Tulane University's
Louisiana Research Collection

What do you think of when if you hear “New Orleans” and “hot dogs” together in the same sentence?  Some will think of the traditional or trendy lunch delicacies served by Lucky Dogs or Dat Dog.   Others will remember one of Ignatius Reilly’s attempts at employment in John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces.   LaRC Manuscripts Collection 124 (Orleans Parish School Board election scrapbooks, 1945-1963) holds a variety of papers collected and donated by Marta Barnes Lamar (1902-1996).   Researchers interested in the history of American public education and Louisiana politics will find the overall collection useful, by reading the correspondence, reports, minutes, advertisements, election posters, brochures, a handbook for school employees, a voting guide, booklets and numerous mounted and loose clippings about working conditions, teachers’ pay, school integration, and other pressing issues of the day. Clippings, often considered redundant in our...

Cornelia Dean Genella Sansum (1868-1960) and her her husband, Samuel Sansum (1858-1945), a lawyer, lived at 1636 Constantinople Street in New Orleans during the twentieth century. Mrs. Sansum's mother was Mary Louise Kennedy (1836-1899). Cornelia and Samuel Sansum were married in 1902.  Mrs. Sansum donated her rather small amount of personal papers to the library in 1950, and they are held in the Louisiana Research Collection as Manuscripts Collection 586.   This collection consists of handwritten correspondence, affectionate birthday greetings from Sam to Cornelia, a business card, a calling card, advertisements, their marriage announcement, a reception invitation, Samuel Sansum's 1918 certificate of naturalization, and Cornelia Sansum's small prebound datebook into which she wrote birth, death, and marriage dates of some of her relatives. Names represented include members of the Sansum, Genella, and Kennedy families of Louisiana and Mississippi. In t...

NOLA.com featured an article by Chelsea Brasted which briefly describes the upcoming bus tour about John Kennedy Toole's New Orleans. "John Kennedy Toole-themed bus tour will highlight sites, uncover documents of enigmatic author." The day of the event (Saturday, June 7, 2014) will begin and end in Baton Rouge, although plans are being finalized for a New Orleans pick-up location.   The tour organizer and authoritative guide will be Cory MacLauchlin, the author of Butterfly in the Typewriter , a beautifully readable biography of John Kennedy Toole. John Kennedy Toole papers , LaRC Manuscript Collection 740, is held by the Louisiana Research Collection, located in Jones Hall on the Tulane University campus.   The tour includes a stop at Jones Hall in the late morning. Posted by Susanna Powers PLEASE NOTE:  As of May 27, the June 7, 2014 tour has been CANCELLED.    It may be re-planned in the future.

Cory MacLauchlin, author of Butterfly in the Typewriter , is planning to host a John Kennedy Toole event on Saturday, June 7, 2014.    He recently posted this information on his web site: The New Orleans of A Confederacy of Dunces and John Kennedy Toole A tour of JKT’s New Orleans is being organized for June 7, 2014. We will escape from Baton Rouge! As your guide I will show you the sites and tell you the stories that inspired A Confederacy of Dunces . The tour includes a presentation of the Toole Papers at Tulane University, some of JKT’s favorite French Quarter haunts and a behind-the-scenes look at the Lucky Dog Warehouse. Space is limited. Tickets are on sale now through the Manship Theatre . If you have any questions please contact Marti Luke at martiluke@reagan.com The Louisiana Research Collection is honored to be a stop on the tour.   Posted by Susanna Powers PLEASE NOTE:  As of May 27, the June 7, 2014 tour has been CANCEL...

