Contents
LAMA's Fall Meeting was held at L'Hermitage in Ascension Parish, near Darrow, Louisiana, on November 17, 1995. Sessions focused on grantsmanship, lobbying, internships, utilization of volunteers, the Louisiana Division of Preservation Office, and a repository survey sponsored by the National Institute for Conservation. The Executive Board also met on February 9, 1996 at Hill Memorial Library at LSU.
At the November meeting, Brady Banta, archivist at LSU Shreveport Medical School, was elected Vice-President/President- Elect, and Joy Jackson and Bobs Tusa were elected to the Executive Board, replacing Sally Reeves and Brady Banta, whose terms expired. Dr. Jackson is professor of history and director of the Center for Regional Studies at Southeastern Louisiana University. Bobs Tusa has since left her position as Archivist at Louisiana Tech; her place on the Board has been taken by John Caldwell, Department of Social Studies, Louisiana Tech University. Collin Hamer and Linda Schneider continue as Treasurer and Secretary, respectively.
Board activity during the fall and winter focused on several on-going projects, including planning for the biennial meeting of the Southern Archives Conference, held in New Orleans at the Hotel St. Marie, April 10-12. Sally Reeves and Alfred Lemmon, representing LAMA, handled local arrangements for the very successful conference. SAC, a regional consortium of archival organizations from Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee, meets every other year in alternating states.
Board President Marie Windell organized a LAMA-sponsored session at the Louisiana Historical Association in Hammond, March 1996, entitled "Archives and History: the Fraternal Twins." Speakers included Warren M. Billings, "The Use of Archives in the Classroom"; Judith K. Schafer, "The History of Slavery in Louisiana Legal Archives," and Alfred Lemmon, "The History of Music in Louisiana Archives."
In addition, the Society of American Archivists has approved a proposed LAMA session on archives of the free people of color, primarily in the Gulf States and especially in Louisiana. The session, entitled "A Class Apart: Free People of Color," chaired by Alfred Lemmon, will be held in San Diego, on August 30, 1996. LAMA will also sponsor a session at the Southern Historical Conference in Little Rock in November 1996 and at next year's Louisiana Historical Association meeting. Also, LAMA's formal invitation to the Society of Southwest Archivists to hold its annual meeting in Lafayette in the spring of 1998 has been accepted.
The Scholarship Task Force, headed by Brady Banta, finalized guidelines for a continuing education scholarship to be awarded by LAMA to eligible members. The recipient of the scholarship must be a member of LAMA and have no access to institutional funding for workshops or other archival education programs. Preference will be given to candidates who have not previously received the award, and the recipient must agree to prepare an article for the Newsletter describing the workshop, seminar, etc. attended with the scholarship monies.
The proposal that the scholarship be funded by a small increase in LAMA dues required a change in the Association's by-laws. Accordingly, as required by LAMA rules, the membership was notified of the changes by mail and voted to accept those changes at the LAMA business meeting held on April 12 during the SAC Conference. An additional change in the by-laws, allowing the immediate past president of LAMA to become ex-officio member of the Executive Board, was also approved at the April 12 meeting. (The text of the approved changes to the by-laws is printed at the end of the Newsletter.)
Kathie Bordelon's and Bruce Turner's work on a Directory of Archival Repositories in Louisiana continues and is approaching completion. They hope to have the directory completed in time for the 1998 Society of Southwest Archivists Conference.
A letter drafted by Bruce Turner on behalf of the Executive Board was sent to Governor Foster in February, urging him to appoint those who "will work to preserve and promote the historical records of the state" to the Louisiana State Historical Records Advisory Board. The letter, signed by Officers and members of the Executive Board, suggested that the majority of appointees should "have experience in the management of government records, historical records, or archives and broadly represent the public and private archives, records offices, and research institutions and organizations in Louisiana."
At the business meeting held at the SAC Conference, Mary Linn Wernet raised the possibility that LAMA conduct a survey of Works Progress Administration materials and/or products housed in repositories and special collections statewide. Mary Linn's proposal for this project is published below.
During the course of the LAMA business meeting that was held at the recent SAC meeting, Mary Linn Wernet voiced the ideas of several Louisiana archivists and historians about pulling together a LAMA guide to records related to the New Deal in LAMA membership repositories. After some discussion, it was agreed that a short article introducing the project to the members would be printed in the LAMA newsletter and later a survey would be conducted. At present, Judy Smith and Mary Linn Wernet have committed to work with the survey results and begin the process of developing a cohesive guide to New Deal records in Louisiana.
Before the survey is implemented, it may be beneficial to list the several New Deal programs that generated records of which LAMA members might have in their charge. The following list of programs is from Franklin D. Roosevelt: His Life and Times An Encyclopedic View, edited by Otis L. Graham, Jr. and Meghan Robinson Wander, published by G.K. Hall & Co., dated 1985.
