Special Collections News & Notes

Prior to the celebrated Baton Rouge Bus Boycott, the shared wounds of inequity and discrimination had marshaled other preludes to the Civil Rights Movement in the capital region. As early as the 1940s, Black community leaders, veterans, and students in…Read more ›

Up until late last year Special Collections has been home to a single, medieval manuscript: a particularly fine book of hours generously donated to the Libraries by John S. McIlhenny in 1991 as the Library’s ceremonial two millionth book. Resting…Read more ›

LSU Libraries Special Collections’ manuscript collections are justly celebrated for their stories of African Americans in Louisiana and the south more broadly, be those stories told in the digital collection about the Free People of Color, or as recently cited…Read more ›

Over roughly a decade, plant collectors of all stripes braved the Louisiana wilds to procure plants for one of the 20th century’s most talented and accomplished botanical artists, at times side by side with her (and her uncompromising eye for…Read more ›

War. Natural disaster. Epidemic. Social upheaval. Political turmoil. Spend enough time digging through archival collections and you’ll soon realize that these things happen over and over again throughout history, often simultaneously. Archives record the joys, sorrows, and monotony of being…Read more ›

LSU Libraries recently selected a recipient for LSU Libraries Special Collections’ annual travel grant program, which supports the use of Special Collections materials in a research project. The $1,000 grant can be applied to travel, lodging, food, and other research-related costs…Read more ›

Alumni William “Bill” Conti and Shelby Cox Conti of Los Angeles are giving LSU the original musical scores from Bill’s prolific career as a composer and conductor. The William and Shelby Conti Papers, to be held in LSU Libraries Special…Read more ›

We find ourselves living in a historic moment. The outbreak of COVID-19 has thrust the LSU community into the unprecedented challenges of safely living, working, teaching and learning during a pandemic. LSU Libraries Special Collections is launching a campus-wide initiative…Read more ›

As our days under lockdown turn to weeks and now months, it’s getting harder to remember a time when going to the library and physically touching books was a possibility, and the tactile experience of holding a material piece of…Read more ›

LSU Libraries Special Collections and the Ogden Honors College will host a book talk and signing with Dr. Paul E. Hoffman and Dr. Michael Desmond on Wednesday, April 8, 2020 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the lecture hall…Read more ›

LSU Libraries Special Collections presents “Louisiana’s Natural Treasure: Margaret Stones, Botanical Artist,” on exhibition at Hill Memorial Library from February 10 – June 27, 2020. Selected works from the Native Flora of Louisiana watercolor drawings, as well as archival materials…Read more ›

LSU Libraries welcomes Christine Cloud as Instruction and Curatorial Assistant in Special Collections. She prepares and sets up materials for classes who visit Hill Memorial Library and helps the curator to process book donations and publicize new acquisitions. Cloud says she…Read more ›

While LSU Football was winding its way through a successful 2020 postseason, Special Collections was enjoying a big win of its own, adding a copy of the large, impressive Nuremberg Chronicle to our rare book collections. Published in 1493 in…Read more ›

2019 marks the 400th anniversary of enslaved people landing on the shores of Virginia, thus beginning the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade in North America. To recognize this event, The Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL) Special Collections Interest Group curated its…Read more ›

As we head toward the holidays we’re reminded again at just how exciting it is to open packages: slicing through tape, unwrapping paper, shaking and guessing contents, before finally revealing the treasures tightly nestled in each box. This is especially…Read more ›

On October 24th, LSU Libraries Special Collections hosted “Afternoon in the Archives: Book Arts” in conjunction with the “Exploding the Codex: Book Arts in Special Collections” exhibition now open in Hill Memorial Library. The work of three of LSU’s Art…Read more ›

LSU Libraries Special Collections presents the exhibition, “The Hidden Treasures and Historical Importance of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris” in association with the LSU College of Art & Design. A small selection of items related to the School of…Read more ›

In the spring of 2019, LSU Libraries’ Special Collections revived its long-dormant Purchasing Committee to help to advise the Curator of Books on book acquisitions and collection development policies.   Last active some twenty years ago, the reborn committee is made…Read more ›

I was delighted to be a part of the team that put together the current exhibition, “Exploding the Codex: Book Arts in Special Collections.” You can view this exhibition in the Main Gallery of Hill Memorial Library during regular library…Read more ›

As part of Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LBP)’s Louisiana: The State We’re In,  André Moreau interviewed Assistant Curator of Manuscripts Melissa Smith in spring 2019 on the life and times of Baton Rouge composer and businesswoman Doralice Fontane (1905-1980), whose papers are housed in…Read more ›