Faculty & Staff Faculty :: Ann Masson

Ann Masson is a local art historian who writes, teaches, and consults in the areas of architecture, antiques, and historic preservation. A graduate of Newcomb College, where she majored in Anthropology, Ann holds a Master’s degree in the History of Art from Tulane University. She attended Attingham Park Summer School, a noted study course in the architecture and arts of English country houses, as well as Loyola’s Institute of Politics.

At Tulane, she has taught “The History of New Orleans Architecture” and, since 2001, “Architecture in the Americas” for the Graduate Program in Historic Preservation at the School of Architecture.

Her interest in New Orleans architecture led to a career in local museums and historic preservation organizations. She was the second Executive Director of the Preservation Resource Center, and for more than fifteen years, Executive Director of Gallier House Museum.

In recent years, she has consulted on a variety of projects for organizations that include the Historic New Orleans Collection, the University of Pennsylvania, Destrehan Plantation, the E.D. White Historic Home in Thibodaux, the Oaks Historic House in Jackson, Mississippi, Neal Auction Company, and Save Our Cemeteries. Of particular note was her role as Associate Director of the “Deadspace” project in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 in conjunction with Save America’s Treasures. She was also an organizer of a cultural tourism symposium with the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Ann has taught at Colonial Williamsburg at the Seminar for Historical Administration and has lectured on topics such as the history of Louisiana architecture and decorative arts, cemeteries, nineteenth-century culture, historic preservation, and museum practices. She has served on accreditation committees for the American Association of Museums and organized annual meetings and galas for various preservation and museum groups. She has cataloged decorative objects at Neal Auction Company since 1996. The author or editor of several publications, she writes articles about New Orleans architecture for local publications and was editor of Preservation in Print. She is now creating entries for the new KnowLA website sponsored by the Louisiana Committee for the Humanities. Other current projects include researching and writing books about the Cabildo and Vieux Carré architecture.

A twenty-year resident of a restored 1805 Creole cottage in the Vieux Carré, Ann is involved in various neighborhood and preservation activities. She was a board officer of the Friends of the Cabildo, the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation, and Save Our Cemeteries, among others, and has been president of the Vieux Carré Property Owners, Residents and Associates and French Quarter Festivals, Inc.. She is a also a member of the City Planning Commission’s Master Plan Committee, the Accessions Committee of the Louisiana State Museum, and the Orleans Parish Landmarks Commission.

Ms. Masson has been honored with awards from the Friends of the Cabildo, the Louisiana Association of Museums, New Orleans Magazine, the American Council of Career Women, and the Vieux Carré Commission.