AAA-Agricultural Adjustment Administration 1933
BCLB-Bituminous Coal Labor Board 1935
BOB-Bureau
of Budget 1939
CAA-Civil Aeronautics Authority 1938
CCC-Civilian Conservation Corps
1933
CCC-Commodity Credit Corporation 1933
CWA-Civil Works Administration 1933
FCA-Farm
Credit Administration 1933
FCC-Federal Communications Commission 1934
FCIC-Federal Crop Insurance
Corporation 1938
FDIC-Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 1933
FERA-Federal Emergency
1933
FFMC-Federal Emergency Mortgage Corporation 1934
FHA-Federal Housing Administration
1934
FLA-Federal Loan Agency 1939
FSA-Farm Security Administration 1934
FSA-Farm Security
Agency 1939
FTC-Federal Trade Commission 1914
FWA-Federal Works Agency 1939
HOLC-Home
Owners Loan Corporation 1933
MLB-Maritime Labor Board 1938
NBCC-National Bituminous Coal
Commission 1935
NLB-National Labor Board 1933
NLRB-National Labor Relations Board
1934-1935
NRAB-National Railroad Adjustment Board 1934
NRA-National Recovery Administration
1933
NRB-National Resources Board 1934
NRC-National Resources Committee 1935
NRPB-National
Resources Planning Board 1939
NYA-National Youth Administration 1935
PWA-Public Works
Administration 1933
RA-Resettlement Administration 1935
REA-Rural Electrification Administration
1935
RFC-Reconstruction Finance Corporation 1932
RRB-Railroad Retirement Board 1935
SCS-Soil
Conservation Service 1935
SEC-Securities and Exchange Commission 1934
SSB-Social Security Board
1935
TNEC-Temporary National Economic Committee 1938
TVA-Tennessee Valley
Authority
USEP-United States Employment Service 1933
USHA-United States Housing Authority
1937
USMC-United States Maritime Commission 1936
WPA-Works Progress Administration 1935 (name
changed in 1939 to Works Projects Administration)
Among the most widely sought after records in the WPA series have been:
FWP-Federal Writers' Project
FAP-Federal Arts Project
HRS-Historical Records Survey
HABS-Historic
American Buildings Survey
Although the above list of acronyms keeps the mind spinning for some time, it should provide the seeds of thought about
what might be in Louisiana's archives and manuscripts repositories that we work in day-to-day.
-- Mary Linn Wernet
The Amistad Research Center has received five significant collections in recent months. Among them are the papers of the Maryland-based Mitchell family, who worked for civil rights. The collection includes representative family documents and NAACP papers from the 1910s and 1920s on lynchings and their opposition. Samples of the larger collection received by Amistad were formally presented at an evening reception at Gallier Hall on March 15, 1996. The Mitchell Family Papers will be the first Civil Rights collection to be made available on the Internet through the Library of Congress, also a recipient of Mitchell Family Papers. The only cultural institutions with this special relationship with the Library of Congress are Amistad and the Lillie Carroll Jackson Museum in Baltimore.
The Mitchell family members represented in the collection include Lillie May Carroll Jackson, founder of the Maryland NAACP; her son, Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr., who worked tirelessly to insure the passage of civil rights laws during the 1960s; Juanita Mitchell, the first black woman to practice law in Maryland and a long-time NAACP activist and protest organizer; and Perren J. Mitchell, the first black congressman from Maryland.
Amistad has also received the papers of Joe Madison, member of the National Board of the NAACP and host of "Lunch with Joe," a talk-radio program on WRC in Washington, D.C. The tapes, clippings, photographs, and videos in the collection document a life spent in the front lines of the civil rights struggle.
Additionally, lifelong collector Lloyd Smith has donated his collection of jazz memorabilia and a collection of classic, original jazz recordings. A New Orleans native, Smith was a postman by day and a lover of jazz by night. His collection includes more than 500 original jazz LPs (most from the "big band" and swing era) dating from the 1930s to 1960s, books, clippings, and jazz memorabilia.
Amistad has also received an addition to the papers of prominent sociologist Hylan Lewis, including over 300 books, correspondence, reports, writings, and news clippings.
Finally, Amistad has accessioned manuscripts, photographs, and clippings from the extensive collection of Marvin Ellis on the Afro-Cuban, Black Catholic, and Haitian Creole culture in Miami.
The Center for Regional Studies at Southeastern Louisiana University has acquired a valuable donation of the Civil War papers and photographs of General Halbert Eleazer Paine from Fred Benton, Jr. of Baton Rouge. The collection includes 602 manuscript pages of Paine memoirs, 12 letters (51 pages), 569 pages of records and orders, 64 printed pages of material, and 9 Civil War photographs. This acquisition will be particularly useful for the description of the Union occupation of New Orleans and Camp Parapet and the siege of Port Hudson and the fighting there.
The Historic New Orleans Collection's Williams Research Center has acquired the records (576 items) of the Krewe of Proteus, 1882-1970; the estate receipt book of Leon Sarpy, 1889; and the Appointment of Henri Jacques de Millau as Commissioner to Louisiana by Louis XIV in 1776.
The Diary of Kate Stone (1861-1907) has been added to the holdings of the Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections at Louisiana State University. The diary, which tells of Stone's experiences during the Civil War, was first published by John Q. Anderson in 1955 as Brokenburn. The manuscript diary is in two ledger volumes and contains some material which was not included in the published edition.
Also new at LLMVC are the photographs of Jane McCowan, fashion photographer from the 1940s to the 1970s. Black and white and color photographs, negatives, transparencies, and printed items document Ms. McCowan's career as a photographer at Macy's in New York City, for Seventeen magazine in Los Angeles, and as an independent working in New York, Los Angeles, and locations worldwide.
