THE MARY MEEKS MORRISONAND

JACOB MORRISON PAPERS1883-1998

Mary Morrison and JacobMorrison (MSS 553);View down Royal Street from100 block by Charles L. Franck,1940 (1979.325.5516)

NEW ORLEANSTHE HISTORIC

QUARTERLYVolume XX, Number 2 Spring 2002

We of New Orleans are fortunate in having with us today a link forming a continuity with the past. It is reassuring inthis day of changing concepts, of families dividing, of the tearing up of roots to be able to live beside history. It makes usproud of our heritage, it encourages us to live up to it and it bespeaks an earthly immortality in future generations. Few

spots in the United States can boast these steadying influences and no place can show a complete city of them.”

“

All quotes are from the typescript of New Orleans, Then and Now, a speech given by Mary Morrison several times during the 1970s (MSS 553).

http://www.hnoc.org

2

he early 1930s and ’40s witnessedthe emergence of one of the mostimportant movements in recent

New Orleans history. A dedicated group ofpeople who recognized the singularity ofthe Vieux Carré, or French Quarter, beganefforts to defend its integrity. With streetafter street of irreplaceable historic struc-tures, the French Quarter was increasinglyunder threat from both the elements andcommercial developers whose plans were atodds with maintaining the distinctive char-acter of the neighborhood. Among theearly pioneers promoting historic preserva-tion in the Vieux Carré were Mary andJacob Morrison.

Shortly after their marriage in 1938,Mary and Jacob Morrison (originally fromCanton, Mississippi, and New Roads,Louisiana, respectively) moved to theFrench Quarter. Their interests quicklygravitated toward preservation issues andimproving the quality of life in their his-toric neighborhood. Their tireless dedica-tion to preservation causes is reflected in theMary Meeks Morrison and Jacob MorrisonPapers, acquired by The Historic NewOrleans Collection in 1999. Because oftheir importance, the papers were given topcataloging priority and are now available toresearchers at the Williams ResearchCenter.

The collection, which fills 205 boxes,has been organized into seven categories.The first and largest category relates to his-toric preservation and community activism.During the late 1930s and early 1940s,Mary Morrison (1911-1998) became activein municipal politics as a ward leader andpoll watcher in the fifth ward (whichincluded a large part of the Vieux Carré).As one of the early pioneers of femaleactivism in local politics, Mrs. Morrisonhelped to found the Independent Women’sOrganization in 1945. She was also afounder of the Louisiana Council for theVieux Carré and was active in the VieuxCarré Commission, Patio Planters, VieuxCarré Property Owners and ResidentsAs soc i a t ion ( VCPORA), Lou i s i anaLandmarks Society, and Le Petit Salon.

VCPORA was the chief organizationbehind the many encounters with develop-

ers, city planners, highway engineers, andothers who had differing visions of theVieux Carré. From this base, the preserva-tion movement in New Orleans emergedand matured as a viable defender of theFrench Quarter, with Mary Morrisonamong its leaders. Mrs. Morrison was anactive participant in almost every debateconcerning the Vieux Carré from the 1940sthrough the mid-1990s. Issues includedthe frequency of garbage pickup, theencroachment of major hotels and touristattractions, and, perhaps most significantly,the proposed elevated riverfront expressway.

Jacob Morrison (1905-1974) was anactive member of the National Trust forHistoric Preservation and author of HistoricPreservation Law (1957), the first bookdealing with historic preservation legisla-tion in the United States. He served aspresident of VCPORA during the late1940s, as VCPORA’s advising attorneythrough 1971, and did legal work for theFriends of the Cabildo, the LouisianaLandmarks Society, the Louisiana Councilfor the Vieux Carré, and the Vieux CarréCourier. For these focused and dedicatedactivities, Mary and Jacob Morrisonreceived the prestigious CrowninshieldAward from the National Trust in 1974.

Hundreds of items in the MorrisonPapers attest to the extraordinary tenacity oflocal preservationists to defeat the proposedriverfront expressway, an issue that surfacedin 1946, intensified in the mid-1960s, andfinally came to a close in 1969. Also docu-mented are dozens of smaller skirmishesrelated to Vieux Carré preservation datingback to the late 1930s and early 1940s, aswell as battles that came later, such as thecontroversy over the Canal Place develop-ment and the Aquarium of the Americas.

Another category comprises the legalpapers of Jacob Morrison, which includematerials relevant to the political career ofhis half brother, deLesseps S. “Chep”Morrison, mayor of New Orleans from1946 to 1961; the political reform move-ment and opposition to the Huey Longmachine; lawsuits involving Leander Perez;and other local and state politicians, espe-cially Sam Jones and Hale Boggs.

Materials relating to social organiza-tions in which the Morrisons were active,such as Le Petit Salon, the Spring Fiesta,and Patio Planters, make up the third cate-gory. The last four categories contain itemsof a personal nature: Jacob Morrison’swartime journals, family photographs,genealogical research, letters to friends andfamily, and memorabilia related to the vari-ous trips the couple took.

A highlight of the papers is a speechgiven by Mary Morrison several times dur-ing the 1970s in which she recalls the VieuxCarré during the 1930s and ’40s—a neigh-borhood where establishments like Solari’sgrocery store, Montalbano’s ItalianDelicatessen, and the Napoleon Housethrived. Such places contributed to theneighborhood vibrancy of the Vieux Carré,along with dozens of similar family busi-nesses throughout the French Quarter.

Mary Morrison and Mary Louise Christovich, presi-dent of the Kemper and Leila Williams Foundation, atThe Historic New Orleans Collection’s first annualLeila Williams Tea honoring donors in 1997

TTHE MARY MEEKS MORRISON

ANDJACOB MORRISON PAPERS

1883-1998

(continued on page 4)

3

Exterior view of Solari’s, 1961 (Vieux Carré Survey, THNOC); Solari’simported and domestic cheese counter from the fall 1930-spring 1931 cata-logue, Good Things to Eat from All the World (86-422-RL)

One entered [Montalbano’s] through a sort of delicatessen that sold Italian delicacies including enormous sandwiches made by using a loaf of Italian bread

like a giant bun, slicing it through the center and loading it with all kinds of Italian goodies—cheeses, ripe and green olives, antipastos, relishes—a little of everything.

