Collections for College of Liberal Arts

COLL 1-B 04 g – University Archives: History

COLL 2 – Voorhies Family Papers

Papers of a southern Louisiana family. Chiefly the papers of Albert Voorhies (1829-1913) who served as state Lieutenant Governor (1865-1867) among other elected positions, and longtime member of the State Bar. The papers reflect his interest in state politics, his involvement in the court system especially of Orleans Parish, and his writings on legal theory and state legal practices. Also material on other members of the Voorhies family. Donated by the George Voorhies Family, St. Martinville, Louisiana.

COLL 3 – Watson Family Papers

Correspondence, financial and legal records of several families from the Port Gibson, Mississippi region. Among the themes reflected in the collection are the Presbyterian Church and its activities in Mississippi, economic pursuits especially plantation management, relations with blacks as both slaves and freedmen, and health concerns including recurring yellow fever epidemics. Also included are the papers of Major J. W. Watson, U. S. Army (ca. 1865-1920) who served in Indian Wars and as an Indian agent during the 1890s and in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. He wrote about the Cuban Revolution of 1917. He also wrote some virulently anti-German pieces during World War I. The collection was donated by Dalton Watson of Waterproof, Louisiana.

COLL 26 – Lucile Meredith Mouton Griffin Collection

This collection reflects both the work of Lucile Mouton Griffin and her husband, Harry L. Griffin, and her interest in Mouton family history. Contains scrapbooks kept by Mrs. Griffin before her marriage including her years as a student at Southwestern Louisiana Industrial Institute (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette), and material from her graduate school work at the University of Chicago and Columbia University; photographs of Lafayette (many used to illustrate H. L.Griffin's Attakapas Country), with explanatory notes; and an extensive postcard collection. The collection deals with the Mouton family, especially Mrs. Griffin's father, Alexander Mouton (1853-1938), an engineer who worked in Latin America and owned a sugar refinery for a time. His collection includes an autobiography, correspondence, and large clipping and postcard scrapbooks. This collection contains material on other members of the Mouton family dating back to Jean Mouton in 1798. Among these items are artifacts owned by Governor Alexander Mouton (1804-1885), Mrs. Griffin's great-grandfather. Donated by Lucile M. Griffin, Lafayette, Louisiana.

COLL 30 – Harry L. Griffin Papers

Dr. Harry Lewis Griffin was a long-time dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Southwestern Louisiana Institute (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette). This collection consists of Dr. Griffin’s personal papers, including writings, speeches, correspondence, and materials he collected reflecting his interest in south Louisiana history, political science, education, and civic affairs. H.L. Griffin and Lucile M. Griffin donated this collection.

COLL 33 – Rice Millers Association Records

The Rice Millers Association (RMA) is a private, non-profit, national trade association of the rice milling industry. It is one of the oldest agricultural organizations in the United States. The collection contains correspondence, reports, minutes, contracts, government, and miscellaneous materials related to the U.S. rice milling industry and the organization.

COLL 34 – Vernon L. Wharton Papers

Vernon Wharton was a historian, sociologist, and administrator at Millsaps College, Texas State College of Women, and Southwestern Louisiana Institute (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette). This collection consists of biographical material, correspondence, writings and speeches, lecture notes, clippings, and other materials. Several of these works reference African Americans, the South, Reconstruction, and American, European, and Latin American history.

COLL 59 – Louisiana Colonial Records Collection

The Louisiana Colonial Records contains materials regarding mostly 18th - 19th century events occurring in colonial Louisiana, especially governing processes and the Cabildo. The collection contains photocopies of correspondence, legal papers, and land and slave sales. See also: Collection 329 - Colonial Louisiana Records Collection for a larger collection of colonial records microfilmed from repositories in Europe and North America.

COLL 75 – Michael D. Wynne Collection

Michael Dayries Wynne has published around 8 books and given various talks on Louisiana history and preservation. Materials in this collection were gathered Mr. Wynne. He has a miscellanea of items related to Louisiana including correspondence, documents, flyers, broadsides, announcements, and others. There are several folders of materials related to Huey P. Long (1893-1935). Much of the 19th century documents come from the Bayou Sara / St. Francisville area. Michael D. Wynne donated this collection circa 1980.

COLL 87 – Mary Elizabeth Winters Papers

This collection consists of correspondence and papers relating to the history of southwest Louisiana. These papers are mainly about the history of New Iberia and Iberia Parish. Also included is her master’s thesis submitted to Peabody College. There are other miscellaneous materials as well.

