Based on author and historian Marlene Trestman’s critically acclaimed book of the same name, Most Fortunate Unfortunates: The Jewish Orphans’ Home in New Orleans explores this unique institution and the legacy it left for thousands of Jews across the South. The Jewish Orphans’ Home – known affectionately as “the Home” – opened in New Orleans in 1856 following a yellow fever epidemic, becoming the first purpose-built Jewish orphanage in the country. By the time it closed in 1946, it had provided a nurturing home for more than 1,600 children, many who lived there for ten years or more.

Considered “the pride of every Southern Israelite” while in operation, the Jewish Orphans’ Home was a uniquely nourishing place, defying usual stereotypes and assumptions about institutional homes for children while making a positive impression about Jews in and beyond New Orleans.

The exhibition dives into the formation of the Home, the daily and religious life of its residents, its progressive “Golden City” self-governing system, the establishment of Isidore Newman School for both orphans and paying pupils from the community, and profiles of many of the Home’s leaders and residents, composed by Trestman.

Several seldom-seen artifacts from the Home will be on display, including an original, handwritten registration book dating back to 1855, a letter from President Theodore Roosevelt, and a plaque honoring Home alumni who served during World War II. Also highlighted are rare personal items owned by residents of the Home, such as photo albums, wedding china, a childhood locket, and the cardboard suitcase that one young man carried when he left the Home in 1934.