Mr. Montalbano would slice it 6 ways and each pie-shaped wedge was a meal for one person…. If there was space in the Roma room (this had been the family

dining room and was just behind the delicatessen proper) one could sit at the one table and eat his portion…. The Roma room was decorated in all sorts of religious

articles. It was reputed to have been blessed by Pope Pius XI…. At the front of the room was an improvised altar with a miniature facsimile of the Vatican at its top.

Votary [sic] candles burned here night and day and patrons were expected to make an offering in a glass bowl kept there for that purpose.”

“

Built in 1870 [Solari’s] represented the finest in edibles.

Its meats were superb. At a time when refrigeration lagged

considerably it imported magnificent cheeses, olives, pickles and

these were not separately packaged as they are today. The cheeses

were huge cartwheels or blocks—the pickles, olives, preserves, etc.,

were actually in those large kegs called hogsheads. The amount you

wished was dipped out into a waxed carton.”

“

Interior view of Montalbano’sItalian Delicatessen, ca. 1933(1990.131)

4

Also of particular interest are items relatedto the proposed Jackson Square sound-and-light show, the proliferation of noise andbars, crime, commercial intrusion, and therenovation of the French Market.

The early group of New Orleanspreservationists, of which Mary and JacobMorrison were an integral part, came of agejust as the automobile emerged as the main

form of transportation in the United States.Older neighborhoods with distinct identi-ties began to lose their residential vitality aspeople migrated to the suburbs, and cityplanners and developers encouraged newsuburban developments in the interest ofeconomic progress. It is not coincidentalthat the greatest challenge faced by thisearly generation of New Orleans preserva-

tionists involved an expressway project thatthreatened to put a concrete noose aroundone of the unique urban neighborhoods inthe United States. The Morrisons’ papersdemonstrate their keen awareness of theforces that threatened not only the FrenchQuarter’s physical integrity, but also theneighborhood’s distinctive character.

—David Dressing

Over the past four years David Dressing hasworked on several projects at THNOC,including the organization of the Mary MeeksMorrison and Jacob Morrison Papers. He iscurrently completing his Ph.D. dissertation inthe field of Latin American colonial history atTulane University and serving as curator ofmanuscripts in the Tulane Latin AmericanLibrary.

Exterior view of the Napoleon House, 1900 (Vieux Carré Survey, THNOC)

The Napoleon House was in our time the favorite hangout of the young set both married

and unmarried…. Times were hard and a coke served to justify our being in the bar for at

least two hours…. The Napoleon House seems to have become a tradition. The young people

that frequent it today act toward it exactly as we did which is odd to me as I should have

thought the generation gap would have doomed this.”

“

CAN YOU IDENTIFY THESECHILDREN?

This 1872 portrait, Creole Children by François Bernard, wasacquired by THNOC in 2000. What little we know about thechildren was determined from studying the painting. They areobviously siblings, and their clothing, the interior setting, and thenumerous toys and books suggest that they are members of awell-to-do family. But we do not know their names, who theirparents were, or where they lived. Can you identify them? Pleasecontact John Lawrence (504-598-7114 or johnl@hnoc.org)with any pertinent information. Anyone providing the correctidentification will be able to select one of THNOC’s publica-tions as a prize.

5

FROM THE DIRECTORAround the state and indeed throughout the region, institutions areforming partnerships to celebrate the bicentennial ofthe Louisiana Purchase in 2003. The acquisition of theLouisiana Territory by the young United States was somomentous—effectively doubling the size of ournation—that it has been called “the largest real estatedeal in history.” Because we think in terms of stateboundaries, it is hard to imagine the expanse of terri-tory affected and the diversity of people and cultures brought togetheras a result of this event.

The Historic New Orleans Collection has examined for a numberof years the various cultures that make our region what it is today.Recent exhibitions on Louisiana’s Native Americans and Spanish colo-nial Louisiana have explored facets of local history, as did the mostrecent Williams Research Center Symposium. With approximately500 attendees, The French Empire in North America: From Canada toLouisiana, A Shared History was the best attended of THNOC’s annualsymposia. Our current exhibition, This Vast Country of Louisiana: TheFounding Years, 1682-1731, further explores the symposium’s themesand focuses on the exploration and development of the LouisianaTerritory.

To continue our study of the important influences in Louisiana’shistory, our next exhibition, opening June 25, 2002, will celebrate the275th anniversary of the Ursuline nuns in New Orleans. Beginning inJanuary 2003, a bicentennial exhibition entitled A Fusion of Nations, AFusion of Cultures: Spain, France, the United States, and the LouisianaPurchase will be presented. With kind and generous support fromboth the Spanish and French governments and from institutionsaround the United States and Europe, A Fusion of Nations will bringtogether some of the most important written instruments pertaining toLouisiana.

The annual symposium will take on new proportions. A three-dayexploration of the history and importance of the Louisiana Purchasewill be presented by The Historic New Orleans Collection and theLouisiana Historical Association, with assistance from Louisiana StateUniversity, the Center for Louisiana Studies at the University ofLouisiana at Lafayette, the Louisiana State Museum, and the State ofLouisiana’s Louisiana Purchase Bicentennial Commission. Scholarsfrom all over the country will critically examine the historic record per-taining to the Purchase and suggest new directions for study in orderfor the events of 1803 to be more fully understood and appreciated.

Finally, the impact of the Louisiana Purchase on the lives of thosewho lived in the Louisiana Territory will be explored through the pro-duction of a video for school children. The Historic New OrleansCollection, in partnership with the New Orleans Museum of Art, willco-produce Living the Louisiana Purchase to be distributed to everyschool in Louisiana. Designed for the eighth-grade level and accom-panied by a workbook and teacher workshops, the video program willremain a lasting educational tool.

