☼ New Orleans, LA
Restoring New Orleans Cemeteries One Tomb at a Time
Tomb Do You Love?
● About
In many New Orleans cemeteries, experts estimate that 80% of the tombs are abandoned. Time, neglect, the elements, and unfortunately vandalism threaten to permanently destroy these marble and brick and mortar monuments that symbolize our city’s history.
New Orleans’ cemeteries draw visitors from around the world to experience and learn about the city’s unique multicultural and burial traditions and view our exquisite tombs in person. Tomb Do You Love’s goal is to renovate and repair these tombs to preserve our culture and ensure them for future generations.
Tomb Do You Love is the only nonprofit in New Orleans that focuses specifically on tomb restoration. Just as a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, the restoration of our cemeteries begins with one tomb at a time.
A history restored is a history respected
Events
Halloween Cocktail Party & Meet and Greet
Thursday, October 29
New Orleans Storyville Museum | New Orleans, LA
Come mingle with other vampire ball attendees the night before the ball at the historic Storyville Museum and help support New Orleans tomb restoration. This year, proceeds of the silent auction will benefit the restoration of E.J. Bellocq's tomb in the St. Louis No. 3 Cemetery. We are thrilled to partner with Tomb Do You Love, a local nonprofit who will be leading the tomb restoration.
Brothel, Storyville, or Jazz themed costumes are encouraged for the event!
Because love persists even after death.
● Currently Restoring: The Bellocq Tomb
What does it mean to have documented the most desired undesirables? Ernest Bellocq, a New Orleans photographer during the early 1900s, secretly photographed prostitutes in New Orleans’ Red Light District known as Storyville.
His photographs give us a permanent glance into the ephemeral lives of women who existed on the peripheral of society. His revolutionary treatment of these women as not evocative subjects but as empowered individuals who have inspired films, novels, poetry, and scholarly discourse to this day.
The restoration of his tomb seeks to honor his memory just as he honored those that he photographed.
One Infamous Storyvillle Photographer
● Contact
Request Information
Whether you’re curious about Tomb Do You Love, the tomb we’re working on, or anyone involved, we’re here to talk.