df Mystical cf3al Masque

75 J?ears of the Mystic Club ub

ear af rer year Mystic royalty has reigned New Orleans on this date ever since, Ywelcomes the except during World War revelry and merriment of II when all carnival fes­ Carnival, as weeks of ri vi ries were canceled. costume balls and street Elaborate tableaux based parades transform the city upon historical events or into a land of make­ lavish periods that lend believe, a place where daily themselves to display have cares can be set aside - if become the hallmark of only for a short rime. For the Mystic Club. Story, most New Orleanians the sets, costumes, and music carnival season lasts for a reflect a commitment to month or two: from period accuracy. Twelfth Night on January Queen's crown andjewelry worn by Mrs. L. Kemper Williams at the Mystic Club ball, The finished ball 1936(1981.128.1-3}. Cover, drawingofqueen'scostume, 1973, by Leo Van Witsen, with 6 through the movable fes­ comes from the combined attachedfabric sample, far the 1974 ball, A Lenten Feast at Westminster Celebrating the tival of Mardi Gras, or Fat Crowning of Katherine, Beloved Queen of Henry V (1985.109.45) talents and efforts of Tuesday. Bur the business researchers, artists, design­ of Carnival lingers all year for those who created. A Mystical Bal Masque: 75 Yea rs ers, arrangers, seamstresses, builders, design and plan the parades and tableau ofthe Mystic Club highlights some of the printers, and musicians - not to men­ balls that transport the viewer to a myth­ activities required for the annual ball of tion caterers, waiters, and bartenders. ical Mount Olympus, perhaps, or ro the Mystic Club, a non-parading krewe All of this is accomplished under the King Arthur's round table. that is celebrating its seventy-fifth year. guidance of the captain, a club member Costume balls, part of a long tradi­ The queen and her ladies-in-waiting, chosen to coordinate the design of the tion in New Orleans, are rooted in whose husbands are members of Mystic, ball and to cue the cast and court during ancient European customs. While orga­ are chosen for their outstanding com­ the ball as well. nized street parades in New Orleans go munity service to such organizations as Work on the Mystic ball generally back only to 1857, local celebrations Lazarus House, the Arcs Council of New scans shortly after Mardi Gras with the dare from the city's earliest colonial days. Orleans, and the Audubon Zoo. The choosing of a theme. The first ball recreated French Creoles were known for their Williamses, founders of the Historic the Arabian Nights, whose mosques and love of dancing and their preference New Orleans Collection, were involved minarets serve as inspiration for the for the bal masque, or masked ball. in the early history of the club: Kemper Williams Gallery design of A Mystical Bal Following European fashion, costume Williams was an original member and Masque. Over the years Mystic has staged balls in New Orleans became increasingly reigned as king in 1940. Leila Williams rhe 1838 coronation of Queen Victoria; popular during the 19th and early was chosen queen in 1936. the wedding of Jeanne de Boulogne and 20th centuries. Organized in 1922, the Mystic Club Jean, Due de Berry, in 13th-century The exhibition that opened in rhe presented its first ball the following year France; opening day at Ascot in 1902; a Williams Gallery on January 14 allows on February 7, a Wednesday. In 1925 reception in mid-19th-century China; the visitor a rare behind-the-scenes the event was moved to the covered and Benjamin Franklin's sojourn in Paris. glimpse of a carnival ball and how it is Saturday evening before Mardi Gras. Costumes and throne rooms from the

2 most illustrious courts of Europe "One of my favorite Mystic themes was have been conjured up for a night the Eglinton tournament in Scotland - a - those of Louis XIV of France, costumed event in 1839 that paid tribute to the age of chivalry. So that year there was a Lorenzo de Medici, and Charles II costume ball of a costume ball." of England. - john Magill A carnival ball - at first only Curator of A Mystical Bal Masque an idea - begins with sketches in a 75 Years ofthe Mystic Club note pad before raking final shape in derailed paintings and drawings. f approximately 107 carnival krewes in All aspects of a Mystic Club ball are 0 New Orleans, the Mystic Club and 63 arranged to evoke a particular time other organizations do not parade. The num­ and place. The beauty is in the ber of people these organizations employ to derails, a careful harmonizing of design and fabricate tableaux and Boars is not sets, costumes, and music - known, but in 1995 spending for Carnival underscored, in the tradition of totaled $929 million. Tourists brought in 90 percent of this money, according to the most Carnival, by an element of secrecy. recent annual study by economist Dr. James J. The queen's identity, as with most McLain of the University of New Orleans. carnival organizations, is revealed to Carnival krewes spent $11 million in mem­ members and guests the night of bership dues on floats, balls, and other activi­ the ball. ties. Individual krewe members spent another Bur this is theater for one $11.6 million for parade throws and expenses, e vening onl y . Some of the and $25 million on balls, dinner dances, and pageantry can still be recalled in the costumes-including $2.3 million on tuxedos invitations and programs, favors, and tailcoats, $6.9 million on gowns, and costumes, sets, and photographs $245,000 on hairdressers. that have been assembled for the The bottom line for 1995 Mardi Gras: the private citizenry of New Orleans invest­ Continued on page 4 ed $44 million. City and parish govern­ ments and the school and transportation systems reaped $73 million in revenues. In 1995 the economic impact of the world's greatest free parry totaled almost $1 billion. Measured in financial terms, bals masques may seem minor components of the carnival season, bur then if measured by weight or volume the heart is a small part of the Early Mystic memorabilia: human body. top, first invitation, Arabi an Nights Ball, 1923, courtesy Carnival supports the creative com­ Tulane University; munity of New Orleans throughout the left, 1924 program, year. Its ripples extend even inro the gal­ A Mandarin's Joy Ride leries and vaults of the Collection and the (1961.69.7) reading room of rhe Williams Research Center. Not long after mounted police have cleared the revelers from Bourbon Street in the early hours of Ash Wednesday, rwo things begin happening here. Friends of the Collection graciously remember us with donations of Mardi Gras invitations and designs, favors, posters, and memorabilia- and krewe cap­ tains and their assistants begin visiting the reading room to search for images and themes to inspire next year's episode of one of the world's most famous and fasci­ nating festivals. Source: Dr. James J. McLain The Economic Impact of Mardi Gras-1995 (New Orleans, 1996).