We hope all of you are as excited about the events of 2003 as weare and that you will continue to watch for more information duringthe coming months.

—Priscilla Lawrence

CreoleChildren byFrançoisBernard, 1872(1999.91.1)

The board of directors announcesthe appointment of Jack Pruitt, Jr.,as director of development effec-tive the beginning of January. Mr.Pruitt is spearheading the creationand implementation of a compre-hensive development program forT h e Hi s t o r i c Ne w O r l e a n sCollection.

A native of Dallas and a graduate of Baylor University LawSchool, Jack Pruitt has had wide-ranging experience in philan-thropic development. Through current gifts and planned gifts,he has raised major funding for leading arts and health-careorganizations and for one of the nation’s largest communityfoundations. Additionally, Mr. Pruitt has been involved withnational organizations that protect charitable institutions.

DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENTAPPOINTED

Jack Pruitt

6

any paintings across theSoutheast are mistakenlyat t r ibuted to Thomas

Sully—an error made probably because ofSully’s popularity as a portrait painter andbecause so many of his family membersworked in the arts and were connected toNew Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

Thomas Sully was born in England in1783 to professional actors Matthew andSarah Chester Sully. His family immigratedto the United States in 1792 and moved toCharleston, South Carolina, when Thomaswas a young boy. After the death of hisolder brother Lawrence in 1804, Thomasmarried Lawrence’s widow and assumed thecare and responsibility of the family. Sullywas already painting in New York by 1806.The following year he traveled toBoston to meet Gilbert Stuart, whoseinfluence is seen in Sully’s early por-traits. However, it was the romantic,elegant style of the English portraitpainter Sir Thomas Lawrence thatmade the greatest mark on Sully’smature work. After the death ofGilbert Stuart in 1828, Sully becamethe most popular and successful por-trait painter in the United States.

Thomas Sully settled inPhiladelphia around 1808 andremained there until his death in1872. According to his journal, Sullyonly occasionally visited other citiesto paint portraits, but these trips werenot extensive or frequent enough forhim to have painted the manyunsigned works across the Southeastthat have been attributed to him.During his travels, Sully studied inLondon under the famous Americanpainter Benjamin West. His most famouscommission not executed in Philadelphiawas in 1838 when he was sent by the St.George Society of Philadelphia to paint afull-length portrait of 19-year-old QueenVictoria at Buckingham Palace.

There are some very fine, authenticportraits of southerners by Sully, several ofNew Orleanians, but none of these werepainted in the New Orleans area. He paintedapproximately a dozen images of AndrewJackson, however only one, the 1819 like-ness, was based on a life sitting, but not inNew Orleans. His portraits of Louisianians

were probably made during sitters’ visits toPhiladelphia or when Sully visited othercities.

While it has never been documentedthat Thomas Sully painted in New Orleans,several members of his family lived in theregion. Thomas Sully’s nephew GeorgeWashington Sully lived in New Orleans inthe late 1830s. He painted charmingwatercolor views of New Orleans,Tallahassee, Florida, and Covington,Louisiana. George Washington Sully was

the father of the well-known New Orleansarchitect Thomas Sully. In 1810 inVirginia, the artist Thomas Sully paintedhis brother Chester. Chester Sully, who wasin the business of importing mahoganyfrom Santo Domingo, later lived in NewOrleans. His portrait was given by theartist to George Washington Sully, who leftit to his son, Thomas, the architect. JeanneSully West inherited it from her father, thearchitect Thomas Sully, and gave it to theNew Orleans Museum of Art in 1971. Toadd to the confusion over incorrectly attrib-uted paintings, six of Thomas Sully’s (theartist) children became artists; one of themwas named Thomas Wilcocks Sully!

The Historic New Orleans Collectionproudly announces the acquisition of a por-

trait by Thomas Sully of one of hissouthern subjects, Louisa WerningerRobb (1808-1855), purchased withfunds made available through theClarisse Claiborne Grima bequest.Louisa Robb was the first wife ofJames Robb, Louisiana banker, entre-preneur, politician, and art collector.Married in 1835 in Harrison,Virginia (now West Virginia), theRobbs settled in downtown NewOrleans in 1837. By 1846 they wereliving on St. Charles Avenue, just offCanal Street, where Kolb’s restaurantwas located for many decades. In thespring or summer of 1855 the Robbsand their children, four daughters anda son, moved into their newly builtmansion occupying an entire squareblock on Washington Avenue.Following the devastating summer of1855 when yellow fever raged

throughout the city, the Robbs lost theirdaughter Louisa to the disease. Mrs. Robb’sdeath followed shortly thereafter. The fol-lowing spring James Robb leased his palatialhome and departed with his surviving chil-dren for an extended trip to Europe. In1890 the Robb house became the home ofH. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College ofTulane University. It subsequently housedthe Baptist Bible Institute and was demol-ished in 1954.

The Collection’s portrait of LouisaRobb is believed to be a preliminary oilstudy for the large portrait of Mrs. Robbwith three of her children painted by Sully,

THNOCACQUIRES

THOMAS SULLY’SPORTRAIT OF

LOUISAWERNINGER

ROBB

M

Louisa Robb by Thomas Sully, ca. 1844 (2001.89)

7

now in the Ogden Museum of SouthernArt. Sully often painted head studies forlarger finished portraits that were usuallynot signed with his TS monogram andoften were not recorded in his publishedregister listing sitters, sizes of pictures, datesof works, and prices. According to the reg-ister, the large portrait of Mrs. Robb andher children was painted from August 3 toNovember 21, 1844. THNOC’s study ofMrs. Robb comes from Virginia where itwas passed down through descendants ofthe Robb family. Her portrait joins that ofher husband acquired by THNOC in 1988.The two works of art complement themajor collection of manuscript materials onJames Robb housed at the Collection.

