Middleton Library, c. 1960, illustration by Ben Looney.

The LSU community celebrated the dedication of a new library on October 23, 1959.  To help mark the anniversary of this momentous occasion, LSU Libraries Special Collections has mounted  the mini-exhibition Troy H. Middleton Library: 50 Years of Service to LSU, now on display in Hill Memorial Library’s lecture hall.  The exhibition features the architects’ rendering, images of the library’s construction, and a pen and ink drawing of the completed library.  Also included are a narrative and photographs on the life of Troy H. Middleton for whom the library was renamed in 1979, and a brief history of technological change in the library.

Constructed  between April 1956 and August 1958, the LSU Library was designed by the architectural firm Bodman, Murrell & Smith and opened in September 1958.  According to a contemporary press release, the new library contained enough steel to build 1600 cars and enough concrete to build a three-foot-wide sidewalk from Baton Rouge to New Orleans.  Images on display give a glimpse at various phases of construction, from reinforcing the foundation to erecting the steel skeleton to assembling the stacks.  A pen-and-ink drawing by Ben Earl Looney shows the exterior of the completed structure, ca. 1960.

Troy H. Middleton became almost synonymous with LSU during his service to the University.  As a major in the U.S. Army, Middleton arrived on campus in 1930 to become commandant of ROTC cadets.  Middleton also served as assistant vice president of the University in the wake of the “University Scandals” in 1939 and comptroller until the end of 1941.  During the Second World War, Middleton ably served as a division and corps commander in the invasion of Sicily and Italy in 1943, the post-D-Day thrust through France and Belgium, in 1944, and as defender of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge in 1944-1945.  Middleton returned to service at LSU after the war as comptroller and in 1951, the Board of Supervisors elected him president of the University, an office he held until 1962. It was largely through Middleton’s efforts that the new library became a reality.  The library was officially named the Troy H. Middleton Library in 1979 after Middleton’s death.

Technological change in the library—covering the  evolution of both search techniques and material format—is illustrated in the display as well.  B. F. French’s five-volume Historical Collections of Louisiana is used to show the transitions from  card catalog to online catalog,  and from printed volumes to microfiche to CD-ROM and finally to web-only resources.

The exhibition runs through December 23, 2009.

More activities and exhibitions commemorating the 50^th anniversary of the library’s dedication are taking place in Middleton Library. Visit http://www.lib.lsu.edu for details.

“I’m just a bill, sitting here on Capitol Hill….” Many of us remember that ditty from School House Rock, and exhibit goers can see those bills come to life at LSU’s own Hill–Hill Memorial Library where Special Collections’ current display “Two Gentlemen from Louisiana: The Congressional Papers of Senators John B. Breaux and J. Bennett Johnston, Jr” is on view beginning September 8th.  

Named for the manner in which Congressmen address one another on the House and Senate floors, the exhibition marks the formal opening of Breaux’s papers to researchers. Documents and photographs highlighting Breaux and Johnston’s political careers and legislative accomplishments during their combined fifty-five years in Congress are on view.  A small sampling of items related to other members of Congress from Louisiana is also displayed. 

Breaux, a Democrat from Crowley, first represented the Seventh District of Louisiana in the U. S. House of Representatives, beginning in 1972, and held that position until his election to the U.S. Senate in 1986.  He left office in January 2005.  Johnston, a native of Shreveport and also a Democrat, was elected to the Senate in 1972 and served until his retirement in January 1997.  Learn more about their papers at http://www.lib.lsu.edu/special/breaux.html and http://www.lib.lsu.edu/special/findaid/politicalpapers/4473.inv.

Breaux and Johnston plan to be on hand at a reception to be held at Hill on October 9th at 3:00 in conjunction with a symposium hosted by the LSU Manship School of Mass Communication, at which the senators will speak.   The symposium is at 2:00 and will be held in the Holliday Forum of the Journalism Building.  For more information on the exhibition and related programs contact LSU Libraries’ Special Collections at (225) 578-6546 or visit the web site online at http://www.lib.lsu.edu/special.

Images:
Left: Representative Breaux talking with a farmer, ca. 1975.

Right: Senator Johnston addressing Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Dinner as chair of the committee, 1975.