LaRC Public Services Librarian Sean Benjamin spoke about Tulane’s John Kennedy Toole archival collection today, to a lively and receptive group.    For many of them, this was their first exposure to special library collections and archival research methods.    Katharina Keppel, of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, convened her class in the Schiro Reading Room so that her students could learn more about Toole and about this world-renowned and unique resource.    The class is called “New Orleans and John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces ” (TIDE-1055-01).                Captions: Sean Benjamin, Katharina Keppel, and class members today; a selection of archival items from the John Kennedy Toole papers, and New Orleans publications of the era. Photographs and post by Susanna Powers

Cory MacLauchlin’s critical biography of John Kennedy Toole will be released on March 26, 2012, and Cory will be in New Orleans to mark the occasion. Butterfly in the Typewriter: The Tragic Life of John Kennedy Toole and the Remarkable Story of A Confederacy of Dunces gives readers the benefit of MacLauchlin’s in-depth research, in archival resources as well as by finding and interviewing many people who knew Toole during his lifetime. In Special Collections, we have had the pleasure of meeting and working with Cory MacLauchlin during his many research trips, over the last several years. His primary resource in learning about Toole’s life and writing has been LaRC’s Manuscripts Collection 740, John Kennedy Toole Papers ; his research also led him to the staff and collections of Tulane University Archives, Rare Books, and other New Orleans libraries and archives. We’ve also enjoyed learning about the book’s progress over time, by following his blog, which has now been incorporated into...

Filmmake Joe Sanford has recently made his documentary on John Kennedy Toole, the Omega Point, available to watch online. Sanford used images, correspondence and other materials from the John Kennedy Toole papers in this documentary. Having seen special screenings of the documentary around town, we are thrilled that Sanford has made it available to the public, and encourage you to watch and learn more about one of New Orleans' most famous authors. The Omega Point can be viewed online here . Posted by Eira Tansey. (Image of John Kennedy Toole, John Kennedy Toole papers, Manuscripts Collection 740, Louisiana Research Collection, Tulane University Libraries. Image may not be reproduced without permission.)

John Kennedy Toole: the omega point , Joe Sanford’s award-winning documentary about the life of novelist John Kennedy Toole, was shown at the Prytania Theatre today as a Louisiana Feature entry in the 21st annual New Orleans Film Festival . The venue of this event was especially fitting, as the old single-screen movie house itself provides the setting of one of the funniest chapters in A Confederacy of Dunces , when our fictional leading man Ignatius Reilly attempts to attend an evening show at his neighborhood movie theatre in uptown New Orleans. Today’s show was much calmer than that, as an appreciative audience enjoyed the colorful, poignant, and beautifully-crafted film. As explained in a question and answer session afterwards, the authenticity of the documentary was assured by the avoidance of editorial speculation. Even the comments by scholars interviewed in the film were almost entirely factual rather than judgmental. The result of this careful work was a thought-provo...

We have so many things to celebrate in New Orleans! The Saints Super Bowl victory was savored yesterday in the form of an elaborate and phenomenal heroes’ parade, the first of its kind, being called “Lombardi Gras” and “Dat Tuesday.” We’re happy to note another award—Filmmaker Joe Sanford’s documentary, John Kennedy Toole: the Omega Point , recently won the Rising Star Award for Excellence in Film at the 2010 Canada International Film Festival. See the blog post dated Feb. 9, 2010, in Butterfly in the Typewriter: The Brilliant and Tragic Life of John Kennedy Toole , with further details and accolades. Congratulations to Joe Sanford and his associates in the process of creating this documentary, especially our friends Cory MacLauchlin, and Joel Fletcher, both featured in interviews in the film. We look forward to a local screening before long. Posted by Susanna Powers

"As an Expression of Appreciation for Courtesies extended to the Club..." and many of us have a great appreciation of Toole, many years later. Caption: Certificate dated Oct. 20, 1953, thanking Fortier High School student John Kennedy Toole for serving as a guest speaker at a Kiwanis Club meeting. Note signature of Joseph Dresner, brother of Jacob Dresner; their family papers are also in the Louisiana Research Collection. Please request permission for reproduction of this image. Posted by Susanna Powers

