Archiving a History of Reproductive Justice and Activism in New Orleans

This research derives from a public history exhibit that I have been building for the Newcomb Research Institute of Tulane University in New Orleans. The exhibit demonstrates the long history of reproductive health and justice activism in the city and the ways in which local organizers continued in recent years to advocate for patient care in a post Roe world. Pulling from several archives including newly acquired New Orleans Planned Parenthood records, Newcomb’s Reproductive Justice papers, and the personal collections of local activists, this exhibit tells the story of how reproductive rights have long been fought for in this city.

The exhibit design emphasizes the history of the geography of reproductive access and how coalitions were built to protect access across the city, often crossing racial and socioeconomic lines. Local newspapers, including Tulane campus newspapers like the Hullabaloo, show the risk that young women took in the 1960s to secure abortions and birth control while living away from their homes. The exhibit also includes the contentious story of how local neighborhoods created women’s centers in the 1970s in response to the Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortions in the country.

The exhibit also contends with the religious tensions in the city and how interfaith groups came together to defend the rights of mothers to access safe maternal care in the 1990s. These groups, including Catholics for Choice, defended a mother’s right to choose as the city erupted in a series of religious protests around Planned Parenthood and women’s clinics as the Supreme Court took up the issue of abortion once again in 1992. This time, no less than a dozen local organizations joined together to fight against state lawmakers who attempted to limit access to reproductive care in Louisiana. The exhibit also highlights the local debates and continuation of fights for reproductive access in recent years as the state passed some of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country.

This exhibit has two main purposes. The first is bring the national story into local focus similar to the ways in which Civil Rights exhibits have done. This allows visitors to connect to the community around them and to see how the politics and views of reproductive rights have changed over time in this space and how these laws have affected real people. Secondly, it emphasizes the importance of maintaining reproductive health and justice archival collections and community partnerships as women in the South are navigating a post Roe world. For example, the last Planned Parenthood clinic in Louisiana was forced to close in September of 2025, and as censorship has become more prevalent in recent years it is more important than ever to collect and maintain these records for researchers who want to understand the history and for those who want to once again rebuild coalitions that once sustained the city for generations.