LLMVC has also added the papers of Colonel Robert B. Emerson and his wife Opal, which document their research in parapsychology in Baton Rouge from the 1950s into the 1980s. Robert Emerson was an assistant in the radiochemical lab at LSU from 1950-51. The Emerson's research dealt chiefly with psychic phenomena, homeopathic healing, Kirlian photography, and related subjects.
LLMVC has also accessioned the Photographs and Papers of Baton Rouge photographer A.E Wooley. This collection adds to LSU Special Collections' strong holdings in the work of local photographers.
Also new at LLMVC are the papers of William Morgan, a political consultant and strategist; the papers consist of about 50 linear feet of manuscript materials which document Morgan's work on various political campaigns throughout the United States. Notable in the papers is documentation of the Edwin Edwards' gubernatorial campaign and the related research files on David Duke. The papers document Morgan's career during the 1970s and 1990s.
The papers of two LSU professors have also been added to LLMVC holdings. Papers of Donald H. Kupfer reflect his work in Louisiana geology, particularly on the geology of salt domes and environmental issues related to them. Papers of the late Mark T. Carleton document his work as a professor of Louisiana History at LSU from 1964 until his death in 1995.
New additions at the LSU School of Medicine in Shreveport include the Clarence Elmo Boyd Collection. Boyd was a general and abdominal surgeon practicing in Shreveport from 1937 to 1989. The collection documents his involvement in numerous medical professional organizations, his opposition to the licensing of chiropractors, and his active support of conservative political causes, especially anti-communism.
Archives and Special Collections of McNeese State University Library has added the Krause-Managan Lumber Company ledgers and journals, 1882-1939; the Curley Gauthier Collection, including ledgers and biographical information on a local cattleman, 1938-1960; and the Ida King Collette Postcard Collection, 1900-1960. Also new at McNeese are biographical material, photographs and memorabilia from Kenneth Levingston, 1970-1980s and photographs and ledgers from Muller's Department Store, 1906-1982.
The City Archives, New Orleans Public Library has received 20 cubic feet of 1979 Director's records from the Dept. of Property Management. Appraisal reduced this to 3 cubic feet. Also accessioned were 15 boxes of records from the Clerk of Council's office, including zoning dockets, contracts, and a card index to Council proceedings, ca. 1920s to 1980s. The City Archives also received 18 boxes of hearing records from the Dept. of City Civil Service and 15 cubic feet of records from the Board of Zoning Adjustments, including files and tape recordings through 1991 and into 1992.
The Cammie G. Henry Research Center, Watson Memorial Library, Northwestern State University of Louisiana has received the O. Ross Phares book collection, 75 linear feet of books relating to the South, Southwest, and borderlands. Ross Phares has written a number of articles and books, including Bible in Pocket Gun in Hand, Cavalier in the Wilderness, and Reverend Devil: A biography of John Marl. Ross was among the welcome guests at Melrose plantation during the days when Commie G. Henry allowed Louisiana writers to gather and visit at her home.
The Nunez Community College Library has accessioned a collection of maps and plans created under General Beauregard and others describing the fortification of Proctor's Landing in St. Bernard Parish (the originals of these maps are in the National Archives). Nunez has also added videotapes, audio cassettes, and pamphlets relating to the Islenos culture of St. Bernard Parish.
The Tulane Manuscripts Department has recently opened more than two dozen collections. Among the more notable are the papers of A.G.T. Moore (Manuscripts Collection 912, 1918-1970, 5 linear feet), a member of the New Orleans Board of Trade, conservationist and land use expert, active in shipping and forestry.
Tulane has also received accretions to the records of Temple Sinai (New Orleans) (Manuscripts Collection 243, 1939-1988, 10 linear feet) and to the Kuntz Collection (Manuscripts Collection 600, 4 linear feet), primarily colonial land grants, land sales, estate papers, and family papers, with some Civil War letters. Accretions have also been accessioned for the League of Women Voters records (Manuscripts Collection 556, 4 linear feet), the papers of Rabbi Isaac L. Leucht, Reader, Congregation Gates of Mercy (New Orleans, 1868-1872) (Manuscripts Collection 853, 1 linear foot), and the records of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans (Manuscripts Collection 701, 1958-1992, ca. 30 linear feet).
Also new at Tulane is the Albert Voss Collection (Manuscripts Collection 856, 1843-1990, 10 linear feet), including programs, scrapbooks, cast lists, clippings, photographs, and correspondence pertaining to New Orleans musical and theatrical performances between 1843 and 1990. Many pertain to the French Opera House.
Additionally, Tulane announces the acquisition of the Bert Myers photographs of contemporary New Orleans (Manuscripts Collection 909, 11 linear feet); the papers of noted New Orleans poet Catharine Brosman (Manuscripts Collection 685, 1961-1995, 5 linear feet); the records of the Cross Keys Plantation, notable as an important Southern plantation run by women during most of its existence (Manuscripts Collection 918, 1819-1983, 6 linear feet); the papers of New Orleans author and historian Edna B. Freiberg Papers (Manuscripts Collection 892, 1966-1981, 14 linear feet); and records of Freemason Lodges in Louisiana, consisting of minutes, account books, and other records for more than two dozen Louisiana Freemason lodges (Manuscripts Collection 895, 1808-1933,18 linear feet, ca. 175 volumes). The most thorough series is for Perseverance Lodge No. 4 of New Orleans, a French-speaking lodge, for which there is a virtually complete set of minutes for 1815-1930.