Tulane University’s Louisiana Research Collection is pleased to announce that the Joel Fletcher papers are now open to the public. Joel Fletcher, author of the book Ken and Thelma , donated his papers to Tulane University in 2006. Joel Fletcher was a friend of John Kennedy Toole, author of A Confederacy of Dunces and Thelma Ducoing Toole, John’s mother. The papers consist of Joel Fletcher’s research files for Ken and Thelma , a book about his friendship with Ken and Thelma Toole, and how A Confederacy of Dunces came to be published. The collection contains correspondence, drafts, reviews, and supporting materials. The collection contains criticism on previous biographies of John Kennedy Toole, and Fletcher’s letters with Thelma Ducoing Toole, New Orleans author Poppy Z. Brite, University of New Orleans professor Kenneth Holditch, and friends of the Toole family. The Louisiana Research Collection at Tulane University’s Special Collections Library also has the papers o...

We are excited to announce that a selected group of our Manuscripts finding aids are now online. The finding aids are currently in a PDF format, and users will need a PDF reader to download and use them. Patrons can also search for keywords in most of the finding aids. This is just a small sample of the more than 1,000 manuscripts collections we hold, and we are planning to add more. If you wish to see a finding aid that isn't on the page, please contact us , and we will be happy to make it available if resources allow. Many of our noted collections now have their finding aids available online for the first time, including the papers of John Kennedy Toole , Rudolph Matas , Charles Colcock Jones , and Natalie Scott . We also have organizational records from the Christian Women's Exchange , First German Lutheran Church , Council of Social Agencies , and the Orleans Parish Medical Society . Many thanks to Neal Schexnider for his assistance with getting these online. Posted by Ei...

John Kennedy Toole—the Omega Point is a documentary film in production by writer/director Joe Sanford. Collaborators on the project include two Toole scholars who have worked extensively with our Manuscripts Collection 740, Joel Fletcher (author of Ken & Thelma ) , and Toole biographer Cory MacLauchlin (see Eira Tansey interview posted here Feb. 16, 2009). The film features conversations with Joel Fletcher and Cory MacLauchlin, as well as Dr. Kenneth Holditch (UNO), Dr. Pat Rickels (University of Louisiana Lafayette), Dr. Jane H. Bethune (Salve Regina University), Dr. Billy Merck (Washington State University), and others. Shooting of the documentary should be finished by July. A colorful four-minute video preview of the documentary is viewable on the film’s web site. Posted by Susanna Powers

The Phi Beta Kappa Society’s Tulane chapter (Alpha of Louisiana) is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. To commemorate this occasion, the national liberal arts honorary society has arranged a traveling exhibit which is on display in the Special Collections Gallery, 2nd floor of Jones Hall, across from the reading room. Local chapter officers have worked with Special Collections staff to include various intriguing items from our Manuscripts Collection 740, the John Kennedy Toole papers, as Toole was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa upon his graduation from Tulane in 1958. On display are his invitation to become a member, and membership certificate. To mark the centennial, the chapter is also sponsoring a lecture by Dr. Matt Cartmill, Professor of Anthropology, Boston University, and Research Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University. This will take place on Wed., April 22, 2009, at 5:00 pm, Jones Hall, Room 102, with a reception afterwards on the Jones Hall patio. The...

In early January, I interviewed Cory MacLauchlin, a faculty member at Germanna Community College in Virginia, who is currently working on a new biography of John Kennedy Toole (author of A Confederacy of Dunces ). If you are interested in Cory’s work or have questions for him, you may feel free to get in touch with him . - Eira Tansey EMT: Tell me a little about what brought you to this research. CM: I teach English at Germanna Community College Fredericksburg, Virginia. In terms of what brought me to this, A Confederacy of Dunces was always my favorite novel. I started teaching a class at Christopher Newport University on New Orleans culture and put Confederacy on the syllabus. In preparation for the lectures, I read Ignatius Rising , and I was pretty disappointed. Then I read Joel Fletcher's Ken and Thelma and I was surprised to find that Joel lived in Fredericksburg, Virginia. I got in touch with him and we began a correspondence. He encouraged me as I pursue...