PHOTOS: Community gathers to Remember Sylvester Francis, founder of the Backstreet Cultural Museum
Voodoo Queen Kalindah Laveaux, left, and Monogram Hunters 2nd Chief Jeremy Stevenson, center, celebrate the life of Sylvester “Hawk” Francis at the Backstreet Cultural Museum in the Treme Neighborhood of New Orleans, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020, after Francis passed from a long illness. He was 73 years old.
Voodoo Queen Kalindah Laveaux, left, and Monogram Hunters 2nd Chief Jeremy Stevenson, center, celebrate the life of Sylvester “Hawk” Francis at the Backstreet Cultural Museum in the Treme Neighborhood of New Orleans, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020, after Francis passed from a long illness. He was 73 years old.
Voodoo Queen Kalindah Laveaux, left, and Monogram Hunters 2nd Chief Jeremy Stevenson, center, celebrate the life of Sylvester Hawk Francis at the Backstreet Cultural Museum in the Treme Neighborhood of New Orleans, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020, after Francis passed from a long illness. His son Sylvester Francis, Jr., wearing white mask, danced to the music of the Treme Brass Band and a band led by trombonist Corey Henry. During a break trumpeter Kermit Ruffins played a solo of Ill Fly Away. After its founding in 1999 the museum became a gathering point for Mardi Gras and Carnival revelers, Black Masking Indians, Baby Dolls. The Northside Skull and Bone Gang started Mardi Gras every year from the museum to wake up Mardi Gras revelers at dawns first light. Francis was a member of Gentlemen of Leisure Social Aid & Pleasure Club and many Indians including Big Chief Victor Harris, top left, of the Spirit of FiYiYi and Mandingo Warriors donated their beautiful suits to the museum and FiYiYi would often gather at the museum for Fat Tuesday and St. Josephs Night on March 19th. FiYiYi little spy boy T.J. Polite, age 3, played drums.
Photo by Matthew Hinton
Sylvester Francis son Sylvester Francis, Jr., wearing white mask, dances to the music of the Treme Brass Band and a band led by trombonist Corey Henry, top left. Photo by Matthew Hinton
Trombonist Corey Henry, top left, leads a band in a memorial for Sylvester Francis who passed away earlier on Tuesday at the Back Street Cultural museum. Photo by Matthew Hinton
Sylvester Francis son Sylvester Francis, Jr., hangs pictures honoring his father before a memorial Tuesday after his fathers passing earlier in the day. Photo by Matthew Hinton
Sylvester Francis son Sylvester Francis, Jr., right, and other mourners take part in a memorial at the Backstreet Cultural Museum Tuesday after his fathers passing earlier in the day. Photo by Matthew Hinton
People dance to the music of the Treme Brass Band at a memorial for Sylvester Francis at the Backstreet Cultural Museum, Tuesday, Sept 1, 2020 in New Orleans. Photo by Matthew Hinton
Big Chief Victor Harris of the Spirit of the FiYiYi and Mandingo Warriors sheds tears as he celebrates the life of Sylvester Hawk Francis at the Backstreet Cultural Museum in the Treme Neighborhood of New Orleans, Tuesday after Francis passed from a long illness. Many of Harris Mardi Gras Indian suits are at the museum.
Photo by Matthew Hinton
Big Chief Victor Harris of the Spirit of the FiYiYi and Mandingo Warriors, top left, raises his arms with Monogram Hunters 2nd Chief Jeremy Stevenson, as they celebrate the life of Sylvester Hawk Francis at the Backstreet Cultural Museum in the Treme Neighborhood of New Orleans, Tuesday after Francis passed from a long illness. Many of Harris Mardi Gras Indian suits are at the museum.