Finally, Tulane has received an outstanding Mardi Gras letter (M1082, 1882, one item) written by a Northern businessman who observed Mardi Gras during a business trip to New Orleans. The letter, written to his wife, describes the 1882 Mardi Gras in detail.
Tulane University's Southeastern Architectural Archive announces the acquisition of 110 chromolithographs by William Henry Jackson (1898-1903). Also received are additions to the Weiss Dreyfous and Seiferth drawings collection and additions to the James Freret collection.
The University of Southwestern Louisiana University Archives and Manuscripts Collection has accessioned the Mary Dichmann Papers and the Historic American Buildings Survey measured drawings for Crowell Lumber in Rapides Parish. Also added are records on Louisiana Prisoner of War Camps (1942-1946) from the National Archives; four cubic feet of records of Louisiana Gulf Coast Oil Exposition (1955- ); the Hobo Volunteer Fire Department Records, 1900s-1940s (3 volumes, 5 inches); and the Wesley Club records, 1935-1990 (3 feet).
American Archival Delegation to Russia and Poland, October-November, 1995
Much American history lies buried in Russian archives. Our delegation learned that opening the archives after the fall of the Communist party meant not only gaining access to previously inaccessible documents but also the disclosure of entire archives, perhaps never used before by any researcher. Gorbachev's parliament was able to halt the destruction of archives of the Party Central Committee, party cells, and the KGB offices and transfer them to the state archives of Russia.
Archives of the Central Committee had been scattered in 148 separate depositories. It was suggested that the fragmentation of the fonds had been designed to limit access even for the Communist Central Committee members who were not among the highest party leadership.
Access to the archives has become one of the measures of democratic change in Russia. All activities of archival administration are now, theoretically, under scrutiny by the press. Foreign and Russian citizens should have equal rights to use documents, but there are time restrictions of 30 years for official state documents and 75 years for individuals.
Carrying out reform is restricted by severe economic hardships. There are no funds available for creation of a modern database and reference aids. Microfilm labs are small and poorly equipped. In none of the archives in St. Petersburg, Moscow, or Warsaw did the staff have white gloves to protect photographs or rare, even illuminated, manuscripts. Yet the KGB files were stored in magnificent steel mobile storage units. The new system must help Russian archivists to survive and to preserve the national heritage. Archivists in the lowest category make only $60 per month and need two jobs to make a living. Most service people in Moscow looked tired, and no wonder.
Three levels of reference systems with finding aids are planned for the Russian archives, but opening the archives is a mixed blessing. The public anticipates scandals in the revelations--some with glee, others with horror at seeing Russia's past of crimes, passion and fear. To some, the archivist is a fighter for truth, to others, a criminal causing social disasters.
Current events also affect the opening of the archives. Archivists are under pressure to declassify documents pertaining to deported ethnic groups and victims of political repression, but also those pertaining to sources of hard currency--gold mining and production. Where is the staff for these hundred of millions of items?
Requests from the West for photocopies have increased, but some Russian historians oppose such "sales" (even for hard currency) if they may lose profitable publication rights. Nevertheless, while some archivists agree, others hope such immediate "sales" will pay for acquiring archival technology.
Our delegation of 22 members was led by a former Archivist of the United States, Dr. Robert Warner of the University of Michigan. One delegate attempted to locate the archives of her organization, originally deposited in Paris, captured by the Germans, and then confiscated by the Russian army. This is an example of the "heritage" problem of archives claimed by several states across Europe. Americans should be grateful that our Civil War was settled so long ago.
-- Marie Windell
As part of its 1996 Visiting Artists and Scholars Program, The Amistad Research Center hosted a lecture by Nigerian-born art historian and philosopher Dr. Nkiru Nzegwu entitled "Interpreting African Objects in Museum Collections: An African Perspective" on April 18.
Eight of Amistad's African American artworks, including the famed "Funeral Procession" by Ellis Wilson and works by Aaron Douglas, Sargent Johnson, Hale Woodruff, and William H. Johnson are on loan to the New Orleans Museum of Art for the next year. Amistad will also host daily art exhibits--among these, "Terms of Endurance" (featuring Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, and John T. Scott works), an exhibit from the permanent collection, and African art from the Bertrand Collection. Among the artworks displayed in "Terms of Endurance" is Elizabeth Catlett's "Mother and Child," a mahogany piece on loan from NOMA.
The Historic New Orleans Collection announces two exhibits. "Twins in Spirit: Plantations of Louisiana and Chateaux of France" will be on view from March 22 through June 22 at the Williams Research Center. The exhibit, which features more than 70 color photographs of twelve Louisiana plantations and twelve French castles by Jacques Royal, is the joint creation of a French and an American organization that work together for cultural exchanges. Chateaux within 40 miles of Paris are paired with plantation homes along the River Road in south Louisiana to reflect similarities in the buildings' histories and formal landscaping. Photographs and text were created by Jacques Royal, photographer and award-winning documentary film-maker.
THNOC also announces "The Laura Simon Nelson Collection of Louisiana Art," a year-long three-part exhibition honoring Mrs. Nelson's donation of 370 Louisiana paintings, drawings, watercolors, etchings, and Newcomb pottery to THNOC. "Part I: A Selection from 1840 to 1970s" provides an overview of the entire Nelson Collection and will be on display at THNOC's 533 Royal Street building from April 11 through July 6. "Part II: Works on Paper and Newcomb Pottery" is scheduled to open in July. The final exhibit, "Part III: Ellsworth and William Woodward" will follow in September. The three part exhibit will be guest curated by Louisiana Art specialist George E. Jordon.