By the middle of the 20th century,Sully’s portraits and “fancy pictures” wereoften ridiculed as being overly romantic andtoo sweet. Today, the demand for his imagesis greater than ever—perhaps an indicationthat we need more beauty now than in thepast. In the words of critic John Neal whowrote about Sully during his lifetime, “Hisfemale portraitures are oftentimes poems,full of grace and tenderness, lithe, flexibleand emotional; their eyes, too, are liquidenough and clear enough to satisfy even ahusband or a lover. Nobody ever paintedmore beautiful eyes.” During the manyyears of lecturing about American portraits,I always say that when looking at eyespainted by Sully, it is like looking into poolsof velvet.

—George E. Jordan

George E. Jordan, a fine arts consultant andart historian, is serving as advisory scholar atThe Historic New Orleans Collection.

______Sources: Artists Files, THNOC; James G. Barber,Andrew Jackson: A Portrait Study (Washington, D.C.,1991); Mrs. Thomas Nelson Carter Bruns, LouisianaPortraits (New Orleans, 1975); Family SearchInternet Genealogy Service, “Louisa Werninger,”www.familysearch.org; George E. Jordan, “Robb andClay: Politicians and Scholars,” New Orleans ArtReview (January/February 1984); John A. Mahé II,Rosanne McCaffrey, and Patricia Brady Schmit, eds.,Encyclopaedia of New Orleans Artists, 1718-1918(New Orleans, 1987); Patricia Brady Schmit, “RobbPapers Discovered,” Historic New Orleans CollectionNewsletter 4 (Winter 1986); Jeanne Sully West andGeorge E. Jordan, personal conversations (1971);Samuel Wilson, Jr., F.A.I.A., Patricia Brady, and LynnD. Adams, eds., Queen of the South: New Orleans,1853-1862 (New Orleans, 1999).

In 1847, Father Joseph M. Paret (1807-1872) left the suburbs of Lyon, France, toserve the Catholic church in Louisiana. Aspastor of the Little Red Church in St.Charles Parish for 21 years, Father Paretfound himself in the heart of a wealthy,Creole, plantation community. During histenure, Father Paret painted 53 watercolorsdocumenting life in this antebellum society.In 1987 the sketchbook in which thesewatercolors were bound was found inFrance in the home of Father Paret’s broth-er’s descendants, the Choretier family.

With support from The Historic NewOrleans Collection, a book featuring full-size reproductions of 28 of Father Paret’spaintings created in or about the year 1859ha s be en pub l i shed by Geosc i encePublications, Department of Geographyand Anthropology, Loui s i ana Sta teUniversity. Written by Marcel Boyer,French historian and author, and edited by

Jay D. Edwards, Kniffen Professor ofAnthropology at Louisiana State University,this work provides a comprehensive studyof the architecture, landscapes, and dailyactivities of the inhabitants of this prosper-ing region on the eve of the Civil War. Thepaintings and text are supplemented by apreface by Mary Louise Christovich, presi-dent of the Kemper and Leila WilliamsFoundation, and an introduction by H.Parrott Bacot , Jay D. Edwards, andSuzanne Turner. An appendix of excerptsfrom Mon Journal d’Amerique, a collectionof correspondence between Father Paretand his family written in 1853 and pub-lished by Marcel Boyer in 1993, is included.

Plantations by the River: WatercolorPaintings from St. Charles Parish, Louisiana,by Father Joseph M. Paret, 1859 is availableat the Shop (see page 15 for ordering infor-mation) and through Louisiana StateUniversity Press (800-861-3477).

A PUBLICATION SUPPORTED BY THNOC

98

series of broadsides now known asthe “coffin broadsides” appearedduring the hotly contested 1828

presidential campaign between JohnQuincy Adams, the incumbent, andAndrew Jackson. The contents were specif-ically designed to attack Jackson’s integrity,temperament, and character. This viciousattack ultimately backfired on the pro-Adams forces, however, and Jackson wenton to win the 1828 election decisively. Asignificant development in presidentialelectioneering, America’s first nationalsmear campaign introduced negative poli-tics involving several extremely controver-sial issues, namely, unjust executions, mur-der, brawling, dueling, and, ultimately, slav-ery. As publishers nationwide jumped onthe bandwagon and utilized all forms ofprint media to deliver the message, “noholds barred” campaigning was first intro-duced to the American public.

The primary event for which Jacksonwas criticized in the coffin broadsides hadtaken place 13 years earlier, as the War of1812 was drawing to a close. On February21, 1815, six Tennessee militiamen wereexecuted for desertion at Fort Charlotte,Mobile, in the Mississippi Territory.Jackson had served as major general of theTennessee militia, during which time histroops had defeated the Creek Indians. OnMay 1, 1814, he was commissioned major

general in the U.S. Army in command of theSeventh Military District which includedthe states of Tennessee and Louisiana andthe territories of Mississippi (present-dayAlabama and Mississippi) and westernFlorida. Jackson arrived in the southernMississippi Territory in early November1814 and immediately secured the GulfCoast from Pensacola east to New Orleans.He then moved quickly to defend NewOrleans in a series of engagements begin-ning December 14 and ending with theBattle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815.

One of the most difficult problemsfaced by Jackson and his commandersthroughout the War of 1812 in the Southwas keeping track of the time served by asoldier relative to the term of his enlist-ment. Unfortunately, some terms of enlist-ment were subject to interpretation due tothe lack of accurate military records. A sol-dier’s term was determined not by the dateof his enlistment but by the date he joinedhis unit and, subsequently, the time actuallyserved with the unit. This was often mis-construed by soldiers who maintained thatthe term commenced upon acceptance intothe militia. To complicate matters, the termof enlistment for state militia sometimesvaried for conscripts, substitutes, and volun-teers in the same units, and the militiaenlistment term was seldom consistent withregular U.S. Army recruiting instructions.

The six Tennessee militiamen whobecame the poster boys for the coffinbroadsides were accused of “exciting andconniving to mutiny and disobedience oforders” in August-September 1814. A courtmartial was held on December 5, 1814,near Mobile. One of the key argumentsfrom the militiamen’s perspective was thattheir terms of enlistment had expired, andthus they were free to go home. Thedefense claimed that the men thereforecould not have been involved in a mutinyor disobeyed orders; the officers of the courtmartial disagreed however, and the menwere sentenced to death.

