Manuscript Resources on The Sugar Industry

Harris, James Courtland, d. 1968. Papers, 1909-1956. 5 ms. vols. Location: B:9. Sugar chemist and 1911 LSU graduate. Harris held managerial posts in several Latin American countries, primarily Cuba. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2396.

Harris, R. B. Photograph collection, 1890-1958 ca. 121 items. Location: C:96. Resident of Walnut Grove Plantation, Cheneyville, Louisiana. Collection is comprised of photographs taken of buildings, livestock, sugar cane fields, cotton fields, and several individuals, mostly unidentified. Also included are portraits of Annie Laurie Harris and N. B. Harris. The collection also contains four miniature paintings depicting rural Louisiana scenes and a 20th century transcription of a letter presumably written Dec. 26, 1873. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 3060.

Harris, R. B. Photograph Collection, 1890-1958. 121 items. Location: C:96. Robert B. Harris was a resident of Walnut Grove Plantation, Cheneyville, Louisiana. Collection is comprised of photographs taken of buildings, livestock, sugar cane fields, cotton fields, and several individuals, mostly unidentified. Also included in the collection are portraits of Annie Laurie Harris and N. B. Harris; four miniature paintings depicting rural Louisiana scenes; and a 20th century transcription of a letter presumably written Dec. 26, 1873. Mss. 3060.

Harris, William H. Papers, 1893-1930. 14 items, 1 vol. Location: MISC:H. Probably an African American who worked as a foreman or handyman around Augusta Plantation Sugar House, Bayou Goula, Iberville Parish, Louisiana. Papers include business correspondence and a Wholesale Pocket Business Directory of New Orleans for 1893. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 3261.

Harrison, L. B. Letter, 1854 Mar. 23. 1 item. Location: Misc.:H. L.B. Harrison in New Orleans, La., remarks how his wife enjoyed the countryside around the Louisiana sugar plantations. He also recommends that spending a month in a sugar house at grinding season is a cure for lung diseases because of the beneficial effects of the vapors rising from the sugar kettles. Mss. 3858.

Hicky, Philip and Family. Papers, 1769-1901 (bulk 1769-1835). 20 items, 1 letter file book, 1 microfilm reel. Location: VAULT:8, OS:H, MSS.MF:H. Planter and colonel of East Baton Rouge Parish. Unbound and bound (in a letter file book) personal and official papers of Philip Hicky and the Hicky family. Papers pertain chiefly to the West Florida controversy and the Battle of New Orleans but also pertain to family matters and family history of the Hicky family. Some items pertain to the Walsh and Morgan families. Mss. 2007, 2035.

Hines, Betty, 1948, interviewee. Oral history interview, 1993. 1 sound cassette (45 minutes), Index (3 pages). Location: L:4700.285. Resident of Four Corners, an unincorporated community south of Franklin, St. Mary Parish, Louisiana. Hines was the foster child of a sharecropper. Hines' memories of childhood as the daughter of a sharecropper; sugarcane growing; the recollections of her great-grandparents' enslavement; difficulties of her early work with foster children; birth customs; and traditional foods. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4700.285.

Hines, Moses, 1935-, interviewee. Moses Hines and Charlotte Hines Alfred oral history interview, 1993. 1 sound cassette (45 minutes), Index (3 pages). Location: L:4700.286. Residents of Four Corners, an unincorporated community south of Franklin, St. Mary Parish, Louisiana. Hines was the son of a sugarcane farmer. Hines and Alfred describe their grandparents work in sugarcane growing; the management of the 20 acre farm owned in common by the Hines family; and natural remedies for colds, flu, colic, teething, and rheumatism. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4700.286.

Hope Farm Plantation. Photograph collection, circa 1870-1879. 13 photographic prints. Location: E:64. Photographs of a plantation home, a sugar mill, men hunting, and an African American laborer on a sugar plantation on Bayou Terrebonne, 12 miles south of Houma, Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4568.

International Sugar Cane Technologists Association Meeting. Photograph, 1938 Nov. 1. 1 panoramic photograph [20 x 76 cm.]. Location: OS:I. Photograph made by Cole Studio. Photograph is of the attendees of the Sixth Congress of International Sugar Cane Technologists Association meeting at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Mss. 5026.

Jackson, Willie, 1889-, interviewee. Oral history interview. 1993. 1 sound cassette (45 minutes), Index (3 pages). Location: L:4700.0282. Resident of Four Corners, an unincorporated community south of Franklin, St. Mary Parish, Louisiana. Jackson and his daughter, Emma Dell Peters, lived on Sterling Plantation; Jackson's grandparents were slaves. Jackson describes his childhood in Four Corners, work cultivating and harvesting sugarcane, and raising crops with his parents. He describes early transportation by horse, foot, and boat; churches in the area; and life on Sterling Plantation. Jackson also describes credit at the plantation store; illnesses; marriage customs; gambling on the card game 'Kotch'; use of French language; French language work songs; and schooling. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4700.0282.

