Tulane University's
Louisiana Research Collection

The Louisiana Research Collection (LaRC) preserves an extensive collection of political literature, such as handouts, campaign flyers, and political brochures. Such small printed items are called “ephemera” because they are meant to be glanced at and then tossed away; they therefore have a brief, or “ephemeral,” lifespan. This selection from LaRC’s political ephemera collection spans 1860 to 1920. In addition to being colorful and fun, campaign literature can be of enormous importance to a surprising variety of researchers. Campaign literature preserves a wealth of information, including a candidate’s name, race, sex, age, party, party faction, platform, resume, campaign slogan, business, offices held, endorsements, and a photograph of the candidate and or even the candidate’s family. It therefore is invaluable for a wide range of research topics and is often a useful place to start for many research projects. LaRC’s collection covers both local New Orleans elections, statewide Louisia...

Louisiana specialist Ken Owen is retiring from the Louisiana Research Collection at the end of this month. We are highlighting some of his (many) contributions over the next couple of weeks. -Eira Tansey In a state internationally renowned for the poetic depth and sheer imaginative sweep of its political corruption, state inspector general’s reports carry a special significance. Ken Owen began collecting those reports for the New Orleans metro region ten years ago and the Louisiana Research Collection now has an almost complete collection for our part of the state. Where can a researcher find an index to those reports? Not at the State Archives. Not even at the State Inspector General’s office. The only index to state inspector general’s reports exists at the Louisiana Research Collection; and, that index has been available to researchers online for several years, thanks to Ken Owen. To learn more about state inspector generals reports and to view the online index, click here . Written...

Our library has a growing number of records and papers related to Louisiana's LGBT community, history, and culture. Most of these records can be found in the Manuscripts department , and in the Louisiana Collection vertical files . You can help us contribute to the holdings of both in two ways. If you have flyers, tickets, brochures, posters, or other ephemera passed out by local LGBT groups, please collect them for us, and we will integrate them into our Louisiana Collection vertical files. If you are involved in a particular LGBT organization, club, church, krewe, outreach, or activism, and have records documenting the history of your organization, we may be interested in acquiring these as part of a collection of records for the Manuscripts department. Highlights of our LGBT Manuscripts holdings include the Otto Stierle Gay Carnival collection, and the Knights d'Orleans records. For more information on donating items to our holdings, please contact Leon Miller . For assista...

Eighty years ago today, the Louisiana House voted 58-40 to impeach Governor Huey P. Long on charges of attempting to suppress the freedom of the press. A New York Times article on April 7 noted the "riotous session" which included fainting Representatives and Long supporters rallying outside the House. The Manuscripts department at Tulane University's Special Collections Library has a number of resources on Huey P. Long, including campaign ephemera, photographs, pro- and anti-Long materials, and issues of Huey Long's newspaper American Progress . If you would like a summary of these resources, please contact Eira . (Image of Huey P. Long in his pajamas, unknown date, Leon Trice Photography. Leon Trice Louisiana Political Photographs, Manuscripts Collection 950, Manuscripts Department, Special Collections, Tulane University Libraries. Image may not be reproduced without permission.) Posted by Eira Tansey.

The Manuscripts department has a number of political collections and papers from various politicians. The Leon Trice Louisiana Political Photographs provides an interesting look at Huey Long’s personal activities and public life. The photographs in this collection were made by Leon Trice, a New Orleans area photographer who also worked for the Associated Press in the 1930s. Trice’s job was not without its occupational hazards; at one time he was knocked down on Long’s command . Trice was a photographer for the New Orleans States in 1920, and later opened his own studio in 1937. Manuscripts acquired Trice’s photography collection (including non-political subjects) in 1988, as a gift from Leon Trice, Jr. The Leon Trice Louisiana Political Photographs Collection also has photographs of Earl K. Long, O.K. Allen, Richard Leche, and Robert Maestri. (Image of Huey P. Long playing golf, unknown date, Leon Trice Photography. Leon Trice Louisiana Political Photographs, Manuscripts Collection 950...