BGuthrie Photos: LA -- Baton Rouge -- Louisiana State Museum

LA -- Baton Rouge -- Louisiana State Museum:

Bruce Guthrie Photos Home Page: [Click here] to go to Bruce Guthrie Photos home page.

Recognize anyone? If you recognize specific folks (or other stuff) and I haven't labeled them, please identify them for the world. Click the little pencil icon

underneath the file name (just above the picture). Spammers need not apply.

Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

Accessing as Spider: The system has identified your IP as being a spider.
IP Address: 18.117.165.66 -- Domain: Amazon Technologies
I love well-behaved spiders! They are, in fact, how most people find my site. Unfortunately, my network has a limited bandwidth and pictures take up bandwidth. Spiders ask for lots and lots of pages and chew up lots and lots of bandwidth which slows things down considerably for regular folk. To counter this, you'll see all the text on the page but the images are being suppressed. Also, some system options like merges are being blocked for you.
Note: Permission is NOT granted for spiders, robots, etc to use the site for AI-generation purposes. I'm sure you're thrilled by your ability to make revenue from my work but there's nothing in that for my human users or for me.
If you are in fact human, please email me at guthrie.bruce@gmail.com and I can check if your designation was made in error. Given your number of hits, that's unlikely but what the hell.

Help? The Medium (Email) links are for screen viewing and emailing. You'll want bigger sizes for printing. [Click here for additional help]

Share: Facebook Twitter Digg
[1] LSM1_130524_002.JPG	[2] LSM1_130524_006.JPG	[3] LSM1_130524_009.JPG
[4] LSM1_130524_014.JPG	[5] LSM1_130524_024.JPG	[6] LSM1_130524_029.JPG
[7] LSM1_130524_033.JPG	[8] LSM1_130524_039.JPG	[9] LSM1_130524_043.JPG
[10] LSM1_130524_048.JPG	[11] LSM1_130524_053.JPG	[12] LSM1_130524_057.JPG
[13] LSM1_130524_061.JPG	[14] LSM1_130524_066.JPG	[15] LSM1_130524_071.JPG
[16] LSM1_130524_076.JPG	[17] LSM1_130524_080.JPG	[18] LSM1_130524_085.JPG
[19] LSM1_130524_089.JPG	[20] LSM1_130524_094.JPG	[21] LSM1_130524_098.JPG
[22] LSM1_130524_102.JPG	[23] LSM1_130524_106.JPG	[24] LSM1_130524_117.JPG
[25] LSM1_130524_119.JPG	[26] LSM1_130524_127.JPG	[27] LSM1_130524_131.JPG
[28] LSM1_130524_136.JPG	[29] LSM1_130524_143.JPG	[30] LSM1_130524_145.JPG
[31] LSM1_130524_148.JPG	[32] LSM1_130524_153.JPG	[33] LSM1_130524_158.JPG
[34] LSM1_130524_163.JPG	[35] LSM1_130524_164.JPG	[36] LSM1_130524_166.JPG
[37] LSM1_130524_169.JPG	[38] LSM1_130524_173.JPG	[39] LSM1_130524_178.JPG
[40] LSM1_130524_184.JPG	[41] LSM1_130524_188.JPG	[42] LSM1_130524_192.JPG
[43] LSM1_130524_200.JPG	[44] LSM1_130524_206.JPG	[45] LSM1_130524_212.JPG
[46] LSM1_130524_216.JPG	[47] LSM1_130524_221.JPG	[48] LSM1_130524_233.JPG
[49] LSM1_130524_240.JPG	[50] LSM1_130524_246.JPG	[51] LSM1_130524_251.JPG
[52] LSM1_130524_261.JPG	[53] LSM1_130524_265.JPG	[54] LSM1_130524_269.JPG
[55] LSM1_130524_273.JPG	[56] LSM1_130524_281.JPG	[57] LSM1_130524_285.JPG