James, Francis Henderson. Papers, 1869-1973 (bulk 1909-1960). 1.2 linear ft. Location: UU:74-75, OS:J. Graduate of Louisiana State University (LSU), World War I veteran, and chief engineer at Salzburg Sugar Factory on Salzburg Plantation in St. James Parish, Louisiana. Papers include a diary (1937-1958) kept during his employment as chief engineer in which he recorded formulas, calculations, cane crop data, and administrative notes; a 1915 LSU calendar that includes campus photographs; and family portraits and photographs of him as a cadet at LSU and during his military service; letters and clippings. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4960.

Johnson, Henry, 1783-1864, Letter, 1819 Jan. 17. 1 item. Misc.:J. U.S. congressman, senator, and governor from Louisiana. Letter extolling the farming of cotton, and in particular, the merits of the Lafourche and Attakapas areas for their fertility, healthful climate, and low land prices for farming sugar. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2502.

Jules A. Dornier and Family Papers, 1917-1965. 0.3 linear ft. Location: 50:15, OS:D. Farm and sugar planting family near Convent, Saint James Parish, Louisiana. Correspondence and ephemeral related to the family's farm business including World War II prisoner of war labor contracts. The collection also contains letters from former POW laborers and records showing Lillian Dornier's involvement in the Cooperative for American Remittance to Europe (CARE, Inc.) program.. Mss. 3468.

Keary, Patrick F. Letters, 1848-1855. 19 items. Location: Misc. Planter of Ben Lomand Plantation, Wilkinson County, Mississippi. Letters to Wylie and Egana and Juan Y. de Egana, brokers in New Orleans, concerning business and plantation matters on Keary's cotton plantation, Ben Lomand, and his sugar plantation Catalpa Grove, on Bayou Boeuf, Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1053.

Keller, Anatole J. and family. Papers, 1885-1919. 2.5 linear ft. Location: 77:94-95, OS:K. Sugar technologist from Hahnville, Louisiana, active in the support of various African American causes (1918-1919). Correspondence pertains to social life, Keller's work as a sugar technologist, sugar technology in the West Indies, and elementary school education in Louisiana. Papers related to African American activism include copies of the 'Negro' Advocate." Included are class notes and assignments (1907-1911) from Louisiana State University. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2910.

Keller, Arthur G. Papers, 1878-1967 (bulk 1927-1967). 19 linear ft. Location: IMAGK (offsite, requires 48 hours' minimum notice to retrieve). Professor of Chemical Engineering, LSU, specialist in sugar cane technology, and consulting engineer. Professional papers include correspondence; notebooks; teaching materials; and files, financial records, and reports relative to a firm of consulting engineers run by Keller. Materials on sugar cane technology include repots on refineries and production. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2318, 2746.

Kenner family. Papers and diaries, 1844-1892 (bulk 1844-1856). 49 items; 8 vols. Location: C:30, J:5, . Sugar and rice planters of Oakland Plantation, Jefferson Parish; and Roseland Plantation, St. Charles Parish, Louisiana. Papers consist of personal correspondence, a diary, and two memorandum books. Included are Civil War letters of Lieutenant Philip Minor Kenner. Plantation diaries and correspondence of Charles Oxley, husband of Martha Kenner, record activities at Roseland Plantation. Available on microfilm 5735 and 5322: University Publications of America Confederate Military Manuscripts Series B Reel 10 and Records of Ante-bellum Southern Plantations Series I, Part 1, Reel 5 For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 775.

Kerr, E. W. Papers, 1898-1951 (bulk 1925-1949). Approximately 12.5 linear ft. Location: 77:22-34, OS:K. Baton Rouge engineer. Kerr was an LSU professor of mechanical engineering (1905-1916), an efficiency engineer for the Cuba Cane Sugar Corporation of Havana, Cuba (1916-1931), and a consultant to southwest Louisiana sugar factories (1935-1949). Papers include correspondence, technical data and notes, blueprints and related printed items documenting Kerr's career in the sugar industry. Papers also include family letters and personal correspondence related to business matters. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1308.

Kleinpeter, Joseph and family. Papers, 1803-1895 (bulk 1820-1865). 0.25 linear ft., 2 volumes. Location: C:63, OS:K, J:6, 98:. Sugar planter of Variety Plantation in Iberville Parish, Louisiana. Papers include land records, slave sales, mortgages, and succession documents. A record book includes entries of slave births (1822-1852). There are also Civil War military papers and two Bureau of Refugees labor contracts (1865-1866). Some items in French. Available on microfilm 5322: University Publications of America Records of Ante-bellum Southern Plantations Series I, Part 1, Reel 9. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1241.