Jackson approved the court’s findingson January 22, 1815, by letting the decisionof the court stand, and the militiamen wereexecuted 30 days later. At this time theintentions of the British were totallyunknown. They had left the Chalmetteplain but remained in the Gulf of Mexiconear Lake Borgne. General Lambert, whohad taken command of the British forcesafter General Pakenham’s death, had not yetdecided whether to leave the gulf or makeanother attempt on New Orleans.Ultimately, he decided against this actionafter receiving unofficial news of the sign-ing of the Treaty of Ghent that arrived onFebruary 13, 1815. Thus, Jackson’s deci-sion concerning the fate of the six militia-men needs to be considered in light of the

military situation as well as the ruling of thecourt.

The animosity in 1827-28 betweenAdams and Jackson that led to the coffinbroadsides had been brewing since the1823-24 election when the Jackson forceswere convinced that their candidate hadbeen robbed by the “corrupt bargain”between Henry Clay and John QuincyAdams. In 1824, there were four candi-dates for president: Adams, Jackson, Clay,and William H. Crawford. When nonereceived a majority of the votes, the electionwas decided in Adams’s favor by the Houseof Representatives. The Jackson menaccused Clay of throwing his support toAdams based on assurances he wouldbecome secretary of state. When thisoccurred, the Jackson forces were infuriated,and the race for 1828 began immediatelywith hard feelings on both sides.

Later, in the fall of 1827, the anti-Jackson forces in the House ofRepresentatives called for an investigationinto the 1814-15 court martial and execu-tion of the six Tennessee militiamen. OnFebruary 11, 1828, the Committee onMilitary Affairs determined that the courtmartial had been properly convened, theproceedings had been legally sound, andJackson’s actions had been appropriate.Thus, the actions of Jackson and his com-manders were completely vindicated.

Between the time that the House ofRepresentatives requested the Committeeon Military Affairs to investigate the courtmartial and the issuance of its report, thefirst coffin broadside was composed andpublished by John Binns, the owner of theDemocratic Press in Philadelphia. The nowfamous broadside first appeared in lateJanuary 1828 as a supplement to his weeklynewspaper, also called the Democratic Press.No one could doubt that it was a harbingerof the sensational and vicious campaignthat followed.

Binns’s use of coffins to attack a candi-date in an election campaign was a first inAmerican politics. The point Binns wastrying to make was quite simple—it was hisperspective that Jackson was indeed a mur-derer. These sentiments were subsequentlyconfirmed in a Binns pamphlet also printedby the Democratic Press.

A total of 27 coffin broadsides, includ-ing Binns’s first broadside, have been located.The scant information available concerningthe publication date of the individualbroadsides has fortunately been augmentedby pamphlets and other printed items thatprovide information on the broadsidesthemselves. After reviewing the availabledata of all publications regarding the execu-tion of the six militiamen, it is clear that thespeed with which the smear campaignspread nationally is significant. The coffin

broadsides were not resurrected in the 1830mid-term elections or during Jackson’s suc-cessful reelection bid in 1832. They hadindeed backfired on the political fortunes ofthe Adams supporters, suggesting that sucha vicious attack was unacceptable to thevoters.

—William C. Cook

William C. Cook is now serving as an advisorycurator for THNOC, consulting on allmaterials relating to the War of 1812.

______Sources: John Binns, Recollections of the Life of JohnBinns: Twenty-Nine Years in the United States(Philadelphia, 1854); Thomas C. Blaisdell, Jr., PeterSelz, and seminar, The American Presidency in PoliticalCartoons, 1776-1976, revised ed. (Salt Lake City,1976); John Henry Eaton, The Life of Major GeneralAndrew Jackson: Comprising a History of the War in theSouth, from the Commencement of the Creek Campaignto the Termination of Hostilities before New Orleans.Addenda: Containing a Brief History of the SeminoleWar and Cession and Government of Florida(Philadelphia, 1828); Allan Nevins and FrankWeitenkampf, A Century of Political Cartoons:Caricature in the United States from 1800 to 1900(New York, 1944); Robert S. Quimby, The U.S. Armyin the War of 1812: An Operational and CommandStudy (East Lansing, Mich., 1997); Report of theCommittee on Military Affairs to Which Were Referredthe Correspondence and Documents from the WarDepartment in Relation to the Proceedings of a CourtMartial Ordered for the Trial of Certain TennesseeMilitiamen, 20th Cong., 1st sess., H. Rept. 140.

The Coffin Broadsides America’s

First Smear CampaignIn the summer of 2001, The Historic New Orleans Collection acquired the most

complete collection of materials relating to the War of 1812 in the South and the Battle

of New Orleans in private hands—the William C. Cook Collection.

The Cook Collection includes the largest assemblage extant of the famous “coffin

broadsides”—15 of the 27 broadsides located to date.The first coffin broadside, composed and pub-lished by John Binns, January 1828

Coffin broadside, July 1828. (All coffinbroadsides in the William C. Cook War of1812 in the South Collection: 2001-68-L)

A

10

At the end of March, the French Quarter was once again the setting for the annual Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival. The HistoricNew Orleans Collection hosted master classes and a reception honoring festival patrons and participants on March 22. Literary and theatrical eventstook place at Le Petit Théâtre and at several other sites. Pictured above are, first row, Rexanne Becnel; Bunny Matthews and Carolyn Bain; CarolGelderman; Dale Edmonds, Lauren Marino, and Mary Ann Naples; second row, Marie Arana; Jonathan Yardley; Rick Bragg; Jonathan Coleman;third row, Melissa Bank; Roy Blount, Jr.; Fred Todd and Priscilla Lawrence; Stephanie Zimbalist and Steve Lawson; fourth row, Patricia Neal;Patricia Brady and Melanie McKay; Maureen Detweiler.

