Katy Morlas Shannon, a tenth generation Louisiana native, received her Bachelors of Arts in English from Louisiana State University in 2003. She specialized in Southern literature. In 2005 she completed her master’s degree in American history at LSU. She has been a professional historian for twenty-two years.
She was instrumental in the early stages of research for Whitney Plantation, completed a searchable online database of more than 400 enslaved individuals at Evergreen Plantation, and co-curated an exhibit about the enslaved community at Laura Plantation.
She was featured in The New York Times mini-documentary that was released in August of 2023, “His Name Was Bélizaire,” which has had almost five million views on YouTube. The story also appeared on the front page of The New York Times. Mrs. Shannon’s column “Within These Walls,” profiling historic homes and the people who lived in them, is featured regularly in the magazine Preservation in Print.
Her latest book, Invisible Blackness: A Louisiana Family in the Age of Racial Passing, was released by LSU Press last spring. She is also the author of Antoine of Oak Alley: The Unlikely Origin of Pecans and the Enslaved Gardener Who Cultivated them received the Phillis Wheatley Award for the best biography of 2022 from the Sons and Daughters of the Middle Passage.
Her groundbreaking research on C.R. Parker’s portrait of Frederick Baker was featured in a monograph issued by Neal Auction in 2025.
Mrs. Shannon is available to conduct research for select projects and offers genealogical services and historic home histories. She provides expert consultations for historical accuracy in films, documentaries, and publications. Mrs. Shannon also has experience as a public speaker.
