This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic.

Ronald W. Lewis, whose colorful museum in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans preserved the performance traditions and rich street culture of its African-American population, died on March 20 in that city. He was 68.

The cause was the coronavirus, said Brent Taylor, a nephew. Mr. Lewis had bypass surgery last year and had been well until he contracted the virus in early March. He died at Ochsner Hospital.

The House of Dance and Feathers, as Mr. Lewis named his cultural institution, was an astonishing treasure-trove of local history focused on the Lower Ninth Ward and the Mardi Gras Indians, who dress in feathers, bangles and dazzling, hand-sewn costumes as they dance through the city’s black neighborhoods on special occasions. (The group dates to the 1800s, formed by African-Americans to pay tribute to the Native Americans who had helped them during the time of slavery.)

The museum, about the size of a trailer and located in Mr. Lewis’s backyard on Tupelo Street, was packed floor to ceiling with costumes, parade ephemera, photographs and memorabilia from African-American social clubs.