Manuscript Resources on Women's History
This guide describes manuscript collections documenting women's history in the Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections at LSU. It includes the papers of women, women's organizations, family papers with significant bodies of women's papers in them, and other collections that document women's history in one way or another.
LSU is fortunate because it collected women's papers very early, perhaps without systematically trying to do so. Women's voices, often buried in plantation collections and Civil War papers, have emerged from obscurity only in recent decades. Researchers coming to LSU can study the letters and diaries of plantation mistresses and teachers, the papers of women writers, and the papers of black women, among other sources. A number of our women's collections have been recently microfilmed by University Publications of America in its series on Southern Women and their Families, making these collections more widely accessible.
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Taylor, Calvin, 1805-1889. Family Papers, 1822-1913 (bulk 1840-1870). 1,970 items; 9 vols. Location: A:58-60, H:20. Mississippi land speculator and merchant (1830-1845) and lumber and sawmill operator (1846-1889). Calvin's brother Sereno was a Baptist preacher; his brother Lewis was a farmer in New Hampshire. Collection contains business correspondence, family correspondence from Sereno and Lewis Taylor, and a three-volume diary of Calvin's daughter Louisa, describing family activities in Handsboro, Mississippi (1889-1909). For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 525. |
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Taylor, Edna Baker. Post card album, circa 1906-1908. 2 vols. Location: J:17. Resident of Natchez, Mississippi. Albums contain post cards of various public and private buildings, homes, and parks in Dallas, St. Louis, Chicago, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, New York City, and Toronto. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1225. Referenced in Guides: Women, Natchez, Mississippi
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Taylor, Miles, 1805-1873. Family Papers, 1821-1954 (bulk 1821-1890). 200 items. Location: U:236, 99. Congressional representative, lawyer, judge, and sugar planter of Assumption Parish, Louisiana. Taylor's son, Thomas, was a sergeant in the 8th Louisiana Volunteers in the Civil War. Collection includes family letters, photographs, manuscript writings, genealogical and biographical materials, and reprints of speeches Taylor made in Congress (1856-1857). Mrs. Taylor's mother lived in Natchez and the collection includes letters between the two of them; and Civil War letters from Thomas Taylor as a prisoner of war in Saratoga Springs, New York. Available (with some omissions) on microfilm 5735: University Publications of America Confederate Military Manuscripts Series B, Reels 18-19. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1378, 1448, 1636, . |
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Taylor, Sereno. Papers, 1833-1869 (bulk 1849-1863). 11 items, 12 volumes, 1 microfilm reel, 1 compact disc. Location: A:60, H:20, MSS.MF:T. Baptist minister and educator of Mississippi and Louisiana. Served as head principal of the Silliman Female Collegiate Institute at Clinton, Louisiana, in the early 1850s. The collection consists of papers and personal diaries. Among the papers is a prospectus and lithograph of the Sparta, Georgia, Female Model School (1833); and a prospectus of the Taylor Montgomery Cottage College and Academy, Mississippi. Diaries relate to personal matters, weather conditions, school affairs, religious matters during the period from 1849 until 1863. Volume 12 contains comments on wounded Confederate soldiers in hospitals. Also included are the personal diaries of Henry Kirby (1854) and Mary Emerson Taylor (1859-1860, 1869). For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 617. |
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Taylor, Thomas Thomson. Papers, 1861-1866, undated. 510 items. Location: MSS.MF:T, MISC:T. U.S. Army colonel of the 12th and 47th Ohio Volunteer Regiments during the Civil War. Diaries kept during the war and letters to Taylor's wife, Margaret A. "Netta" relate to military life, military campaigns, troop movements, African American troops, and medical care. Letters from his wife relate to family matters, farming, health, concern for his well-being, and the progress of the war. Mss. 1647, 1653. |
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Tebo, Julie C. Papers, 1904-1966. 1 linear ft. Location: 38:77. Professional nurse and the secretary of the Louisiana State Board of Nurse Examiners. Papers pertain mainly to Tebo's professional career and her involvement in the state board. Items include correspondence, nursing publications, clippings, printed items, sermons, a map, notes, and photographs. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2768. |
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Terrell, Miles. Family Papers, 1859-1929. 317 items. Location: B:25. Miles Terrell, a cotton farmer of Rapides Parish, La., and his wife, Sarah Clifton Terrell were free people of color. Papers include bills, registration certificates for voting, receipts for payments on notes, subpoenas in civil cases for failure to pay debts, and tax receipts of Miles Terrell (1859-1879). After 1880 similar papers are addressed to Sarah Terrell. Mss. 843. Referenced in Guides: Women, African Americans
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Tew, Susan D. Papers, 1885-1926. 422 items, 1 vol. Location: B:25. Professor of classical languages at Newcomb College in New Orleans, and native of Jamestown, New York. The Tew family was related to the Goodrich family. Papers include family letters, legal papers, newspaper clippings, and printed items related to Newcomb College. Items concern the contributions of women during World War I, labor problems, aviation, auto racing, and the B.F. Goodrich rubber company. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1945. |
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Texada family. Papers, 1856-1999 (bulk 1865-1898). 1 linear foot, 4 oversize folders. Location: 19:9, OS:T. The Texada family, originally from Spain, immigrated to Natchez, Mississippi. In 1864, they moved to Rapides Parish, Louisiana, where they were significant landholders and planters. This collection consists of correspondence and genealogical materials. The genealogical materials include research and notes, newspaper clippings, photographs, copies of vital records, and excerpts from publications relating to the Texada family and the extended family including the Ker, Davidson, Pintard, Landers, Hickman, Luckett, and Peyton families. The bulk of the correspondence is from the Civil War period and is written to Margaret Ker Davidson Texada. The letters are predominately from Charles V. Cosby, her cousin; Joseph Welsh Texada, her husband; and John Pintard Davidson, her father. Mss. 5119. |
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The Reviewers Records, 1920-2015 (bulk: 1960-1970). 0.6 linear feet. Location: 6:64. Minutes, bylaws, officer lists, and yearbooks of The Reviewers, a Baton Rouge women's book discussion club organized in 1920. Mss. 5195. Referenced in Guides: Women, Baton Rouge
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