PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 16, 2009
Contact: Jen Gick
jgick@longuevue.com
504-488-5488 ext. 320
LONGUE VUE HOUSE AND GARDENS PRESENTS
THE PONTCHARTRAIN PARK PHOTOGRAPHY PROJECT OPENING
New Orleans, April 17, 2009— Longue Vue House and Gardens, supported by a Save Our History grant from the award-winning channel, History™, will host the opening of The Pontchartrain Park Photography Project on Thursday , May 21, 2009 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Longue Vue House and Gardens. This exhibition, comprised of photographs and oral histories taken by the students of Mary D. Coghill Elementary School, documents the history of Pontchartrain Park, the neighborhood in which the school is located. On display will be powerful photographs of the students’ literal and artistic interpretations of the neighborhood’s homes and landmarks as the residents work to rebuild following Hurricane Katrina. Guests will also have the opportunity to view a documentary, created by media students at Delgado Community College, that chronicles the students’ journey through the project and features oral histories from neighborhood residents. The opening is free and open to the public.
The Pontchartrain Park Photography Project a collaboration between Longue Vue and The New Orleans Kid Camera Project, Tulane University, and Delgado Community College, was developed to help students forge meaningful relationships with Pontchartrain Park, the first neighborhood in New Orleans developed for the African American middle class. The collaboration has enabled students to preserve and share the unique legacy and culture of their predominantly African American enclave, empowered them to positively impact their community, and increased community awareness of local historic neighborhoods and the importance of their preservation.
Longue Vue House and Gardens, the former home of philanthropists and civil leaders Edith and Edgar Stern, is an internationally recognized historic site that serves as an educational and cultural institution. Longue Vue’s mission is “to preserve and use the historical and artistic legacy of Longue Vue and its creators to educate and inspire people to pursue beauty and civic responsibility in their lives.” The Pontchartrain Park Photography Project actively demonstrates Longue Vue’s commitment to its mission and to serving the Greater New Orleans community. This collaborative project has helped to nurture the growing relationship between Longue Vue, Coghill students, and the residents of Pontchartrain Park, a neighborhood that the Sterns were instrumental in establishing.
Longue Vue House and Gardens was one of just eleven organizations nationwide to receive a History™ Save Our History grant. “History™ receives stacks of applications for Save Our History grants,” said Dr. Libby O’Connell, Senior Vice President, Corporate Outreach and Chief Historian, for History™. “Longue Vue demonstrated the creativity and commitment to preservation and education that we believe is fundamental to giving our past a bright future. Building partnerships within the community is key to achieving long term preservation goals.”
History™, with the counsel of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA) and American Association of State and Local History (AASLH), created the Save Our History Grant Program as an extension of the Save Our History philanthropic initiative. History™ is committed to inspiring and motivating local communities to learn about and take an active role in the preservation of their past through projects involving artifacts, oral histories, sites, museums or landmarks that exist in their own neighborhoods. In five years, 2,445 historic organizations, representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia have applied for funding through the Save Our History Grant Program.
About Longue Vue House and Gardens
Longue Vue House and Gardens is a historic city estate museum that was the home of the late philanthropists, Edgar Bloom Stern, a New Orleans business man and cotton broker, and his wife Edith, daughter of Julius Rosenwald, the Sears magnate. The Classical Revival style mansion is surrounded by eight acres of gardens. Longue Vue is open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Sunday from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. General admission to Longue Vue is $10 for adults and $5 for children. All of Longue Vue’s programs are open to the public. For more information, call 504.488.5488 or visit www.longuevue.com.