lt Front-end Research about Public Perceptions of a LLoouuiissiiaannaa CCiivviill RRiigghhttss MMuusseeuumm for The Louisiana State Museum Research report by: People, Places & Design Research February, 2010 Front-end Research about Public Perceptions of a Louisiana Civil Rights Museum Contents Front-end Research: Executive Summary . 1 First Study: Intercept Interviews in New Orleans . 2 Research Conclusions . 3 A. Interest in Louisiana History . 5 B. Interest in Civil Rights . 6 C. Interest in Civil Rights Themes . 8 D. Initial Interest in Visiting . 9 E. Characteristics of the Sample . 10 Second Study: Focus Groups in Three Cities . 11 Research Conclusions . 12 Overview, Research Strategy, Principal Results Opportunities . 15 A. Interest in Cultural History . 16 B. Regional Differences in Louisiana . 25 C. Interest in Current and Historical Eras . 29 D. Top-of-Mind Associations with “Civil Rights”. 32 E. “Other” Civil Rights Movements . 36 Challenges . 43 F. Awareness of the Civil Rights Movement. 44 G. Louisianan Visitors to New Orleans . 46 H. Emotional Perceptions of Civil Rights . 48 I. Interest in “Cultural Conflict” . 50 J. Initial Interest in Visiting a Civil Rights Museum. 62 K. Sensitivity to Perceptions of Racism . 63 Research Report prepared by Brian Werner & Jeff Hayward People, Places & Design Research Northampton, Massachusetts February, 2010 Front-end Research about Public Perceptions of a Louisiana Civil Rights Museum 1 Executive Summary This “Front-end Research” report presents the results of two complementary audience studies, both intended to explore the public’s knowledge, interests and openness to Louisiana’s civil rights history. The first study is based on intercept interviews (primarily quantitative) of people at various locations in New Orleans. The second study is based on nine focus group discussions (a qualitative research method) with residents of Louisiana in Lafayette, Baton Rouge and New Orleans. The methods, results and findings of each of the studies are described in greater detail in the two major sections of this report. Key Findings Public interest in Louisiana history is not necessarily compelling, although there are some opportunities. The history of Louisiana is not automatically appealing for Louisiana residents or tourists, but some aspects of Louisiana history have potential appeal. One topic with apparent public interest is about the diverse cultural histories in the state. People can readily identify several cultural influences from history and today, and they say they are interested in learning more about them. For example, the commonalities and differences between Cajun and Creole cultures and the regional variations in culture within Louisiana are relatively strong interests. Interest in civil rights history is mixed, not assured. General interest in the topic of “civil rights” exists, but that’s different from interest in the Civil Rights Movement. Interest in civil rights history (i.e., the Movement) is moderate on average, although relatively high among African American residents of New Orleans, moderate among African American residents of other parts of the state and weak among both tourists and white residents of Louisiana. For most whites (and some African Americans) the Civil Rights Movement is more depressing than inspirational. There were some hints of interest in other connections when people were asked about specific topics such as: “People’s rights during and after the Hurricane Katrina disaster” and “Free blacks during the time of slavery.” Knowledge about the Civil Rights Movement in Louisiana is limited, except among older audiences. Even though knowledge about the national Civil Rights Movement is very high among people of Louisiana, most people’s knowledge about the Civil Rights Movement in Louisiana is very low. Older African Americans from Baton Rouge and New Orleans who lived through that era can identify people and events, but whites and all younger people have little or no established frame of reference. People might be engaged by a broader conception of civil rights, but that path also comes with apprehension. Many people are open to the idea of learning about a variety of civil rights movements – e.g., women’s rights and disability rights, and to a lesser extent gay rights and immigrant rights. For some people, these movements are a legacy of the Civil Rights Movement and this could create a more welcoming image for whites especially. For some African Americans, inclusion of these other movements might be deemed distractions or even offensive. And while most Louisiana residents can cite a modern example of cultural conflict, few think of such conflicts as something about which they would enjoy knowing more. Research report by People, Places & Design Research Front-end Research about Public Perceptions of a Louisiana Civil Rights Museum 2 First Study: Intercept Interviews with Residents and Tourists in New Orleans Research Conclusions . 