Lt. Col. Bryan Black

 

Bryan Black (1872-1962) of New Orleans was an officer in the 140th Field Artillery (Washington Artillery), American Expeditionary Forces, stationed at Messac and Valdahon, France during World War I. He and his wife and three children lived on Arabella St. during the time period of this collection. After his military service, Bryan Black went into the insurance business.

LaRC Manuscripts Collection 97 holds the personal, military, and collected World War I papers of Lt. Col. Bryan Black.   In 1962, his son and daughters donated to Tulane University these documents and memorabilia, including handwritten and typed correspondence, numerous collected post cards, greeting cards, military papers, financial documents, a diary, family and military photographs and negatives, a published boxed set of stereographic photographs depicting scenes of World War I, telegrams, programs, items of social ephemera, printed pictures, advertisements, tags, tickets, fabric, medals, a cloth doll, military collar ornaments, buckles, buttons bearing slogans, ribbons, pins, books, pamphlets, newspaper clippings and other printed items. The long descriptive letters, predominantly written by Lt. Col. Black to his wife, concern family matters as well as his daily activities while stationed in France.  

To see a list of LaRC archival collections which include writings of American soldiers, see results of an advanced catalog search for archival collections specifying the subject heading "Soldiers' writings, American." 

This collection will be of interest to researchers in American and French history, and daily life in New Orleans during World War I.   Additional military and personal papers and photographs of Bryan Black are available in the Cummings and Black families papers, 1842-1960 (Manuscripts Collection 98).  

Captions:  items in Manuscripts Collection 97:  top, photographs of Lt. Col. Bryan Black on target range, and an unidentified woman in New Orleans; center, a Christmas letter to his wife ...   "Happy Christmas ...  Gee but I wish I could...." with a decorated handwritten Christmas dinner menu at Camp du Valdahon, France, December 25, 1918; bottom, a button "Welcome home, Soldiers and Sailors" and a "U.S." pin, printed pamphlets, a poem "November Eleventh" by Pvt. Hilmar R. Baukhage A.E.F. from the booklet "I was there! with the Yanks in France."    Images of items in the Louisiana Research Collection may not be re-published without permission.

Posted by Susanna Powers