Photo by Matthew Hinton
Kermit Ruffins plays Ill Fly Away at a memorial for Sylvester Hawk Francis who passed away earlier on Tuesday at the Back Street Cultural museum. Photo by Matthew Hinton
Mourners take part in a memorial for Sylvester Francis at the Backstreet Cultural Museum, Tuesday, Sept 1, 2020 in New Orleans. Photo by Matthew Hinton
People dance to the music of the Treme Brass Band at a memorial for Sylvester Francis at the Backstreet Cultural Museum, Tuesday, Sept 1, 2020 in New Orleans. Photo by Matthew Hinton
Voodoo Queen Kalindah Laveaux, left, celebrates the life of Sylvester Hawk Francis at the Backstreet Cultural Museum in the Treme Neighborhood of New Orleans, Tuesday after Francis passed from a long illness.
Photo by Matthew Hinton
Monogram Hunters 2nd Chief Jeremy Stevenson, center, celebrates the life of Sylvester Hawk Francis at the Backstreet Cultural Museum in the Treme Neighborhood of New Orleans, Tuesday after Francis passed from a long illness.
Photo by Matthew Hinton
Sylvester Francis son Sylvester Francis, Jr., wearing white mask, dances with sister Dominique Francis, wearing purple, to the music of the Treme Brass Band and a band led by trombonist Corey Henry. Photo by Matthew Hinton
Sylvester Francis daughter Dominique Francis, wearing purple, dances to the music of the Treme Brass Band and a band led by trombonist Corey Henry. Photo by Matthew Hinton
Mourners including Laurie A. Kaufman take part in a memorial for Sylvester Francis at the Backstreet Cultural Museum, Tuesday, Sept 1, 2020 in New Orleans. Photo by Matthew Hinton
Mourners take part in a memorial for Sylvester Francis at the Backstreet Cultural Museum, Tuesday, Sept 1, 2020 in New Orleans. Photo by Matthew Hinton
Mourners take part in a memorial for Sylvester Francis at the Backstreet Cultural Museum, Tuesday, Sept 1, 2020 in New Orleans. Photo by Matthew Hinton
Mourners including little spy boy T.J. Polite, age 3, of the Spirit of the FiYiYi and Mandingo Warriors take part in a memorial for Sylvester Francis at the Backstreet Cultural Museum, Tuesday, Sept 1, 2020 in New Orleans. Photo by Matthew Hinton
Junior Aurélien Barnes the son of Northside Skull and Bone Gang leader and musician Bruce Sunpie Barnes plays next to a photo of Collins Coach Lewis who sewed Mardi Gras Indian suits for Spirit of FiYiYi and Mandingo Warriors. Mourners take part in a memorial for Sylvester Francis at the Backstreet Cultural Museum, Tuesday, Sept 1, 2020 in New Orleans. Many of the suits Lewis sewed are in the museum. Photo by Matthew Hinton
Trombonist Corey Henry, left, Monogram Hunters 2nd Chief Jeremy Stevenson, center, and FiYiYi spy boy Albert Polite, right, celebrate the life of Sylvester Hawk Francis at the Backstreet Cultural Museum in the Treme Neighborhood of New Orleans, Tuesday after Francis passed from a long illness.
Photo by Matthew Hinton
Spirit of FiYiYi spy boy Albert Polite, right, and baby doll Dianne Honore Destrehan, right, celebrate the life of Sylvester Hawk Francis at the Backstreet Cultural Museum next to the St Augustine Catholic Church in the Treme Neighborhood of New Orleans, Tuesday after Francis passed from a long illness.
Photo by Matthew Hinton
Members of the Treme Brass Band take part in a memorial for Sylvester Hawk Francis at the Backstreet Cultural Museum, Tuesday, Sept 1, 2020 in New Orleans. Photo by Matthew Hinton
Sylvester Francis son Sylvester Francis, Jr., wearing white mask, dances to the music of a band led by trombonist Corey Henry in the Treme neighborhood in a second line to honor the passing of Francis in New Orleans on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020. Photo by Matthew Hinton
Big Chief Victor Harris of the Spirit of the FiYiYi and Mandingo Warriors, second left, and spy boy Ricky Gettridge greet mourners as they celebrate the life of Sylvester Hawk Francis at the Backstreet Cultural Museum in the Treme Neighborhood of New Orleans, Tuesday after Francis passed from a long illness. Many of Harris Mardi Gras Indian suits are at the museum.
