Collections for B. I. Moody III College of Business Administration

COLL 1-B 06 e – University Archives: Management and Administrative Studies

COLL 4 – Merchant’s Grocer Company (Lafayette, LA) Records

This collection contains account books, ledgers, other financial records, documents, correspondence, etc. of a Lafayette wholesale grocery company. Some materials were donated by Dr. Michael Martin and the Center for Louisiana Studies.

COLL 9 – Charles A. McGowan Papers

Mainly business papers of McGowan, a dentist, druggist, banker, merchant and civic leader in Jeanerette, Louisiana. Included are some articles on Jeanerette written by Florence Bussey McGowan; diaries kept by her relatives in Mississippi in 1876; a claim for property destroyed or confiscated by Union soldiers in Jackson, Mississippi in 1863; and a record book for the Sans Souci Club of Jeanerette, 1885-1887.

COLL 42 – Planter’s Hardware (Kaplan, LA) Financial Records

This volume consists of financial records of Planter’s Hardware in Kaplan, Louisiana from January 10 – December 23, 1944.

COLL 47 – Pritchard Rice Mill Records

The Pritchard Rice Milling Company of Houston, Texas, organized in 1907, was one of the first mills in Texas. The collection covers the business transactions of this company. The files contain administration records, external and internal correspondence, financial records, insurance records, business contracts, and equipment documentation.

COLL 64 – Jennings Nursery (Jennings, LA) Records

Business records of the Jennings Nursery of Jennings, Louisiana along with several ledgers.

COLL 68 – Thistlewaite Lumber Company (Opelousas, LA) Records

The company's business, financial records, and correspondence, covering 1917 through the late 1930s.

COLL 153 – Billeaud Sugar Mill Collection

The Billeaud Sugar Mill was built in Broussard, Louisiana by Martial Billeaud in 1872. The factory produced about four hundred tons of sugar cane daily. Billeaud sold the business to his children in 1914, which then became Billeaud Sugar Factory, Inc. With the help of the sugar boom in southwest Louisiana, the factory was very successful. This collection consists of the sugar mill office files, which include ledger books, daily reports, financial reports, land abstracts, publications, correspondence, minutes of meetings, general records, and much more. Pat St. Julien donated this collection.

COLL 160 – Louisiana Irrigation and Mill Company Records

The Louisiana Irrigation and Mill Company was formed in 1903 to construct a lock or locks and a dam on the Mermentau River. This collection consists of correspondence, telegrams, financial records, documents, and other miscellaneous material.

COLL 166 – Edward Bennett Ogden, Jr. Papers

Mainly the business records of Ogden who was active in the rice brokerage field. He worked in Cuba for many years until forced out by the revolution in 1961. He had a close connection with the Godchaux Family and Louisiana State Rice Milling Company. Donated by Mrs. Edward B. Ogden, Jr.

COLL 200 – Abrom Kaplan Papers

Abrom Kaplan was considered to be one of the greatest pioneers of the Southwestern Louisiana rice industry, opening rice mills in Crowley, Abbeville, Gueydan, Esterwood, and Donaldsonville, Louisiana. The town of Kaplan in Vermilion Parish was named after him. This collection consists of diaries, correspondence, financial records, ledgers, letterpress books, microfilm, notebooks, and other miscellaneous materials.

COLL 219 – Dudley J. LeBlanc Collection

Dudley LeBlanc was a businessman and politician. He served as Louisiana Representative in 1924, Public Service Commissioner in 1926, and Louisiana Senator in 1948-52, 1964, 1968. He owned many businesses, inventing and promoting the famous HADACOL, which was a vitamin/mineral supplement. He claimed it cured many illnesses. This collection consists of genealogy material, photographs, correspondence, business records, etc.

COLL 341 – William W. Hawkins Papers

William Winford "Win" Hawkins was a major business man in the oil industry. He also owned and/or managed camps in Cameron Parish for duck hunting. This collection contains Win Hawkins’s personal and work papers. These include materials on oil companies, finances, lease agreements, and his hunting clubs. The collection is contained in 33 boxes and 1 oversize folder.

COLL 426 – Pothier Jean Voorhies Collection

Pothier Jean Voorhies was a businessman and civic leader, his principal business activity being the Lafayette Lumber Company. He served as President and General Manager from 1914 until his death. This collection consists of Voorhies’s business records, personal papers, and correspondence (incoming and outgoing) with former employees serving in the military during World War II. This collection was donated by the Lafayette Public Trust Financing Authority, which renovated the Lafayette Lumber Company building for housing in 2017/18.

COLL 431 – Lionel J. “Chick” Vidrine Collection

Lionel "Chick" Vidrine opened the dance hall Southern Club, located in Opelousas on U.S. 190, in 1949. The hall played mostly swamp pop music and included a restaurant and bar. After closing in 1996, the building was listed on the Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation as an endangered historic site. This collection consists of band contracts between the club and band, financial records, correspondence, flyers, and much more.

COLL 484 – P. A. Dupuy Collection

Paul Adonis Dupuy was a Civil War veteran who owned and operated the Dupuy dry-goods store on Main Street in New Iberia, Louisiana. This collection consists of a daybook (1877-1879) and index (1877), digitized from the original manuscripts and formatted in PDF for user access. Terry Dupuy loaned the collection for digitization and donated the digital copies.

COLL 504 – Emar Andrepont Store Collection

Emar Andrepont was born in Opelousas, LA on April 21, 1863. In the late 1880s, he opened a general store in Prairie Ronde, selling various products such as food and farm equipment. This collection consists of financial records, photographs, and publications related to the Emar Andrepont Store. Also included are materials related to the Prairie Ronde Cotton Gin, an enterprise started among community members, including Mr. Andrepont. The City of Opelousas Tourism/Le Vieux Village, with the help of Boisy Pitre, donated this collection.

COLL 506 – Frederick Vidrine Collection

Dr. Frederick Vidrine was a physician, planter, merchant, and cotton gin operator in the Andrepont community, St. Landry Parish. This collection consists of correspondence and financial records. Mardell Sibley donated the collection.

COLL 507 – Ludeau Pitre Papers

Ludeau Pitre was a farmer and rancher in the Prairie Ronde community of St. Landry Parish during the early and middle 20th century. He built and ran a general store and Dixieland Ranch, a sizable estate of land and cattle. This collection consists of records from the Ludeau Pitre Store and Dixieland Ranch. This includes store ledgers, sharecropper time books, correspondence, receipts, and miscellaneous farm material from the store and ranch. Boisy Pitre, great-grandson of Ludeau Pitre, donated this collection.

MSS 37 – John Costello and Company Business Records

Miscellaneous invoices, bills, correspondence, etc. of John Costello and Company of Lake Charles, Louisiana.