Epidemics from yellow fever and cholera to the 1918 Flu Pandemic have tragically impacted New Orleans over the past 300 years. These periods of crisis have had a profound impact on the economic and emotional well-being of the city and region. As the most significant public health crisis in over a century, the Covid-19 Pandemic is no different. The city has endured a heartbreaking loss of human life, the interruption of cherished traditions, and deep economic hardship.

Two leading Louisiana public health officials share their personal narratives of confronting the challenges of this historical moment with historian Margaret Peacock and oral historian Mark Cave. The participants were involved in a major oral history project on the pandemic in New Orleans launched by The Historic New Orleans Collection.