THNOC's newest facility, The Williams Research Center, opened to the general public on January 23. The new center, formerly a city courthouse and police station, now houses THNOC's collection of photographs, manuscripts and books, and a magnificent new reading room. The building at 410 Chartres Street formally opened to the public with a symposium on January 20, featuring a discussion of Bienville, Andrew Jackson, and Zachary Taylor, and an evening reception hosted by the Kemper and Leila Williams Foundation's board of directors.
An exhibit entitled "British Voices from South Asia" will be hung in the Hill Memorial Library at LSU, from April 21 through August of 1996. The exhibit will document the British colonial presence in India from the early 19th century until 1947, when India and Pakistan achieved their independence. Materials for the exhibit were assembled by Frank DeCaro and Rosan Augusta Jordan, both from LSU's department of English. The exhibit will feature oral history interviews with British citizens who lived in India prior to 1947. The interviews were taped by DeCaro and Jordan.
On May 10, 1996, McNeese State University Library's Archives and Special Collections will open its exhibit "Historical Photographs of Lake Charles, 1840-1920." The exhibit, which will run through July 31, 1996 at the Imperial Calcasieu Museum, is a joint program of McNeese and the Museum. A brochure containing historical information accompanies the exhibit.
The second annual exhibit in honor of Black History Month mounted by the Louisiana Division of New Orleans Public Library was on display at the Main Library from February through April. The exhibit, "African-Americans in New Orleans: Making a Living" used books and photographs from Louisiana Division collections and documents from the City Archives to explore various ways African-American New Orleanians have earned their livings in the last 150 years. The exhibit text and a number of the images have also been mounted in NUTRIAS, NOPL's web site at http://www.gnofn.org/~nopl/exhibits/black96.htm. Among NOPL's other Black History Month activities was the 5th annual presentation of "Tracing Your Roots: African-American Genealogy Day," hosted by the Louisiana Division and NOPL's African-American Research Center on February 3.
A new exhibit, "Let the Record Speak: 100 Years of Service at New Orleans Public Library" opened on April 19 as part of the Library's celebration of the 100th anniversary of the passage on April 15, 1896 of the city ordinance formally establishing the New Orleans Public Library. The exhibit, mounted on both the second and third floors of the Main Library, illustrates the evolution of public library service to the people of New Orleans. The second floor exhibit will remain on view through the end of July; the third floor exhibit will extend through the end of NOPL's centennial year. The exhibit is also mounted in NUTRIAS at http://www.gnofn.org/~nopl/exhibits/nopl.htm.
The Louisiana Scholars' College Southern Fiction class, under the direction of Dr. Karen Cole, held a seminar in the Cammie G. Henry Research Center at Northwestern State University on Friday, March 1. Dr. Eakin, the featured speaker, talked on the research and writing of the book Solomon Northrup: Twelve Years a Slave.
The University of Southwestern Louisiana Archives and Manuscripts Collection mounted an exhibit "How Sweet It Is: Sugar in Louisiana, 1795-1995" in the Dupre Library's Lobby and Louisiana Room, November 1995 through January 1996. Currently on view in the Louisiana Room is "Blacks in Louisiana," which opened in February 1996.
On view at Southeastern Architectural Archive at Tulane University through May 1996 is "New Orleans in 1895," which examines turn-of-the-century New Orleans by tracing developments in building technology and the evolution of 19th-century architectural drawings, from the architects James Gallier, Sr. and Jr. through the work of James Freret, Albert Diettel and Thomas Sully. "Photographs by Richard Koch for the Historic American Buildings Survey," on display until April, documented lost Louisiana plantation houses and other buildings through the work of New Orleans architect and photographer Richard Koch (1889-1971), who directed the Louisiana Historic American Buildings Survey in the 1930s. The exhibit was on view until April. Exhibits planned for 1996-1997 include "New Orleans in 1867: Photographs by Theodore Lilienthal for Emperor Napoleon III"; "Louisiana Photographs by Betsy Swanson"; and "James Freret, Architect (1838-1897)."
Currently on view in the Special Collections Division of Tulane University is a small exhibit, "Women in World War II: Contributions of Louisiana Women to the Allied War Effort." Taken from the holdings of the Tulane Manuscripts Department, the exhibit highlights the many ways in which women in New Orleans fully participated in the Allied efforts in World War II.
This issue's "LAMA Survey" set out to examine existing conditions in Louisiana archival repositories and special collections by asking archivists and librarians to respond to an "archival wish list," outlining their fondest dreams for their collections. "If you were granted three wishes," the survey asked, "(for anything--staff, equipment, reorganization, facilities, additions to your collections, or whatever else you can think of) what would you ask for?" It also asked what existing conditions are most in need of change or improvement and what archivists and librarians would get rid of in their shops, if they were granted some miraculous power to do so. Finally, the survey asked for wishes for the archival community as a whole. It offered a chance for us to play God and arrange our worlds to suit us.
