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

James A. Noe, born Dec. 21, 1891, served as lieutenant of the 369th Infantry of the U.S. Army during World War I. After the war, he established himself in the business world. He owned several plantations, local radio stations, and had a successful career in the oil industry. Noe entered politics in 1932 as a member of the Louisiana State Senate. He served as president pro tempore of the Senate and as Lt. Governor when John B. Fournet resigned that office to become a Louisiana Supreme Court Justice. On January 28, 1936, he became governor when Oscar K. Allen died in office, and held that position until May 12, 1936, when Richard W. Leche was sworn in as governor. After Noe left office, he was reelected to the Louisiana Senate, serving until 1940. He ran unsuccessfully for the governor's office in 1940 and 1959. He was a delegate to the 1968 Democratic National Convention and an alternate delegate in 1972. Noe was a political ally of Huey P. Long and a friend of Lt. General Claire Chennault. James A. Noe died April 2, 1976.

Lt. General Claire Lee Chennault was born in Commerce, Texas, on Sept. 6, 1893. He worked as a high school principal and he earned his flier's wings as a military pilot in 1917. By 1935, he was the chief fighter flight trainer at Maxwell Airfield, Alabama. He wrote a book on tactical air defense entitled The Role of Defensive Pursuit (1935). During the World War II, he commanded the volunteer group The Flying Tigers, which led the air war in China beginning in 1942. Chennault established the Civil Air Transport, Inc., which flew transport missions for nationalist China under Chiang Kai-shek, 1946-1958.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

Collection is comprised of artwork, photographs, papers, and artifacts. Artwork includes two framed oil paintings of Lt. General Claire L. Chennault (1944-1945) and a framed reproduction of Adrien Persac "Norman's Chart of the Mississippi, 1853. Photographs are mostly of Chennault. They include a reproduction of a Dixie Roto Magazine cover featuring him and his wife (Aug. 24, 1952) and an autographed black and white print showing him at an airfield (Sept. 11, 1945). A framed board contains additional photographs of James Noe and Chennault. Papers in the collection consist of correspondence and receipt for a donation from the State of Louisiana to the National Chinese Women's Association for War Relief (1942). A letter from Madam Chiang Kai-shek to Noe acknowledges the receipt of this donation (Sept. 17, 1942). Letters from General Chennault discuss politics and Noe’s gubernatorial campaign (1940-1945, undated). The framed board also contains photocopies of the papers. Artifacts consist of a wooden gavel, an oriental brass doorknocker, a bronze medal awarded by Chiang Kai-shek, and Chinese coins. Also included in the collection is an inscribed copy of Huey P. Long's book Every Man a King (1933).

CONTAINER LIST