3 exhibition, along with the original arc of the designers. A Mystical Bal Masque: 75 Years ofthe Mystic Club will present holdings from the Historic New Orleans Collection chat include original program designs by Morris Henry Hobbs, costume designs by Leo Van Wiesen, and the crown and jew­ elry worn by Leila Moore Williams. Ocher items include vintage 1920s pho­ tographs from the School of Design and from Tulane University. Also on display are photographs from the collection of artist Jean Seidenberg, who, with Lee Bailey, designed Mystic balls from the 1950s to the 1970s; original sec designs from the archive of W H. B. Spangenberg Studios; and original program and favor designs by artist Patricia Hardin. A Mystical Bal Masque: 75 Years ofthe Mystic Club is free and open co the public, Tuesdays through Saturdays, through August 16, 1997. - John Magi1l Twelve Men -The Mystic Club Crown Council, 1981, by Dolores Beau.field Alton (1984.233) Weekly gallery talks are offered on Wednesdays at 12:30 p. m.

ADAYFORART aura Simon Nelson and LGeorge Jordan helped rhe Collection celebrate the publica­ tion of Complementary Visions: The Laura Simon Nelson Collection at the Histo ric New Orleans Collection on October 6. A lecture, book signing, and reception were the capstone of a nine-month-long exhibition of artworks char are part of the more than 300 items in che Nelson donation. Speaking on Louisiana arc, critic George Jordan instructed and enter­ tained a large audience in the Counting House before signing Complementary Visions along with Mrs. Nelson and curator Judith Bonner. Essays by Mrs. Nelson, Mrs. Bonner, and Mr. Jordan, along with an essay by William H. Gerdes, are included in the book.

Top left Laura Simon Nelson; top right, George Jordan; bottom, George Jo rdan, Laura Simon Nelson, and Judith H. Bonner

4 From The

DIRECTOR n Apr ii 1 9 7 5 , DISCOVERING Ithe Historic New 0 deans Co I lection A POET: and the Louisiana Historical Association TERENCE ROUQUETTE created the General L. Kemper Williams Prizes to encourage excellence in research and writing about Louisiana history. These prizes have honored 19 books, a journal article, and 15 unpublished manuscripts by a distin­ guished company of historians. Colonial prize­ winners include works by Glenn R. Conrad, Kimberly S. Hanger, and Daniel H. Usner, Jr.

The Civil War, Reconstruction, and other Books ofpoetry by Adrien and Dominique Rouquette ( 59-102, 59-104, 87-681-RL) and unpublished 19th-century topics won prizes for Carl A. poem by Terence Rouquette, with signature (94-24-L) Brasseaux, Ann Patton Malone, Judith Kelleher Schafer, Joe Gray Taylor, and others. wo of the better known French­ copy found among Dominique's papers. Thomas Becnel, Edward F. Haas , speaking poets in Louisiana dur­ According to the manuscript, the poem was Michael L. Kurtz, and Kim Lacy Rogers ing the 19th century were Adrien written in New Orleans in 1839. That dealt with more recent decades, as did last Rouquette and Dominique Dominique Rouquette owned a copy - as year's honoree, Adam Fairclough, whose Race TRouquette. Less well known is their brother did Marie Adele Donner- seems an inade­ and Democracy: The Civil Rights Struggle in Terence (1818-1859), whose poem quate reason for attributing the poem to this Louisiana, 1915-1972 was published by the "L'Orphelin" was originally attributed to oldest of the Rouquette brothers, particularly University of Georgia Press. These annual Dominique. The poet's identity has now in view of the fact that Dominique published prizes are decided by a jury of scholars come to light in an album contained in the his fairly important poetry collections, Les appointed by the Louisiana Historical Papers of the Dufour and Woolfley Families. Meschacebeennes and Fleurs d'Amerique, in Association. For more than a decade, this Adrien Rouquette and hi s brother 1839 and 1856 respectively. Given the tastes committee was ably chaired by head librarian Dominique published their work both in of the era, 'TOrphelin" is a rather good Florence Jumonville - one of her many Paris and New Orleans. Terence, however, is poem that he almost certainly would have contributions to the Collection since 1972. not to be discounted. He wrote occasional included in one or the other of these collec­ Her committee's sound choices established bits of verse in ladies' albums while living in tions had he been the author. Nor would the Williams Prizes as coveted emblems of New Orleans but eventually tired of city life Marie Adele have been likely to ascribe it to literate scholarship and testimony to a flour­ and moved to Mandeville after his marriage the wrong uncle. There is a clincher, though. ishing field of study. to Aimee Faure. According to Adrien 'TOrphelin" - which has never been pub­ Recently the Collection and the Rouquette's Antoniade, Terence used to lished - is in Terence Rouquette's unique Louisiana Historical Association agreed upon tramp the woods with a fishing pole, a gun, handwriting, with the distinctive pen strokes refinements to enhance this annual competi­ or an axe slung over his shoulder, depending that look like the swirls of a watercolor paint­ tion. Having fulfilled its purpose of encourag­ on whether he intended to fish, hunt, or clear brush and signed Tee. R.xxx. As Auguste ing scholarship, the manuscript prize will be land on a given day. He nonetheless contin­ Viatte pointed out in his Histoire litteraire de discontinued. Beginning with the competition ued to love poetry and liked to recite it with l'Amerique franr;aise, Edward Larocque for 1997, the best book on Louisiana history his brothers. In 1839 he wrote 'TOrphelin'' Tinker was not above an occasional mistake. will be honored with the renamed Kemper and (the orphan). This poem can be found in an Dominique, Adrien, Terence, Felix, and Leila Williams Prize. After the annual prize is album kept by a niece of the Rouquettes - their sister Adele, whom the boys called announced, we will invite the author to pre­ yo ung Marie Adele Donner, who became Louise, were unusually close. Dominique sent a public lecture at the Collection later in Mme Numa Dufour - housed among the and Adrien addressed or dedicated poems to the spring. family's papers in THNOC's Williams each other and their siblings. Thus Adrien's A future issue of the Quarterly will report Research Center. Les Savanes is dedicated to Adele. His on the Williams Prizes for works completed in Edward Larocque Tinker's Les Ecrits de Antoniade contains a poem to Terence called 1996, but now, if you will excuse me, there is langue franr;aise en Louisiane au X!Xe siecle "Le Pionnier solitaire." Many of Dominique's some last-minute reading to be done. attributes the poem to Dominique poems are addressed ''AM. Adrien R." [to -Jon Kukla Rouquette on the basis of a manuscript Continued on page 6

