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Showing posts from September, 2012

Louis Gilmore and a love poem

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Twentieth-century New Orleans poet Louis Gilmore (1891-1972) was the son of city attorney and U.S. congressman Samuel Louis Gilmore (1859-1910), and the brother of Martha Gilmore Robinson.  Born in New Orleans, he attended college at Columbia University, and then served in the Army during World War I.   Back home, his primary professional interest became literary writing.  He also translated from French literature, and worked as an editor at The Double Dealer , a literary monthly published in New Orleans in the 1920s.  The name he chose to use on publications was Louis Gilmore, but in letters, his friends and family would call him Sam. LaRC Manuscripts Collection 695, formally titled Samuel Louis Gilmore, Jr. papers, 1909-1996, consists of the personal and literary papers of Louis Gilmore, and it contrasts sharply with our collection relating to his father (Collection 618), both being centered in New Orleans, but of importantly different generations and circles.  Included

Rising Tide 7, Sept. 22

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The 7 th Rising Tide conference will be held on Saturday, September 22, 2012 on the campus of Xavier University, New Orleans.    The organizers describe this annual event as “a conference on the future of New Orleans” and a “day-long program of speakers and presentations … tailored to inform, entertain, enrage and inspire.”   This unique gathering began in 2006 as a post-Katrina New Orleans bloggers’ advocacy group, and has now grown into a larger-scale, upbeat blend of an academic symposium and a Louisiana festival.    The first keynote speaker this year will be well-known scholarly author and activist Lawrence N. Powell , with “ The Accidental History of an Accidental Book .”    Dr. Powell is an Emeritus Professor of History at Tulane University, and a familiar face in Special Collections.   The previous year's first keynote speaker was another noted Tulane author and geographer, Richard Campanella, who delivered a lively presentation about New Orleans neighborhoods.

Isaac information

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Hurricane Isaac made its landfall in Louisiana on the evening of August 28, 2012, as a Category 1 hurricane, continuing to batter the state for days.   Isaac caused at least nine fatalities in the United States and at least thirty-four in Hispaniola. Gov. Jindal Holds Unified Command Group, Updates On State Response to Isaac, Sept. 4, 2012.  Hurricane Isaac Power Outages Remain Across Louisiana, Huff Post Green , Sept. 4, 2012. Our Schiro Reading Room has now resumed its normal schedule, as the fall semester gets underway. We learned Wed., 9/5, that a long-time Howard-Tilton library colleague, Ann George , was among those who perished in the storm. Captions: large old oak tree down across Gentilly Blvd. in New Orleans, Saturday 9/1; power discussion near Nashville and Prytania, in New Orleans, Monday evening, 9/3. Post and photographs by Susanna Powers