VOLUME XXXII The Historic New Orleans NUMBER 1
Collection Quarterly WINTER 2015
Shop online at www.hnoc.org/shop
THE URSULINE MANUSCRIPT: Spiritual Songbook EVENT CALENDAR EXHIBITIONS & TOURS
CREOLE CHRISTMAS PURCHASED LIVES CURRENT HOUSE TOURS TEACHER WORKSHOP Andrew Jackson: Hero of New Orleans Tour THNOC’s Williams Residence and The Collection invites teachers to Through March 29, 2015 other historic French Quarter house participate in a free workshop presented Williams Gallery, 533 Royal Street museums, festively decked out for the by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of Free season, as part of the Friends of the American History and THNOC. Studio, Street, Self: Photographic Portraits Cabildo’s annual holiday home tour. Saturday, March 7, 2015, 9 a.m.–3:30 p.m. from THNOC December 27–28, 2014, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Williams Research Center, 410 Chartres Street Presented in conjunction with PhotoNOLA 2014 718 Toulouse Street Please email Daphne L. Derven, Through February 28, 2015 Tickets are available through Friends of [email protected], to register for the Boyd Cruise Gallery, 410 Chartres Street the Cabildo, (504) 523-3939. teacher/educator mailing list and to Free receive more information about this event. POP-UP BRITISH CONSULATE MirrorFugue: Reflections of New Orleans Pianists Stop in for tea and say hello to the staff of THE IRISH IN NEW ORLEANS Presented in conjunction with Prospect.3+ and the British Consulate General in Houston, LECTURE AND BOOK SIGNING made possible by Phyllis M. Taylor as they present their first pop-up Historian Laura D. Kelley, author of Through December 20 consulate. a new book about the historical and Laura Simon Nelson Galleries for Louisiana Art, January 6–9, 2014, 9:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. cultural legacy of Ireland in New 400 Chartres Street Orleans, will present a lecture, with a 533 Royal Street Free book signing to follow. Free Saturday, March 7, 2015, 6–8 p.m. PERMANENT WILLIAMS RESEARCH CENTER 533 Royal Street Louisiana History Galleries SYMPOSIUM Free 533 Royal Street See more about the symposium on page 12. Tuesday–Saturday, 9:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. PURCHASED LIVES Sunday, 10:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. January 23–24, 2015 OPENING RECEPTION Free Hotel Monteleone, 214 Royal Street Join The Collection and Curator Erin M. To register, visit www.hnoc.org Greenwald for the opening of THNOC’s The Williams Residence Tour /programs/symposia.html or call newest exhibition, Purchased Lives: New THNOC Architectural Tour (504) 523-4662. Orleans and the Domestic Slave Trade, 533 Royal Street 1808–1865. Tuesday–Saturday, 10 and 11 a.m., 2 and 3 p.m. MUSICAL LOUISIANA: Friday, March 20, 2015, 6–8 p.m. Sunday, 11 a.m., 2 and 3 p.m AMERICA’S CULTURAL Williams Research Center, 410 Chartres $5 per person HERITAGE Street Groups of eight or more should call (504) 598-7145 For their ninth annual concert Free collaboration, The Collection and the for reservations or visit www.hnoc.org. Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra will TO BE SOLD DOMESTIC UPCOMING present “New Orleans and the Spanish SLAVE TRADE SYMPOSIUM Williams Residence Holiday Home and See more about the symposium on page 11. World,” a program celebrating the rich Courtyard Tour cultural and musical relations between Saturday, March 21, 2015, 8 a.m.–5 p.m. 533 Royal Street Spain and Louisiana. Williams Research Center, Through December 29, 2014 Wednesday, February 4, 2015, 7:30 p.m. 410 Chartres Street Tuesday–Saturday, 10 and 11 a.m., 2 and 3 p.m. St. Louis Cathedral, 615 Pere Antoine Alley Free; registration required Sunday, 11 a.m., 2 and 3 p.m. To reserve a seat for the program in Free $5 per person; free for THNOC members New Orleans, contact THNOC at THNOC is closed December 24–25. (504)523-4662 or email [email protected]. Recent Acquisitions in Louisiana Art, 2010–2014 January 10–May 2, 2015 GENERAL HOURS Laura Simon Nelson Galleries for Louisiana Art, 533 Royal Street 400 Chartres Street Williams Gallery, Louisiana History Galleries, Shop, and Tours Free Tuesday–Saturday, 9:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.; Sunday, 10:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Purchased Lives: New Orleans and the Domestic 400 and 410 Chartres Street Slave Trade, 1808–1865 Williams Research Center, Boyd Cruise Gallery, and Laura Simon Nelson Galleries March 17–July 18, 2015 for Louisiana Art Boyd Cruise Gallery, 410 Chartres Street Tuesday–Saturday, 9:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Free
D The Historic New Orleans Collection Quarterly ON THE COVER: “Le soleil heraut de sa gloire” (The herald sun of his glory) from the Ursuline manuscript copy of Nouvelles poésies spirituelles et morales 1736; manuscript sheet music 98-001-RL.58.
CONTENTS
ON VIEW/ 2 THNOC trains its lens on photographic portraiture. FROM THE DIRECTOR Recent acquisitions in Louisiana art get a showcase. History is often thought of as a one-way street, with narratives and facts presented A one-of-a-kind musical installation takes to the public without room for discussion. But ask any history lover, scholar, or up residence. museum professional, and you’ll learn that collaboration and colloquy are treasured, Off-Site essential components of the history-making process.
Every year, THNOC hosts the Williams Research Center Symposium, which BOOKS/ 8 brings together our curators, our audience, and history experts from around the Louisiana’s oldest known musical artifact country to discuss the finer points and complexities of New Orleans and Gulf becomes a book. South history. This promises to be a banner year for the event as we continue to commemorate the bicentennial of the Battle of New Orleans. Those interested in EVENTS/ 11 the far-reaching history of the War of 1812 and of Andrew Jackson’s impact on THNOC examines the history of the this nation will have much to discuss throughout the two-day symposium, which domestic slave trade. accompanies the current exhibition Andrew Jackson: Hero of New Orleans. The 2015 WRC Symposium honors the Then, in March, The Collection will cohost a daylong symposium on the bicentennial of the Battle of New Orleans. domestic slave trade. Presented in collaboration with the Library of Virginia, based in Richmond, this exciting day of thoughtful discussion will help to launch COMMUNITY/ 14 THNOC’s exhibition Purchased Lives: New Orleans and the Domestic Slave Trade, On the Job 1808–1865. We are honored to be fostering public dialogue on historical issues that Staff News continue to impact our region. Become a Member In other news, I am delighted to congratulate Alfred E. Lemmon, director of the Williams Research Center, on his recent induction into the Orden de Isabel On the Scene la Católica (Order of Isabella the Catholic), a Spanish royal order honoring those Focus on Philanthropy who have contributed greatly to furthering friendship and cooperation between Donors Spain and the international community. Lemmon and The Collection will be surveying New Orleans’s Spanish ties at our upcoming concert with the Louisiana ACQUISITIONS/ 21 Philharmonic Orchestra. With this and all of our events, we hope to engage our Acquisition Spotlight audience in the history we all share. —PRISCILLA LAWRENCE Recent Additions ON VIEW
About Face The Collection’s newest exhibition, presented in conjunction with PhotoNOLA 2014, traces 175 years of photographic portraiture.