3 A. Interest in Louisiana History . 5 B. Interest in Civil Rights . 6 C. Interest in Civil Rights Themes . 8 D. Initial Interest in Visiting . 9 E. Characteristics of the Sample . 10 Research report by People, Places & Design Research Front-end Research about Public Perceptions of a Louisiana Civil Rights Museum 3 Research Conclusions: Interviews with Residents and Tourists This study was initiated to understand the perceptions of Louisianans and tourists about the possibility of a civil rights museum in New Orleans. The purpose of the research is to inform programmatic planning about the nature of possible visitor experiences and exhibition themes or topics to consider in the planning process. Understanding the sample of people who were interviewed For this first part of the research – the quantitative study – the data are drawn from intercept interviews of 115 people encountered in various public places (libraries, coffee shops, museums, parks and Jackson Square) during October of 2009. Intercept interviews were conducted by trained interviewers at these locations with randomly selected people. No qualifications were used in selecting the people to be interviewed, although locations were chosen to gain a reasonable sample of people from Louisiana (both African American and white) and outside of Louisiana (mostly white, intentions to encounter African American tourists were not realized sufficiently to justify analysis). This study was designed to use a relatively small sample size as a foundation for additional work (e.g. for focus groups, future surveys). However, the modest sample sizes do not support fine distinctions among types of potential visitors. Principal Results Interest in Louisiana history People expressed moderate to high interest in a variety of topics from Louisiana history. The strongest interests among the overall sample were about the people of Louisiana: “The many cultures of Louisiana” and “Ethnic and racial history of Louisiana.” The general idea of “Civil rights in Louisiana” elicited very high interest among African American Louisianans, moderate to high interest among white Louisianans, and low interest among tourists (this is not the same as interest in the Civil Rights Movement). Top-of-mind interests regarding civil rights The first impression of interest in a “civil rights museum” is mostly positive but not enthusiastic. Most people could name some general idea of what could be interesting to them in such a place, but these ideas were vague and unenthusiastic. For those who have thoughts about civil rights today (primarily Louisiana residents), the observations are mostly discouraging observations of racism and inequality — few people focus on accomplishments or positive efforts. Interest in civil rights themes During the interviews, people were presented a list of possible themes for a civil rights museum. For all three subsets (African American Louisianans, white Louisianans, and white tourists) the most interesting theme was “People’s rights during and after the Hurricane Katrina disaster” followed by “Free blacks during the time of slavery.” “Struggles for civil rights today” and “the Civil Rights Movement in Louisiana during the 1950s and 1960s” were also highly rated, but primarily among African American Louisianans. Although white Louisianans expressed high interest in the general idea of “civil rights in Louisiana,” they were much less interested in the Civil Rights Movement and civil rights today. Research report by People, Places & Design Research Front-end Research about Public Perceptions of a Louisiana Civil Rights Museum 4 Reading the tables In this report, the results of the community interviews are presented primarily in tables like the ones below. Tables with no spaces between the rows are from a single question. In this example, 57% of African American Louisianans expressed high interest in visiting a civil rights museum (38% expressed medium interest and 5% low interest) compared with 67% of white Louisianans and 27% of tourists. The asterisks indicate a statistically significant difference between the columns. AUDIENCE SUBSETS African Am. white white Louisianans Louisianans tourists (n=37) (n=33) (n=30) Interest in visiting high interest ** 57% 67% 27% medium interest 38% 21% 33% low interest 5% 12% 40% A separate question Tables with spaces between the rows are in condensed form and each row is independent, from a separate question. In the table below, 83% of African American Louisianans expressed a high interest in “the recent history and future of New Orleans”