Special Collections News & Notes

In 2022, LSU’s Board of Supervisors voted to recognize the significant contributions of four Black LSU pioneers by naming two programs and one building in their honor: the Pinkie Gordon Lane Graduate School, Lutrill and Pearl Payne School of Education, and…Read more ›

LSU Libraries Special Collections is proud to have participated in LSU Discover’s Summer Research Program for the first time this year. Entrusted with Special Collections’ rich repository of resources, two undergraduate participants spent their summers in Hill Memorial Library exploring…Read more ›

LSU Libraries Special Collections is proud to have participated in LSU Discover’s Summer Research Program for the first time this year. Entrusted with Special Collections’ rich repository of resources, two undergraduate participants spent their summers in Hill Memorial Library exploring…Read more ›

Following the Friends of the LSU Libraries’ (FOLL’s) annual Book Bazaar in April, which garnered a record-breaking turnout and raised an impressive $80,000, LSU Libraries honored the volunteers who played an integral role in this success. The inaugural “Giving Back…Read more ›

This spring, LSU Libraries launched the new Preservation Basics program at Hill Memorial Library, aimed at providing library graduate students with valuable hands-on experience in preservation techniques. Under the guidance of Caroline Ziegler, Special Collections’ conservation coordinator, this unique initiative…Read more ›

LSU Libraries recently hosted a celebration of Louisiana’s rich cultural heritage, bringing together librarians, content administrators, educators, and researchers from across the state. The three-day event was the first biannual Louisiana Digital Library (LDL) Fest, held on May 17-19, 2023,…Read more ›

LSU Libraries boasts one of the most prestigious Special Collections operations in the country and serves as a destination archive for researchers around the world. In February, a curator from the Louvre Museum in Paris, visited LSU Libraries Special Collections…Read more ›

After 50 years of searching for their grandfather’s long-lost publications as part of a family genealogical project, two cousins from Maryland, Renee Anderson and Sharon Young, had no idea that they would find what they had been searching for more…Read more ›

By Christine Wendling and Brooke Bell Mardi Gras Traditions During the past 300 years of Mardi Gras’ existence, certain customs have crystallized within the communities in and surrounding New Orleans. For example, krewes (pronounced “crews”) are social organizations that orchestrate…Read more ›

Video: a Mardi Gras scrapbook originally put together in the 1800s is being restored by LSU Libraries to preserve part of Louisiana’s cultural heritage. You can also view the digitized images of the scrapbook on the Louisiana Digital Library.

Since 1948, LSU Libraries has committed significant resources to the preservation of historic and current newspapers published in Louisiana. As part of that ongoing effort, the Libraries has collaborated with Reveal Digital on their initiative, American Prison Newspapers 1800–2020: Voices…Read more ›

LSU Libraries’ Exhibition Manager, Leah Wood Jewett, and Associate Professor at LSU’s College of the Coast & Environment, Tracy Quirk spoke on NPR’s “Louisiana Considered” about LSU Libraries’ new exhibition focused on the state’s wetlands. Dubbed, “Water, Water Everywhere: Control…Read more ›

LSU Libraries selected four scholars to receive research grants during the 2022-2023 academic year for their projects using materials in Special Collections’ holdings. Three travel grants cover funds for travel, lodging, and other types of support associated with a research…Read more ›

The Wyatt Houston Day Collection of Poetry by African Americans, the most important private collection of Black poetry, now belongs to LSU. The LSU Libraries Special Collections will house the over 800 items previously owned by book collector and dealer…Read more ›

The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, through the Coastal Impacts initiative, has chosen LSU Libraries – Special Collections as a host site for a new adult reading and discussion series. "Witness to Change: Community Conversations on Coastal Impacts".Read more ›

Friends and family of Julia Hawkins and members of the LSU Hilltop Arboretum joined us this weekend to celebrate her 106th birthday. Guests viewed original watercolors by botanical artist Margaret Stones. Hawkins and her late husband, Murray (former chair of…Read more ›

In 1971, John Stauffer “Jack” McIlhenny (1909-1997) transformed LSU Libraries with the gift of the personal library of his uncle, E. A. “Ned” McIlhenny of Avery Island, LA. The exhibition “Flora & Fauna at 50: The E. A. McIlhenny Natural…Read more ›

“The record, sometimes, is not very welcoming to me.” – Dre Tarleton, graduate assistant in LSU Libraries Special Collections  In the summer of 2020, LSU Libraries was presented with an unrestricted donor gift of $50,000 that allowed the Libraries to…Read more ›

LSU Libraries selected three scholars to receive travel grants supporting use of the LSU Libraries Special Collections in their dissertation projects. The grant covers travel and lodging costs associated with a research trip to Hill Memorial Library. We are excited…Read more ›

LSU Libraries Special Collections presents, “A Special Collections Sampling,” an exhibition now on display in Hill Memorial Library at LSU. Featured items include photographs, letters, documents, and books from all major collections, spanning over 500 years. The selections provide visitors…Read more ›