[58] LSM1_130524_290.JPG	[59] LSM1_130524_293.JPG	[60] LSM1_130524_297.JPG
[61] LSM1_130524_301.JPG	[62] LSM1_130524_307.JPG	[63] LSM1_130524_312.JPG
[64] LSM1_130524_317.JPG	[65] LSM1_130524_322.JPG	[66] LSM1_130524_329.JPG
[67] LSM1_130524_330.JPG	[68] LSM1_130524_334.JPG	[69] LSM1_130524_337.JPG
[70] LSM1_130524_341.JPG	[71] LSM1_130524_353.JPG	[72] LSM1_130524_357.JPG
[73] LSM1_130524_366.JPG	[74] LSM1_130524_370.JPG	[75] LSM1_130524_375.JPG
[76] LSM1_130524_380.JPG	[77] LSM1_130524_384.JPG	[78] LSM1_130524_387.JPG
[79] LSM1_130524_392.JPG	[80] LSM1_130524_403.JPG	[81] LSM1_130524_406.JPG
[82] LSM1_130524_410.JPG	[83] LSM1_130524_413.JPG	[84] LSM1_130524_418.JPG
[85] LSM1_130524_423.JPG	[86] LSM1_130524_427.JPG	[87] LSM1_130524_432.JPG
[88] LSM1_130524_437.JPG	[89] LSM1_130524_441.JPG	[90] LSM1_130524_445.JPG
[91] LSM1_130524_449.JPG	[92] LSM1_130524_453.JPG	[93] LSM1_130524_457.JPG
[94] LSM1_130524_463.JPG	[95] LSM1_130524_467.JPG	[96] LSM1_130524_473.JPG
[97] LSM1_130524_477.JPG	[98] LSM1_130524_485.JPG	[99] LSM1_130524_492.JPG
[100] LSM1_130524_501.JPG	[101] LSM1_130524_505.JPG	[102] LSM1_130524_509.JPG
[103] LSM1_130524_514.JPG	[104] LSM1_130524_519.JPG	[105] LSM1_130524_524.JPG
[106] LSM1_130524_528.JPG	[107] LSM1_130524_533.JPG	[108] LSM1_130524_541.JPG
[109] LSM1_130524_550.JPG	[110] LSM1_130524_553.JPG	[111] LSM2_130524_001.JPG
[112] LSM2_130524_006.JPG	[113] LSM2_130524_009.JPG	[114] LSM2_130524_013.JPG
[115] LSM2_130524_019.JPG	[116] LSM2_130524_023.JPG	[117] LSM2_130524_029.JPG
[118] LSM2_130524_033.JPG	[119] LSM2_130524_038.JPG	[120] LSM2_130524_044.JPG
[121] LSM2_130524_048.JPG	[122] LSM2_130524_052.JPG	[123] LSM2_130524_056.JPG
[124] LSM2_130524_062.JPG	[125] LSM2_130524_065.JPG	[126] LSM2_130524_069.JPG
[127] LSM2_130524_073.JPG	[128] LSM2_130524_077.JPG	[129] LSM2_130524_082.JPG
[130] LSM2_130524_087.JPG	[131] LSM2_130524_096.JPG	[132] LSM2_130524_101.JPG
[133] LSM2_130524_107.JPG	[134] LSM2_130524_111.JPG	[135] LSM2_130524_117.JPG
[136] LSM2_130524_121.JPG	[137] LSM2_130524_126.JPG	[138] LSM2_130524_131.JPG
[139] LSM2_130524_136.JPG	[140] LSM2_130524_138.JPG	[141] LSM2_130524_143.JPG
[142] LSM2_130524_150.JPG	[143] LSM2_130524_151.JPG	[144] LSM2_130524_155.JPG
[145] LSM2_130524_156.JPG	[146] LSM2_130524_160.JPG	[147] LSM2_130524_164.JPG
[148] LSM2_130524_168.JPG	[149] LSM2_130524_172.JPG	[150] LSM2_130524_178.JPG
[151] LSM2_130524_184.JPG	[152] LSM2_130524_189.JPG	[153] LSM2_130524_193.JPG
[154] LSM2_130524_199.JPG	[155] LSM2_130524_205.JPG	[156] LSM2_130524_211.JPG
[157] LSM2_130524_216.JPG	[158] LSM2_130524_220.JPG	[159] LSM2_130524_223.JPG
[160] LSM2_130524_229.JPG	[161] LSM2_130524_239.JPG	[162] LSM2_130524_241.JPG
[163] LSM2_130524_248.JPG	[164] LSM2_130524_255.JPG	[165] LSM2_130524_264.JPG
[166] LSM2_130524_268.JPG	[167] LSM3_130524_001.JPG	[168] LSM3_130524_007.JPG
[169] LSM3_130524_012.JPG	[170] LSM3_130524_017.JPG	[171] LSM3_130524_021.JPG
[172] LSM3_130524_026.JPG	[173] LSM3_130524_032.JPG	[174] LSM3_130524_033.JPG
[175] LSM3_130524_038.JPG	[176] LSM3_130524_044.JPG	[177] LSM3_130524_048.JPG