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EXHIBITION Whether the purpose was documentary or expressive, capturing a human likeness with the Studio, Street, Self: Photographic camera has been a longstanding role of photography. A portrait is a collaboration between Portraits from The Historic New Orleans subject and photographer, one modulated by the circumstances of the setting. Each vari- Collection able helps to shape the final product, giving even the most similar-looking portraits a humanity as individual as their subjects. Studio, Street, Self: Photographic Portraits from Through February 28, 2015 The Historic New Orleans Collection, now on view at the Williams Research Center’s Boyd Boyd Cruise Gallery, 410 Chartres Street Cruise Gallery in conjunction with the citywide photography festival PhotoNOLA, offers Free an expansive view of portrait photography as it has existed in New Orleans and its environs for more than 175 years. The exhibition includes photographs made both in formal studio settings and out in the street, as well as self-portraits. A photographer’s studio offers the greatest control over the setting and was a mainstay of early photographic practice, especially once more refined lenses and chemistry afforded an exposure time that did not exceed the sitter’s ability to stay still. The early studios’ posing chairs, props, and skylights later yielded to seamless backgrounds and an arsenal of specialized lighting equipment. Street settings add an element of chance, from serendipitous juxtapositions of subject and background to effects of light and shadow. In street photographs, the skills of the artist intersect with surroundings that are presented rather than wholly selected. Self-portraits are a different breed of photographic portrait, embodying an implicit process of introspec- tion—and perhaps an element of vanity. Such portraits often literally hold a mirror up to the subject, sometimes incorporating partially transparent or distorted reflections. Many
2 The Historic New Orleans Collection Quarterly photographers have found the shadow self-portrait an intriguing and expressive form; A. Idelle Gatling, Gospel Singer, New Orleans others have used a remote means of triggering the exposure, such as a timer, once they 1971; gelatin silver print have assumed a pose. by Luke Fontana © Luke Fontana, 2009.0088.3 In an age of endless photo streams and selfies, accessible from one’s pocket and disseminated with the tap of a finger,Studio, Street, Self honors a more deliberate pace B. Everette Maddox of documentation, inviting viewers to study the lives and artistry behind the faces in ca. 1982; gelatin silver print by Dale Milford photographs. —JOHN H. LAWRENCE gift of Ralph Adamo, Henry Lee Staples, and William S. Maddox, 94-19-L.1
C. Alice Aldige, holding Elizabeth Eustis, detail 1913; matte collodion print by Eugene O’Connor gift of Elizabeth Eustis, 1987.45.17
D. Reverend Scie, Greater Little Zion Missionary Baptist Church, Holy Cross 2011; photoprint by Stephen Wilkes gift of Stephen and Bette Wilkes, 2011.0195.24
E. Johnny Donnels in his studio ca. 1990; chromogenic Type C print gift of Joan T. Donnels, 2010.0068.3.1
F. Constance Reynolds Green and brother Jack M. Green 1953; gelatin silver print B C gift of Joe Wilkins, 2013.0294
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Winter 2015 3 ON VIEW Fresh Finds The Laura Simon Nelson Galleries turn two years old and celebrate with the opening of Recent Acquisitions in Louisiana Art, 2010–2014.
The Historic New Orleans Collection is celebrating four years of recent acquisitions and two years of its newest exhibition space, the Laura Simon Nelson Galleries, with an exhibition of Louisiana art spanning two centuries and featuring more than 50 artworks, including paintings and decorative-arts pieces. The earliest paintings date to the 1790s, and the most recent to 2003, so the show in its entirety displays major artis- tic trends from the past 200 years. Paintings include rural landscapes and city scenes, EXHIBITION dock scenes, still lifes, genre scenes, and both full-size and miniature portraits. Among Recent Acquisitions in Louisiana Art, the well-known artists showcased are Jacques Amans, Charles Bird King, François 2010–2014 Bernard, George Peter Alexander Healy, William Henry Buck, Joseph Jefferson, Joseph January 10–May 2, 2015 Rusling Meeker, Paul Poincy, Ellsworth Woodward, William Woodward, Paul Ninas, Laura Simon Nelson Galleries for Leonard Flettrich, Wayman Adams, Clarence Millet, Douglas Bourgeois, Simon Louisiana Art, 400 Chartres Street Gunning, and William Tolliver. Together the works display the rich fabric of the Free cultural history of Louisiana. —JUDITH H. BONNER
A. Cotton Pickers in the Field between 1983 and 1990; oil and oil pastel on Masonite by William Tolliver, painter acquisition made possible by the Boyd Cruise Fund, 2010.0097.1
B. Playground—New Orleans between 1939 and 1943; oil on canvas by Clarence Millet, painter 2011.0236
C. Commodore John Dandridge Henley between 1853 and 1858; oil on canvas by Charles Bird King, attributed painter, after an original by John Wesley Jarvis 2013.0358.6
D. Portrait of Nell Pomeroy O’Brien ca. 1938; oil on canvas A by Louis F. Raynaud, painter 2014.0221
E. Sardines 2003; oil on canvas by Simon Gunning, painter gift of John and Dorothy Clemmer, 2013.0156.1
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Winter 2015 5 ON VIEW
Play Her Piano In a satellite exhibition of the art biennial Prospect.3, an installation by New Orleans artist Xiao Xiao brings contemporary art and musical magic to The Collection.
For the first time since opening in 2012, The Collection’s Laura Simon Nelson Galleries for Louisiana Art will host a multimedia installation, one that combines music, art, and technology into one invitingly interactive experience. For 10 days this December, New Orleans artist Xiao Xiao will present MirrorFugue: Reflections of New Orleans Pianists, an installation centered on a player piano outfitted with a screen and projector. A satellite exhibition of the New Orleans art biennial Prospect.3, MirrorFugue features the music of legendary pianists Jon Cleary and Allen Toussaint, preserved digitally on the player piano, as well as video projections of Cleary and Toussaint at rest and in performance. The piano will play the recorded performances, and the projections of the musicians will appear on A the instrument as ghostly reflections, merging past and present into one musical moment. Xiao Xiao, who is currently working toward a doctoral degree at the Tangible Media EXHIBITION Group of MIT’s Media Lab, was inspired by the changing nature of musical consumption MirrorFugue: Reflections of and performance in the 21st century. Xiao Xiao has worked to understand these changes New Orleans Pianists and present new, interactive, and emotionally resonant avenues for enjoying music, while simultaneously exploring and expanding audiences’ interactions with computers. Presented in conjunction with “These days, we think of music in its purest form as distilled, disembodied sound,” Prospect.3+ and made possible by Phyllis M. Taylor said Xiao Xiao, “but historically music could only have been experienced live, channeled through the bodies of performers, felt in the bodies of audiences.” Through December 20 MirrorFugue—which takes its name from a baroque Laura Simon Nelson Galleries for contrapuntal form that mirrors itself, like a palindrome— Louisiana Art, 400 Chartres Street allows viewers multiple angles for experiencing the installation. For Xiao Xiao, the “VIP seat” is the piano bench. Here a Free visitor can sit and watch a piece of music being performed— not only through the movement of the player piano keys but also through the superimposed image of the musician. For the brave, Xiao Xiao suggests playing a duet with Allen Toussaint or following the fingers and hands of Jon Cleary as he moves through classics of the New Orleans canon. In
B addition to Toussaint and Cleary, pianists Ron Markham and Nick Sanders also recorded for MirrorFugue and will take their virtual turns at the piano over the course of the installation. This exhibition marks both Xiao Xiao’s and the piece’s hometown premiere. “Xiao Xiao’s work provides an outstanding opportunity to once again participate in the Prospect New Orleans biennial while showcasing the Laura Simon Nelson Galleries for Louisiana Art as a prime venue for the exhibition of art in A. Xiao Xiao the French Quarter,” said THNOC Deputy Director Daniel B. Allen Toussaint Hammer. “Xiao Xiao’s installation beautifully marries that goal C. Jon Cleary All images courtesy of JonGunnar Gylfason with another of THNOC’s missions, to preserve and present C aspects of the city’s musical heritage.” —ERIC SEIFERTH
6 The Historic New Orleans Collection Quarterly OFF-SITE Coastal Woodwards Go Inland The following are holdings that have appeared outside The Collection, either on loan to other institutions or reproduced in noteworthy media projects.
The Collection loaned 15 items to the Alexandria Museum of Art for the upcoming exhibition Ellsworth and William Woodward: Impressions of the Southland, on view March 6–May 23, 2015. Reference Assistant Matt Farah assisted Pat O’Brien’s and the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau in developing a signature cocktail to commemorate the Battle of New Orleans bicentennial. The drink, called the Battle Crye, is a riff on the Roffignac, a classic cocktail that Farah helped the mixologists find inFamous New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix ’Em, a 1934 book by Stanley Clisby Arthur. The Battle Crye debuted at the legendary French Quarter bar in October and will be available through 2015.
Grand Isle Ocean Springs, Miss. One item from The Collection will be exhibited 1911; watercolor on paper 1890; oil on canvas at the Cabildo by the Louisiana State Museum by Ellsworth Woodward, painter by William Woodward, painter for its upcoming exhibition “Dirty Shirts” to Laura Simon Nelson Collection, n101109.1.22 gift of Laura Simon Nelson, 2005.0350.4 Buccaneers: The Battle of New Orleans in American Culture, which will run from January 9, 2015, to January 8, 2016. Certificate from the Grand Army of the Republic proclaiming Jordan Noble to be a veteran of good character 1880 The Old State Capitol Museum in Baton 59-12-L.2 Rouge has a new exhibition, Etiquette and the History of Social Stationery, on view through December 20, featuring 30 objects on loan from The Collection. Adele McCall calling card 1886; satin ribbon on card Famous New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix ’Em 94-359-RL by Stanley Clisby Arthur New Orleans: Harmanson, 1937 gift of Ralph M. Pons, 76-1172-RL.1 Senior Curator/Oral Historian Mark Cave has been working with WWNO-FM to create a series of radio segments based on interview excerpts from the New Orleans Life Story Project. The series, NOLA Life Stories, debuted in April and has featured notable New Orleanians such as Leona Tate, one of the grade-school girls who first integrated New Orleans public schools, in 1960; John Mecom Jr., the first owner of the New Orleans Saints; and K&B drugstore owner, Sydney Besthoff. Oral history interview with Leona Tate 2012 conducted by Mark Cave, THNOC oral historian gift of Leona Tate, 2013.0050 The Ellender Memorial Library at Nicholls State University reproduced more than 50 images from The Collection for the library’s upcoming exhibition Changing America: The Emancipation Proclamation, 1863, and the March on Washington, 1963. The exhibition is part of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES). School integration Christmas cards and letters 1960 gift of Leona Washington, 90-76-L
Winter 2015 7 BOOKS
Putting on Airs THNOC’s newest book revives a 278-year-old collection of spiritual songs, bringing the music of early French Louisiana to life.
