New Exhibition Opens on January 29, 2026 at the Presbytère on Jackson Square, presented by the Louisiana State Museum. 

For more than a century, the Original Illinois Club (est. 1895) and the Young Men Illinois Club (est. 1926) have shaped a vital but under-recognized tradition in Black New Orleans Mardi Gras culture. These clubs upheld elegance, dignity, and community pride through their dazzling debutante balls. Long before the Black New Orleans Carnival traditions of the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club and the Baby Dolls were household names, Illinois Club royalty were celebrated in Black newspapers and family albums alike. 

Though segregation denied them access to traditionally white venues, the clubs flourished in union halls and gymnasiums. Stunning costumes, elaborate backdrops, and courtly rituals mirrored and redefined the traditions of old-line krewes like Rex and Comus. Legacy families like Baranco, Rhodes, Duncan, and Bagneris embodied generational Black excellence that found expression in these royal courts. 

This exhibition, which will open in the centennial year of the Young Men Illinois Club, will feature rare photographs, including the first Young Men Illinois Club court in 1927, heirloom gowns, regal costumes, and for the first time in decades, parts of the magnificent original set of the French Opera House from the 1968 Original Illinois Club ball, hand-painted by Schmit Brothers scenic designers.