A TRIBUTE TO LITERATURETHE 16TH ANNUAL TENNESSEE WILLIAMS FESTIVAL

11

A rare copy of the 1837 edition of Flora’sDictionary, a compilation of text and floralillustrations with related quotations andpoetry, has been donated by Flora Cherry.The main portion of this work is an alpha-betical list of the common names of flowerswith corresponding botanical names.Information on each flower includes notesabout class and order, a description, and lit-erary references to the flower. On the heelsof THNOC’s recent garden exhibition, thisgift is an excellent reference providing aninteresting perspective on the diffusion ofEnglish gardening traditions in earlyAmerica.■ THNOC board member Charles Snyderand his wife, Sherry, made a recent dona-tion in honor of board member HenryPierson’s many years of dedicated service toTHNOC. The 1883 edition of Benjamin’sTreatise on the Law of Sale of PersonalProperty… is one of the works of Judah P.Benjamin, who has been called “the brainsof the Confederacy” by some historians.Benjamin entered Yale College at the age of14 and later practiced law in New Orleans.In addition to his legal career and writings,Benjamin was a planter, a founder of theJackson Railroad, a state legislator, and a

United States senator. He served theConfederacy as attorney general, secretaryof war, and secretary of state. After the fallof the Confederacy in 1865, Benjamin set-tled in England, where he practiced law andbecame a queen’s counsel in 1872. Thiscopy of Benjamin’s work was bound espe-cially for the Birmingham (England) LawSociety. ■ At a time when wartime letters anddiaries are of particular interest, the libraryhas acquired a rare, privately printed title,Passages From the Life of Henry WarrenHowe, Consisting of Diary and LettersWritten During the Civil War, 1861-1865.Howe, a Union soldier who became a sec-ond lieutenant with the ThirtiethMassachusetts Regiment, provides interest-ing details of his service in Civil War battlesat Baton Rouge, Plains Store, andDonaldsonville, Louisiana. Some of his1862 letters describe expeditions up theMississippi River from Forts Jackson andSt. Philip to New Orleans—“sugar cane isabout eight inches high…. Proprietors’houses are large and surrounded by orangetrees.” In New Orleans, Howe notes flow-ers growing in abundance and womenwearing brightly colored bonnets adorned

THE HISTORIC NEWORLEANS COLLECTIONencourages research inthe Williams ResearchCenter at 410 ChartresStreet from 10:00 a.m.to 4:30 p.m. Tuesdayt h r o u g h S a t u r d a y(except holidays). Cata-loged materials available

to researchers include books, manu-scripts, paintings, prints, drawings, maps,photographs, and artifacts about the his-tory and culture of New Orleans,Louisiana, and the Gulf South. Each yearthe Collection adds thousands of items toits holdings by donation or purchase.Only a few recent acquisitions can benoted here.

ACQUISITIONS

LIBRARY

Title page and plate from Flora’s Dictionary, 1837 (2002-24-RL)

with rose blossoms. His 1863 letters pro-vide interesting commentary on specificUnion activities in Louisiana from MorganCity and Berwick to New Iberia andLafayette. Howe’s diary and letters providea personalized account of the struggle forsurvival during the Civil War.

—Gerald Patout

Some of the best insights into the past comefrom anonymous voices. The Historic NewOrleans Collection has acquired a seven-page letter describing Mardi Gras day 1872in detail. The anonymous letter, addressedsimply to “My Own Dear Wife,” begins witha complaint that he (the writer) was having a“trying” day. He had an enormous amountof work to do, but “idlers” kept crowdingnear his work space to look out of his down-town office window. It was Mardi Gras dayand throngs of revelers had crowded thestreets. Like most realistic New Orleanians,the writer soon gave up the notion of pro-ductivity. He describes the carnival proces-sion as it passed by his window—the kingwas dressed as a Turkish sultan, and hismounted guards were clad as Bedouins.

MANUSCRIPTS

12

Not far behind were human playing cards,followed by devils and baboons on horse-back. That evening he made his way toCanal Street, where, perhaps for his wife’sbenefit, he was sufficiently appalled by awoman who wore a skirt that was six inchesabove the knee. The whole mad scene, henotes, was illuminated by Chinese lanternsin front of the buildings and several “calci-um” lights.■ A recent donation from Jerome M.Stedman of a collection of memorabiliafrom the Top of the Mart documents oneaspect of the multifaceted tourism industryin the city. The Top of the Mart, a revolv-ing cocktail lounge formerly located on the33rd floor of the World Trade Center ofNew Orleans, was established as an “invit-ing place for visitors and our own people tosee the majestic Mississippi River and theenvirons of New Orleans,” according to a1967 convention brochure. The Top of the

Mart (1967) and the New OrleansInternational Exhibition Facility orRivergate (1968) opened as part of the samedevelopment complex, evidence of the bur-geoning convention business in the city.■ In honor of the Hendershott family,Gary Hendershott has donated a collectionof more than 1,000 issues of Civil War-eranewspapers published in New Orleans.Included are the Daily True Delta; the pro-Union New Orleans Times, established in1863; and rare issues of the New OrleansDaily Crescent, which was shut down byUnion officials on May 13, 1862.

Mark Cave

The SS Alcoa Polaris is the subject of a pre-sentation album compiled by New Orleansphotojournalist Mona MacMurray from1952 to 1954 for the students of the Green

Acres School, who had adopted the cargoship as a topic of study. Donated to TheHistoric New Orleans Collection byMichael Patrykus, the album contains Ms.MacMurray’s photographs of crew mem-bers at their posts, cargo areas, and livingquarters aboard the vessel, as well as exte-rior views of the hull and decks. Typed cap-tions accompany each of the album’s 51pictures. ■ A portrait by Thomas Sully of LouisaWerninger Robb, the first wife of businessmagnate James Robb, was recently pur-chased with funds made available throughthe Clarisse Claiborne Grima bequest. Theloosely painted bust-length portrait is a pre-liminary study for the group portrait ofMrs. Robb and her children painted bySully in 1844. (See article by GeorgeJordan on pages 6-7.) ■ Margie Laws Luke has donated a num-ber of items relating to New Orleans and