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In 1754, the Ursuline nuns of New Orleans received a gift from France: a manuscript copy of the popular music volume Nouvelles poésies spirituelles et morales (New spiritual and moral poetry). The so-called Ursuline manuscript, copied by hand and illustrated in 1736, is the oldest known musical document in Louisiana history, and now, The Historic New Orleans Collection is proud to present it in book form for the first time. In November THNOC released French Baroque Music of New Orleans: Spiritual Songs from the Ursuline Convent (1736), edited by Alfred E. Lemmon, director of the Williams Research Center. It features a full-color facsimile of the Ursuline manuscript, accompanied by in-depth scholarly essays in English and French, making it the first THNOC title classified as both a book and a musical score. The manuscript came to The Collection in 1998, when THNOC acquired the vast French Baroque Music of New Orleans: archives of the Ursuline convent and school, which date to the city’s earliest days. The tidy Songs from the Ursuline Convent (1736) volume, its dimensions no bigger than a sheet of paper, sits on permanent display in the Musique française baroque à la Nouvelle- Louisiana History Galleries. As Lemmon writes in his essay for French Baroque Music of Orléans: Recueil d’airs spirituels des New Orleans, scant evidence remains of musical activity from early New Orleans, and what Ursulines (1736) little there is refers mostly to military proceedings and musicians employed at St. Louis edited by Alfred E. Lemmon, with essays in Cathedral. The city’s first opera house eventually brought European music to a wide audi- English by Jennifer Gipson, Andrew Justice, ence, but not until 1796, making the Ursuline manuscript “an important record of the early Alfred E. Lemmon, and Mark McKnight and reach of European music in the New World,” Lemmon writes. “[It] provides strong docu- in French by Jean Duron mentary evidence of the musical environment of the young colony.” The Historic New Orleans Collection, 2014 $110, softcover, 296 pages, 255-page Sacred Parody full-color facsimile The manuscript started its journey in 1730 Paris. There, a group of music publishers based ISBN:978-0-917860-65-2 in the Latin Quarter “decided to publish a volume of contrafacta—spiritual texts set to ISMN:979-0-800031-00-7 fashionable tunes by the most famous composers of the last half century,” writes Jean Duron, whose French introduction to French Baroque Music of New Orleans is summarized in English in the volume. “They were intended to ‘peuvent plaire indifferemment à tout le monde’ (be enjoyed by everybody), especially virtuous young ladies, nuns, and missionaries.” The practice of retrofitting popular music with moral lessons and spiritual, rather than secular, lyrics was called sacred parody, and it was part of a broader trend in western Europe throughout the early to mid-18th century. Unlike the modern conception of “parody,” this kind of parody was not intended to be humorous: instead, the word implied an appro- priation of existing music for a new textual usage. Sacred parodies had been common in Renaissance music; a “parody mass” recycled music from an earlier use and set it to relevant texts according to the Christian calendar. The definition of “parody” would begin to shift toward the comedic later in the 18th century, but the concept remained the same: take an existing piece of music and fuse it with new poetic elements. The target audience for the contrafacta were people of piety, such as the Ursuline nuns and missionaries; children, such as the nuns’ boarding students in New Orleans; and, especially in Europe, upper-class women. As Mark McKnight writes in his essay for French
8 The Historic New Orleans Collection Quarterly Baroque Music of New Orleans, in prerevolutionary France, popular opinion held that aris- A. Endpaper tocratic women “were prone to leading frivolous lives or engaging in immoral behavior.” from the Ursuline manuscript copy of Nouvelles poésies spirituelles et morales Changing the lyrics took the “danger” out of the songs, while the melodies preserved an 1736; manuscript sheet music element of pleasure. Using popular tunes as a hook, contrafacta could serve as “a power- 98-001-RL.58 ful tool for the edification of the faithful,” writes Jennifer Gipson, whose essay in the book B. focuses on the songs’ lyrical transformations from secular to sacred. “Amour de Dieu” (God’s love) from the Ursuline manuscript copy of Nouvelles poésies spirituelles et morales Making the Manuscript 1736; manuscript sheet music The contrafacta were first published in 1730, with the full titleNouvelles poésies spirituelles 98-001-RL.58 et morales sur les plus beaux airs de la musique françoise et italienne avec la basse (New spiri- tual and moral poetry set to the most beautiful French and Italian airs with figured bass). The collection proved successful, and subsequent printings included additional recueils (volumes) of songs, with the final edition, published in 1737, featuring eight volumes. Sometime during Lent 1736, the copyist of the Ursuline manuscript, a female scribe known only as C.D., transcribed the first four volumes. As was the custom, she added creative flourishes to the manuscript, including illustrations around the song titles and in the margins. In 1754, a mysterious donor, known only as Monsieur Nicollet, sent the manuscript version of Nouvelles poésies to the Ursuline nuns in New Orleans, where it has remained ever since. B
Winter 2015 9 BOOKS
C. “La Colère” (Anger) from the Ursuline manuscript copy of Nouvelles poésies spirituelles et morales 1736; manuscript sheet music 98-001-RL.58
D. Frontispiece, third volume from the Ursuline manuscript copy of Nouvelles poésies spirituelles et morales 1736; manuscript sheet music 98-001-RL.58
E. Table of contents, fourth volume from the Ursuline manuscript copy of Nouvelles poésies spirituelles et morales 1736; manuscript sheet music 98-001-RL.58 E
In all published versions of Nouvelles poésies, as well as in the Ursuline manu- script, each volume is divided into five categories: Praises of God; Mysteries of Our Lord, Jesus Christ; Virtues; Vices; and the Four Ends of Man. A table of contents is appended at the end of each volume, and the copyist took it upon herself to highlight in red ink all the chansons morales (moral songs). These moral songs were often light and pleasurable, “useful for certain ‘occasions when the others might seem perhaps too serious,’” Gipson writes in her essay, quoting from the original preface of Nouvelles poésies spirituelles et morales, which C.D. included in her transcription. “The combi- nation of pleasure and utility is key,” Gipson explains, “for the qualification ‘moral’ does not indicate a more pious text. In 18th-century lexicon, ‘moral’ could refer to the investigation of human nature.” C The tables of contents also credit the composers of the melodies, making the lists a who’s who of the French and Italian baroque (1600–1750), including François Couperin, Jean-Baptiste Lully, and Louis-Nicolas Clérambault. In the manuscript’s preface, Clérambault is credited with setting the figured bass (a single bass-clef note with numeri- cal symbols indicating how it should be played, much like today’s chord charts and lead sheets). Source material for the melodies includes André Campra’s 1714 cantata Silène and the André Campra–Henry Desmarest collaboration Iphigénie en Tauride (1704). French Baroque Music of New Orleans is intended to serve researchers, performers, and lovers of baroque music and colonial Louisiana history. The Ursuline manuscript’s 294 musical works are reproduced in a beautiful full-color, full-size facsimile, and the accompanying essays—four in English with French summaries and one in French with an English summary—illuminate the object’s poetic, musical, historical, and biblio- D graphic contexts. A suggested compendium to the volume is Le Concert Lorrain’s 2001 recording of selections from the Ursuline manuscript, Manuscrit des Ursulines de la Nouvelle-Orléans: Baroque Music in New Orleans, which is available at The Shop at The Collection. Listening to the ensemble’s crystalline voices and following along with the original score, one can imagine the Ursuline nuns and their students singing both for God and for pleasure, in a young city whose musical history was just beginning. —MOLLY REID
10 The Historic New Orleans Collection Quarterly EVENTS
To Be Sold In a first-time collaboration with the Library of Virginia, The Collection will SYMPOSIUM cohost a daylong, simulcast symposium about the domestic slave trade. To Be Sold: The American Slave Trade from Virginia to New Orleans In 1808, America abolished the international slave trade, ending the export of people from the African continent to the Americas, but the domestic slave trade—the buying Saturday, March 21, 2015 and selling of human chattel within the US—continued until the close of the Civil War, Williams Research Center, 410 Chartres in 1865. During this 57-year period, an estimated 750,000 enslaved men, women, and Street children were forcibly moved from the upper to the lower South. Free; registration required In the spring of 2015, The Historic New Orleans Collection will join the Library of To reserve a seat, contact THNOC at Virginia, based in Richmond, and the Midlo Center for New Orleans Studies at the (504) 523-4662 or email [email protected]. University of New Orleans to explore this topic through two exhibitions and a unique collaborative symposium. “To Be Sold: The American Slave Trade from Virginia to New Orleans” will take place in both Richmond and New Orleans, on Saturday, March 21, 2015. Morning sessions will be held in Richmond and simulcast in New Orleans, while afternoon sessions will be held in New Orleans at THNOC’s Williams Research Center and simulcast in Richmond. Participants at both locations will be able to engage in live discussions with attendees and presenters at both sites. The day will include a series of panel discussions with experts from across the coun- try, as well as two keynote presentations, one in New Orleans and one in Richmond. The Richmond panelists include Charles B. Dew, Williams College; Alexandra Finley, Sale of Estates, Pictures and Slaves in doctoral candidate from the College of William and Mary; Robert Nelson, University of the Rotunda, New Orleans Richmond; Scott Nesbit, University of Richmond; Calvin Schermerhorn, Arizona State from The Slave States of America 1842; engraving with watercolor University; and Phillip Troutman, George Washington University. Maurie McInnis of by William Henry Brooke, engraver the University of Virginia and curator of the exhibition at the Library of Virginia will 1974.25.23.4 moderate the talks there. The New Orleans panelists include Edward E. Baptist, Cornell University; Stephanie Jones-Rogers, University of California–Berkeley; Lawrence N. Powell, Tulane University; and Adam Rothman, Georgetown University. Walter Johnson of Harvard University will serve as the moderator in New Orleans. Thanks to funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, participants will be able to attend the event free of charge. Due to limited seating, registration is required. Overflow seating at the New Orleans program will be available at the Louisiana Supreme Court, 400 Royal Street. Both the Library of Virginia and The Historic New Orleans Collection will have exhibitions exploring the topic of the domestic slave trade. LVA’s display, To Be Sold, opened October 27 and will remain on view through May 30, 2015. THNOC’s exhibition Purchased Lives: New Orleans and the Domestic Slave Trade, 1808–1865, opens March 17, 2015, and will remain on view through July 18. —TERESA DEVLIN
