Use of manuscript materials. If you wish to examine items in the manuscript group, please fill out a call slip specifying the materials you wish to see. Consult the Container List for location information needed on the call slip. Photocopying. Should you wish to request photocopies, please consult a staff member. Do not remove items to be photocopied. The existing order and arrangement of unbound materials must be maintained. Reproductions must be made from surrogates (microfilm, digital scan, photocopy of original held by LSU Libraries), when available. Publication. Readers assume full responsibility for compliance with laws regarding copyright, literary property rights, and libel. Permission to examine archival materials does not constitute permission to publish. Any publication of such materials beyond the limits of fair use requires specific prior written permission. Requests for permission to publish should be addressed in writing to the Head, Public Services, Special Collections, LSU Libraries, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803-3300. When permission to publish is granted, two copies of the publication will be requested for the LLMVC. Proper acknowledgement of LLMVC materials must be made in any resulting writing or publications. The correct form of citation for this manuscript group is given on the summary page. Copies of scholarly publications based on research in the Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections are welcomed.

SUMMARY

BIOGRAPHICAL/HISTORICAL NOTE

Jules A. “Pete” Dornier Jr. was born in Convent, La. in 1910. His parents were Jules A. Dornier Sr. and Felice Dicharry Dornier. The Dorniers were a large Catholic family consisting of three daughters (Lillian, Hazle, and Mildred) and five sons (Jules Jr., James, Carroll, Benjamin, and Anthony). The Dornier family owned a farm in St. James Parish that produced dairy, strawberries, perique tobacco, and sugar. During World War II, Jules Jr. was in charge of the family estate and contracted German POW laborers from Camp Livingston and Camp Plauche. Several of the laborers remained friendly with the family after they returned to Germany, maintaining contact with Lillian Dornier into the 1960s. Jules Junior was married to Lucille Badeaux Dornier. They had three children: Jocelyn D. LeBoef, Jeanette D. Dawson, and Jules A. “Jay” Dornier III. Jules Jr. died April 11, 1989 at his residence in Oscar, La.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The Jules A. Dornier and Family Papers consist of correspondence and ephemera relating to several members of the Dornier family, with dates ranging from 1917 to 1965. The correspondence series has been divided into three subseries: letters and records concerning the Dornier family and farm business; letters and memoranda concerning Jules A. Dornier Jr. POW labor contracts; and letters, receipts, and other records from Lillian Dornier’s communications with friends, cousins, and former POW laborers and their families. The ephemera series consists of various items relating to several members of the Dornier family. These include a map and street guide of New Orleans belonging to Lillian Dornier, a grouping of prayer cards belonging to Benjamin Dornier, stock certificates belonging to Felice Dicharry Dornier, and copies of programs from school minstrel shows that list Dornier children as participants. The records have been arranged chronologically.

LIST OF SERIES AND SUBSERIES

Series I. Correspondence, 1926-1965

Subseries 1. Dornier family and farm business, 1926-1931

Subseries 2. Jules A. Dornier Jr. POW labor contracts, 1945-1946

Subseries 3. Lillian Dornier, 1940-1965

Series II. Ephemera, 1917-1952

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Series I. Correspondence, 1926-1965