5 Continued from page 5 Mr. Adrien R], and there is one ''A M. Felix Within a Scrapbook's rf>ages R" [to Mr. Felix R]. The children grew up on Royal Street, also spending time on Bayou Sc. John and the family plantation in Sc. Tammany Parish. Their father, Dominique Rouquette, Sr., died in 1819, when they were quite young, and their mother died five years later. Forcunacely, rela­ ci ves stepped in and cook care of the orphaned Rouquettes and saw to their edu­ cation. Nevertheless, there is a profound sense of loss in the brothers' poetry and an acute awareness of being alone in the world. Far from being exercises in self-piry, the compositions reveal tender recollections of the parents chat the children lost so early in their lives. Terence was a year old when his father died and six when his mother died. His poetry and chat of Adrien and Dominique reveals chat all three brothers were well abreast of what was going on in French literature at the time. Romanticism was the order of the day - highly personal and meditative - and the brothers were in the mainstream. As a poet, Terence lacked the verbal dexterity of his more experienced older brothers, but the poem's emotional con­ tent holds the reader and sustains the verse. The theme is stated at the very emember your grand­ b egi nning. Happy is he , the poet R mother's scrapbook? announces, who has a loving mother to sit So familiar - yet, of beside his cradle and sing to him. With all the collecting phenomena stationers increased characteristic Romantic exaggeration, he in history, the humble scrap­ their supplies of blank books and goes on to declare chat children growing book remains the most over­ albums, printers responded to new meth­ up deprived of chis sustaining love are looked representation of the ods of creating colored paper of all sores, wretched individuals who would rather be ordinary past. and the number of newspapers increased dead. "Oh, pity the poor orphan," the When did such books first appear? dramatically, paving the way for what poet exclaims in his recurrent refrain. In the Renaissance, noble schoolboys was to become a scrapbook mania ''L'Orphelin" makes it clear chat, although used a form of the scrapbook to write out throughout Europe and North America. other interests kept him from writing as speeches and poetry. In the 18th and A few years after the turn of the much as his older brothers, Terence early 19th centuries, the word scrapbook century, a senior at Newcomb College Rouquette did have his share of their tal­ itself appeared, and its use as a means of kept a scrapbook chat is now in the ent. And ''L'Orphelin" comes with its own self-education was available to all with Collection's manuscript holdings at the bit of drama - a wait of more than 150 access to any ledger. The evolution of the Williams Research Center. Adele years to be paired correctly with its creator. scrapbook continued as advances were Monroe (lacer Mrs. George Williams) - Harry Redman,]r. made in color lithography, printing, pub­ turned a ledger into an album chat docu­ lishing, and literacy. Thus, an "archaeo­ mented her year as class president in Sources: Dagmar Renshaw LeBreton, Chah-ta Ima: logical" analysis of a scrapbook from 1908 and her passage into adulthood. In The Lift ofAdrien Emmanuel Rouquette (Baron Rouge, 1825 might reveal tiers of manuscript, this transformation, both of self and of 1947); Edward Larocque Tinker, Les Ecrits de langue paste, printed text, and brightly colored ledger, she clipped and pasted diverse franraise en Louisiane au XIXe siecle (Paris, 1933); cards. Around the mid-l 800s, such layer­ items - articles on suffrage, handwrit­ Auguste Viatte, Histoire litteraire de l'Amerique franraise (Paris, 1954). ing was expanded even more: book- ten formulas for organic chemistry, her

6 woman content with the community she had within the college walls - fun-lov­ - ~ ing bur more serious about basketball CJ...... tL,• ._._r,,.:. ·/ and academic courses than the newspa­ per descriptions would have one believe. A scrapbook can offer information that is not accessible in other histories. Adele's scrapbook tells of the work of .. Newcomb's first librarian, a person undoc­ umented in almost any other source on the college. Similarly, scrapbooks of Adele's classmates show the work of Newcomb's gardener, cook, and laundresses. Scrapbooks also revealed how women still attended to the societal roles expected of them. The keeping of scrap­ books was condoned publicly in 1897, when the New Orleans Times-Picayune promoted such an activity in the middle of the society column, writing:

A Memory Book is an interesting tablet for the girl of the present time Scrapbook ofAdele Monroe, 1908 (90-7-L), with invitation to attend a debate on woman suffrage to keep .... One New Orleans girl who is famous fo r her be au ty and favoritism in the social world, and who has many times been selected to class schedule, theater announcements, both a changing society and a changing take part in the most prominent social letters from young men, chocolate box self, leaving a document that is helpful functions of the carnival season and labels, and other materials. to social historians. other affairs, has a record ofhe r social College women's scrapbooks repre­ Around the time that young Adele triumphs perpetuated in her memory sent one of the last phases of the scrap­ compiled her book, Newcomb students book, as well as several very charming book mania. Overall, lace 19th- and were pictured in newspaper accounts as sketches of herself. .. .Among other early 20th-century albums that survive studious but still beautiful and charming: things which add to the interest ofthis in great numbers today fall into three memory book also are signatures and major categories: albums focusing on a The Picayune hails the fair bache­ poems dedicated to herself. .. which specific collecting interest - primarily lors of Sophie Newcomb. Bachelors will no doubt give the owner great theater, dance, film, or medicine; albums ofscience and ofarts, they are withal pleasure in the years to come when she that are a compilation of many kinds of girls, bright, tender and sweet. And will open its pages; reminders of a printed-paper ephemera, saved for the what if their pretty little heads be happy past. novelty of color printing; or albums stuffed with philosophic theses and devoted to the memorabilia of an indi­ parallelopipedons and Greek preposi­ Resistance and conformity - both vidual life. Of these three types, the per­ tions. There is just as much room as are found within the scrapbook's pages. sonal scrapbook became increasingly the ever for thought offlounces, frills, Adele Monroe's own packed book reveals domain of women. About 1880, scrap­ and furbelows and all the charming a young educated woman in the early books were prefabricated with specific frivolities ofgirl life. years of the century, looking backward headings. One book of this type, "The and forward at the same time. Girl Graduate: Her Own Book," Other local articles attested to the -Susan Tucker reflected the emerging interest in the fact that, though educated, Newcomb's Curator ofBook s and Records higher education of women. In gather­ students were still attractive and indeed Center for Research on Women Newcomb College ing and selecting what to save, in juxta­ made better wives than uneducated posing specific items next to one women. Scrapbooks, perhap s, let another, each individual maker fi xed an women reflect upon this combination of Sources: Daily Picayune, June 14, 1894; Times­ image of herself within the context of images. Adele's scrapbook shows a young Picayune, June 13, 1897.

