Collections for College of Liberal Arts

COLL 1-B 04 q – University Archives: Sociology/Anthropology

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 69 – American Association of University Women (Lafayette, LA Branch) Records

The American Association of University Women (AAUW) started in 1881. The purpose of the Association is to unite the alumnae of different institutions of higher education to advance the economic, political, and educational opportunities for women. This collection is divided into three groups: national, state, and local. It contains organizational records, correspondence, bylaws, conference and convention materials, minutes, reports, and other miscellaneous materials. This collection was initially donated by Laura C. Edwards. Subsequent donations have come from other AAUW members.

COLL 78 – Benjamin Kaplan Papers

Professor of Sociology, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Collection contains speeches; lectures; manuscripts of Dr. Kaplan's book The Land in Between; report of the second conference of the Louisiana State Advisory Commission on Aging; surveys of Lafayette, Duson, Breaux Bridge and teenage marriages in Lafayette Parish; pamphlets and magazines on religion, race, education and related sociological subjects; handwritten notes (unsorted) for speeches, lectures, books. Also includes correspondence, pictures, newspaper clippings re: Dr. Kaplan. Vitae. Copy of M.A. thesis, "A Study of Newsboys in New Orleans," Tulane University, 1929.

COLL 92 – Barbara Hansen Legal Papers

Correspondence and documents relating to an income tax court fight which helped to overturn Louisiana's Head and Master Clause, Barbara Hansen v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (c.a. 5-no. 77-2974). A Women in Louisiana Collection.

COLL 93 – Ollie Tucker Osborne Papers

Ollie Tucker Osborne's papers detail the activities of one of Louisiana's leading advocates of women's rights during the 1970s. Osborne was extremely active in the League of Women Voters and the Evangeline ERA coalition. She attended conferences and workshops throughout the South. She was appointed to the 1977 state women's convention in Baton Rouge and was elected a state delegate to the national convention in Houston. She helped organize and coordinate a number of workshops and conferences in Louisiana on women's rights. The papers reflect Osborne's activities in the women's movement and her career in advertising. There are several scrapbooks concerning her years in New York. The largest series contains League of Women Voters records of the local and state levels. The collection includes memos, correspondence, publicity materials (a great interest of Osborne's) and, often, photographs. Her photographs of delegates to the 1973 Constitutional Convention are probably one of the better visual sources on its participants. Ollie Tucker Osborne donated the papers as part of the Women in Louisiana Collection.

COLL 94 – Emerson Bentley Papers

Diaries and scrapbooks of a "carpetbagger," school teacher, newspaperman and politician who as a teenager moved to Louisiana from Ohio after the Civil War. Includes notable material on the St. Landry riots at Opelousas and the Republican party in the state.

COLL 186 – Sylvia Roberts Collection

This collection contains mainly working files of Equal Rights Amendment advocate who gave many speeches on the subject. There is also material on other topics important to women’s rights advocates.

COLL 338 – Junior League of Lafayette Collection

Junior League of Lafayette is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women, and improving the community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. This collection contains presidential papers, organizational documents, financial documents, PEP material, community service projects, membership material, photographs, plaques, and other materials. Members of the Junior League of Lafayette donated this collection.

COLL 368 – Carmen Lindig Collection

Carmen Lindig was an educator and author who wrote The Path from the Parlor: Louisiana Women 1879-1920. This collection consists of research conducted by Dr. Lindig on notable Louisiana women, women’s rights, and the Equal Rights Amendment.

COLL 415 – Sarah Brabant Collection

Sarah Brabant was a professor of sociology who co-founded the Grief Center in Lafayette. The center provides networking opportunities for area professionals working with grieving persons and it creates awareness and education on grief issues. This collection consists of correspondence, news clippings, public hearings, bylaws and resolutions, and information on programs on the development of women. Dr. Sarah Brabant donated this collection.

COLL 433 – National Organization for Women (Acadiana Chapter) Collection

The National Organization for Women is dedicated to its multi-issue and multi-strategy approach to women’s rights; it is the largest organization of feminist grassroots activists in the United States. This collection consists of the Acadiana Chapter which has newsletters from 1970s-1980s.