Landry family. Papers, 1831-1903, undated. 0.5 linear ft. Location: U:198, G:15, OS:L. Residents of Paincourtville, Assumption Parish, Louisiana. The majority of letters are personal and are written by various members of the family, including some relatives from Quebec. The later correspondence has a good percentage of business letters. The documents include bills, receipts, and sugar sales. Some in French. Available (with some omissions) on microfilm 5322: University Publications of America Records of Ante-bellum Southern Plantations Series I, Part 1, Reel 8. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 731.

Landry, Charles. Mortgage, 1860. 1 item. Location: Misc. Mortgage on a sugar plantation in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, giving the size of the plantation and names and ages of slaves. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1927.

Landry, Elu. Estate record book, 1848-1851. 1 ms. vol. (on microfilm). Location: Mss. Mf.:L. Louisiana sugar planter.Record book kept by the administrator of Elu Landry's Louisiana sugar plantation includes accounts of money paid and received by the estate, a list of debts, and a plantation diary (1848-1850) describing daily work assignments, sugar harvest, levee construction and maintenance, and a cholera epidemic. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 3106.

Landry, Severin. Family Papers, 1838-1887 (bulk 1843-1882). 148 items, 2 vols. Location: U:199, G:15. Sugar planter of Assumption Parish, Louisiana. Collection includes personal and family correspondence, business and financial records, plantation regulations, and a daybook (1846-1849) and journal (1846-1865) kept by Dufossard Landry recording sales of plantation produce. Chiefly in French. Available (with some omissions) on microfilm: University Publications of America Records of Ante-bellum Southern Plantations Series I, Part 1, Reel 8. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 210.

Landry, Shirley, 1926-, interviewee. Shirley and Reed Landry oral history interview, 1993. 1 sound cassette (45 minutes), Index (3 pages). Location: L:4700.0221. Resident of Four Corners, a community south of Franklin, St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, and the daughter of a sugarcane farmer. She married Reed Landry, also a sugarcane farmer. Shirley Landry recalls early life on a farm near Jeanerette, Louisiana; Four Corners in the 1930s-1950s; the local general store and dance hall; relations with African Americans; and Sunday traditions. Reed Landry describes technological changes in sugarcane farming; modern planting and harvesting routines; and modern varieties of sugarcane planted in Louisiana. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4700.0221.

Latimer, George. Letters, 1836. 6 items. Location: Misc.:L. Sugar merchantof the firm of Latimer & Fernandes in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. These six letters from George A. Latimer and the firm of Latimer & Fernandes to Sidney Mason concern the Puerto Rican sugar trade with the United States. They were written from various locales in Puerto Rico and the Northeastern United States and date from the period Aug. 8-Nov. 26, 1836. Mss. 3858.

Lazell, Perkins & Co. Correspondence, 1839-1845. 3 items. Location: Misc. Letters from clients in New Orleans, La., request the forging of sugar mill shafts and discussing other business. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1404, 1417.

Leche, Richard W. Papers, 1804, 1889-2008, undated. Approximately 100 linear ft., 155 volumes. Location: 80:-81:, 85:, 98:L, MAP CAGE, OS:L, VAULT:1, VAULT:21, VAULT MRDF 15. Orleans Parish native and 44th governor of Louisiana from 1936-1939. Collection is comprised of Leche's gubernatorial papers, which include chiefly office files of correspondence and a variety of printed materials; pre-gubernatorial and gubernatorial campaign papers; post-gubernatorial papers; and a variety of other materials, in large part photographic items and scrapbooks, spanning the three aforementioned eras. Collection also includes papers of Elton Reynolds Leche and Richard W. Leche, Jr. Mss. 2060.

Letter to Chs. [Charles] Biberon, 1856, Dec. 1. 1 item. Location: Misc:L. Anonymous letter (in French, with English translation) that refers to the hurricane that struck Last Island, a barrier island south of Houma, La., in August 1856. Letter mentions the effect of the storm on families, and cane and cotton crops. Appears to be the first page of a longer letter, since it bears no closing or signature. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4936.

Leverich, Charles P. Correspondence, 1834-1847. 81 items. Location: A:56. Factor of New York City associated with J. H. Leverich and Company of New Orleans. Correspondence consists of letters from New Orleans merchants, factors and Louisiana and Mississippi planters discussing the sguar trade. Letters from St. Mary Parish planters refer to shipping sugar and other cargo, a mortgage on Leonidas Polk's plantation, floods, and the parish's health. Letter from William J. Minor of Natchez mentions his interest in horse racing and his son's finances. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1078, 1220, 1352, 1506, 2418.

