Rien Fertel

For the Historic New Orleans Collection’s 26th Williams Research Center Symposium, Rien Fertel converses with Lydia Blackmore, curator of the "Making Mardi Gras" exhibition, about the first 101 years of Carnival organizations in New Orleans, from the founding of the Mistick Krewe of Comus in 1857 to the Krewe of Yuga a century later. Fertel and Blackmore also discuss marginalized groups — including Black masking Indians, flambeaux carriers, and gay Carnival revelers — that have democratized Mardi Gras.