Nine archival repositories or special collections responded to the questionnaire--five special collections/archives housed in university libraries, one special collections/archives in a community college library, one municipal archives housed in a public library, and two private manuscripts collections/archives--representing a good cross-section of the LAMA membership. From their responses, one thing seems fairly clear--none of us, regardless of the differences in our situations, are satisfied with things as they are, and many of us share common problems and needs.
By far the most common need among the institutions responding is for additional staff, either to fill specific roles or simply to take on a portion of the work currently being done by overworked archivists. Northwestern's Cammie G. Henry Research Center, the McNeese Archives, USL's Special Collections and Archives, and Nunez Community College Library all wish for more people to share the work. McNeese notes that it needs at least three full-time staff to assist the archivist and occasional graduate students presently working in the archives. "There is enough work in the archives," writes Kathie Bordelon, "and enough potential work in the area to justify three new staff, two trained in archival administration, one clerical." Bruce Turner notes that USL has "more work than the present staff can accomplish in a reasonable time period. Plus there is much we should be doing in terms of outreach and acquisition that we can not undertake without getting farther behind in other areas." Patrick Davis at Nunez writes that he is "already responsible for too many areas of the library" and notes that "very little can be delegated with current staffing configurations, which means less time for things archival." LSU's Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections wishes for more full-time professional staff to complete large manuscript processing projects. In lieu of additional staff, Sally Power at LLMVC wishes at least for a "cloaking device that would render staff invisible when people are looking for volunteers for committees and other tasks which take away from time spent on processing, cataloging, conservation, and other vital activities."
Others wish for new staff with particular skills. At SLU's Center for Regional Studies, Joy Jackson would like an assistant to conduct the oral history program. "The Center administers the Archives and also tries to collect and create materials which may be placed in the Archives such as negatives and copy prints of old photographs and oral history interviews on tape," she explains. "At present I can not do as many oral history interviews as I would like to do. Someone doing this full time and indexing and transcribing tapes would be a most valuable help." The Historic New Orleans Collection wishes for a full time conservationist to assist in the preservation of fragile materials and to repair damaged documents.
A second generally stated need is for more space or different configuration of current space. Mary Linn Wernet notes that the NSU facility is running out of room, and McNeese also reports that it does not have enough space. Kathie Bordelon writes that McNeese has "needed a new library for many years. If and when we get a new building, I would like an archives section designed for that purpose. When my department was begun we were put anywhere there was space. We are still spread out over the building." Bruce Turner reports that USL's stacks are almost full and that adequate work space is lacking. An addition to the USL library is planned but the renovation has been delayed for several years; currently, processing is carried on "in the least amount of space possible" and off-site storage is under consideration. LSU's LLMVC reports that it is also running out of room and needs off-site storage space. The Diocese of Shreveport also wishes for renovation of its facility to provide a secure work area separate from administrative work stations with tables and shelving for temporary storage; the Diocese also needs a reading room/research and reference area dedicated to the archives.
Several of the institutions who submitted their wish lists dream of new equipment. Northwestern's Henry Research Center needs equipment to service research faster and to store more archival items. McNeese needs shelving to replace current equipment that is the wrong size and shape. USL wants to get rid of dated and inadequate equipment and wishes especially for ethernet lines and more computing capabilities. New Orleans Public Library's Louisiana Division wishes for a paper shredder of sufficient power to handle those documents received by the Archives that are not suitable for archival retention, thus providing a currently lacking method of proper disposal of such records. NOPL also needs additional personal computers for use of City Archives staff, plus quality printers, scanners, back-up devices, and other peripherals to support the creation and maintenance of the files created by archivists. The Historic New Orleans Collection needs an in-house microfilm cameral for filming fragile or valuable items in order to cut down on the use of the originals. Southeastern wants a state-of-the-art scanner for copying high grade photographs. LLMVC wishes for a new freezer. "Ours is usually on the blink,'" Sally Power says, " and we cannot bring in new collections that need to be debugged until it's up.'" LLMVC also needs more networked computers for all staff.
Related to the desire for new equipment is the need for climate control. Southeastern, Nunez, the Diocese of Shreveport, USL, and NOPL all place the addition or improvement of humidity and temperature controls high on their wish lists. Nunez's planned new library/classroom facility will eliminate the current lack of climate control in the present library building, but, as Patrick Davis writes, "Hong Kong will revert to Chinese control before serious headway is made" toward the new building. USL's new addition--similarly delayed--will also solve its climate control woes. Meanwhile, the USL staff monitors and reports problems and complaints to the physical plant daily; as a result, they have created an awareness of the problem and prompted "some minor attempts at amelioration." USL is also fighting a leaky roof, which forces them to drape plastic over the stack ranges in the area of the damage.
Joy Jackson notes that the fight against humidity and resultant mildew is one of SLU's biggest problems. Humidifiers help to keep the problem down, but the fact that heat or air-conditioning is turned off on weekends when the library is closed compounds the problem. "It saves money for the university," she writes, "but I shudder at what it may be doing to our collections and to the computer equipment in the building." New Orleans Public Library faces a similar situation. The Main Library's HVAC system is shut down at the end of each work day and is not turned back on until the morning of the following work day; when long weekends intervene, the system can be off for as long as three consecutive days. Wayne Everard writes, "If I were in a position to do so, I would order a study to determine if there is a way to automate the monitoring of the Library HVAC system to eliminate the present need that a human watch engineer be stationed in the building during the fourteen or so hours per day (not to mention weekends) that it is not in use. That human is too expensive; an automated system may not be; someone should find out for sure!"