7 he late 1930s were a particularly fertile period for the visual and literary arts in New Orleans, spurred by the federal govern- The Historic New Orleans Collection t ment' s commument. to support Brown and Company, will publish Ha creative artists during the Clarence John Laughlin in the fall oj Depression and, more impor­ Lawrence, Andrei Codrescu, Ellen G Self-Portrait of the Photographer as a Williams, Albert Belisle Davis, and Jo, tant, by the considerable talents Meraphysician, 1941, by Clarence john Laughlin (1981.247.3.339) Look at Laughlin and his first publishe of writers, painters, sculptors, and photographers. Lyle Saxon, leader of the Federal Writers Project in Louisiana, had achieved prominence in the 1920s and 1930s as a The concern that Laughlin had for writer and popular historian. A young his written contributions to the work Clarence John Laughlin, at the beginning would be repeated throughout his deal­ of a career that would secure his place in ings with this publisher and in each suc­ the not-yet-century-old medium of pho­ cessive publishing venture. tography, was fast becoming a champion While it is evident that Laughlin had of photographic modernism in New direct communication with Houghton­ Orleans. Saxon and Laughlin were to col­ Mifflin about nearly every aspect of the laborate on a book project for Houghton­ book (its contents, both photographic and Mifflin until Saxon's failing health forced written, his expenses, the design and him to abandon the project. Laughlin, method of reproducing his work), there are however, continued, with the advice and Possessed by the Past, 1939 (portrait of Weeks few letters between Laughlin and Saxon, Hall), by Clarence john Laughlin encouragement of his friend Weeks Hall and just one between Laughlin and Cohn (1983. 47.3. 487) and paired chis time with author and in the Collection's archive. A note to southern man ofletters David Cohn. Laughlin from Paul Brooks, the managing The Clarence John Laughlin editor at Houghton-Mifflin, dated Archive housed in the Williams Research According to a recent communica­ September 25, 1940, notified Laughlin of Center is a trove of correspondence that tion from Houghton Mifflin Co, it the change in authors. Weeks Hall, who illuminates the twists and turns on the seems that Mr. Lyle Saxon is going to was acquainted with Cohn, wrote to him path to the publication of New Orleans: be asked to relinquish his contract. He about Laughlin, saying in part: And Its Living Past (the title of the final has tied up the New Orleans book for work) in 1941 . Many of the letters about over two years (although he was ill One ofmy serious solaces in these last Laughlin's hopes, fears , and desires for part ofthe time, ofcourse.) I sincerely few years has been the prints of this work were written to Weeks Hall, cannot understand his attitude ... .I Clarence john Laughlin, and now he himself a painter and photographer, certainly cannot see any reason why I writes me that you are to have some­ whose family home, The Shadows, in should not have gotten credit for the thing to do with a book in which they New Iberia, is now a property of the Notes [to the photographs} on the title are to come out. ... What I want to say National Trust for Historic Preservation. page of the book - if I had really is that I am so glad that you will work Laughlin wrote to his friend: written them myself on this splendid collection ... .

8 8:indlltf ~ .... ,hloa-l•IO•-yatd,~IN

and Bulfinch Press, a division ofLittle, mnter of Ruins: The Photography of ( 1997, with essays by Jon Kukla, john ;ifchrist, Shirley Ann Grau, Jonathan •hn Wood. The following article takes a

Laughlin's photograph oft he Counting House ofthe Historic New Orleans Collection, before restoration, from New Orleans: And Its Liv ing Past (73-358-L)

Laughlin had specific ideas on the images wo uld bleed off the page, what In spite of not meeting Laughlin's way the book should be produced, size they wo uld be, when would he see expectations, New Orleans: And Its Living which were sometimes at odds with the proofs, and if his original ride Old New Past was an exemplary book for its day: wishes of the publisher. He was greatly Orleans Seen Anew would be used. published in oversize format, slipcased, concerned with the treatment of his During this period, Laughlin continued and offered in a limited edition of 1,000 "notes" to the photographs. In another to use Weeks Hall as a sounding board, nor copies signed by Laughlin and Cohn. Ir letter to Brooks he wrote: only about the ups and downs with sold for the steep price of $10.00. More Houghton-Mifflin, but about his other pur­ important, the book gave Laughlin his first I'd like to know exactly what suits as well: his initiation of a new series of wide public as a photographer of com­ [Cohn} plans to do with my Notes photographs, his exhibition at the Julien pelling individuality whose approach and Foreword? Re-write them mere­ Levy Gallery in New York, and prospective could capture the essence of architecture. ly? ... The Notes and Foreword for employment as a fashion photographer On December 5, 1941 , Brooks this book are my personal property - with vogue magazine. Exchanges of letters wrote to Laughlin at 821 Leontine Street they are not covered by my contract, between the two in July and August of 1941 in New Orleans: "New Orleans: And Its and were written by me at Mr. highlight these and other concerns. Living Past is published today with an Saxon's request and without any Upon receiving the final revisions for advance sale of 443 copies. " Laughlin promise of special remuneration the book in September, Laughlin wrote began work on a book called Lost New from Houghton Mifflin Co .. .. ! have once more to Paul Brooks: "[Cohn] has Orleans soon after he realize d the decided that the Foreword has defi­ simply extracted the bare facts from my Houghton-Mifflin book would nor meet nitely no place in this book ... Notes - 'lifting,' at rimes, whole lines of his critical expectations. As early as May my text - and left it at chat. Any school 1944, he was shopping the project to J. There were no more letters about boy could have produced that sort of J. Augustin in New York. The manu­ the book for nearly a year, then in the 'revision' in a few days ." There is no script was never published and is part of summer of 1941 Laughlin's concerns record chat Cohn and Laughlin ever the Laughlin Archive at the Collection. again surfaced. He wrote to Brooks with communicated after the former's brief - John H Lawrence a flurry of questions asking about his letter in October 1940, although some revised notes, the exact number of pic­ time later Laughlin wrote to Hall char tures to be used, whether his rides for Cohn had visited the ciry in mid-1941 the pictures would be retained, if the without bothering to look him up.