Old Absinthe House, corner of Bourbon and Bienville Streets, by William Woodward, 1904 (2001.98.1)

CURATORIAL

13

Printmaking processes of various kinds havebeen used by artists for centuries to exploita particular aesthetic and to make workavailable to larger audiences than can bereached through original paintings, draw-ings, and watercolors. In New Orleans, thispractice is as old as the American era, as isevidenced by the pictorial print of theCrescent City by J. L. Boqueta de Woiseriissued in 1803. Since that time, images ofNew Orleans, both commercial and artistic,documentary and interpretive, have beenpart of the visual landscape. More ThanOne emphasizes aspects of printmakingfrom roughly the last 100 years. The exhi-bition presents etchings, drypoints, litho-graphs, silkscreens, and other media byartists who demonstrated more than a pass-ing interest in graphic expression during thecourse of their careers. More Than One:Late 19th- and 20th-Century Prints from thePermanent Collection will remain on viewthrough June at the Williams ResearchCenter, 410 Chartres Street.

MORE THAN ONELATE 19TH- AND 20TH-

CENTURY PRINTS FROM THEPERMANENT COLLECTION

Louisiana, including silver flatware manu-factured or retailed in New Orleans byWood & Hughes, H. P. Buckley, LeonSimons, Maurice Scooler, and Coleman E.Adler. The flatware collection comprisesdinner forks, teaspoons, tablespoons, and asouvenir spoon. ■ Two French Quarter scenes executed byWilliam Woodward in oil crayon are arecent donation from Laura Simon Nelson.

Both works depict Vieux Carré landmarks,one still standing, the other destroyed. Inhis 1904 painting of the Old AbsintheHouse, Woodward uses a vibrant, energeticstyle to portray the Bourbon Street facadeof the structure. The other Woodwardpainting depicts the French Opera House atthe corner of Bourbon and ToulouseStreets. Designed by James Gallier, Jr., theFrench Opera House opened in 1859 and

Warwick Aiken, Jr.Alan Klotz PhotocollectAlgiers Historical SocietyJane Gardner AprillArchivo Histórico NacionalMarilyn BarnettDorian BennettViola R. BermanClaire BettagElizabeth BlackJoan BostickBoulder City Museum and Historical AssociationRobert S. BrantleyEric J. BrockMrs. Ellis Johann BultmanCharles E. Cabibi, Jr.The Cathedral of St. John the EvangelistBeverly B. CeriseFlora CherryMichael B. ChessonMrs. William K. ChristovichWilliam C. CookPrice CraneRita Curry-PittmanRebecca DeBoisblancJohanna DingeldeinDorian M. Bennett, Inc.Patrick J. Dunne in memory of Lawrence B.

Fabacher Fidelity Homestead AssociationFriends For Newcomb CollegeFundación Histórica TaveraJohn J. Gifford, Jr.Patricia Ketchum GorslineGeorge Griswold IIArthur HardyLinea HarveyHarvey PressThe Haydn FoundationDr. John R. HébertGary Hendershott in honor of the Hendershott

familySkip HendersonLouis C. HennickKevin HerridgeMaunsel White HickeyThe Historical Society of PennsylvaniaMoses HoganHotel St. MarieMrs. John C. JacobsDavis Lee Jahncke, Jr.Doug and Vicki JenningsJohnson Controls, Inc.John R. JonesGloria Ketchum KearnsVic KirkpatrickKrewe du Vieux

Dr. Jon KuklaWilliam Howard KuntzMrs. Alfred Smith LandryLe Château Frontenac, Quebec CityClifford LeBlancLouisiana Creole Heritage CenterLouisiana Music FactoryLouisiana State University LibrariesMargie Laws LukeJoseph N. Marcal IIIMassachusetts Institute of Technology Media LabMr. and Mrs. Andrew J. McWhorterElaine MenszerMaury and F. A. MidloMilling Benson Woodward L.L.P.Mississippi Commission for International Cultural

Exchange, Inc.Museo de la Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San

FernandoJana NapoliLaura Simon NelsonN’Kafu Traditional African Dance CompanyOmohundro Institute of Early American History

and CulturePatio Planters, Inc.Gerald F. Patout, Jr.Michael PatrykusRichard C. Plater, Jr.Jeanne P. RabigScott RatterreeSharon RobinsonSteve RomeDr. J. William RosenthalJohn F. RowleyJohn Robert SarpyJacqueline Ketchum SchmitzCharles SensWilliam H. ShannonDr. Darrlyn A. SmithMr. and Mrs. Charles Snyder in honor of

G. Henry Pierson, Jr.Evan R. Soulé, Jr. Yvonne ThomasFred W. ToddSamuel A. TrufantTulane University Department of Civil and

Environmental EngineeringTulane University Department of Theatre and

DanceUniversity of New Orleans Coastal Research

Lab/Lake Pontchartrain Basin FoundationMrs. James ViavantJohn E. WalkerMrs. Harcourt WatersJohn G. WeinmannLou Woodward

was destroyed by fire in 1919. ■ Maunsel W. Hickey has donated a cere-monial sword and scabbard havingbelonged to Colonel Pierre de La Ronde,Louisiana planter, soldier, and public offi-cial, who served as commander of the ThirdRegiment, Louisiana Militia, during theBattle of New Orleans. Dating between1800 and 1805, the sword is the work ofSchaberg fils de François.

—John H. Lawrence

OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2001 DONORS

Book Signing and LectureSponsored by

THNOC and Save Our CemeteriesCITIES OF SILENCE

A GUIDE TO MOBILE’S HISTORICCEMETERIESJohn Sledge

Saturday, May 11, 20022:00 PM

533 Royal Street

14

STAFF

EditorsLouise C. Hoffman

Lynn D. Adams, Mary C. Mees

Head of PhotographyJan White Brantley

Additional photography byDustin Booksh and Jennifer Berger

The Historic New Orleans CollectionQuarterly is published by The Historic NewOrleans Collection, which is operated by the Kemper and Leila WilliamsFoundation, a Louisiana nonprofit corpora-tion. Housed in a complex of historic build-ings in the French Quarter, facilities are opento the public, Tuesday through Saturday,from 10:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Tours of thehistory galleries and the Williams Residenceare available for a nominal fee.

