating the person's claim of free status and occasionally include a physical description. Volume 1 is in French and English; Volumes 2 - 4 are in English.	View the finding aid
Orleans Parish Court, Emancipation Petitions, 1813-1843. 872 petitions. Manuscript petitions to the Parish Court by slaveholders seeking permission to emancipate their enslaved persons. Each petition names the enslaved person to be freed and gives some identifying information about them. Although the petitions follow a formal legal outline, occasionally there are additional documents filed in testimony of some service rendered by the enslaved personthat has made them particularly worthy of emancipation. In French and English.	View the finding aid
City Council, First Municipality Council Emancipation Docket, 1846-1851. 1 volume. Records chronologically the deliberations of the Council in matters of slave emancipations. Generally the record for each emancipation includes the name of the slave owner desiring to emancipate and the name of the enslaved person being emancipated. Age and physical description are sometimes included. In French.	View the finding aid
New Orleans Third Municipality Council, Ordinances and Resolutions, June 29, 1846 - March 3, 1851. 1 volume. Slave emancipations before the Third Municipality Council recorded at the back of a volume of ordinances and resolutions. Includes copies of the petitions for emancipation (giving name of petitioner, name and age of the enslaved person(s), and date of consideration of the petition) and a record of the proceedings ratifying decisions initially made on each petition. In French and English.	View the finding aid
Mayor’s Records, Slaves Emancipated by the Councils of Municipalities One, Two, and Three, 1846-1850. 1 volume. Reports by the First Municipality Council of enslaved persons whose emancipations were approved by that body. Loose reports from the other two municipalities are also included within the record. Generally the records show the names of slave owners, names of enslaved persons (along with age and, in some cases, "color"), and date of council approval. In English.	View the finding aid
Passports, in Record book of licenses, bakers' declarations, and statements of public works, 1812, and passports, 1818-1831. Part of Mayor’s Records. 1 volume. The volume records passports issued by the Mayor from August 24, 1818 - March 15, 1831, to free people of color and enslaved persons seeking to leave the city and return. In French and English.	View the finding aid
Freedom papers of New Orleans, 1854-1858. 1 folder. An artificial collection comprised of various documents that provide evidence of the free status of individual persons in the city of New Orleans during the years 1854-1858. Among the items are certificates from public officials, copies of notarial acts, extracts from the Registers of Free People of Color maintained in the Mayor's Office, extracts from records in the Orleans Parish Conveyance Office, court judgments, and affidavits from private citizens. Each document identifies the free person color and references the petitioner of her/his emancipation. In French and English.	View the finding aid
Indenture Records, 1809-1843. 567 indentures digitized. Indentures in which one or more of the parties is a free person of color were digitized for this project. The documents include the name of the person indentured and her/his age, place of birth, and color (e.g. "free quadroon"). Orphans are also identified. The name of the sponsor giving permission for the minor to be bound is given and typically includes their relationship to the child. Also listed is the name of the merchant or tradesperson to whom the apprentice or servant is bound, his/her trade, and the terms of the agreement. In French and English.	View the finding aid

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