9 WILLIAMS RESEARCH CENTER ACQUISITIONS

THE HISTORIC NEW ORLEANS COLLECTION encourages research in the Williams Research Center at 410 Chartres Street from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday (except holidays). Cataloged materials available to researchers include books, manuscripts, paintings, prints, drawings, maps, pho­ tographs, and artifacts about the history and culture of New Orleans, Louisiana, and the Gulf South. Each year the Collection adds thousands of items to its holdings by donation or purchase. Only a few recent acquisitions can be noted here. CURATORIAL George Jordan has donated several items in memory of Juanita Elfert, long-time New Orleans art and antique dealer. The donation includes photographs of Elfert and her French Quarter shop, Country Antiques, as well as a relief sculpture of Albert Rieker, probably executed by Alexander Calder. An anonymous dona­ tion of a watercolor by Richard Fourchy, ca. 1890, depicting the Thibaut grocery at St. Ann and Bourbon Streets, is also in memory of Juanita Elfert. • A watercolor by the late Boyd Cruise, Caged Cactus: Xiques Mansion by Boyd Cruise (1996 49) who served as the Collection's first director from 1971 to 1974, is a recent appear as writhing tentacles, presses the and artist. The foundation has augmented donation from Clare Yancey Crews, limits of the iron fence that attempts to that gift with a group of 11 drawings, Catherine Yancey Crews, Janet Crews contain it. The painting is a slightly watercolors, and lithographs made by Barrow, and Elinor Clare Crews. His sinister testament to the luxuriant veg­ Bendiner during his visits to New watercolors are distinguished by excep­ etation in New Orleans, which, left Orleans between 1950 and 1964. tional drafting skills and meticulous unchecked, seems capable of spreading • Thirty-two float designs by Alice attention to historical detail, perhaps over everything in its path. Peake Reiss have been donated by the best demonstrated in his renditions of • Former staff member Sarah J umel has School of Design. Reiss, who worked for New Orleans buildings and street scenes. donated five serigraphs by Robert Gordy. many years for several carnival krewes, Caged Cactus (1945) depicts a por­ The artist's proofs of bathers in a land­ designed floats for the Rex organization tion of the Xiques Mansion in the 500 scape are done in the highly stylized and between 1948 and 1968. Florence block of Dauphine Street in the French patterned treatment that Gordy popular­ Parker Whitten has given a photograph Quarter. Cruise painted a full view of ized during the 1970s. of the dignitaries of a St. Patrick's Day this same subject in 1947 using a more • Several years ago the Alfred and Parade in the Irish Channel on March traditional treatment. The present Elizabeth Bendiner Foundation in New 16, 1957, by an unknown photographer. painting has an element of surrealism: York donated a number of works by • Other donations of photographs doc­ a large agave cactus, whose leaves Alfred Bendiner, a New York architect ument the city's more serious side. From

JO One Enllre Week

Starting Monday, April 11

The l\Iost Talked-of Woman in the World

HELE~ KELLER lUlnd, O..ar, and Formuly Dwab. Auillcd by Aune S1111i , an )laey. lier Tn.(ber a nd Life-Lon,: Fr i~nd

The upper Pontalba building at Jackso n Square, Vieux Carre, New Orleans (J 99651.13) Brochure to announce Keller visit, 1921 (96-491-RL) Extra Breeders Given! Lin Emery comes a group of 92 pho­ ----... w- -.. ------..... ,--. Woman in the World." She was accom­ tographs relating to the political career panied by her tutor, Anne Sullivan of Mayor deLesseps Story "Chep" Macy, now married. Keller was the head­ Morrison, taken between 1940 and liner on a bill which included vaudevil­ 1964. A collection of snapshots showing lians Edith Clasper and Boys , Billy the Vieux Carre, New Orleans street Arlington and Company, Leon Paulus, scenes, the 192 7 flood, Beauregard and the LeGrohs. Plantation, and other residences come to • Stanford Emerson Chaille (1830- the Collection through the generosity of 1911), Natchez-born physician, research Ibby Biby. The Historical Museum, scientist, lecturer, and administrator, was Metro-Dade Cultural Center, in Miami, instrumental in the development of Florida, has given two views of medical services and education in New weather surveyors maps for a WPA project Orleans. His address to the graduates of sponsored by the U.S. Weather Bureau the Medical Deparrmen r of the in New Orleans, between 1939 University of Louisiana (Tulane 30 and 1943. DAY University) on March 29, 1882, enrirled - Judith H. Bonner and john H. Lawrence OFFER "The Importance of Introducing the Brochure (96-501-RL). See page 12. Study of H ygiene into the Public LIBRARY and Other Schools," has been added to Helen Keller (1880-1968), stricken with devoted her life to aiding the deaf and the holdings. He stares that if a single an illness that left her blind, deaf, and blind and toured the world extensively generation were properly trained in dumb when she was 19 months old, to promote education for the handi­ hygienic practices, instead of relying on made a remarkable transformation from capped. Keller had learned to speak by rhe "foolish counsel of ignorant nurses, a child tortured and isolated by her infir­ placing her fingers on her reacher's of prejudiced grand-mothers, and of mities to an eloquent spokeswoman for larynx to "listen" to the vibrations of silly and officious neighbors," one­ rhe disabled. The Miracle Worker, the spoken sounds, bur because her voice fourth of the babies who died in New 1960 play by William Gibson, chroni­ was never fully intelligible, she employed Orleans before their first birthday could cles her early training. Under intensive a translator when she lectured. be saved. Chaille published more than tutelage from Anne Sullivan, a reacher Recently acquired is a brochure 150 articles, co-authored the new consti­ from Boston's Perkins School for the announcing Helen Keller's New Orleans tutions and by-laws for the medical soci­ Blind who became her lifelong compan­ appearance at rhe Orpheum Theatre for eties of Orleans Parish (1878) and the ion, Keller learned to read and write in the week beginning Monday, April 11, stare of Louisiana (1879), and served as Braille and graduated cum laude from 1921, featuring her photograph and the editor of the New Orleans Medical and Radcliffe College in 1904. She then description, "Th e Most Talked-of Surgical journal.

