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A Virtual Tour of BK House
& more from the Digital Content Archive
As our staff works from home during the quarantine due to COVID-19, we look forward to peeking into the archives in order to share our best digital content with friends and followers. We hope that this virtual experience of our historic house will prove to be enjoyable and rewarding for our past and future visitors as they #museumfromhome during this challenging time.
-BK House Staff, April 2020
This page will be updated throughout the quarantine period to include more digital content, so please continue to check back! In the meantime, you can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
 Take a Virtual Tour of BKH with OttOtt Howell gave tours at the Beauregard-Keyes House for over 27 years as head docent and you can still catch him volunteering every once in a while! In the meantime, enjoy his classic tour of the house. Ott's tour explores the home's history by delving into its architecture, furniture and the lives of former residents, such as General PGT Beauregard and best-selling novelist Frances Parkinson Keyes. |  Take a Classic Audio Tour of BKHAnyone who knew Frances Parkinson Keyes during her years living at Beauregard House, as it was then known, also knew her longtime butler Carroll Fuller. Though he was both her butler and chauffeur, Mr. Fuller's role with Mrs. Keyes could perhaps be even more accurately described as house and personal manager. The first official house director after FPK's death in 1970, Mr. Fuller's tour has informed the version given by generations of tour guides. Parts I and II available at link! |  Piccolo Palermo Exhibit - The FilmThis film was displayed as part of BK House's exhibit, Piccolo Palermo: The Italian Immigrant Experience and the Beauregard-Keyes House. It features the personal experiences and recollections of three notable local descendants of Sicilian immigrants, including house docent and Giacona descendant, Rosanna Giacona Shepherd, daughter of Aniello Giacona, whose family owned and lived in what is now BK House when he was born in 1910. |
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 A Film about the Life of Mrs. KeyesBK House produced this short film about the life and significance of author Frances Parkinson Keyes at the request of the Newbury Historical Society in Mrs. Keyes's hometown of Newbury, Vermont, which aimed to raise local awareness about the renowned novelist and historic preservationist. Speakers in the film include retired river steamboat captain Doc Hawley, current BK House staff member Lily Elkins, preservationist John Geiser, and retired docent Ott Howell. |  Oral History Interview SeriesParts I, II and III are available for viewing now - |  A Sicilian Childhood in the FQIn this oral history interview, New Orleans native Dr. Robert Cangelosi discusses his childhood in the New Orleans French Quarter in the 1930s and 1940s, during a time when the neighborhood was a primarily Sicilian immigrant neighborhood. In highlighting the people, culture, food and traditions of his childhood, Dr. Cangelosi reminisces about the family-oriented, tight-knit community in which he was raised, and describes his youth as a distinctly New Orleans experience. |
 A Life of Historic PreservationLongtime BKH board member and docent John Geiser III is former Swiss Consul to New Orleans and a lifelong advocate for issues of historic preservation. In this oral history interview, Mr. Geiser's encyclopedic knowledge of local history is on full display as he discusses his family history and local roots, years working with notable mentors such as Sam Wilson and his childhood friendship with author John Kennedy Toole. His telling of a few favorite stories about Mrs. Keyes are another highlight. |  A River Steamboat Captain Settles in New OrleansCaptain Clarke "Doc" Hawley is a retired steamboat captain, historic preservationist and valued authority on riverboat history. Doc has served on the house's Board of Trustees for many years, and is the only current member to have met Mrs. Keyes - she is said to have taken "quite a shine" to him. In the 1970s, Doc lived in an apartment at BK House and knew Carroll Fuller, FPK's longtime butler, very well (Mr. Fuller's tour of the house is also available on this page.) |
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