Several repositories wished that they could eliminate tasks that need to be done but can't be tackled because of lack of time, staff, or money. Among these tasks is the need to reprocess collections. Nunez would like to enhance the processing done earlier on a major historical collection in its possession. Similarly, Bruce Turner would like to eliminate the need at USL to reprocess collections because the initial processing was so poorly done the first time.
Northeastern would like to deaccession unnecessary collections. Kathie Bordelon believes that in the present financial climate McNeese should eliminate its rare book collection. "I'd like to be able to sell our rare books," she says, "and use the money for the archives." Joy Jackson would like to get rid of the Center for Regional Study's collections of artifacts. Her description of the problem is worth quoting: "Since there is no museum on campus, any time anyone has an artifact which the university feels should be kept we get it in the Archives. Just recently, we had to remove a glass panel in our wall to bring in an ancient printing press from the print shop which would not fit through the door. It is sitting in our storage rooms and will probably stay there for years to come. We also have over five hundred Indian artifacts--shards, pipes, bowls, etc. from all over the South and Southwest and Central America. We have two carnival costumes of a king and queen of a local krewe, a strawberry flat from the 1930s, an old siren whistle which was used on campus in the 1920s, several old typewriters and a number of other incongruous items."
And when asked what archivists would get rid of in their repositories, more than one archivist responded simply, "Backlogs"--a heartfelt wish we can all agree with.
Several institutions described wishes that would remedy conditions unique to their own repositories. The Center for Regional Studies wants to put its archival collections on-line in SLU's computer system. The archivists in the Louisiana Division of New Orleans Public Library dream of the day when the City Archives can become a separate Department or Division within the NOPL structure, with a separate reading room, and a separate storage area, and separate staff able to devote their full attention to the development, preservation, arrangement and description, and public use of the Archives without interruption of non-archival duties. The Historic New Orleans Collection would like to see wider use of its resources by local graduate students in history and art history. THNOC would also like to change the way materials are pulled for researchers by instituting the use of call slips. USL also wants better utilization of its holdings. "Although this would cause pressures on staff deployment," Bruce Turner writes, "our collections are not used as much as they should be." Sally Power of LSU echoes the wish of many other archivists when she asks for a " pot of gold that would magically appear when there are opportunities to purchase sources."
The survey's query about desires for the archival community prompted a variety of responses touching upon many of the issues currently being debated by archivists nationwide. Several respondents believe that more continuing education workshops should be made available--and in more locations. Related to this is the need for standard archival education programs in universities. Several people also wished for greater cooperation among repositories, both in terms of sharing skills and knowledge with colleagues and in terms of cooperative acquisition, thus halting "turf battles" between archivists in various geographical areas. One respondent asked for "more awareness and trust from communities in which we operate so that persons with historically valuable documents would know the value of what they have and be willing to share with others." Another is for "connectivity--all archives having access to the Internet and each other through computing." One archivist also sees the need for someone "in power" nationally to correct the false impression among the general public that all the information in archives will soon be digitized and available on the World Wide Web.
And, of course, the most universally stated wish is for more money--for staff, acquisition of collections, equipment, higher salaries, more and better space--and the related need to make all the budget-cutters, both nationally and locally, more aware that archives do play important and worthwhile roles that should be fully supported.
The survey indicates what we already knew--this is not a perfect world. It also indicates, however, that archivists statewide are working to make it better.
The Historic New Orleans Collection's Williams Research Center has recently opened the William Russell general correspondence and working files (25 linear feet); among the individual series included within these files are the Baby Dodds Collection (2 linear feet); the Johnny Dodds Collection (.5 linear feet); Correspondence with San Francisco Musicians (.5 linear feet); Correspondence with New Orleans and other Musicians (1 linear foot); the Mahalia Jackson Papers (8 linear feet); and the Bunk Johnson papers (10 linear feet).
McNeese's Archives and Special Collections' staff has edited Simply Stated, the Friends of the Library's newsletter, which appears three times yearly.
Architect and architectural historian Robbie Cangelosi, on behalf of the Friends of the Cabildo, has donated 16 binders containing a print-out of the contents of FOC's index to building contracts in the New Orleans Notarial Archives as well as a copy of the database on disk to the Louisiana Division, New Orleans Public Library. Copies of the database on disk have also been donated to the New Orleans Notarial Archives, The Louisiana State Museum, and Tulane University.
On January 28, the Archives of the Diocese of Shreveport eased Holy Trinity Catholic Church: the Fortieth Anniversary of the Founding of the Parish and the Centennial of the Church, Shreveport, Louisiana 1856-1996 to coincide with the opening celebration of Holy Trinity Church's anniversary year. Holy Trinity is the oldest Catholic Church in northwest Louisiana. A copy of the publication was donated to the Louisiana State University in Shreveport Archives.
In honor of the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the Diocese of Shreveport, a series of articles on the Catholic history of northern Louisiana will be published beginning in August 1996 in The Catholic Commentator, the monthly news magazine of the Shreveport diocese.
SLU's Center for Regional Studies has published Volume 13 of Regional Dimensions, April 1996.
The World Wide Web site of the Tulane Special Collections Division was reviewed and rated by The McKinley Group's professional editorial team and designated as a "3-Star" site. This rating is a special mark of achievement in Magellan, McKinley's comprehensive Internet directory of nearly 2 million sites and 40,000 reviews.
