Manuscript Resources on The History of Music, Drama, and Other Performing Arts
This guide describes manuscript resources in the Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections that document performing arts history. Most of the collections relate to music, with smaller numbers dealing with theater, and a few dealing with dance. Geographically, most of the collections center around Louisiana, with many reflecting the rich cultural history of New Orleans and its diverse French and American cultural streams. Baton Rouge and other cities and towns are documented to a lesser degree. The cultural life of rural Louisiana is reflected in plantation collections containing sheet music, playbills, and other evidence of cultural activity.
The collections include papers of music and drama teachers, composers and writers, and performers. They also contain papers of those who sat in the audiences of musical and other performances and commented on them in letters and diaries, or compiled collections of programs and other ephemera dealing with the performances they witnessed. Finally, they contain papers of researchers who wrote about music and theater history.
Though extensive, the resources listed in this guide form a small part of the totality of materials documenting performing arts history in LSU's Special Collections. An exhaustive search of available inventories of manuscript collections would turn up additional important documentation. The Rare Book Collections contain a wide variety of relevant imprints, and include an extensive database of uncataloged sheet music. Similarly, the Louisiana Collection contains additional imprints on the performing arts, specifically related to Louisiana and the Lower Mississippi Valley. A folder containing several music history finding aids in addition to this one is available at the Special Collections reference desk.
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Kilbourne, James Gilliam, 1828-1893. Family Papers, 1817, 1869-1939 (bulk 1869-1939). .3 linear ft., 2 vols. Location: T:29. Planter, jurist, state legislator, Confederate captain, and member of the law firm Fuqua and Kilbourne of East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. Papers include letters to Mrs. James Gilliam Kilbourne from her children; and verse and music composed by a daughter, Margaret Gayden Kilbourne Breedlove. They also document family history, the Kilbourne library, and the succession of Peter Gilliam. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1058. |
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Krumpelmann, John T., 1892-. Manuscript, ca. 1935-1968. 6 items. Location: UU:147. Professor emeritus of German and Russian, LSU. Typescript of English translation of Der Zerbrochene Krug by Heinrich von Kleist; an LSU student stage adaptation of the play; and book reviews published in The German Quarterly, including a review of Morgan's translation of Der Zerbrochene Krug. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2366. |
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La Farge, Oliver. Papers, 1929-1932. 4 items, 1 vol. Location: Misc., M:18. Papers include a copy of the Pulitzer Prize winning novel Laughing Boy, a program of the adapted play by Otis Chatfield-Taylor, and correspondence describing Native American dances. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1421. Referenced in Guides: Performing arts, Literature
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Lane, Pinkie Gordon. Papers, 1925-2001 (bulk 1970-2000). 15 linear ft., 1 volume. Location: T:128-141; T:100 (short shelf); G:15; OS:L. African American poet, Louisiana poet laureate (1989-1992), and Southern University (Baton Rouge, La.) professor. Also the first African American woman to graduate from Louisiana State University with a Ph.D. Papers include personal and professional correspondence, writings, photographs, conference materials, printed items consisting of newspaper clippings, newsletters, programs, and fliers; and topical files that document Lane's personal and professional life. Her writings comprise copies of her poetry - some unpublished, book reviews, and an unpublished attempt at early prose work. Items concentrate on her African American colleagues and interest in African American literature and events. Lane was a resident of Baton Rouge (La.) since 1957 and accumulated a number of printed items for Baton Rouge events and organizations, including the Olympic Torch relay through Baton Rouge in 1996, and professional organizational newsletters for Capital Area Network. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4629. . |
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Langevin, Carmen Browder, 1900-1967. Papers, 1940-1968. 14 items. Location: Misc. Dancer and weaver of Berkeley, California. Papers refer to Langevin's career as a student of Isadora Duncan, as a professional dancer and teacher of dancing, and as a weaver. Included is a biography of Duncan by Langevin; photographs of Langevin as a dancer; and correspondence and other papers. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2608. Referenced in Guides: Performing arts, Women
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Lawrence family. Papers, 1889-1926.1 linear ft. Location: OS:L. Family of New Orleans. George Washington Lawrence, a medical doctor, was married to Clara E. Solomon, Jewish diarist in New Orleans during the Civil War. Papers include typescripts of letters, the last will of George W. Lawrence, manuscript sheet music, and photographs of Clara Solomon and the Lawrence daughters. Printed items include postcards, a plan of Edgewater Park, Miss., and newspaper clippings.Available on microfilm 5750: University Publications of America Southern Women and Their Families in the 19th Century: Papers and Diaries Series E, Reel 15. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4627. |
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LeBlond, Coralie. Music collection, ca. 1850-1870. 3 ms. vols. Location: 65. Concert pianist and composer of New Orleans. Sheet music, principally by Louisiana composers, arrangers, and publishers, collected by Coralie LeBlond, including one of her own compositions. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2204, 2205. |
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Leidigh, Jacob M. Correspondence, 1859-1860. 4 items. Location: Misc. Letters by Northerners teaching music at the Brooksville Academy in Mississippi, to their brother, giving their impressions of slavery in Mississippi. They also describe travel and Colonel Brooks' plantation home. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1598. |
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Letter from Augusta of Alexandria, La., 1851. 1 item. Location: Misc:A. Letter written from Augusta of Alexandria, Rapides Parish, Louisiana, to her sister, Mrs. Sarah W. Simpson, Newburyport, Massachusetts. The letter describes the excitement in Alexandria among whites and African-Americans over Jenny Lind's concert in New Orleans, Louisiana; steamboats and fishing on the Red River; and other local news. Alternate title: Anonymous letter. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1008. Referenced in Guides: New Orleans to 1861, Performing arts, Transportation, Women, African Americans
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Lieutaud, Albert Louis, collector. Papers of R. J. Morgan, 1861-1864. 67 items. Location: U:247. English actor. Papers pertain to R. J. Morgan's professional career in the United States during the Civil War and consist of playbills for theatrical performances and dramatic readings, and related items. Part of the Albert Louis Lieutaud collection. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2211. Referenced in Guides: Performing arts, Civil War
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