Tulane University's
Louisiana Research Collection

Today is #AskArchivists day on Twitter, in which over 120 archives and archival organizations from around the world are fielding questions from the public. The Louisiana Research Collection (@LA_Research) is participating, and we invite you to ask us questions - today or any day! You can keep up with the activity by following the #AskArchivists hashtag on Twitter, and following us @LA_Research . Posted by Eira Tansey.

For those of you who follow our Twitter account, you may have wondered about this symbol we use. The frog is an image from the Mystick Krewe of Comus' 1873 "Missing Links" parade costume designs. The Missing Links parade was an important event in New Orleans' Mardi Gras history, becoming one of the first major instances of the use of satire and political commentary in a krewe parade. The "Missing Links" referred to the work of Charles Darwin, and the parade not only sent up the theory of evolution, but other topics of the day including Reconstruction. Tulane's Louisiana Research Collection has a complete set of the Missing Links costume designs. They are an important part of preserving the history of Carnival in New Orleans. We are currently making high quality digital copies of the designs, and plan to put together a digital collection of them later this year. (Image from Mystick Krewe of Comus' 1873 Missing Links Parade Costume Designs, Collection...

You can now find us on Twitter! Follow our tweets here . We will be posting short updates, links back to the blog, and other news as it occurs. Our icon is the frog from the 1873 Mystick Krewe of Comus Missing Links parade. Posted by Eira Tansey.