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SUMMARY

BIOGRAPHICAL/HISTORICAL NOTE

Brother Arsène Brouard was French monk and botanist who taught biology, physics, chemistry, Spanish, and French at St. Paul’s College in Covington, Louisiana from 1919 to 1925. Brouard, born Arsène Gustave Joseph Brouard near Orléans, France, took his first vows in 1898 and studied botany in his native land. He was assigned to a college in Puebla, Mexico in 1906 before going to Morelos, Mexico three years later. While in Mexico, he systematically collected, identified, cataloged, and preserved the country’s flora. Brouard discovered several new species before being forced out of Mexico in 1914 during the revolution.

He arrived in the United States and taught at schools in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Ellicott City, Maryland, before arriving in Covington. While at St. Paul’s College he collected approximately nine hundred plants, of which sixty species were unknown in Louisiana, and three were unknown in the United States. In 1926 he left for Las Vegas, New Mexico because of his failing health. He continued to teach and collect flora before his death in 1938.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

Correspondence, scientific and religious printed material, newspaper clippings, plant lists, research notes, hand-written manuscripts, charts, diagrams, maps, and photographs covering the period from 1899 to 1938. A substantial portion of the collection consists of letters from botanists and from his religious brothers. Most of the material is in French. There is a collection of typewritten letters by Brouard to Doctor Bouly de Lesdain. Another significant portion of the collection is Brouard’s research notes and plant lists. His notes detail his accumulation of lichens, plants, and animals in Morelos and Querétaro, Mexico, as well as around Covington, Louisiana and Las Vegas, New Mexico. There are also school class notes, blank postcards, financial receipts, and a map of the western front in World War I. The collection contains much information on religion and evolution, including a typed manuscript about the atheistic aspects of evolutionary theory. Also included in the collection is the handwritten text of Lichens de Mexique. Finally, there is a biographical work on Brouard by Robert D. Landry in the printed material. Landry, who used the collection in his research, described his pamphlet as a collection of articles, letters, and notes about Brouard.

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Series I, Correspondence, 1895-1940

The earliest letters in the collection were written to Brother Arsène Brouard while still in France (1895-1906) and continue through his time in Mexico (1906-1914), Baltimore and Philadelphia (1914-1919), Covington, La. (1919-1926), and New Mexico (1927-1938). These letters come from both religious brothers discussing new novitiates, missionary work, and religious ideas, and from botanists discussing fellow scientists, research, and new findings. Some letters discuss the unrest in Mexico and express their worry for Brouard’s safety (March 3, 1914, undated), while others go into detail about being expelled from Mexico (July 1914). A letter to Brouard from a fellow brother in Paris tells of the war in Europe, of anti-clericalism in France, and of his research concerning the deaths and expatriation of religious brothers in Clermont (March 4, 1918) while another letter tells of the armistice (November 11, 1918). Later letters to Brouard discuss affairs in both Mexico and Cuba (May 5, 1935). A number of letters are written by Brouard to M. Bouly de Lesdain; these discuss various research findings for the most part, but include religious topics such as evolution (1933-1938). Correspondence from universities and research centers in the United States address shipments and donations of plants and papers submitted by Brouard (1934-1937). The majority of the correspondence is conducted in French.

Series II, Printed and Graphic Material, 1914-1989, undated

Printed items include scientific material such as published papers, newsletters, programs from lectures, lists of plants collected in different areas, and catalogues from libraries. Printed items of a religious nature include a liturgical calendar (undated), a newsletter from De La Salle School in Lafayette, La. (December 1939), prayer cards, a book of religious hymns (1914), and writings concerning religion and evolution (1927-1929). Printed material also includes “Brother G. Arsène Brouard – Botanist, Teacher, Christian Brother,” a collection of articles, letters, and notes selected and compiled by Robert D. Landry about the life and work of Brouard (August 1989). Other printed material such as blank postcards, advertisements, and photocopies of newspaper clippings addressing topics such as religion and science, botany, and general world news (1917-1922, undated) are also included.

Newspapers include issues of El Imparcial, El Pais, Los Sucesos Nacionales, La Voz de Juarez, La Revue Hebdomadaire, Croix de Cantal, and La Croix Cantalienne (1902-1940). A section of the Public Ledger (undated) and an issue of The Fatherland: A Weekly (1915) are included, as well as various advertisements (1920, undated). A map of the Western Battlefront of Europe (1918), a map of highways in Washington, D.C. (undated), and a trans-Atlantic travel map and log (1910) are also found in the collection.

Also included are charts and diagrams of flora as well as photographs of interiors of churches and of research excursions (undated).

Series III, Financial and Legal Documents, 1898-1934

Financial documents include receipts for shipments of plants, for journal subscriptions, and from tobacco manufacturers. Also included are two voting cards for Brouard while still in France (1898, 1904)

Series IV, Research Notes, 1912-1932, undated

Research notes include notes and notebooks containing lists of plants, animals, and lichens found in various regions in Mexico, Louisiana, and New Mexico. Teaching material for Brouard’s classes are found in the collection, as well as other notes surrounding religion and evolution.

CONTAINER LIST