COLL 488 – Jacqueline Michot Ceballos Collection

Jacqueline (Jacqui) Theresa Michot Ceballos was born in Mamou, Louisiana in 1925. After graduating from Southwestern Louisiana Institute (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette), she moved to New York City to pursue a career in opera. She became involved with feminist activism in the late 1960s, acting as president of the New York chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) and as the founder of the Veteran Feminists of America (VFA). This collection contains books collected by Ms. Ceballos with inscriptions written by her, the authors, and/or people who gifted her the books. Ms. Ceballos donated this collection with the help of her nephew Dr. Thomas Michot, her daughter Michèle Ceballos Michot, and her granddaughter Natalia Ronceria Ceballos.

COLL 147 – Robert S. Neitzel Collection

Robert Stuart Neitzel, born in Falls City, Neb., contributed to archaeology in the Lower Mississippi Valley and the southeastern United States for 30 productive years. He made major contributions to archaeological work in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Georgia. He is best known for his work with Indian sites, especially those connected with Marksville culture, and the Tunica and Natchez tribes. The collection dates almost entirely from the 1970s. One major exception is a series of photocopied correspondence from the 1950s involving the Prehistoric Indian Museum Neitzel founded and directed in Marksville. The collection contains maps, notes, correspondence, work papers, and newsletters; publications and writings, both draft and published material. This collection was donated by Mrs. Robert S. Neitzel and the children, Sarah and Stuart.

COLL 1-B 21 d – University Archives: Center for Child Studies

COLL 95 – Elaine S. Edwards Collection

Elaine Edwards was an interim U.S. Senator and wife of Governor Edwin Edwards. This collection consists of newspaper clippings, correspondence, speeches, and other miscellaneous materials. These materials include such subjects as her Senate term, the New Orleans Children's Hospital, and the International Year of the Child.

COLL 97 – Mary Alice Fontenot Papers

Mary Alice Fontenot Riehl was a journalist and author. As an author, Mrs. Riehl is best known for her series of children's books on Clovis Crawfish. She has also written other books for children as well as cookbooks and works on local and state history. As a journalist, she worked for many newspapers in the region including the Lafayette Advertiser, the Opelousas Daily World, and the Crowley Post-Signal.

This collection focuses on Mary Alice Fontenot's journalistic and literary career. Included are research notes and photographs for some of her newspaper articles; original drawings by Eric Vincent and Keith Graves and original music by Mary Alice and Jeanne and Robert Gilmore for the Clovis Crawfish series; and text for some of her history books and children's works. She also worked as a researcher for Frances Parkinson Keyes. There are some letters from Mrs. Keyes in the collection. This collection contains scrapbooks containing clippings, reviews, photographs, correspondence, drawings, promotional material, and writings. There are also letters from school children thanking Mary Alice for visiting their classroom and some artwork and artifacts inspired by Clovis Crawfish stories. The papers were donated by Mary Alice Fontenot as part of the Women in Louisiana Collection.

COLL 201 – Family and Friends for the Mentally Ill (Lafayette, LA) Records

Family and Friends for the Mentally Ill (FFAMI) was one of the first mental health support groups in Louisiana. FFAMI’s main goals were to involve the patient’s family in recovery, to provide understanding and support to families, and to establish an optimistic atmosphere with recovered patients and psychiatric personnel. This collection contains working files of FFAMI arranged alphabetically and scrapbooks for the organization. Maizie Thibeaux, founder and director of the Family and Friends for the Mentally Ill, donated the collection.

COLL 312 – Ruth Jones Rabel Collection

Ruth Jones Rabel was an educator and author. Her works include five historical novels, poetry and short stories for adults and children, and illustrations. This collection contains copies of Mrs. Rabel’s manuscripts of her five historical novels, poems, photographs, and illustrations. Also included are correspondence and some autobiographical materials. Her daughter, Linda Anne Rabel, donated the collection.