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.
|
Anderson, Mollie E. Papers, 1863-1903 (bulk 1880-1889). 70 items. Location: B:16. Resident of St. Amant, Ascension Parish, Louisiana. Papers include letters (1880-1889) from the related Morgan family, farmers of Stonypoint, East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. There are a few letters (1886) from Walton County, Florida, to Mrs. Mollie E. Anderson's husband, Daniel. Included is a political broadside by John Pickett to members of the Farmers' Union and People's Party relative to the lottery issue in the 1892 Louisiana gubernatorial campaign. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2171. |
|
|
Anderson, William H. Letter, 1845 July 19. 1 letter. Location: Misc.:A. William H. Anderson in New Hope, an extinct town in Dallas County, Ala., writes Jesse W. Norris of Pickens Court House, Ala., telling how he had just traveled to several schools for young women in southern Alabama conducting examinations and attending school conventions. He also speculates on his undecided future plans. Mss. 3964. |
|
|
Andrews, James M. Papers, 1846-1892. .25 linear ft. (103 items; 1 ms. vol., 1 printed vol.). Location: U:6. Farmer of Clinton, East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. In the 1840s he was a member of the Johnson Guards, Andrew Jackson Regiment, as part of the Texas Army of Occupation. Papers include correspondence, legal documents, poems, nursery price lists, home recipes and remedies, tax and merchandise receipts, Confederate bonds, and the succession accounts of Mrs. Louisa Andrews. Correspondence includes letters from James' father discussing relatives, local affairs, and crop conditions in Clinton. Letters from his daughter describe economic conditions in Amite, Louisiana. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 861. |
|
|
Anne Rice collection, 1979-1991. 0.5 linear ft. Location: W:69. New Orleans, Louisiana author. Articles, interviews, and reviews by and about Anne Rice and her works. Includes audio tapes of interviews of Rice on National Public Radio (undated) and on a Larry King radio broadcast (November 1988). For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4446. |
|
|
Anonymous Civil War letter, 1863 August 11. 1 item. Location: Misc:A. Letter from a young woman residing near Campbell County Court House, Virginia, reporting that a cousin, Robert Andrews, had distinguished himself at Winchester and had been wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2121. |
|
|
Anonymous Civil War letter, [1863] October 4. 1 item. Location: Misc:A. Letter from a Southern woman who had lived in New York City prior to the Civil War compares the changes that have been made during the Civil War and in particular mentions sermons of abolitionist Dr. Henry Whitney Bellows. She also describes the problems encountered in passing through Fortress Monroe under a flag of truce. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2121. |
|
|
Anonymous Civil War scrapbook, 1856-1863. 1 volume. Location: UU:110. Clippings, mostly from Mobile, Alabama, Advertiser and Register, of poems and Civil War news. Scrapbook also includes fashion designs from magazines. Available on microfilm 5750: University Publications of America Southern Women and Their Families in the 19th Century: Papers and Diaries Series E, Reel 1. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 893. |
|
|
Anonymous Confederate civilian letters, 1863 August 27-29. 2 items. Location: Misc:A Pages from a letter-diary of a plantation owner, possibly the wife of a Confederate soldier, recording daily activities, local news, plantation work, and slave health. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2997. |
|
|
Anonymous diary, circa 1847. 1 diary. Location: MISC:A. Woman's diary. She writes mainly of being at her aunt and uncle's house, possibly a plantation, near Biloxi, Mississippi. She writes of leaving New Orleans, Louisiana and reaching Biloxi (June 24); of a boat race around Deer Island (August 23); and of Governor Albert G. Brown dining at her aunt and uncle's house (September 23). Mss. 5359. Referenced in Guides: New Orleans to 1861, Women
|
|
|