COLL 109 – Pearl Mary Segura Papers

This collection contains genealogy and Acadian history material as well as personal files compiled by former University Louisiana Room Librarian Pearl Mary Segura. The collection is divided into two parts: her working [genealogy and history] files and her personal files.

COLL 127 – Marie del Norte Theriot Collection

Marie del Norte Theriot taught French at the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette). This collection contains information concerning people, places, and events during and before her life; information on different sections of Louisiana; and information on historical events. It includes postcards, notes, memos, awards presented to her, songs, biographical information on people of the U.S., photographs, and her personal souvenirs. Marie del Norte Theriot donated the collection, which is part of the Women in Louisiana Collection.

COLL 151 – German Prisoners of War Collection

This collection consists of photographs, correspondence, reports, publicity including news clippings, articles, etc. It also contains videotapes of a reunion held in May 1984 and video was taken by NBC News. This collection also consists of miscellaneous materials as well. This collection was donated by Dr. Matt Schott. Collection 151A consists of Rosalind Foley's research papers. Collection 151B consists of Matthew Schott's research papers.

COLL 151A – German Prisoners of War Collection (Rosalind Foley Papers)

Rosalind Foley and Matthew Schott gathered material to document the history of German Prisoners of War held in Louisiana during World War II. This collection consists of Foley’s papers including correspondence, photographs, publicity and other various materials pertaining to her research. See also: Collection 151, which pertains to POW’s at camps in Louisiana andCollection 151B, which consists of Matthew Schott’s research papers.

COLL 151B – German Prisoners of War Collection (Matthew Schott Papers)

Rosalind Foley and Matthew Schott gathered material to document the history of German Prisoners of War held in Louisiana during World War II. This collection consists of Schott’s papers which include correspondence, photographs, publicity, writings, reports and other various materials pertaining to his research. See also: Collection 151, which pertains to POW’s at camps in Louisiana Collection 151A, which consists of Rosalind Foley’s research papers.

COLL 157 – Louisiana State Rice Milling Company Records/Godchaux Family Papers

Louisiana State Rice Milling Company Records/Godchaux Family Papers includes the company records dating from about 1911; ancillary components of this collection include the University of Southwestern Louisiana produced microfilm of the company minutes and other record books and an oral history collection.

COLL 161 – J. Carlton James Oral History Collection

This collection is the result of a project sponsored by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and funded by The Louisiana Council in Human Relations and the Acadiana Committee for the Humanities. The project directors were Dr. Patricia Rickels and Matthew Schott with assistance from Barry Ancelet, Elemore Morgan, Jr., and Doris White. The collection contains taped interviews with several participants in Louisiana's civil rights movement. The final product of the project, a slide-tape presentation, "No Gains Without Pains: An Oral History of the Civil Rights Movement in Louisiana," is also included. Carlton James, a long-time Lafayette educator, and civil rights leader, is one of the people interviewed.

The collection was donated to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette by the Project Directors in 1984. Tapes are recorded on one side only.

COLL 185 – Henry C. Dethloff Papers

Henry C. Dethloff was on the faculty at the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette) from 1965 to 1968. He was in the History Department and was the director of the Southwestern Archives and Manuscripts Collection (now the University Archives and Acadiana Manuscripts Collection). Dethloff's major academic interest was agricultural history, especially rice growing and milling. His publication, A History of the American Rice Industry, 1685-1985, is the definitive monograph on this subject. This collection contains mainly research material and writings on the rice industry.

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 232 – Ruth Robertson Fontenot Collection

Ruth R. Fontenot's collection contains extensive working files on local history. She conducted a survey for the Louisiana State Division of Historic Preservation of all structures over fifty years old in Iberia, St. Landry, St. Martin and St. Mary Parishes. She was very interested in the preservation of historic structures. She also has information on the Acadian history.

COLL 260 – Glenn R. Conrad Papers

Glenn Conrad was born September 3, 1932, in New Iberia, La. He received a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University (1953) and a Master of Arts in History (1959). During his career, he served first as an editor for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He later taught history at Southern State College in Magnolia, AR and the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette) (1958-1991). From 1973-1993, Conrad served as the director of the Center of Louisiana Studies at the University. This collection spans from 1767 to 2003, with the bulk of the material between 1970 and 2000. The collection includes Conrad’s professional correspondence (1971-1993), travel vouchers, awards, essays, research notes, manuscripts, biographical sketches, student evaluations, conference material, and collection of books, journal articles, and newspapers.