Winter 2015 11 EVENTS
SYMPOSIUM 20th Annual Williams Research Center Symposium “Forgotten Conflicts: Indians, Andrew Jackson, and the War of 1812 in the South” January 23–24, 2015 Hotel Monteleone, 214 Royal Street To register, visit www.hnoc.org/programs /symposia.html or call (504) 523-4662. A
Speakers and Topics Andrew Jackson: Hero or Despot? A Battle’s Birthday Matthew Warshauer Central Connecticut State University As the Battle of New Orleans turns 200, the Williams Research Center Symposium prepares to survey the War of 1812’s impact, then and now. The Battle of New Orleans and American Identity Jason Wiese On the occasion of the bicentennial of its culminating battle, The Historic New Orleans The Historic New Orleans Collection Collection is excited to revisit the War of 1812, which pitted a young American repub- The Creek War lic against the established military might of Great Britain. On Friday, January 23, and Kathryn Braund Saturday, January 24, The Collection will explore the war’s impact on the Gulf South and Auburn University Louisiana during the 20th annual Williams Research Center Symposium, titled “Forgotten
The Slaves’ Gamble for Freedom: Conflicts: Indians, Andrew Jackson, and the War of 1812 in the South.” A keynote lecture Choosing Sides during the Battle on Friday evening will explore the life and career of Andrew Jackson. Among the subjects of New Orleans to be addressed at the all-day program on Saturday are the Creek War of 1813–14, the Gene Allen Smith Texas Christian University experiences of women and people of color during the War of 1812, the British perspective on the Gulf campaign, and the famous Battle of New Orleans. A Battle Too Far? Britain, the War of 1812, Though not well known in today’s mainstream culture, the battle and General Jackson and the Gulf Coast were favorite subjects of historians, storytellers, and artists through much of the 19th Andrew Lambert King’s College, London century, when the anniversary of Jackson’s conclusive victory on January 8, 1815, was celebrated throughout the United States as a patriotic holiday. The mechanisms of cultural Women and the Battle of New Orleans memory are especially evident in early printed illustrations of the battle. Some artists relied Patricia Brady Independent scholar on secondhand accounts of the clash between British and American troops at Chalmette, below New Orleans. As a result, erroneous details—such as an American defensive rampart Beauty and Booty: Myths of the Battle constructed entirely of cotton bales—were conveyed to a mass audience that was unable to of New Orleans Donald R. Hickey judge the accuracy of the presentation. John Landis’s 1840 lithograph Battle of New Orleans Wayne State College is an excellent example of a popular and dramatic view that perpetuated misconceptions about the battle and its participants. For additional information call One of the earliest views of the Battle of New Orleans, produced by an artist who (504) 523-4662 or visit www.hnoc.org. witnessed it firsthand, is an 1818 aquatint engraving that was produced in France by artist Jean-Hyacinthe Laclotte (1765–1828) and engraver Philibert-Louis Debucourt (1755–1832). Laclotte was a French architect, engineer, and painter active in New Orleans between 1807 and 1815. In 1810, Laclotte partnered with fellow engineer and architect Arsène Lacarrière
12 The Historic New Orleans Collection Quarterly Latour (1778–1837), who would later serve as Jackson’s chief engineer during the Battle of A. Battle of New Orleans New Orleans. Laclotte volunteered as an engineer in the Louisiana Militia, and was apparently 1840; hand-colored lithograph by John Landis, draftsman able to make sketches of the battle while it was in progress on the morning of January 8, 1815. 1950.25 Laclotte later created a painting based on his sketches; the original is in the collection of the New Orleans Museum of Art. In 1815 or 1816, recognizing the public demand for views of B. Defeat of the British Army, 12,000 Strong, under the Command of Sir Edward the famous battle, Laclotte made a detailed drawing of his painting to serve as a reference for Packenham . . . a skilled engraver. He proceeded to Paris and commissioned Debucourt to engrave the print- 1818; aquatint engraving with watercolor ing plate. After a series of delays, Laclotte returned to the United States early in 1818 with by Jean-Hyacinthe Laclotte, artist; Philibert-Louis Debucourt, engraver the plate and copies of the engraving, printed in France and destined for an eager American bequest of Boyd Cruise and Harold Schilke, audience. 1989.79.135 The title of Laclotte’s view—Defeat of the British Army, 12,000 Strong, under the Command of Sir Edward Packenham . . . —printed in English and French, emphasizes the American C. Detail, lower left corner, Defeat of the British Army . . . rout of the larger British force led by Major General Sir Edward Pakenham. Perhaps this was a jab by a patriotic Frenchman at the British army, which had recently vanquished Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo. Whatever the case, Laclotte provides the viewer with a great deal of information about the Battle of New Orleans, including the disposition of Jackson’s active troops and reserves behind the defensive American breastwork along the Rodriguez Canal, as well as the positions of the attacking British troops and artillery batteries. Debris, including entire trees, can be seen floating down the Mississippi River in the foreground, near which British troops overrun an advanced American redoubt on Jackson’s riverside flank. The outcome of the battle, as frozen in this moment, is still very much undecided. One curious detail of this print can be seen in the lower left corner, near a collection of boats anchored in the river. Two shirtless men of color are wading in the river, in water up to their chests, and their arms are outstretched as if beseeching the oncoming British troops for aid. The lack of clothing suggests they may be intended to represent slaves; three addi- tional men of color stand a short distance away, gesturing either toward the men in the river or the battle raging nearby. These minute details, hardly noticeable in the larger scene, may be Laclotte’s subtle reference to the fears of New Orleans’s civil and military establishment that British agents intended to incite the local enslaved population to rise up against their American masters. Landis’s and Laclotte’s printed views of the Battle of New Orleans—and many others from diverse artists and publishers—can be studied up close at the Williams Research Center, and anyone interested in the battle is invited to join in celebrating its bicentennial at the WRC symposium. —JASON WIESE
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ON THE JOB Jennifer Rebuck
POSITION: Associate registrar, on staff since 2010 ASSIGNMENT: Accession a donation into The Collection’s holdings
When the exhibition Recent Acquisitions objects—defined as paintings, textiles, porcelain. It is always rewarding to view an in Louisiana Art, 2010–2014 debuts this prints, drawings, and three-dimensional object in its home and have the opportunity January, it will feature a silver tilting objects, such as furniture, silver, and to hear about its history. Lydia, Kara, and water service manufactured by Meriden ceramics—make up one of the main I worked together to note the condition Britannia Company. The set was offered divisions of our holdings, the other two of the item, take pictures, and wrap the for donation in the spring by Collection being manuscripts and library items. The enthusiasts John and Polly Hernandez. Collection’s curators propose items to John Hernandez inherited the service accession to the acquisitions committee in from his grandparents, Adima and Laura a monthly report, including a summary of Blanchard, who received it as a wedding why these works are historically or artisti- gift in 1898. The water service includes cally important. In the case of the water a porcelain-lined pitcher inscribed “B / service, our curators were interested in its Jan 26, ’98,” two water goblets with “B” legacy as a wedding gift, because it repre- monogram and acanthus design, a drip sents the union of two important Louisiana pan, and a stand. It is called a “tilting” families, the Blanchards and the Truxillos, service because the pitcher hangs in the both of whom owned several plantations stand. The service was approved by our in Assumption Parish. In addition, the acquisitions committee and board of Connecticut-based Meriden Britannia directors, clearing the way for the object Company was a major producer of silver- to be acquired. But before the service plated wares throughout the 19th century. could formally join our holdings at The Once an acquisition is approved, acces- Collection, it had to complete its journey sioning it begins with physically acquiring from the Hernandezes’ private collection, the piece and then transferring legal title, in Baton Rouge, to our institutional one. or formal ownership, to the museum. Since Every year THNOC accepts thousands the Hernandezes were unable to bring of items into its ever-growing permanent the service to New Orleans, we used our collection. As one of the associate regis- climate-controlled van to safely transport trars on staff, my job entails accessioning the service to The Collection. I accompa- and processing the curatorial items nied our new curator of decorative arts, donated or purchased into our holdings. Lydia Blackmore, and preparator Kara B. In 2013 The Collection received 133 LeBeouf on the trip. The Hernandezes were curatorial donations or purchases compris- very gracious in opening their home and Silver tilting water service with two goblets 1898; silver plate and porcelain ing over 6,000 items, many of which showing off many of their other antiques, by Meriden Britannia Company, silversmith I had a hand in processing. Curatorial including fine pieces of furniture and gift of John H. and Polly Hernandez, 2014.0261.1
14 The Historic New Orleans Collection Quarterly STAFF NEWS New Staff Emily Hindin, scanning technician. Rachel Cockrill, Jean Cranmer, Karin Curley, Melissa Daigle, Jeff Diez, Wayne Gordon, and Linda Potter, volunteers.