Anonymous dry goods store ledger, circa 1920-1929. 1 volume. Location: N:2. Ledger contains records of customer accounts and lists of purchases from a dry goods store, most likely located in New Orleans. Customers listed include Mrs. Andrew Stewart of Oak Alley Plantation, Mrs. Harry P. Williams (Marguerite Clark Williams), and Mrs. E. A. McIlhenny. Items sold include women and children's clothing, luncheon and bridge sets, bolts of fabric, and napkins. Mss. 5341 |
|
|
Anonymous letter describing Havana, Cuba, 1844 May 4. 1 item. Location: Misc:A. Letter written from Havana, Cuba, addressed to author's sister Mrs. William P. Chapman, Sandusky, Ohio. The writer describes landscapes, the city, public activities, and meeting with the widow and daughter of recently deceased Sumner Lincoln Fairfield. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 3763. Referenced in Guides: Women, Literature
|
|
|
Anonymous letter from New Orleans, 1861 March 28. 1 item. Location: Misc:A. Personal letter from 'Georgie,' New Orleans, Louisiana, to 'Caroline,' relating family news and social activities. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 636. Referenced in Guides: Women, New Orleans in the Civil War
|
|
|
Anonymous letter from New Orleans, 1864 November 15. 1 item. Location: Misc.A. Letter from Sarah, apparently a young girl and resident of New Orleans, Louisiana, written upon her return from a trip to New York City, commenting on a minstrel show in New Orleans, Louisiana, and expressing interest in the New York presidential election returns. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1418. |
|
|
Anonymous letter, 1871. 1 item. Location: Misc:A. New Orleans, Louisiana, minister's wife describes yellow fever situation and church duties. Letter is written on the letterhead of Randolph, Singleton, and Brown, Attorneys at Law. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 70. |
|
|
Anonymous photograph album pages, 1927. 7 photographic prints, 2 copy prints. Location: 65:5. Two photograph album pages hold seven prints: a photograph of the 1927 Mississippi River flood at Cottonport, La.; two photographs of teenagers on a picnic; two photographs of members of Company H, 156th Infantry of the Louisiana National Guard doing flood relief duty at Marksville, Avoyelles Parish, La.; and two snapshots of women boating on a lake. Copy prints are of originals. Mss. 3961. Referenced in Guides: Women
|
|
|
Anthony and Chapman-Catt lecture admit card, 1895. 1 item. Location: E:Imprints. Admittance card to a lecture symposium featuring Susan B. Anthony and Mrs. C. L. Chapman-Catt speaking on 'Women's Inequality before the Law,' to be held at the Assembly Hall in New Orleans. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1189. Referenced in Guides: Women, New Orleans 1866-
|
|
|
Applewhite, Cornelia. Papers, 1877-1878, 1924-1925, undated 3 items, 2 ms. Vols., 2 printed vols. [on microfilm]. Location: Mss. Mf.:A. Student at Whitworth Female College, Brookhaven, Mississippi. Two notebooks containing entries on basic subjects; lists of students; and biographical and genealogical notes. Also included are a printed song book (1877); a printed volume on the history of Sarepta (1924-1925); and three pictures. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 3498. |
|
|
Arndt, Hilda C. M. and Harrison A. Dobbs Papers, 1946-1956. 242 items. Location: D:94. Faculty members of the School of Social Welfare, LSU, Baton Rouge. Correspondence, records of Arndt's and Dobbs' community and public service activities, reports, and newspaper clippings. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2508, 2518. |
|
|
Arndt, Hilda C. M., interviewee. Oral history interview, 1993. 1 sound cassette (45 minutes), Transcript (8 pages). Location: L:4700.0320. Faculty member of LSU's School of Social Work. Arndt discusses her decision to enter social work; her education and career before coming to LSU; the impact of World War II on day care for children; and the LSU School of Social Work faculty, students' curriculum and field experiences, and enrollment. Arndt also describes her professional activities and honors received; and compares schools of social work at Tulane and LSU. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4700.0320. |
|
|
Arnold, Richard. Family Papers, 1852-1880. 0.25 linear ft. Location: 1:2. Richard Arnold and his family lived in Charleston, S.C. in the 1800s. Papers consist of receipts, promissory notes, and tax receipts of Richard Arnold, and letters and invitations to and from his daughter, Alice. Mss. 822. |