11 closing char changed over the years to "Much love devotedly." R. Richardson King, Grace King's grandnephew, made a donation toward the purchase of a legal document relating to the King family as well as a letter (1890) from Susey Clemmons, Mark Twain's daughter, to Grace King. • Mollie Moore Davis (1844-1909), born in Talladega, Alabama, and raised in Texas, moved to New Orleans in 1879 when her husband, Maj. Thomas E. Davis became an editor of a local newspaper. She is known for derailed descriptions of a cross section of Louisiana and Texas life expressed in poetry, short stories, sketches, novels, and informal historical writing. Her Fan owned by author Grace King (96-83-L) home at 406 Royal Street served as a lit­ erary salon where writers and artists shared ideas and mutual interests. A small ledger containing notes, guest • The American Frog Canning invitation for the commencement "hop" list, and wedding preparations for rhe Company, "Originators of Canned Frog held on June 30, 1869, at the Louisiana marriage of Davis's daughter, Mary Legs and Frog a la Queen," was located State Seminary near Alexandria. A dona­ Pearl, to Paul Frederick Jahncke; at 3800 Jefferson Highway during rhe tion of several carnival booklets repre­ photographs; published letters from 1930s. Recently acquired are several of senting various krewes between 1939 Davis to Katherine L. Minor; news clip­ their brochures promoting frog raising as and 1949 is from Mrs. Coralie G. Davis. pings; and Davis genealogy booklets a means of increasing income. Under A copy of the 1996 directory which were recently acquired at auction and such rides as "The Truth About Frog commemorates the 75th anniversary of will strengthen current Davis holdings. Raising ... ," "Important Questions Sr. Matthias Catholic Church is a gift of • Thomas Wharton Coll ens ( 1812- Answered," and "Extra Breeders Given!," Mary Ann Marx. 1879) wrote newspaper columns and the company outlines its plan for sup­ - Pamela D. Arceneaux books primarily concerned with social plying breeding frogs, for creating che issues. Interest in developing social MANUSCRIPTS ideal environment for frogs in the back­ reform led Collens to study law; he was yard, and for selling the mature frogs Personal possessions, letters, and scrap­ admitted to the bar at age 21. After serv­ back co the company. Testimonials are books chat belonged to several distin­ ing as clerk and reporter of the state sen­ included from satisfied frog farmers guished Louisiana authors have been ate, he acted as chief deputy clerk of fed­ throughout the country. added to the manuscripts holdings. eral circuit court and eventually became • La Maison Franraise (LSU, 1981) is • Grace King (1852-1932) is one of the district attorney of Orleans Parish. an illustrated booklet char chronicles the few southern literary figures of her era to Continuing his literary efforts through­ history of Louisiana Scare University's gain distinction writing both local history out his career as a district court judge, he French House, a student housing facility and fiction. David C. Coxe, King's wrote a play depicting the trials of that promoted immersion in French cul­ great-grandnephew, has donated several Frenchmen seeking to gain indepen­ ture. The narrative is drawn from news­ items including rickets to social events, dence from the Spanish authority in paper accounts, a letter written by a for­ monographs, an autograph book, 1769. He was also the author of mer student-res ident, and the photographs, and letters from family Humanics and other works chat advocat­ recollections of Anica Olivier Morrison, members and friends to Grace King, her ed a Utopian society. Copies of his pub­ "chatelaine" at French House for 23 mother, her sisters (Nan, Nina, and lications and several scrapbooks of let­ years and mother of deLesseps "Chep" May), and others. Forry-five letters from ters, notes, original drafts, and news Morrison, former New Orleans mayor. S. A. Gayarre to King chronicle a cher­ clippings compiled by Collens (his own The offices of LSU Press are now located ished friendship. At the outset of the and those of others) are included in the in the former French House. correspondence, the letters are signed "As donation by his great-grandchildren, • Mrs. John E. Walker has donated an always your friend," a complimentary Thomas Wharton Collens and Frances