Changes Albert Dumas Jr. is now a docent as well as a receptionist. Rebecca Smith is now head of reader services.
Honors Alfred E. Lemmon, director of the silver in tissue, ethafoam—a protective, Williams Research Center, was inducted lightweight material used to protect fragile into the prestigious Orden de Isabel la items—and acid-free boxes before return- Católica (Order of Isabella the Catholic), a ing to New Orleans. royal order honoring special champions of When the service arrived at The Spanish history and culture. Collection I finalized accessioning it by documenting, or registering, the object In the Community into our collection. I created a record in Daniel Hammer, deputy director, has our collections management system and joined the board of directors of the Vieux assigned a unique accession number to Carré Commission Foundation. the acquisition. An object record includes John H. Lawrence, director of museum not only a description of the item but also programs, has been appointed to the Tulane its dimensions, provenance, location, and Master of Preservation Studies Preservation insurance value. Advisory Group. Once the object had been accessioned, I Kate Bruce Carter, associate registrar, undertook its initial care and processing by was elected secretary of the Southeastern marking the silver service with its accession Registrars Association. number. To start, I evaluated the piece to Mark Cave, oral historian and senior locate a less-noticeable area for the mark- curator, was named to the editorial board ing and then determined the best materials of Transaction Publishers’ Memory and to use. For the silver I chose the “Acryloid Narrative Series. Sandwich” method, which entails applying a small amount of B-72, a clear liquid that pieces (urn, stand, tray, and goblets) were acts as a barrier layer, to the object. Once wrapped in tissue and then in silver cloth the first layer dries we write the assigned before being stored in our vault. accession number on top of the base coat The job of collections care never stops, with an archival marking pen. Finally a as we will continue to monitor the condi- top coat of B-67 is applied to encapsulate tion and storage environment of the the number and ensure that it will not service. In this case, the service will not be Alfred E. Lemmon wear off, so that the museum piece can sitting out of sight for long, as our regis- easily be identified. I then worked with our trar for exhibitions and our preparation photography department to shoot images team will determine how best to display of each piece. These photographs will be the service for the upcoming exhibition. available to THNOC staff, via our collec- Although the journey of bringing the tions management system, as well as to service to The Collection is over, I know I the public, via our online catalog. Last, will be busy caring for many more objects I evaluated best standards and practices as The Collection continues expanding its for storage of the service. The individual holdings. —JENNIFER REBUCK
Winter 2015 15 COMMUNITY
artworks, such as a portrait of Marie Althée Joséphine d’Aquin de Puech by Jean Joseph Vaudechamp. “Some of our most important projects at The Collection are made possi- ble through the generosity of members,” Pruitt said. FOCUS ON PHILANTHROPY In June, Laussat and Bienville members The Laussat Society were treated to an intimate showing of recent acquisitions, wherein THNOC As The Historic New Orleans Collection’s curators selected their favorite new and first member organization, the Laussat noteworthy items to present. “The cura- Society plays an important role in fulfill- tors could talk to people face-to-face about ing the institution’s mission to preserve their favorite objects, why they think they’re the history and culture of New Orleans, important,” Stafford said. “People loved it. Louisiana, and the Gulf South. Established It’s a great way for Laussat members to see in 2003 with a charter membership of 51 what all goes on here at The Collection. We people, the group has grown tremendously hope to offer more and more fun opportuni- over the past decade and has paved the ties like that.” way for expanded involvement in The At the 2014 Laussat Society Gala, Collection, said Jack Pruitt, director of held November 18 at the home of Julie development and community relations. Breitmeyer, board president Drew Jardine, “This year we are proud to report that Stafford, and Lydia Blackmore, curator we have a record number of members,” Laussat Society’s generous gifts are of decorative arts, presented this year’s Pruitt said. “We are truly grateful for their designated toward the support of The sponsorship—a mahogany sofa by John invaluable financial support.” Collection’s ongoing Louisiana-artist and Joseph W. Meeks. The Meeks brothers “Laussat members are incredibly educational initiatives and toward the were active cabinet and furniture makers in supportive of the history of New Orleans, support of our extensive art holdings; both New York and New Orleans during the history of Louisiana,” added E. our comprehensive archives on indi- the mid-19th century, and the piece, which Alexandra Stafford, THNOC board vidual artists, arts organizations, and sports its original New Orleans label, is member and chair of the society since art institutions; and renowned series of an important addition to The Collection’s 2013. Louisiana-artist biographies,” Pruitt said. Louisiana History Galleries. The society was named for Pierre The society has sponsored the publica- “This beautiful sofa is one of our selective Clément Laussat (1756–1835), who acted tion of THNOC books, such as In Search purchases of top-notch Louisiana furniture,” as Napoleon Bonaparte’s representative in of Julien Hudson: Free Artist of Color Stafford said. “Because [each Laussat dona- Louisiana. It was Laussat who formally in Pre–Civil War New Orleans and A tion] is $1,000, we want to put it to good accepted possession of the colony from Company Man: The Remarkable French- use. We tell the members, ‘This is what your Spain in a retrocession ceremony on Atlantic Voyage of a Clerk for the Company funds helped us to preserve for study and November 30, 1803. When the United of the Indies, and the acquisition of enjoyment.’” —MOLLY REID States bought Louisiana, Laussat repre- sented France in the colony’s formal transfer, on December 20, 1803. The Historic New Orleans Collection holds Laussat’s personal papers, which he smartly helped to preserve by sprinkling them with cayenne pepper, to ward off pests. The documents sat in canvas bags in the Laussat family chateau for more than a century, until they were discovered by a researcher in 1973. The Laussat Society sponsors a specific THNOC project every year, which is announced at an annual gala for Laussat Laussat Gala hostess Julie Breitmeyer (center left) with her daughter, Ashley Nelson (left), Laussat Society and Bienville Circle members. “The chair E. Alexandra Stafford (center right), and Executive Director Priscilla Lawrence (right)
16 The Historic New Orleans Collection Quarterly ON THE SCENE Giving Thanks At the 2014 Laussat Gala, held November 18 at A B the home of Julie Breitmeyer, THNOC honored Laussat Society and Bienville Circle members. A. Jim and Kay Orth and Drew Jardine B. Phyllis M. Taylor C. George and Fran Villere D. Gregory Smith, Earl Bonnie, and Lee Floyd E. David and Catherine Edwards F. Penny O’Krepki, Bonnie Roult, Ann Bailey, and Marla Garvey C D G. Mary Jane and Jim Becker H. Mary Lou Ochsner and Hunter and Lynne White I. George Young and Paul Leaman J. Ellen Ball, Robert Marks, Dorothy Ball, Lee Adler, and Mac Ball K. Andrew and Crickett Lapeyre and Lydia Blackmore
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Become a Member BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP All members of The Collection enjoy the following benefits for one full year: • complimentary admission to all permanent tours and rotating exhibitions • special invitations to events, trips, receptions, and exhibition previews • complimentary admission to the Concerts in the Courtyard series • a 10 percent discount at The Shop at The Collection • a subscription to The Historic New Orleans Collection Quarterly
HOW TO JOIN Visit www.hnoc.org and click the Support Us link or complete the enclosed envelope and return it with your gift.