Leverich, Charles P., 1803-1876. Papers, 1832-1852. 16 letters. Location: Misc. Charles Palmer Leverich was a New York City shipping merchant, commission agent, and investment banker who acted as a sugar and cotton factor for planters in New Orleans, La., and Natchez, Miss. Letters received by Charles Leverich in New York from correspondents in New Orleans discuss business affairs, economic conditions in New Orleans, prices for various commodities, family news, illnesses and epidemics in New York and New Orleans, and social events. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4009, 4023.

Leverich, William. Letter, 1841 Oct. 7. 1 item. Location: Misc.:L. Cotton and sugar planter of West Feliciana and Lafourche parishes. Leverich discusses business loans and the repayment of these loans in cotton and sugar, and he mentions the debts owed by the estate of Judge Mathews. He also writes that it would be tiring for \"Fanny\" to travel from Pittsburg to New Orleans by way of railroad and river steamer. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 3864.

Lewis, Irma Polidore, 1945-, interviewee. Oral history interview, 1993. 1 sound cassette (45 minutes), Index (3 pages). Location: L:4700.0219. Daughter of a sugarcane worker and life-long resident of Four Corners, a community south of Franklin, St. Mary Parish, Louisiana. Lewis recalls her childhood as the daughter of unwed parents; being trained in carpentry by her uncle; work as a child on a sugarcane farm; plumbing and other self-provisioning skills; and traditional foods and folk medicines. Lewis also discusses her inability to attend college; and her involvement in the Four Corners Community Center. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4700.0219.

Lockett, Noland, 1938-, interviewee. Oral history interview, 1993. 1 sound cassette (1.5 hours), Index (7 pages). Location: L:4700.284. Resident of Four Corners, a community south of Franklin, St. Mary Parish, Louisiana. Lockett, the great-grandson of a migrant sugarcane worker from the Caribbean, was a building contractor and former associate dean of a junior college. Lockett discusses the logging industry at Four Corners; the origin and history of the Lockett clan; local sugar growing and South Coast Plantation; service by African Americans in the Korean War; the plantation store system; and race relations. Lockett also discusses his seminary experience; plans for a private school in the area; and recalls childhood memories of Mardi Gras; gambling and his father; and social conditions of his community. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4700.284.

Louisiana sugar documents, 1859. 2 items. Location: Misc. Statement of account for shipment of molasses, by Hawkins & Norwood of New Orleans, and certificate of gauging for this shipment. Statement addressed to Jas. A. Brown, Manchac, Louisiana. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 3646.

Louisiana sugar and rice trade collection, 1884-1936. 175 items, 6 vols. Location: C:30, F:8. The Louisiana Sugar and Rice Exchange was a commodities brokerage concern in New Orleans. Raymond J. Martinez was the editor and publisher of THE RICE JOURNAL. Records consist of correspondence, form letters, announcements, financial reports, minutes of meetings, and broadsides. Papers of Raymond J. Martinez include correspondence; statistics of the rice industry; and items for publication. Photographs depict International Harvester Company equipment and some individuals; papers and letters concerning the photographs are included. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 784.

Louisiana Sugar Company (New Orleans, La.). Records, 1912. 2 reports. Location: Misc. The Louisiana Sugar Company, based in New Orleans, La., operated six sugar factories across Louisiana. A 1912 comparative laboratory report compares figures on the grinding of sugarcane, yield of sugar, amount of sucrose in the sugar, and oil burned for grinding. Cane value tables compare costs of sugarcane and manufacturing. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4235.

Louisiana Sugar Planters Association. Papers, 1877-1917.1 linear ft. Location: U:212-213, G:16. Sugar planters' association based in New Orleans. Correspondence pertains to meetings; statistics on production; cane cutting machine; Spanish, Italian, and German immigrants working as plantation laborers; and supervisors and funding needed for a molasses refining test. Papers include articles reviewed by the association, including N. A. Helmer's "Evaporation in Multiple Effects" (June 1907). Material includes a minute book (1877-1891), a bill for membership in he American Protective Tariff League (1908) and letters relating to the Association's dues and resignations. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 266, 1492.

Magruder, W.H. Nathaniel, Papers, 1921-1963. 0.3 linear feet. Location: 50:15, OS:M. Correspondence and other records related to W.H. Nathaniel Magruder's management of Central Hershey sugar refinery in Cuba. The records document Magruder's relationships within the larger management structure and his experience with organized labor interests. Mss. 3915.

Marshall, George B. (George Benoist). Family Papers, 1807-1900 (bulk 1850-1880). 0.5 linear ft. Location: B:41, J:7. Sugar and cotton planter of Crescent Plantation, Cheneyville, Rapides Parish, Louisiana, and captain in the Confederate army. Collection includes records, daybooks, bills, receipts, and other documents related to the plantation. Includes a 1866 record of fines imposed on African Americans for breaking the peace. Available (with some omissions) on microfilm 5735: University Publications of America Confederate Military Manuscripts Series B, Reels 12-13. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 969.