Photo by Matthew Hinton
Trombonist Corey Henry, top left, leads a band in a memorial for Sylvester Francis who passed away earlier on Tuesday at the Back Street Cultural museum. Photo by Matthew Hinton
People dance to the music of the Treme Brass Band at a memorial for Sylvester Francis at the Backstreet Cultural Museum, Tuesday, Sept 1, 2020 in New Orleans. Photo by Matthew Hinton
Members of the Treme Brass Band take part in a memorial for Sylvester Hawk Francis at the Backstreet Cultural Museum, Tuesday, Sept 1, 2020 in New Orleans. Photo by Matthew Hinton
Northside Skull and Bone Gang leader and musician Bruce Sunpie Barnes, right, is greeted by a mourner as they take part in a memorial for Sylvester Francis at the Backstreet Cultural Museum, Tuesday, Sept 1, 2020 in New Orleans. The Skull and Bone gang would begin Mardi Gras revelry with a wake up call at dawns first lift on the steps of the museum. Photo by Matthew Hinton
Sylvester Francis son Sylvester Francis, Jr., wearing white mask, dances to the music of the Treme Brass Band and a band led by trombonist Corey Henry, top left. Photo by Matthew Hinton
Sylvester Hawk Francis, right, wakes up with the North Side Skull and Bone Gang as the wake up the city on Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, in the Treme neighborhood in New Orleans. The group states that it is the oldest Mardi Gras Black Indian Gang in America, with African Creole traditions dating back to 1819, and that they are descendants of the slaves and Native Americans. Though similar in ancestry they are different than the feathered Carnival or Black Masking Indians which started in the later 1800s. Skull and Bones are meant to remind people of their mortality and to live a moral life to avoid becoming Skull and Bones themselves. Photo by Matthew Hinton
Sylvester Hawk Francis, right, wakes up with the North Side Skull and Bone Gang as the wake up the city on Mardi Gras 2020, Fat Tuesday, in the Treme neighborhood in New Orleans. The group states that it is the oldest Mardi Gras Black Indian Gang in America, with African Creole traditions dating back to 1819, and that they are descendants of the slaves and Native Americans. Though similar in ancestry they are different than the feathered Carnival or Black Masking Indians which started in the later 1800s. Skull and Bones are meant to remind people of their mortality and to live a moral life to avoid becoming Skull and Bones themselves. Photo by Matthew Hinton
His son Sylvester Francis, Jr., wearing white mask, danced to the music of the Treme Brass Band and a band led by trombonist Corey Henry. During a break trumpeter Kermit Ruffins played a solo of “I’ll Fly Away.” After its founding in 1999 the museum became a gathering point for Mardi Gras and Carnival revelers, Black Masking Indians, Baby Dolls. The Northside Skull and Bone Gang started Mardi Gras every year from the museum to wake up Mardi Gras revelers at dawn’s first light. Francis was a member of Gentlemen of Leisure Social Aid & Pleasure Club and many Indians including Big Chief Victor Harris, top left, of the Spirit of FiYiYi and Mandingo Warriors donated their beautiful suits to the museum and FiYiYi would often gather at the museum for Fat Tuesday and St. Joseph’s Night on March 19th. FiYiYi little spy boy T.J. Polite, age 3, played drums.
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Matthew Hinton is a New Orleans area freelance photographer whose work has been recognized by the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) Best of Photojournalism Awards in 2014 and 2016, and by numerous awards from the Press Club of New Orleans, including the Hal Ledet President's Print Photography Award, the highest honor the Press Club can bestow upon a photographer.
Matthew Hinton has previously been a staff photographer at both of the daily newspapers in New Orleans. His work has appeared nationally and internationally through freelance work with the Associated Press and AFP, Agence France-Presse.