COLL 273 – Elizabeth Brandon Papers

Elizabeth Brandon was a professor who specialized in the French language and Louisiana Cajun folklore. Dr. Brandon served as Professor of French and as chair of the French Department during her tenure at the University of Houston. Her research covered a wide range of topics revolving around Louisiana history, culture, and folklore. This collection contains Dr. Brandon’s working and personal papers. A large portion of the papers include written notes, in both English and French, on Louisiana history, people, cultures, folksongs, and dances.

COLL 288 – Philip F. Dur Papers

While at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, Dur extensively researched and wrote about the life of Ambassador Jefferson Caffery (1886-1975). Much of this collection stems from the research conducted by Dur in preparation for his publications and includes both originals and copies of material, primarily correspondence, and photographs, created throughout Ambassador Caffery’s career. For more information about Ambassador Jefferson Caffery, view the Jefferson Caffery Papers (Collection 45) and the Caffery Photograph Albums (Collection 45A). In addition to material related to Ambassador Caffery, this collection contains research materials related to journal articles and other publications written throughout Dur’s career, covering a wide variety of topics including American education, Louisiana history, and French history. Collection donated by Philip Dur Jr. and his siblings, and Christopher Gilcrease.

COLL 290 – Thomas D. Schoonover Papers

Dr. Thomas D. Schoonover was a professor of American and Latin American history at the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette). This collection contains working files of his research, correspondence, lecture notes, research notes, and personal papers. Dr. Thomas D. Schoonover donated the collection.

COLL 301 – Offshore Oil and Gas History Project Collection

The Minerals Management Service (MMS), U.S. Department of the Interior, sponsored a study to examine the historical evolution of the offshore oil and gas industry and its effects on Louisiana’s coastal culture, economy, landscape, and society. Between 2001 and 2006, over 450 interviews were recorded for the project. Each interview provides a unique look at the offshore oil and gas industry and its impacts on workers, their families and their communities. The interviews are on compact discs.

COLL 303 – Vaughan Baker Papers

Helen Vaughan Burdin Baker Simpson was a professor of History and Humanities and the Head of the Department of History and Geography at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She taught history, humanities, and philosophy courses over the span of her career at UL Lafayette. This collection contains Dr. Baker’s working files. These include materials from her history, humanities, and philosophy classes, student work, evaluations, and office files. The office files contain materials related to publishing, conferences, and organizations for which she was a member.

COLL 311 – Zachary Richard Papers

Zachary Richard is a world-renowned musician, recording artist, author, and educator. This collection contains Zachary Richard’s personal papers, including production and research notes from his documentary Against the Tide, publications, music, press and newspaper clippings, and publicity items. The collection also documents his Francophone initiatives. Zachary Richard donated the collection.

COLL 326 – William J. Thibodeaux Collection

William Joseph Thibodeau interviews interesting people in both French and English and manages a French table in Rayne where their events were first audio-recorded. He writes mostly non-fictional articles with historical significance to the Acadiana area.

COLL 329 – Colonial Louisiana Records Collection

Microfilmed colonial records copied from repositories in Europe and North America. Drawn from French and Spanish colonial archives, and the British Museum and Public Records Office, the collection focuses on the history of European settlement in the Mississippi Valley, New France, Acadia, Ile Royale, and the French Antilles. For a further description of the Colonial Louisiana Records Collection, view Brasseaux, Carl A. “The Colonial Records Collection of the Center for Louisiana Studies”, Louisiana History, Vol. XXV, No. 2. pp. 181-188, Spring 1984. This collection includes most of the materials listed in Nancy M. Miller Surrey’s Calendar of Manuscripts in Paris Archives and Libraries Relating to the History of the Mississippi Valley to 1803. This calendar acts as a comprehensive guide documenting the French experience in the Mississippi Valley. To see Surrey's Calendar in electronic form, view "A Guide to French Louisiana Manuscripts: An expanded and revised edition of the 1926 Surrey Calendar with Appendices" from The Historic New Orleans Collection.

COLL 389 – Judith F. Gentry Papers

Dr. Judith Fenner Gentry was a history professor at the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now University of Louisiana at Lafayette) for more than 40 years. Her areas of research included the Civil War and women's history. This collection consists of Dr. Gentry's professional and research files. A large portion of the collection consists of material she gathered for a grant called “Acadian History.” These materials include data collection of land grants, original acts, baptisms, marriages, and funerals.

COLL 479 – Michael S. Martin Papers

Dr. Michael S. Martin is a Professor of History at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. His research and teaching interests focus on Louisiana history, public history, and the history of the U.S. South. He also served as the director for the Center for Louisiana Studies. This collection contains mostly research materials for Dr. Martin's book Russell Long: A Life in Politics (2014). Donated by Dr. Michael Martin.