MEMBERSHIP LEVELS Founder Individual $35 Founder Family $65 Full membership benefits Family memberships are for one or two adults and any children under 18 all residing in a single household, or for one member and a guest.
Merieult Society $100 Full membership benefits plus: • a special gift
Mahalia Society $250 Full membership benefits plus: • a special gift • private, guided tours (by appointment)
Jackson Society $500 Full membership benefits plus: • a special gift • private, guided tours (by appointment) • free admission to all evening lectures
Laussat Society $1,000 Full membership benefits plus: • a special gift • private, guided tours (by appointment) • free admission to all evening lectures • invitation to annual gala
Bienville Circle $5,000 Members enjoy a preview of the new exhibition Andrew Jackson: Hero of New Orleans in November. Full membership benefits plus: • a special gift • private, guided tours (by appointment) NORTH AMERICAN RECIPROCAL MUSEUM PROGRAM Members of the Merieult, Mahalia, Jackson, and Laussat Societies and the Bienville Circle receive reciprocal • free admission to all evening lectures benefits at other leading museums through the North American Reciprocal Museum (NARM) program. • invitation to annual gala These benefits include free member admission, discounts on concert and lecture tickets, and discounts at • lunch with the executive director the shops of participating museums. Visit www.narmassociation.org for more information.
18 The Historic New Orleans Collection Quarterly DONORS July–September 2014 Lillie Petit Gallagher Darlene H. Johnson The Historic New Orleans Collection is honored to recognize and Patricia Galloway and Peter Dorothy C. Johnson Webb thank the following individuals and organizations for their financial Ann Reiley Jones and material donations. Marleen K. and Timothy F. George E. Jordan Garitty John Karel Frederick Adinolfi Brigid Brown and Steven Department of the Army, New M. Bruce Gaynor Guidry Orleans District, Corps of Rev. and Mrs. Warwick Mr. and Mrs. James L. Kelly Engineers Dr. and Mrs. Charles F. Genre Aiken Jr. Carol and Russ Brown Dr. Nina M. Kelly Nathalie H. Dessens Jim Gershey and Dan Gunther Patricia Alexander and Jean Stephen B. Browne Judith R. and Richard Kennedy Paul Lagarde Douglas G. Dike Nanette A. Gibbs Ann Maylie Bruce Marilyn and Jim Kitto Dr. Gerald “Gery” A. Dr. and Mrs. Michael P. Dolan Dr. Louis and Janie Glade Jeanne F. Bruno Knights of Babylon Anderson II Joan and Robert Doolittle Mr. and Mrs. J. Malcolm Jennie and James O. Bryant Dr. Cassandra L. Knobloch Mrs. James Anderson Jr. Gonzales Warren Duffour Stratton Bull Clarisse Ansel Krauss Matthew Anderson IV Wayne E. Gordon Claudia Dumestre Sharren H. Burns Judith A. Kron Priscilla Anne Anderson Abbye and Steve Gorin Brooke H. Duncan Gerry Call Dr. Colby H. Kullman Royd Anderson Robert S. Greene Mr. and Mrs. Brooke H. Salvador B. Camacho Kathleen Kurtz anonymous Duncan III Erin M. Greenwald Dr. and Mrs. Keith Cangelosi Mary and Alvin LaCoste Antoine’s Restaurant Pamela and Homer J. Dupuy Robert Grier Sr. Janet F. and Robert J. Carr Jenny and Barry L. LaCour Pamela D. Arceneaux The Honorable and Mrs. Mr. and Mrs. Robert Guertin E Jonathan Carter Stanwood R. Duval Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Louis A. Louis J. Aubert Becky and Jerry Guillot Mark Cave Ninette A. Edmiston Lanaux Jr. Vickie Bartels Andreas Hablutzel Mr. and Mrs. John H. Georgia D. Chadwick Robert D. Edmundson Carol V. Hall Ronald Alan Bartlett Lawrence Miriam Childs Emily Taylor Elliott and Patricia and George B. Hall Jr. Didi Battle Dr. and Mrs. Gordon Buck Mrs. William K. Christovich Charles Elliott Claudia Colomb Becker and Arthur Hardy LeGrand Kurt D. Engelhardt Charles J. Becker Jacquelyn Brechtel Clarkson Timothy Harlan Mr. and Mrs. Clay C. Barbara Epstein and Kevin Jack Belsom Ellen Barnett Cleary LeGrande Jr. McEvoy Sandy and Paul M. Haygood Justice Harry T. Lemmon Michelle Benoit and Glen Pitre College of DuPage Library Mr. and Mrs. John H. Eron H. Epstein and Judge Mary Ann Vial Roberta and Steve Berrien Christine and Allan B. Colley Hernandez Julie Eshelman-Lee and Lemmon The Honorable Stephen A. Malinda and William Blevins Beth Colon Felix Lee Joan L. Lennox Higginson David A. Bohn Conerly Floral Deborah and Glenn Estapa Mr. and Mrs. John P. Leonard Volney Hill Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Barry J. Cooper Jr. and Stuart John Exnicios Nancy Lewis and Jeremiah Bonner Jr. H. Smith Marcia and Howard Hirsch Suellen A. Eyre Lewis Ruth Boulet and Bill Kerins Bonnie Lee Corban Robert Hodes Audrey B. Ezzo Lightner Museum Melinda and Wayne Bourgeois Country Roads Magazine Linda Kay Hoff, PhD Charlotte K. Fanz, on behalf Ariane Livaudais Susan K. Hoskins Anne S. Bradburn Mr. and Mrs. Ralph C. Cox Jr. of the Keller Family Rockwell Livingston Lee Ann W. and T. C. “Flash” Michelle Braverman Adele Q. Cressy Federal Emergency Ellen R. Lizarraga Management Agency Howard Elizabeth H. Brazelton Paul Cretini Lynn A. and Juan J. Lizárraga Rien T. Fertel Hunt Institute for Botanical Virginia Hogan Brazil and Pam Crutchfield Documentation Cesar Lombana J. G. Brazil Rillius Paul Fitch III Dr. and Mrs. Walter H. Daniels Rita Lynn Jackson Dr. and Mrs. Alfredo Lopez Mrs. Philip Breitmeyer II Francella S. Flurry Joe Darby Dr. and Mrs. Trent James Henri M. Louapre Esther Brewer Judy and John Foren Dr. Cason de la Houssaye Mr. and Mrs. R. Andrew Louisiana Philharmonic Dr. James Briggs Clifford H. Decamp Fred W. Todd Living Trust Jardine Orchestra Lisa Brooking and Bennett Darren Denham Mr. and Mrs. Richard S. Mr. and Mrs. Anthony N. Norah and Charles M. Lovell K. Davis Friedman Johnson
Winter 2015 19
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Irene and Tom Lutkewitte William Monsted Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Pincus Dona L. Smith Ninette Webster Betty N. Lyons Gilda H. Moore Ms. Murray Pitts Jane L. and David V. Snyder Nora Wetzel Sheila and Richard Geraldine Murphy Ralph Pokluda Karen Snyder Mr. and Mrs. Robert J. MacWilliams Whann III Harriet H. Murrell Rev. Fred J. Powell III Patricia and Edwin Soulier John T. Magill Catherine White Astrid C. Mussiett Jane and Ron Powell Rosalie C. and James L. Ann Maier Spicuzza Walter H. White III Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Navarre Premium Parking Cindy and Fulvio Manto E. Alexandra Stafford Catherine A. Whitney Neal Auction Company Inc. Albinas Prizgintas John Marshall Bill Stegelmeyer Jimmie C. Wickham New Orleans Convention & Lt. Col. Donald E. Pusch Kevin Martinez Visitors Bureau Louise Hitchcock Stephaich Elizabeth Williams Cynthia S. Putnam Carol and Richard McAdoo New Orleans Tourism Patricia and Phineas Stevens Pam and Ron Williams Jennifer Quezergue Marketing Corporation Mary Ellen McAuliffee Irma M. Stiegler Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wilson A. Elizabeth and Vincent Reade Grace and Kenneth E. Mrs. E. Howard McCaleb Micki Beth Stiller Gaylord Wilson Newburger Louis Magne Reese, PhD Dr. and Mrs. William McCall Jr. Margot Stouse Lisa H. and Peter A. Wilson Mr. and Mrs. Jerry K. Colette C. and Sean P. Sandie McCarthy-Brown Nicholson Reynolds Martha and Philip Sullivan Lorraine H. Wise Ralph McDonald II John T. O’Connor Matthew Rivenburgh Dr. and Mrs. Michael Sullivan Russell P. Wolfe Mr. and Mrs. Terry McFillen Patricia H. Ogden, Esq. and Lewis Rogers Olga and Gary Teplitsky World Trade Center of New John W. DeMarco, Esq. Orleans Betty Ann Fox McGee Dr. Marianne and Sheldon L. Kyla M. Titus Errol J. Olivier Rosenzweig Clifford S. Wright Jack B. McGuire Katherine Troendle Middleton O’Malley-Keyes Bill Ross Sally Simmons Zarinski Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Thomas Robert Trubiano McHale Jr. Kay M. and James E. Orth Dr. James M. “Mike” and Paula Eugenia Uhl and David Rebeck Rushing Dr. and Mrs. Lamar McMillin ORX Exploration Inc. Mary Ann Valentino Mearline Madline Rutt Michael Melancon Mary Cleland Owen and C. B. Belkys Verdin Owen Elizabeth G. Schenthal Dr. Ross Mestayer and Daniel Vogel Sandy Cyr Kurt Owens Craig Schexnayder Dr. Mark Waggenspack Dierdre Miano and Michael Lawrence Paddock Joel Larkin Schmiegel Colvin John E. Walker Lynne Robertson Parker Dr. and Mrs. Coleman S. Leo Michiels Schneider Stella Walsh and Dennis Patio Planters Lambert Ira J. Middleberg Drs. Sylvia J. and John June B. Peay Schneller III Coleman Warner Victoria Miller and Nancie Lorraine and Neal Pendleton W. Smith Carol R. Selvey Gregory Waselkov Dr. and Mrs. H. Gunther David C. Miner Dr. and Mrs. David Earl Cookie and Kyle Waters Perdigao Simmons Mr. and Mrs. David Yoakley John Webster Mitchell Lori and Steve Skoog
Tribute Gifts Bookplates Tribute gifts are given in memory or in honor Donations are used to purchase books that will be marked with a of a loved one. commemorative bookplate. Janie Bories in honor of Joan Lennox Mrs. William K. Christovich in memory of Joseph Matthew Rault Jr.—The BP Oil Spill Hersh and Fern Cohen in honor of Fred Smith edited by David M. Haugen (Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2012)
Mrs. William K. Christovich in memory Mary Jane Fenner Mrs. William K. Christovich in memory of Mary S. Fitzpatrick—Coming Home to New Mrs. William K. Christovich in honor of Joan Lennox Orleans: Neighborhood Rebuilding after Katrina by Karl F. Seidman (New York: Oxford Mrs. William K. Christovich in memory of Richard E. O’Krepki University Press, 2013) Linda and Richard Friedman in honor of Joan Lennox The board of directors and staff of The Historic New Orleans Collection in memory of Linda and Richard Friedman in honor Molly St. Paul Richard E. O’Krepki—Gentlemen’s Blood: A History of Dueling from Swords at Dawn to Louise C. Hoffman (Nola I-Club) in honor of Jessica Dorman Pistols at Dusk by Barbara Holland (New York: Bloomsbury, 2003) International PBX Telecommunicators in honor of John T. Magill The board of directors and staff of The Historic New Orleans Collection in memory of Dr. Florence M. Jumonville in honor of Joan Lennox Walker Young Ronaldson Jr.—Painters and Paintings in the Early American South by Elsa and Cole Schneider in honor of Joan Lennox Carolyn J. Weekley (Williamsburg, VA: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in association with Yale University Press, 2013) Myra Soboloff in honor of Joan Lennox Dr. Elizabeth Eustis Wheeler in memory of Jane Eustis Suydam
20 The Historic New Orleans Collection Quarterly ACQUISITIONS
Related Holdings
Royes Fernandez Papers 96-92-L, 2013.0203
Note to George Balanchine from Royes Fernandez 1947 gift of Jeanne F. Bruno, 2013.0203.4
Royes Fernandez and Jeanne Fernandez Bruno 1944 or 1945; photoprint gift of Jeanne F. Bruno, 2014.0322.1 George Pierre Blanchin ca. 1920–29; photoprint ACQUISITION SPOTLIGHT gift of Jeanne F. Bruno, 2013.0305.1 Lives in Motion Fernandez, Blanchin, and Pemberton Family Papers, Addition gift of Jeanne F. Bruno, 2014.0322
Siblings Royes Fernandez (1929–1980) Center for Creative Arts, Young Audiences, and Jeanne Fernandez Bruno (b. 1926) and Delta Festival Ballet. both studied ballet in New Orleans with Fernandez went on to study at the Lelia Haller, the first American première School of American Ballet in New York. danseuse of the Paris Opera Ballet, and After his high school graduation, in 1946, Interior view of the French Opera House both brother and sister became instru- he joined the corps de ballet of the famed from La Favorite: Opera in Four Acts 1890; wood engraving mental to the dance world, though in very Original Ballet Russe, earlier known as acquisition made possible by the Clarisse Claiborne different ways. Bruno danced through the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. He then Grima Fund, 92-48-L.78.320 1940s for Lelia Haller’s New Orleans Opera worked as a principal dancer for the tour- House Association, and in the 1950s she ing company Markova-Dolin starred in many dance productions for the Ballet before becoming a Crescent City Concerts Association at the soloist with the American Municipal Auditorium and acted in the Ballet Theater, a post he kept occasional play at Le Petit Theatre. In the until his retirement, in 1973. 1970s Bruno served as program director of During his time with ABT, Dance Residencies in Louisiana, a division Fernandez toured exten- of the Louisiana State Arts Council, and she sively, with performances has since been instrumental in many other local and regional arts organizations, such Emanuel Paul Fernandez as the National Association of Regional 1916; photoprint Ballet, Symphony Volunteers, New Orleans gift of Jeanne F. Bruno, 2014.0322.2
Winter 2015 21 ACQUISITIONS in places ranging from Spain to the RECENT ADDITIONS USSR. He toured Latin America with the Alicia Alonso Ballet Company before Vaudeville, Venus, and Cartes de Visite the Cuban Revolution and with Margot Fonteyn for her 1963 world tour, with stops in Israel, Egypt, Japan, and more. Fernandez is considered to be the first American premier danseur, known for his elegance and exceptional technique. At the height of his career, he danced the role of Prince Siegfried in American Ballet Theater’s full-length premiere of building was destroyed by fire, and the lot Swan Lake in 1967. has remained undeveloped. It’s not a surprise that both Bruno Casmier J. Blanda recently donated a and Fernandez were dedicated to the small, fragile broadside announcing sched- performing arts. Though their father, uled entertainment at the Dreamland for Emanuel Paul Fernandez (1887–1949), Friday, November 3, 1922. Leading the bill was a jeweler for Adler’s, he was also a is Watch Your Step, a silent drama starring ballroom dance instructor who taught the versatile Patsy Ruth Miller (1904–1995) out of their Uptown home. Their mother, and popular leading man Cullen Landis Françoise Fernandez, was entre-nched (1896–1975) in “A Picture That Shatters in the performing arts through her All Speed Limits for Thrills.” The film was families, the Blanchins and Pembertons. released in February 1922. The accompany- Grandfather George Pierre Casimir ing short, Red Hot Rivals, “The Comedy Blanchin (1860–1924) was an engineer with a Million Laughs,” starred Lee Moran of railroad bridges and a noted violin- (1888–1961) and was released in May 1922. ist. He performed with the New Orleans Vaudeville is represented on the bill by the Symphony Orchestra and was the director presence of two routines, The Mistress of of the Tudor Orchestra and the Dauphine the World and Saved by Wireless, as well Theatre Orchestra. Françoise’s uncle, John as mention of the Dreamland Concert Peter Pemberton, was a respected artist Orchestra. Admission is listed as ten cents who studied under William Woodward and seventeen cents for seating on the main at Tulane University and later went on floor and five and ten cents for the balcony. to teach drawing at both Tulane and —PAMELA D. ARCENEAUX Newcomb College. Pemberton was also a pianist, and his brother Gilbert was a manager of the French Opera House. Dreamland Theatre Broadside Within the papers of the Fernandez, 2013.0340 Blanchin, and Pemberton families are glimpses of the rich performing-arts Located at 900 Elysian Fields Avenue on culture of 19th- and 20th-century the uptown-riverside corner of Burgundy New Orleans. The collection includes Street, the Dreamland Theatre originally photographs of family members, docu- opened in November 1903 as the Elysium ments relating to Blanchin and Giraug, Theatre. It was renamed Dreamland in a liquor-import firm founded by Pierre 1922 and continued to operate as a neigh- Charles Blanchin (1810–1874), and borhood theater, one of dozens throughout correspondence from Adler’s regarding the New Orleans area, until 1965, when Moreau Plantation Records Emanuel Fernandez. An important arti- it was purchased by entrepreneur Arthur 2014.0319 fact is George Blanchin’s wooden music Barnett. He renamed it the Paris Theatre stand, which he used at the French Opera and presented adult movies. Subsequent Records from the Moreau Plantation, near House. The family papers complement an owners continued operating the Paris as Torras in Pointe Coupee Parish, provide existing acquisition, the Royes Fernandez an adult theater during the 1970s and ’80s a glimpse into the daily operations of a Collection (MSS 545). —NINA BOZAK until it closed, in 1987. Two years later, the 5,000-acre Louisiana cotton plantation