Tulane's Southeastern Architectural Archive has published the catalog for its Thomas Lilenthal exhibit and is currently at work on a printed guide to the Archive's collections.
The Cammie G. Henry Research Center, Northwestern State University, has received an imaging laboratory equipped with three scanners and computer terminals loaded with Adobe 3.0. The lab was made possible through a LEQSF grant. Items under consideration for initial imaging are a series of valuable and heavily used scrapbooks compiled by Cammie G. Henry that hold photographs of the 1930s and 1940s, original Colonial period documents, letters written to Cammie Henry from a number of Louisiana authors, and newspaper clippings.
Tulane's Southeastern Architectural Archives has established an internship program for 1996-1997; for further information, contact Curator Gary Van Zante.
Brady Banta, archivist at LSU School of Medicine in Shreveport, presented "Preventive Medicine, Shreveport Style: Organized Medicine and the Anti-Communist Crusade in the Ark-La-Tex in the early 1960s" at the annual meeting of the Organization of American Historians, Chicago, March 28.
Carol Bartels, Manuscripts Cataloger at The Historic New Orleans Collection, has been elected President of the Greater New Orleans Archivists.
Judy Bolton has been appointed Team Leader of Public Services for the Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections at LSU.
At The Historic New Orleans Collection, David Dibble has been named Curatorial Cataloger.
Wayne Everard and Irene Wainwright addressed a session of Southern University in New Orleans' freshmen assembly on February 26; their subject was African-American genealogy sources at New Orleans Public Library. Wayne also spoke at Tulane Medical Center's noontime brown bag program about NUTRIAS, NOPL's home page, on March 21.
Kevin Fontenot, Tulane Manuscripts Department, received Howard-Tilton Memorial Library's Outstanding Service Award on April 17 at the library's Staff Appreciation Day dinner held annually during National Library Week. Kevin has worked part-time in the Manuscripts Department for several years processing the Lindy Boggs papers and helping with other departmental functions. He has also been named Chair of the Board of Directors of a new music festival that will be on the campus of Louisiana College, Pineville, Louisiana. The festival will be devoted to the folk and gospel music of central Louisiana.
Collin Hamer, Head of the Louisiana Division, NOPL, spoke to Leonidas Polk Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy on February 14 and to the Jewish Genealogical Society on March 8. In January, at the State Library in Baton Rouge, he took part in a panel discussion on the history of the Recorder of Documents Office at a meeting of the Louisiana Advisory Council for the State Documents Depository Program. In March, he served as a member of the Research and Publication Panel of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities.
Kate Holliday has been named Standards Coordinator at The Historic New Orleans Collection.
Joy Jackson has received the James William Rivers Prize for 1995 from the Center for Louisiana Studies, University of Southwestern Louisiana. This prize recognizes outstanding contribution in Louisiana studies by scholars and professional persons in the state. Dr. Jackson also spoke on "The Piney Woods People" with accompanying slides at the Plain Folks Symposium, Southeastern Louisiana University, on March 2. She also spoke on "Where the River Runs Deep: The Use of Oral History in Writing Biography" at the Louisiana Historical Association meeting in Hammond, March 15.
Bill Meneray, Assistant University Librarian for Special Collections at Tulane, was elected President of the Louisiana Historical Association for 1996-1997 at the annual meeting in March.
Lee Miller, Manuscripts Librarian at Tulane, has been nominated Regent for Outreach of the Academy of Certified Archivists. Lee and Peter Hirtle of the National Archives gave one of several presentations of the SAA continuing education workshop "Cyberspace for Archivists" at the Southern Archives Conference in New Orleans on April 9. They will next offer the workshop at the Society of American Archivists annual meeting, August 28, in San Diego.
In February, Arthur Moore joined The Amistad Research Center as archivist, replacing Wayne Coleman, who left in December to become archivist at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute in Alabama.
Robert Sherer, Tulane University Archivist, was awarded a sabbatical leave for the first six months of 1996. He is studying the feasibility of a coordinated records management and archives program for the university. He will return to duty July 1.
Elaine Smyth has been appointed Team Leader of Access Services for LSU Special Collections. She continues her role as Curator for the Rare Books and McIlhenny Collections.
Kathy Sylvest has left her position as Archivist of the Louisiana Baptist Convention to become Archivist of the New Orleans Baptist Seminary.
Bobs Tusa, formerly Archivist at Louisiana Tech University, is now Archivist at the McCain Archives, University of Southern Mississippi.
Mary Linn Wernet read a paper, "The U.S. Senator John Holmes Overton Collection and the History It Holds Relating to the Control of Floods in the Alluvial Valley of the Mississippi, 1936-1948," at the Mississippi River and Her People Symposium in Memphis, March 14-16. She also chaired the session in which she presented "Perspectives on Flooding in the Twentieth Century." Wernet also spoke to the Central Louisiana Genealogical Association in Alexandria on March 3 on resources available in the Cammie G. Henry Research Center. She was elected Vice President of the Natchitoches Genealogical and Historical Association, assisted the Natchitoches Old Courthouse Museum with finding and identifying images to exhibit for the Museum's display concerning Natchitoches in 1896, and worked with the Louisiana Association for Academic Competition State Quiz Bowl, held on the NSU campus on March 23.
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