[178] LSM3_130524_054.JPG	[179] LSM3_130524_058.JPG	[180] LSM3_130524_063.JPG
[181] LSM3_130524_069.JPG	[182] LSM3_130524_073.JPG	[183] LSM3_130524_078.JPG
[184] LSM3_130524_083.JPG	[185] LSM3_130524_086.JPG	[186] LSM3_130524_091.JPG
[187] LSM3_130524_098.JPG	[188] LSM3_130524_103.JPG	[189] LSM3_130524_109.JPG
[190] LSM3_130524_114.JPG	[191] LSM3_130524_118.JPG	[192] LSM3_130524_122.JPG
[193] LSM3_130524_127.JPG	[194] LSM3_130524_133.JPG	[195] LSM3_130524_138.JPG
[196] LSM3_130524_143.JPG	[197] LSM3_130524_147.JPG	[198] LSM3_130524_152.JPG
[199] LSM3_130524_158.JPG	[200] LSM3_130524_161.JPG	[201] LSM3_130524_168.JPG
[202] LSM3_130524_173.JPG	[203] LSM3_130524_177.JPG	[204] LSM3_130524_182.JPG
[205] LSM3_130524_184.JPG	[206] LSM3_130524_190.JPG	[207] LSM3_130524_193.JPG
[208] LSM3_130524_198.JPG	[209] LSM3_130524_201.JPG	[210] LSM3_130524_205.JPG
[211] LSM3_130524_207.JPG	[212] LSM3_130524_211.JPG	[213] LSM3_130524_214.JPG
[214] LSM3_130524_218.JPG	[215] LSM3_130524_231.JPG	[216] LSM3_130524_235.JPG
[217] LSM3_130524_237.JPG	[218] LSM3_130524_242.JPG	[219] LSM3_130524_262.JPG
[220] LSM3_130524_266.JPG	[221] LSM3_130524_270.JPG	[222] LSM3_130524_274.JPG
[223] LSM3_130524_277.JPG	[224] LSM3_130524_284.JPG	[225] LSM3_130524_289.JPG
[226] LSM3_130524_297.JPG	[227] LSM3_130524_301.JPG	[228] LSM3_130524_304.JPG
[229] LSM3_130524_310.JPG	[230] LSM3_130524_318.JPG	[231] LSM3_130524_324.JPG
[232] LSM3_130524_328.JPG	[233] LSM3_130524_332.JPG	[234] LSM3_130524_340.JPG
[235] LSM3_130524_346.JPG	[236] LSM3_130524_350.JPG	[237] LSM3_130524_354.JPG
[238] LSM3_130524_358.JPG	[239] LSM3_130524_362.JPG	[240] LSM3_130524_366.JPG
[241] LSM3_130524_375.JPG	[242] LSM3_130524_381.JPG	[243] LSM3_130524_385.JPG
[244] LSM3_130524_392.JPG	[245] LSM3_130524_400.JPG	[246] LSM3_130524_411.JPG
[247] LSM3_130524_416.JPG	[248] LSM3_130524_421.JPG	[249] LSM3_130524_424.JPG
[250] LSM3_130524_429.JPG	[251] LSM3_130524_438.JPG	[252] LSM3_130524_439.JPG
[253] LSM3_130524_444.JPG	[254] LSM3_130524_448.JPG	[255] LSM3_130524_452.JPG
[256] LSM3_130524_461.JPG	[257] LSM3_130524_467.JPG	[258] LSM3_130524_480.JPG
[259] LSM3_130524_485.JPG

Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. LSM1_130524_006.JPG: Grounds for Greatness: Louisiana and the Nation: The Mighty Mississippi Louisiana Purchase Louisiana at War Louisiana Giants Slavery in Louisiana Civil Rights Natural Abundance
2. LSM1_130524_024.JPG: The Great River: The powerful and complex Mississippi is the most important river in North America and one of the greatest in the world. The Mississippi, dubbed the "Great River" by American Indians, is no ordinary river. Flowing 2,438 miles, it is North America's longest river and the fourth largest in the world. Its drainage basin, the third largest on earth, embraces thirty-one states and two Canadian provinces. The river consists of two sections, the upper and the lower, which sustain an amazing variety of ecosystems. The Mississippi is a powerful, complex, and contradictory force that both promotes and resists change. It creates and destroys, alternately enriching and impoverishing those along its course.