COLL 489 – Allen D. LeBlanc Collection

Allen Doyce LeBlanc worked as a pilot and aviation mechanic. One of his greatest passions involved collecting materials to preserve Cajun culture and the history of Vermilion Parish. This collection contains historical materials, files, and notes collected over the years by Allen LeBlanc, much of it related to Abbeville and Vermilion Parish history, Louisiana culture, and various topics. Allen and Cristina LeBlanc donated this collection.

COLL 528 – City of Opelousas (Louisiana) Oral History Collection

Opelousas is a city located in St. Landry Parish. Established in 1720, it is the third oldest city in Louisiana and prides itself as the Zydeco capital of the world. This collection contains oral histories from residents of Opelousas. Topics include life in Opelousas during the 1940s and 1950s, experiences as educators, the Civil Rights Movement, Cajun and Creole cultures, Zydeco music, and the Louisiana Orphan Train Riders. Melanie Lee-Lebouef of the City of Opelousas Tourism donated this collection.

COLL 533 – Jeanette Plauché Parker Bendel Gardens Collection

Jeanette Plauché Parker is retired professor of education from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Her book Bendel Gardens: An Historic Treasure in Lafayette, Louisiana, presents an authentic history of the Bendel Gardens subdivision through family and church records, legal documents, personal interviews, and other primary sources. This collection contains Dr. Parker’s research notes on Bendel Gardens. Dr. Jeanette Plauché Parker donated the collection.

COLL 1-B 04 p – University Archives: Geography

COLL 111A – City of Lafayette (Louisiana) Photograph Collection

This collection contains photographs of Lafayette and other locations in Lafayette Parish. Photographs in each folder are arranged by size and alphabetical order.

COLL 118 – Lauren C. Post Papers

Correspondence, papers and manuscripts of Dr. Lauren C. Post (born, 6 Sept. 1899; died, 21 Jan. 1976), a native of Acadia Parish, author, and professor of Geography for many years at San Diego State University. His papers include a diary, correspondence, and papers on a wide range of subjects including Attakapas Indians, brand records from St. Martinville, Acadian music, Huey Long, the 1915 hurricane, weaving and clothing. Post's Cajun Sketches won the Louisiana Library Association's literary award in 1962. He also authored articles on South Louisiana in various journals. Copied through the generosity of Lyle Johnson, Director of the Acadia Parish Library System.

COLL 328 – Dennis K. Ehrhart Papers

Dennis K. Ehrhardt was a professor and department head of Geography at the University of Southwestern Louisiana/the University of Louisiana at Lafayette for 38 years. This collection includes departmental administrative records, as well as records of his teaching and professional activities.

COLL 382 – Vernon E. Behrhorst Papers

Vernon Behrhorst, a geographer, was very active in the development of Louisiana water resources. In addition to being an Assistant Professor of Geography at University of Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette), he was also a leader in many water resource associations. These associations include the Louisiana Intracoastal Seaway Association (LISA), the Gulf Intracoastal Canal Association (GICA), the governor's Office of Water Policy in Louisiana, and theNational Ports and Waterways Institute at Louisiana State University. This collection contains Behrhorst’s papers related to the organizations, associations, and conferences for which he was involved. These papers include project proposals, correspondence, reports, memorandums, and materials from conferences. There are also photographs and audiovisual materials on reels and VHS. These papers were transferred from Tulane University’s Louisiana Research Collection to Dupré Library’s University Archives and Acadiana Manuscripts Collection by Leon Miller in 2016.

MSS 71 – John L. Raymond Map

Hand-drawn map of Lower Atchafalaya Basin by John L. Raymond while hunting for cypress timber; plat map showing sections. Donated by Johnny Raymond of Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, his grandson.

MSS 247 – Cajunland, Louisiana’s French-Speaking Coast Article

Cajunland, Louisiana’s French-Speaking Coast, by Bern Keating. National Geographic, volume 129, no.3, March 1966.

COLL 1-B 04 i – University Archives: Philosophy

COLL 303 – Vaughan Baker Papers

Helen Vaughan Burdin Baker Simpson was a professor of History and Humanities and the Head of the Department of History and Geography at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She taught history, humanities, and philosophy courses over the span of her career at UL Lafayette. This collection contains Dr. Baker’s working files. These include materials from her history, humanities, and philosophy classes, student work, evaluations, and office files. The office files contain materials related to publishing, conferences, and organizations for which she was a member.