12 Collens Curtis. One scrapbook contains a John Milliken Parker (1863-1939), columns from several newspapers born in Bethel Church, Mississippi, DONORS: penned by "Fabiola" that family lore moved with his family to New Orleans JULY-SEPTEMBER, 1996 attributes to Collens's wife, Marie in 1871 where his father was a success­ Gerald L. Andrus Amenaide Milbrou Collens. ful cotton factor. Parker ran for gover­ Anonymous gift in memory of Opera in New Orleans has a distin­ a nor in 1916 as the Progressive Party Juanita Elfert guished 200-year history. During the 19th candidate. His grandson, Blanc Parker, Janet Crews Barrow, Dr. Catherine century, the American premieres of donated copy books, brochures, and Yancey Crews, Clare Yancey Crews, French and Italian operas often came to ledger scrapbooks containing news and Elinor Clare Crews in memory of New Orleans - the foundation of a clippings related to Parker's unsuccess­ Benjamin W Yancey strong operatic tradition that continues ful attempt. Each scrapbook is devoted Beckham's Book Shop Alfred and Elizabeth Bendiner today. The New Orleans Opera to a single Louisiana newspaper, with Foundation Association has donated scrapbooks docu­ one composed solely of political car­ Ibby Biby menting the organization's activities dur­ toons from several papers. Parker's Patricia Brady in memory of John A. ing the years 1943 to 1995. Included are 1920 campaign as the Democratic Mahe II news clippings, programs, invitations, and nominee was successful; he served as Mrs. Peter C. Broussard fliers. A microfilm copy of the scrapbooks governor until 1924. Raymond Calvert Carroll & Graf, Publishers has also been acquired for researchers. - M Theresa Lefevre David C. Coxe Mrs. William K. Christovich - Chronicle Books Thomas Wharton Collens IN BRIEF ffi TH_ E_·_ HIS'FORrct0 Crescent Club lt-.1.:::i NEWOREEANS Frances Collens Curtis • A group of 15 artworks in various Coralie Davis 1~) ·COL1~QTlON Edward G. Doran media relating to New Orleans ceme­ l~ QUARTERLY ,· Lin Emery teries, Ars Longa, Vita Brevis: Artists' ""' ·'' ,.. ·' - Dr. Virginia V. Hamilton in memory of Response to New Orleans Cemeteries, is Editors: Robert Reinfort Rainold on view at the Williams Research Patricia Brady Thomas G. Hardie Center through March 8. Included in Louise C. Hoffman Historical Museum, Metro-Dade the exhibition are a wool tapestry of Head of Photography: Cultural Center Jan White Brantley ghosts in St. Louis Cemetery, photo­ JamesJ.Jacobsen George E. Jordan in memory of prints by Clarence John Laughlin and The Historic New Orleans Collection Quarterly is published by the Historic New Juanita Elfert Ralston Crawford, drawings by James Orleans Collection, which is operated SarahJumel Gallier, Sr. , and J. N. B. de Pouilly, and by the Kemper and Leila Williams R. Richardson King Foundation, a Louisiana nonprofit corpora­ works by Zella Funck on loan from Mr. and Mrs. Robert Kornfeld tion. Housed in a complex of historic build­ Estudio/Gallery. ings in the French Quarter, facilities are open Jon Kukla to the public, Tuesday through Saturday, Peggy Scott Laborde from 10:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Tours of the Alfred E. Lemmon history galleries and the residence are avail­ Lola Legier Maduell On March 11-13, the Collection a able for a nominal fee. Bernard]. Manning will host a workshop presented by the Board of Directors: The Marketing Center Northeast Document Conservation Mrs. William K. Christovich, President Mary Ann Marx Center on preservation microfilming. G. Henry Pierson, Jr. Mrs. Francis G. Moore John E. Walker The three-day, intensive training Fred M. Smirh Darlene Hingle Olivo program is made possible by grants Suzanne T. Mestayer Blanc A. Parker Walter C. Parlange, Jr. from the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Jon Kukla, Director Rose Radford H. W. Wilson Foundation, and the The Historic New Orleans Collection Vicente Ribes National Endowment for the 533 Royal Street School of Design Humanities. For further information, New Orleans, Louisiana 70130 Irma Stiegler (504) 523-4662 please contact Susan Wrynn, Director Randall Brent Vidrine of Reprographic Services, at NEDCC ISSN 0886-2109 © 1997 M rs. John E. Walker The Historic New Orleans Collection at 508-470-1010 or [email protected]. Florence Parker Whitten Rosemary R. C. Wilkinson Warren J. Woods Additional photography by: Elizabeth Kellner and Cornelius Regan

13 STAFF FLORENCE M. JUMONVILLE ACCEPTS POSITION AT UNO Head librarian Florence M. Jumonville has accepted the post of head of Louisiana and special collections at the Earl K. Long Library at the University of New Orleans. She began her new duties in January. Miss Jumonville came to the Collection in 1972 during the tenure of THNOC's first director Boyd Cruise. She left in the Maureen mid- l 970s to serve as librarian at Belle Chasse State School, Donnelly rerurning to the Collection in 1978. She has seen the institution grow from a handful of Maureen Donnelly, curator of the Williams people managing a small collection of historical materials into a major regional research Residence, has accepted the position of cura­ center employing more than 50 staff members. She is the author of the comprehensive tor of decorative arts at the Louisiana State Bibliography of New Orleans Imprints, 1764-1864, published in 1989, and the editor of Museum beginning in January. During her Bound to Please: Selected Rare Books About Louisiana from the Historic New Orleans 15 years at the Collection, Ms. Donnelly has Collection, 1982, as well as the contributor of numerous articles to scholarly publications. held various positions in the registrar's office, Recently she was invited to present a paper in England at a conference sponsored by the serving as senior registrar before assuming Cambridge Project for the Book. She was elected to membership in the American full-time curatorial duties for the Williams Antiquarian Society and was appointed as alternate delegate to the White House Residence. She is the author of Preservation Conference on Library and Information Services. Miss Jumonville also presented a paper Guide 4: Furniture. She has studied metals at the Society for rhe History of Authorship, Reading, and Publishing at the Library of conservation at the Winterthur Museum and Congress. She has served as editor of rhe Louisiana Library Association's quarterly, LLA is also the author of Preservation Guide 7: Bulletin, and on the Advisory Council of the State Library of Louisiana. Miss Jumonville Silver. She was selected by rhe Ameri can is a doctoral candidate at the University of New Orleans. Association of Museums and the Institute of Museum Services to be a Museum Assessment Programs peer reviewer. A gradu­ language publications and activities by the Round Table Club; Pamela D. Arceneaux, ate of Newcomb College, Ms. Donnelly is a Sociedad Espanola. Rotary Club; Jon Kukla, Orleans Club. potter and contributed an article on Newcomb Pottery to the summer 1996 issue IN THE COMMUNITY MEETINGS of rhe Quarterly. Jan White Brantley is the secretary of the New Judith Bonner, South Central Modern Orleans/Gulf South chapter of the American Language Association Conference and the John Society of Media Photographers. One of her Southeastern Museums Conference; at the Lawrence photographs is on the cover of the spring 1996 SEMC she served as chairman of the cura­ issue of the Xavier Review. John Lawrence tors committee exhibition competition. Dr. served on a panel organized by the Arcs Patricia Brady, Southern Historical Council of New Orleans and as technical Association; Carol Bartels, Louisiana expert for a project on the work of photogra­ Archives and Manuscripts Association; Kate pher Florestine Perrault Collins, funded by the Holliday and Carol Bartels , a workshop, Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. "Automating Finding Aids," sponsored by John H. Lawrence, director of museum Doug MacCash is an advisor to the Fine Arts the Society of American Archivists; Jon programs, has been selected as photographer­ Department of Loyola University. Kate Kukla, American Historical Association. in-residence at the Ecole Nationale de la Holliday presented a paper at a meeting of the Photographie in Aries, France, for a month Louisiana Archives and Manuscripts AT THE COLLECTION in February. His time will be divided Association. Pamela D. Arceneaux was inter­ Eileen Thornton has accepted the position berween reaching and private study. viewed about the Williams Research Center of assistant librarian left vacant by Jessica for an article in "Vieux Carre Veriee." Judith Travis, now with the Jefferson Parish H. Bonner was interviewed about William Library. Kelvin Joseph has joined the and Ellsworth Woodward on WBYU. maintenance staff.