3. LSM1_130524_029.JPG: As a natural system, an avenue of commerce, and an adversary, the Mississippi River has played a defining role in creating Louisiana's distinctive landscape, lifestyle, and culture.
4. LSM1_130524_039.JPG: Why is the Mississippi River brown? The Mississippi transports sediment from its extensive drainage basin to the lower river, where it is deposited along the banks by floodwaters or carried out to sea. The river deposits 406,500,000 tons of soil into the Gulf of Mexico each year. Nitrogen and phosphorus washed downstream from midwestern farms remove oxygen from the water, creating a large "dead zone" in the Gulf.
5. LSM1_130524_043.JPG: Birth of a River: The Lower Mississippi evolved from a glacial stream into the long, wide, and looping river that we know today. The Lower Mississippi may have been created during the last great ice age. The glacial river cut its way through an abandoned Gulf bay, and the later thaw increased the stream's flow and capacity, allowing it to fill the bay with sediment to create the Mississippi Valley. Changing water levels, coupled with uneven patterns of erosion and sediment deposit, created the stream's "loops." The river occupied multiple main channels and deltas before assuming its present course.
6. LSM1_130524_048.JPG: Courses of the Mississippi: The Mississippi changes courses four times during a four-thousand-year period before assuming its present course around 900 AD. The evolving river's sediment created much of southeast Louisiana.
7. LSM1_130524_053.JPG: Downriver Trade: Early trade on the Mississippi was primarily downriver due to the power of the current and the primitive craft available. The Mississippi River is the greatest inland trade route in North America. From the era of American Indian traders until the early nineteenth century, traffic was primarily one way -- downstream -- because of the strong current and the rudimentary watercraft employed. Keelboats, flatboats, and other vessels brought the produce and raw materials of the developing Mississippi Valley to bustling ports for shipment to the East Coast and Europe. The burgeoning trade and distrust of colonial powers that controlled New Orleans prompted the United States to purchase Louisiana in 1803.
8. LSM1_130524_057.JPG: American Indian Trade: American Indians, who were in the Mississippi Valley 10,000 to 12,000 years ago, were the first to use the Mississippi River as a trade route. The Poverty Point culture, predominant in Louisiana by 1500 BC, participated in an extensive trade network that included the entire Mississippi Basin. Later Indian groups continued to use the river for trade, though on a less-impressive scale.
9. LSM1_130524_061.JPG: Commercial Conflict: The Mississippi River was a source of conflict among competing nations until it came under American control in 1803. Europeans vied for its control. Recognizing the river's strategic and economic potential, La Salle claimed it for France in 1682, but both British and French traders operated in the region in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The French, and later the Spanish, ran the port of New Orleans. Fearful of American expansion, the Spanish closed the port to foreign traffic in 1802. The Louisiana Purchase ended the struggle, making the Mississippi an American river.
10. LSM1_130524_066.JPG: Rise of the River Ports: Two ports, Natchez and New Orleans, offered boatmen comforts and recreation and benefited tremendously from downriver trade. Downriver trade enriched two ports on the Lower Mississippi. Natchez, the terminus of overland trade, provided a break after the most dangerous part of the long voyage. Founded in 1718 near the mouth of the river, New Orleans, the larger and more important of the ports, was the destination of most boatmen. Both cities offered respite and entertainment to weary travelers and both prospered greatly from the lucrative trade, especially after the Louisiana Purchase.
11. LSM1_130524_071.JPG: The Golden Age of River Travel: Steam power revolutionized transportation on the river, transforming the Mississippi into a two-way avenue of commerce. The introduction of steam power revolutionized transportation on the river, ushering in a golden age of travel that would last until the end of the nineteenth century. Steamboats, which had the power to overcome the river's current, transformed the Mississippi into a two-way avenue of commerce. Cargo and passengers traveled as easily upriver as down. Described by one observer as a "wedding cake on a raft," the steamboat became an American icon and an enduring symbol of the Mississippi River.
12. LSM1_130524_076.JPG: The Origins of Western Steam: Robert Fulton's New Orleans inaugurated the age of steam transportation, but his monopoly stifled its further development. The New Orleans, designed by Robert Fulton and the first steam-powered boat on the Mississippi, arrived in its namesake city in 1812. Through the efforts of Robert Livingston, Fulton and his investors received exclusive rights for steam navigation on the river in Louisiana. The poor design of Fulton's vessels, essentially keelboats with paddlewheels, prevented the group from taking full advantage of their monopoly and stifled further development of steam power on the river.
13. LSM1_130524_080.JPG: Father of the Steamboat Age: Henry Shreve, steamboat builder and monopoly foe, was the driving force in the early success of steam power on the Mississippi. Captain of two vessels seized for violating the Fulton monopoly, Henry Shreve led the court battle that overturned that restraint of trade. He also designed the Washington, which featured a truss-like frame and could operate in relatively shallow water. Sturdier, more efficient, and more spacious than earlier vessels, it became the model for future steamboats.
14. LSM1_130524_085.JPG: Organizing the Trade: Many steamboats joined forces in packet lines, thereby benefiting the public and gaining a competitive advantage in the expanding trade. Steamboat traffic increased dramatically between 1820 and 1850. Initially, schedules were often erratic and shipping rates varied, but by 1840 steamboat service became more dependable. To gain a competitive advantage, many boat owners combined to form in packet lines that offered expanded routes and schedules, enhanced services, and better fares. Numerous lines operated on the Mississippi and Red Rivers and other Louisiana waterways.
15. LSM1_130524_089.JPG: The steamboats were finer than anything on shore. Compared with superior dwelling-houses and first-class hotels in the Valley, they ... were "palaces." -- Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi (1883)
16. LSM1_130524_094.JPG: Floating Palaces: The triple-decked steamboat offered segregated luxury accommodations to those who could afford them. The triple-decked steamboat, with salon and staterooms, was truly a "floating palace," offering luxury accommodations that often rivaled hotels. During the antebellum period, not everyone shared in this luxury. Deck passengers, including immigrants and slaves, paid a reduced fare, slept on the open freight deck, and provided their own bedding and food. After the Civil War, affluence African Americans were relegated to segregated first-class rooms and ate in a separate dining room dubbed the "Freedmen's Bureau."
17. LSM1_130524_102.JPG: "I am an alligator; half man, half horse; [I] can whip any map on the Mississippi." -- 1808 boatman's boast in Christian Schultz's "Travels on an Inland Voyage"
18. LSM1_130524_106.JPG: The Alligator Horse: Early river boatmen earned an enduring place in American culture and the colorful nickname "alligator horse." Boatmen in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries included adventurers, trappers, frontier farmers, immigrants, and professional sailors. Faced with monotony, hard work, and danger, they exhibited a unique combination of physical strength, skill, and endurance that led to the nickname "alligator horse." Later Americans, yearning for a simpler time, elevated the early boatmen to folk heroes, making them the subject of art and literature.
19. LSM1_130524_117.JPG: Flatboat model
20. LSM1_130524_119.JPG: King of the Downriver Trade: The simple, inexpensive and primitive flatboat dominated Mississippi Valley commerce until the steamboat replaced it. Flatboats dominated the trade that brought Mississippi Valley resources to market. Inexpensive and easy to build, the vessels were powered by the river's current and steered by oars or "sweeps." Early examples averaged sixty feet long by fifteen feet wide, with a cargo capacity of 50 to 60 tons. Later versions, operated by ten men, were a hundred feet long and carried 150 tons of freight. Faced with competition from steamboats, flatboat traffic began to decline by 1847.
21. LSM1_130524_127.JPG: The End of an Era: Railroad expansion, war, and port problems combined to cause the decline of steamboat commerce in the late nineteenth century. Steamboat commerce declined in the late-nineteenth century due to railroad expansion and the disruption and redirection of trade during the Civil War. The expense and inconvenience of exporting goods through New Orleans compounded the problem. River traffic revived after the war, and grander steamboats were built, but the number of vessels never approached the prewar level. By the early 1900s, many boats became towboats or excursion vessels or disappeared from the river entirely.
22. LSM1_130524_131.JPG: The Emergency of the Barge System: The barge system, the primary means of hauling freight after the Civil War, was a combination of downriver and steam commerce. The barge system began with steamboats towing private, empty flatboats upriver and evolved into the boats towing their own loaded open flatboats in both directions. Coupled with navigational improvements that favored steamboats, towing made unpowered flatboats obsolete. Towboats consisted of refitted sternwheel steamers as well as new vessels constructed for this purpose.