22 The Historic New Orleans Collection Quarterly about which little original documentation has survived. Consisting of two ledgers and a copybook, the records date from 1896 through 1902, when George Keller Sr. (1858–1915) owned the property. Keller’s son, George Keller Jr., was stepfather to Marie Corinne Morrison Claiborne, later known as congresswoman Lindy Boggs (1916–2013). Boggs spent part of her child- hood at Moreau Plantation. The ledger includes bills of lading, from between 1896 and 1899, which document goods Keller shipped to New Orleans aboard the steamboats Camden, Ouachita, Teche, America, and Warren. The copybook includes Keller’s business correspondence, and the plantation-store ledger lists charges for goods ranging from foodstuffs to beer and cash withdrawals. Not much is known about the Moreau ball, and supper dance were all captured Oral History Interview with property before its ownership by the Keller on approximately 1,200 feet of color Robert W. Grier Sr. family. According to Pointe Coupee histo- 16-millimeter film, without sound. The 2014.0318 rian Brian J. Costello, the plantation’s part Collection acquired the four film reels, a of the parish was not settled until about the gift of Louis Magne Reese, earlier this year Early this past summer, Senior Curator 1840s. “The [parish] was largely un-leveed and has already begun digitizing them and Oral Historian Mark Cave traveled to and uninhabitable until the late antebel- for posterity. Various title cards scattered Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to conduct an lum period,” Costello said in an email. throughout the reels identify individual interview with Robert “Bobby” Grier. As Therefore, if anyone lived in the plantation scenes and people shown. DeSylva-Dyer, the first black football player to participate before the Moreau family, it likely would “the Original White Uniformed Photog- in the Sugar Bowl, Grier took on a mean- not have been any earlier than the 1850s. raphers,” is credited with producing and ingful role in the desegregation of American Moreau Plantation was destroyed by fire on editing the film. sporting events. Grier, star fullback and the night of November 8, 1930. The scene opens with images of costumed linebacker for the University of Pittsburgh The Moreau Plantation records, a gift women leaving the den and boarding floats Panthers, took the field at Tulane Stadium of the Keller family, complement other titled Frogs, Elves, Streams, and Fairies, to on January 2, 1956, against the segregated plantation-related holdings, including the name but a few. The motion picture contin- Yellow Jackets from Georgia Tech. The Libby and Blouin Ltd. sugar-plantation ues with the actual parade, the camera game was played after much controversy, records (99-108-L) and the Tilden Planta- capturing the action from fixed positions stoked most notably by Georgia governor tion records (93-32-L). —M. L. EICHHORN along the route, where crowds eagerly catch Marvin Griffin’s December 1955 telegram beads thrown to them by krewe members. to the Georgia state board of regents urging Krewe of Venus Film Reels After the parade, the women are shown them to forbid athletic teams from playing 2014.0325 disembarking from their floats, and then the in games against desegregated teams or in movie transitions to the Venus ball. desegregated stadiums. The Krewe of Venus was the first female The ball footage illustrates the court’s Despite the political controversy, Grier Carnival krewe in New Orleans to present procession and grand march around the remembers his experience in New Orleans a parade, staging its inaugural pageant on Municipal Auditorium. Court members graciously. In the oral history, he describes Sunday, February 23, 1941, with the theme wave to the seated audience before ascend- how he was unable to attend some social “Goddesses.” This seminal krewe contin- ing to the stage. Snippets of the tableau—a events surrounding the Sugar Bowl because ued to parade through 1992, celebrating theatrical interlude illustrating the theme of his race but that administration and more than 50 years of Carnival before of the ball—and scenes of dancing are also students at Dillard University arranged disbanding. shown. The film concludes with krewe parties for him to attend. Grier recalls a On Sunday, February 24, 1952, Venus members and ball guests proceeding into banquet at the St. Charles Hotel during presented a parade with the theme the supper dance, where the queen toasts the which he shared his meal with several “Enchantments of the Forest.” The parade, room and guests make merry. —LISSA CAPO Georgia Tech players. Although protests
Winter 2015 23 ACQUISITIONS
in the decade. Other interesting subjects The Historic New Orleans include Louise and Pierre Rost, owners of Destrehan Plantation in St. Charles Parish; Collection Quarterly John Slidell and his wife, Mathilde; Louis- Napoléon Bonaparte, or Napoleon III, and EDITOR his wife, Eugénie de Montijo; Confederate Molly Reid general Thomas Johnson “Stonewall” DIRECTOR OF PUBLICATIONS Jackson; and Jefferson Davis. Only a few of Jessica Dorman the dozens of photographs are unidentified. HEAD OF PHOTOGRAPHY The carte de visite—a photographic Keely Merritt calling card, also called a CDV—was ART DIRECTION popularized in France beginning in 1854. Alison Cody Design against Grier’s participation in the Sugar The format took off in the US in 1859 and
Bowl are well documented elsewhere, in this was in widespread use throughout the Civil The Historic New Orleans Collection is a oral history Grier focuses on the positive. War. Cartes de visite were made possible nonprofit institution dedicated to preserving He discusses the scrapbook he keeps full of in part through technical advancements the distinctive history and culture of New letters received from supporters and says he in photography, including cameras with Orleans and the Gulf South. Founded in wasn’t fazed by the politics. He just wanted multiple lenses and the availability of albu- 1966 through the Kemper and Leila Williams to play football and do his best. men printing paper, which could reproduce Foundation, The Collection operates as a Bobby Grier’s interview and many other fine details of a portrait even in small sizes. museum, research center, and publisher in oral histories are available to the public at the —JOHN H. LAWRENCE AND MOLLY REID the heart of the French Quarter. Williams Research Center. —REBECCA SMITH
George Eustis Carte-de-Visite Album 2014.0308
This album of 189 cartes de visite and one snapshot contains portraits of the family, friends, and associates of George Eustis Jr. (1828–1872), a New Orleans–born digni- tary who served as secretary to John Slidell (1793–1871), a jurist, legislator, and diplo- mat sent to France to garner support for the Confederacy. Eustis, Slidell, and another envoy, James M. Mason (1798–1871), were captured by the US navy in the November BOARD OF DIRECTORS 1861 Trent Affair, so named for the British Mrs. William K. Christovich, Chair ship they were aboard en route to England Drew Jardine, President and France. The men were imprisoned at John Kallenborn, Vice President John E. Walker Fort Warren, in Boston, until their release E. Alexandra Stafford at the end of 1861. Eustis emigrated perma- Hilton S. Bell nently to France after the Civil War, living Bonnie Boyd in Paris with his wife, Louise Corcoran, and Fred M. Smith, Emeritus and their three children. Immediate Past President The carte-de-visite album presents a EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR visual connection between the Louisiana Priscilla Lawrence Confederates in France and their Parisian demimonde. The inscription on the album, 533 Royal Street & 410 Chartres Street made by a French manufacturer, indicates New Orleans, Louisiana 70130 that assembly began in 1861. Certain (504) 523-4662 photographs, including one of Judah P. www.hnoc.org | [email protected] Benjamin in his British attorney’s robes ISSN 0886-2109 and wig, could only have been made later ©2014 The Historic New Orleans Collection
24 The Historic New Orleans Collection Quarterly The Historic New Orleans Collection Quarterly
Hubert 1930; gelatin silver print by George Ernst Durr gift of Kris Pottharst, 2011.0299.5.53 Kemper and Leila Williams Foundation Nonprofit Organization
533 Royal Street New Orleans, Louisiana 70130
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