Board of DirectorsMrs. William K. Christovich, President

John E. Walker Fred M. SmithCharles A. Snyder Drew Jardine

G. Henry Pierson, Jr., emeritusPriscilla Lawrence, Executive DirectorThe Historic New Orleans Collection

533 Royal StreetNew Orleans, Louisiana 70130

(504) 523-4662hnocinfo@hnoc.org • www.hnoc.org

ISSN 0886-2109© 2002 The Historic New Orleans Collection

In December 2001, SueLaudeman, coordinator ofthe educational outreachprogram, introduced hermost recent presentation,“Mapping History,” tofourth and fifth graders atDr. Ronald E. McNairElementary School inN e w O r l e a n s . T h i shands-on learning pro-gram highlights the con-nections between historyand geography. Studentsuse erasable, laminatedmaps and globes to locateoceans, continents, andcountries and to study theimpact of climate andlocation on global expansion, exploration, and migration.

This presentation is one of several programs that Mrs. Laudeman haspresented to more than 3,500 students in six parishes since the inception ofthe outreach program in the fall of 1999.

EDUCATIONAL OUTREACHPROGRAM UPDATE

Bunny Hinckley Bet ByrdYvonne LoiselleMarjy Greenb

erg

Dr. Ronald E. McNair Elementary School students

CHANGESMarjy Greenberg, head docent, who joinedthe staff in 1984, has retired from theCollection. Bunny Hinckley has acceptedthe position of head docent. Bet Byrd,obituary index project; Tom Carter, libraryvolunteer; Yvonne Loiselle, library volun-teer; Kate James, library volunteer for themonth of December; Anne Finney, intern(Loyola University); Todd Mefford, intern(Our Lady of Holy Cross College); LesleyBurke, intern (Loyola University).

IN THE COMMUNITYJohn Magill, interviews, Home & GardenTV and WYES-TV.

MEETINGS AND WORKSHOPSSue Laudeman, Center for Developmentand Learning; Denise Klingman-Meunier,American Association for State and LocalHistory, historic house issues and opera-tions conference, Monticello; PamelaArceneaux, James Powell, Mark Cave, andTerry Weldon, Southeastern Library

Network, intermediate book repair work-shop, THNOC; Priscilla Lawrence, JohnH. Lawrence, Mary Mees, and AmyBaptist, Louisiana Historical Association,New Iberia; Amy Baptist, LouisianaLibrary Association, Baton Rouge.

LECTURES AND PRESENTATIONSDenise Klingman-Meunier, PreservationResource Center; Pamela Arceneaux,Orleans Parish Medical Society Alliance;Gerald Patout, Jefferson Genealogical

15

The earliest music known to survive in New Orleans and the entire lower Mississippi Rivervalley is a manuscript copy of music by more than 30 of the most distinguished French andItalian composers of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Dating from the 1730s, the manu-script was given to the Ursuline nuns in 1754 and was added to THNOC’s holdings whenthe Ursuline Convent library was acquired in 1998. As part of the award-winning series LesChemins du Baroque, French record producer K-617 has produced Manuscrit des Ursulinesde la Nouvelle-Orléans: Baroque Music in New Orleans, a CD featuring selections from theUrsuline manuscript. Copies of Manuscrit des Ursulines de la Nouvelle-Orléans are for sale inthe Shop.

THESHOP

PLEASE SEND

Quantity Amount

_____ Manuscrit des Ursulines CD, $18 ______

_____ Plantations by the River, $39.95 ______

Shipping and Handling

$5 each ______

Taxes as applicable:

9% Orleans Parish ______

4% other La. residents ______

Total Amount Due ______

Name:

Address:

City,

State, Zip:

Visa MasterCard Check or Money order

Account Number:

Exp. Date:

Signature:

Anne FinneyLesley Burke

THIRD SATURDAYA CONTINUING PROGRAM AT THE WILLIAMS RESEARCH CENTER

410 CHARTRES STREET

9:30 – 11:00 AM

An introduction to research at the Williams Research Center, each session includes an ori-entation to the book, manuscript, and visual image collections. The final portion of eachsession focuses on a particular resource. May 18: Mary Morrison: The French Quarter SceneThrough the Papers of a Preservationist; June 15: Ya Ya at THNOC; July 20: The Photographsof Guy Bernard

Limited enrollment, reservations required (504) 598-7171Light refreshments follow

The reading room will open to the public at noon.

Society, Louisiana Colonials, GenealogyWest, Genealogical Research Society ofNew Orleans, Louisiana LibraryAssociation, Baton Rouge, and SeniorFortnightly Club, New Iberia; AlfredLemmon and Nancy Ruck, Music LibraryAssociation; Alfred Lemmon and MarkCave, Natchez Literary and CinemaCelebration; Mark Cave, TennesseeWilliams/New Orleans Literary Festivaland Algiers Historical Society; John H.Lawrence and Judith H. Bonner, SouthernPicturesque symposium, THNOC.

SYMPOSIUM EXPLORES THE CANADA-LOUISIANA CONNECTION

KEMPER AND LEILA WILLIAMS FOUNDATIONTHE HISTORIC NEW ORLEANS COLLECTIONMuseum • Research Center • Publisher533 Royal StreetNew Orleans, Louisiana 70130(504) 523-4662Visit the Collection on the Internet at www.hnoc.orgADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

NEW ORLEANSTHE HISTORIC

QUARTERLY

Speakers at the January 19th symposium, The French Empire in North America: From Canada to Louisiana, a Shared History, top row, Dr. David B. Gracy II (moderator), Dr.Stephen A. White, Guy Vadeboncoeur, Glenn R. Conrad, Dr. Gene A. Smith, bottom row, Dr. Daniel H. Usner, Jr., Patricia R. Lemée. Not pictured, Dr. Emily Clark, John H. Lawrence

http://www.hnoc.org