ARTICLES PUBLISHED Doug MacCash, Art News; Judith Bonner, Alfred John Lawrence, Kate Holliday, David Lemmon Dibble, New Orleans Art Review; Bettie Dr. Alfred E. Lemmon, curaror of manu­ Pendley, Preservation in Print. scripts, received the Grace King Award from Kelvin Joseph Save Our Cemeteries for leadership in the SPEECHES field of cemetery preservation. He was also Maureen Donnelly, Southwest Pottery honored for his co ntributions ro Spanish- Collectors Association; Judith Bonner,

14 THE SHOP

WOODWARD DOCUMENTARY RECEPTION Orleans Street print and line-engraving block Gathered at the Williams Research Center in October far an advance viewing ofthe WYES-TV documen­ tary, Brothers in Arc: Ellsworth and William Woodward & Their Life in the South, are Jon Kukla and Peggy Scott Laborde, executive producers; Armand Le Gardeur, whose firm, Carl E. Woodward Inc., was riginal prints of French Quarter the major underwriter ofthe film; and Karen Snyder, producer-director of Brothers in Arc. Oscenes by James Carl Hancock (1898-1966) are available in the museum score. Also for sale are the line-engraving NEW PUBLICATION FEATURES THE blocks chat match these prints. For 30 years, beginning in the 1930s, Hancock LAURA SIMON NELSON COLLECTION traveled throughout che South sketching Complementary Visions ofLouisiana Art: landscape and architecture. His New The Laura Simon Nelson Collection at the Orleans prints depict the Brulacour Historic New Orleans Collection Courtyard, Labranche building, The Collection's latest publication provides an Rouquette house, Pirates Alley, Sc. Louis in-depth look at Laura Simon Nelson's major Cathedral, and ocher familiar landmarks donation of Louisiana art and places these of the Vieux Carre. artworks in the context of the holdings of the The Shop is also offering several institution. The book includes essays by Mrs. items that relate to William a nd Nelson and by critic George Jordan on the Ellsworth Woodward, subjects of the Nelson donation, an essay on rhe permanent last exhibition. The Collection's televi­ collection by THNOC curator Judith H. Bonner, sion documentary Brothers in Art: and an essay on the significance of Louisiana Ellsworth and William Woodwa rd & art by arc historian William H . Gerdts. Their Life in the South (which premiered Complementary Visions (96 pages, 80 color illus­ on WYES in October and will be fea­ trations, 9xl2) is available in both hard-cover tured again in January) and the exhibi­ and soft-cover from the muse um sco re, tion of the Laura Simon Nelson 533 Royal Street, New Orleans, LA 70130. Collection highlighted the works of r------, these talented artists. Videotapes of the PLEASE SEN D PLEASE PRINT documentary, as well as colorful post­ Complementary Visions cards of seven scenes of the French hard-cover@$49.95 . . .. $ __ Name Quarter by William Woodward are now sofc-cover@$29.95 . . .. . $ ___ available for purchase. Address Subtotal ...... $ __ Also available are three Ellsworth Shipping and handling ..... $ ___ Woodward engravings - Madame Cicy/Srare/Zip John's Legacy, the French Markee, and hard-cover, 1 copy, $5.00 DMasterCard OVISA D Check or money order the Old Sc. Mary's Marker - printed by soft-cover, 1 copy, $4.00 Professor William J. Kitchens of Loyola 9% tax, Orleans Parish . . .. . $ ___ Acct. Nu mber Exp. dare University's Visual Arcs Department 4% tax, other LA residents ... $ ___ from plates at the Collection. Call TOTAL AMOU T DUE ...... $__ _ Signature 504-598-7147 for more information.

15 ., h - /1!' 1 l,· 1r' ""-1 ~. ~ / 1 C i \ 'i

_",,/ } I; "Y 6 I MYSTIC CLUB 1.:;y ' " ' EXHIBITION ON VIEW

A Mystical Bal Masque: 75 Years of the Mystic Club opened January 14 in the Williams Gallery and remains on view through August 16, 1997. Included in the exhibition are costumes, sketches of set designs, invitations, photographs, and memorabilia that provide a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of a carnival ball. T he Mystic Club, a non-parading krewe, stages elaborate tableau balls based upon historical events.

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Drawing ofking's costume, 1937, by H C. Warren,for 1938 ball, H er Majesry's Masque to Commemorate the Centennial of Queen Victoria's Access ion to Her T hro ne (1983.111)

Non Profit Organization ffi I THE HISTORIC U.S. Postage 1t-.a.::.i NEW ORLEANS PAID ew Orleans, LA t~r, COLLECTION Permir No. 863 1ul QUARTERLY

KEMPER AND LEILA WILLIAMS FOUNDATION THE HISTORIC NEW ORLEANS COLLECTIO Museum • Research Center • Publ isher 533 Royal Street ew O rl eans, Louisiana 70130 (504) 523-4662 ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED