Fall 2012

On Saturday, October 20, LaRC will welcome the Swiss Society to Tulane University. We will meet in Jones Hall, Room 204, at 1:00, for a presentation about LaRC followed by light refreshments and a viewing of holdings from the Swiss Society’s collection. LaRC is honored to be the Swiss Society’s official archives.

The Swiss Society of New Orleans is one of the oldest Swiss organizations in the United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Swiss Benevolent Society and adopted its current name in 1859. Originally, it helped the needy among its members with medical care, including hospitalization, medication, and burial plots. Its mission included encouraging Swiss immigration to the United States, organizing excursions back to Switzerland, and arranging social events for the New Orleans Swiss community.

Everyone is invited.

An exhibition featuring first editions of books by Lafcadio Hearn, whose writings promoted the mystique of New Orleans to the nation, as well as prized works from his art collection will be on view Oct. 18-28 in Tulane University’s Special Collections Gallery, Jones Hall, Room 205. Admission is free and open to the public.

“The Open Mind of Lafcadio Hearn in New Orleans,” will celebrate Hearn’s tolerance and cooperative mindset with art from Greece, Japan and the Hearn Collection at Tulane. The exhibit, co-sponsored by the Asian Studies Program and the Louisiana Research Collection, will also include La Cuisine Creole, A Collection of Culinary Recipes and numerous other Hearn works, as well as pieces by artists such as Ynez Johnston and Masaaki Noda.

“We are delighted to bring this exhibit to New Orleans," said exhibition coordinator Saeko Yatsuka-Jensen of Tulane's Asian Studies Program. "This is a rare opportunity to view not only many of Hearn's personal items, but to gain insight, through artists' interpretations, into how Hearn has influenced Japanese culture."

The exhibition will open at 6 p.m., Oct 18 with a lecture in the Freeman Auditorium, Room 205, of the Woldenberg Art Center by Bon Koizumi, Hearn’s great grandson and curator of the Lafcadio Hearn Museum in Matsue, Japan. A reception will follow.

Hearn, also known by the Japanese name Koizumi Yakumo, was internationally known for his books about Japan, especially its legends and ghost stories and for his writings about New Orleans where he lived a decade.

Additional co-sponsors of the exhibition include the city of Matsue, the Japan Club of New Orleans, the Japanese Garden Foundation of New Orleans, the Japan Society of New Orleans, the City of New Orleans, the Consulate-General of Japan at Nashville and the Special Collections Division of Howard-Tilton Memorial Library.
 

Recent Acquisitions

Kenneth Davis of Houston, Texas, donated publications related to Louisiana’s geology and the oil and petrochemical industries in our state. LaRC preserves publications for all major Louisiana geological organizations, including the Louisiana, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Shreveport geological societies.

Les Causeries du Lundi donated additional documents to their records. LaRC specializes in preserving the records of women’s literary, scholarly, and civic societies. In addition to being the official archives for les Causeries du Lundi, LaRC preserves the records of the Independent Women’s Organization, the Ruth McEnery Stuart Clan, the Quarante Club, and many others.

A generous donation from John Geiser made possible the acquisition of a large-format archival-grade scanner. LaRC is aggressively pursuing digital access to its collections and over the past two years and has placed more than 6,000 images online.

We Depend on Your Support

Please include the Louisiana Research Collection in your charitable giving and estate planning. LaRC depends on gifts to support major acquisitions and special projects. To note only two examples, an endowed fund from the Charles L. “Pie” Dufour estate made possible our online carnival design project, and LaRC was able to create an internship because of an endowed fund honoring Thelma Ducoing Toole. For information about sponsorships, endowed funds, and naming opportunities, please contact Leon Miller, (504-314-7833), lmiller@tulane.edu, or donate online now.