Subseries 1. Dornier family and farm business, 1926-1931 The first grouping of correspondence in this subseries is of a personal nature and includes the following items: a letter with color drawing to Naine from Yolande, dated February 9, 1928 (envelope indicates Naine is Mrs. Jules A. Dornier); a letter to Mrs. Jules A. Dornier about family members and convent girls visiting Baton Rouge, dated February 8, 1930; and a draft of a letter to Judge Thomas Williams about a legal claim upon the death of Mrs. Louisa Dornier, dated October 17, 1929. The second group of correspondence in this subseries relates to Dornier farm business. Includes letters related to and bills for milk, vegetables, and strawberries provided to Jefferson College (Convent, La.) and the Rev. John A. Emmerth, among others; correspondence with Reynaud Dairy regarding dissatisfaction with the Dornier’s milk and terminating their business arrangement; and a letter to radio announcer W.K. Henderson in Shreveport, La. from Mrs. Jules A. Dornier about radio broadcasts, support of Al Smith for president, and mention of products raised on the Dornier farm such as strawberries and perique tobacco, dated September 26, 1928. Subseries 2. Jules A. Dornier POW labor contracts, 1945-1946 Correspondence, contracts, riders, supplemental agreements, invoices, work descriptions, daily time records, authorization forms, and program information sheets relating to Jules A. Dornier’s employment of German prisoners of war from Camp Livingston and Camp Plauche, La. The subseries includes communications with military and government officials at the local, state, and federal level and business interests such as Godchaux Sugars Inc. The records date from June 1, 1945 to May 30, 1946. Subseries 3. Lillian Dornier, 1940-1965 The majority of this subseries is comprised of letters, post cards, and holiday cards from Hans Schmutzler, Lothar Hoyer, and Otto Pfeiffer who were POW laborers on the Dornier farm in 1945-1946. The correspondence generally consists of personal and family updates, expositions on life in post-World War II Germany, and fond reminiscences of their time in the U.S. These communications have an affectionate tone and often coincide with holidays. The letters also make note of the frequent packages sent by Lillian Dornier through the Cooperative for American Remittance to Europe (CARE, Inc.) program. The subseries also includes letters from Dornier family cousins in Europe and South America. Most of the materials are in English, with some in German and one letter in French.

The items in this subseries include letters to Lillian Dornier from Hans Schmutzler in Berlin, ranging from 1951 to 1964. Items from the Otto Pfeiffer and family in Leipzig ranges from 1951 to 1958. Of note in Pfeiffer’s correspondence is an undated photo of the Dornier house that had been forwarded to him from Lillian as a reminder of his time on the Dornier farm. A note accompanies the photo indicating that it was sent back to Lillian Dornier in 1965 after Pfieffer’s death. The correspondence from Lothar and Else Hoyer includes items from 1947 to 1959. Of note are letters from Lothar Hoyer’s wife Else, dated November 3, 1947 and November 28, 1948, which discuss some of the conditions of post-war life in Berlin. Along with these is a grouping of CARE, Inc. (Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe) receipts and correspondence for Hoyer, Pfeiffer, and other families from packages and money forwarded to them by Lillian Dornier in 1947-48. The subseries also includes letters from cousin Claude Dornier, Jr. who had recently relocated to New York from Germany, dated September 17, 1940 and November 11, 1940, with a picture dated October 20, 1940. A later letter from January 8, 1948 indicates that Claude had relocated to Argentina, which is reiterated in letter from Claude Dornier Sr., dated January 3, 1949.

Series II. Ephemera, 1917-1952

The ephemera series consists of the following items: a New Orleans map, street guide, and information booklet belonging to Lillian Dornier, undated; a hand-scripted sheet music book for La Chanteuse Voilee, written by Victor Masse, undated; two ten-share stock certificates for Convent Oil Company, Inc., from 1929 and 1930, owned by Mr. Jules A. Dornier; two flyers for minstrel shows at Romeoville and Lutcher, La. high schools, March 25-26, 1952, and at St. Michael’s Parochial School in Convent, La., April 20, 1952; a grouping of prayer cards for Benjamin Dornier from C. Gerber, dated 1927-28; prize ribbons from the National Farm and Livestock Show in New Orleans, La., dated 1917; and a Woodmen of World ribbon and fair raffle ticket, dated 1917.

INDEX TERMS

Materials relating to these people, places, and things can be found in the series indicated, as represented by their numbers.

Agriculture--Louisiana--History. I Camp Livingston, La. I Camp Plauche, La. I Catholics--Louisiana--Convent I & II Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe. I Correspondence. I & II Devotional pictures. II Dornier, Jules A. Jr. I Dornier, Lillian I & II Godchaux Sugars, Inc. I

Jefferson College (Convent, La.) I , Victor, 1822-1884. II Minstrel shows--United States--History--20th century. II Postcards. I Convict labor. I Prisoners of war--United States--History--20th century. I

Saint James Parish (La.)--History. I & II

Saint Michael Catholic Church (Convent, La.) II

World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons. I

CONTAINER LIST