23. LSM1_130524_136.JPG: Revival of the River: The Federal Barge Lines, started in 1924, inspired the establishment of the private lines that are characteristic river traffic today. Barge traffic declined in the early twentieth century but began to revive during World War I when all barge service was nationalized. The government retained control of the barges after the war and established the Federal Barge Lines in an effort to revitalize river transportation. The corporation, which the government ultimately sold, inspired the establishment of the private barge systems that specialize in moving bulk cargoes and dominate modern-river commerce.
24. LSM1_130524_143.JPG: Navigational Improvements: The federal government funded significant navigational improvements on the river throughout the nineteenth century. An engineering survey undertaken from 1819 to 1922 prompted the first major river improvements. Henry Shreve, appointed to direct western river improvements, invented the snagboat and launched a successful systematic snag-removal program that lasted until 1854 and was later revived. Channels were dredged and bends were cut to shorten the river. The establishment of the Mississippi River Commission greatly increased funding and led to projects like the installation of navigational signals.
25. LSM1_130524_145.JPG: A Formidable Adversary: For centuries, humans have tried to master the Mississippi, an unpredictable, evolving waterway that is difficult to navigate. The river, seeking a shorter route to the Gulf, is continuously changing course, with its bends straightening and moving south. Its water level varies seasonally, with floods increasing water volume and velocity, as well as the amount of sediment and debris it carries. Bank erosion and sediment create sandbars and islands that alter the channel. Obstructions threaten smaller boats. Harsh weather also hampers navigation.
26. LSM1_130524_148.JPG: Trouble at the Passes: James Eads's jetty project successfully removed the sandbar at the river's mouth, reviving business at the Port of New Orleans. Sediment deposited at the river's mouths formed sandbars and hampered shipping, contributing to New Orlean's decline from the second to the ninth largest port in the nation. James Eads believed that a narrowed channel would increase the water's speed and scouring power. He proposed to create a navigable channel by constructing jetties or dikes. Opposed by the military, his jetty project at South Pass was completed in 1879 and led to a revival of business at the Port of New Orleans. -- James Buchanan Eads From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Captain James Buchanan Eads (May 23, 1820 – March 8, 1887) was a world-renowned American civil engineer and inventor, holding more than 50 patents. Early life and education Eads was born in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, and named for his mother's cousin, then Congressman and subsequent President of the United States James Buchanan. He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. James Eads was largely self-educated; at the age of 13, he left school to take up work to help support the family. One of his first jobs was at the Williams & Duhring dry-goods store run by Barrett Williams. Williams allowed the young Eads to spend time in his library, located above the store. In Eads's spare time, he read books on physical science, mechanics, machinery, and civil engineering. Fortune Eads made his initial fortune in salvage, by creating a diving bell for retrieving goods from the bottom of rivers that were sunk there by riverboat disasters, especially along the busy Mississippi River. He also devised special boats for raising the remains of sunken ships from the river bed. Because of his detailed knowledge of the Mississippi (the equal of any professional river pilot), his exceptional ability at navigating the most treacherous parts of the river system, and his personal fleet of snag-boats and salvage craft, he was afforded the much prized courtesy title of "Captain" by the rivermen of the Mississippi and was addressed as Captain Eads throughout his life. Civil War In 1861, after the outbreak of the American Civil War, Eads was called to Washington at the prompting of his friend, Attorney General Edward Bates, to consult on the defense of the Mississippi River. Soon afterward, he was contracted to construct the City-class ironclads for the United States Navy, and produced seven such ships within five months: St. Louis, Cairo, Carondelet, Cincinnati, Louisville, Mound City, and Pittsburgh. He also converted the river steamer New Era into the ironclad Essex. The river ironclads were a vital element in the highly successful Federal offensive into Tennessee, Kentucky and upper Mississippi (February–June, 1862). Eads corresponded frequently with Navy officers of the Western Flotilla, and used their "combat lessons learned" to improve vessels during post-combat repairs, and incorporate improvements into succeeding generations of gunboats. By the end of the war he would build more than 30 river ironclads. The last were so hardy that the Navy sent them into service in the Gulf of Mexico, where they supported the successful Federal attack on the Confederate port city of Mobile. All senior officers in the Western Theater, including Grant and Sherman, agreed that Eads and his vessels had been vital to early victory in the West. The first four gunboats were built at the Eads' Union Marine Works in Carondelet, Missouri. The next three were built under Eads' contract at the Mound City (Illinois) Marine Railway and Shipyard. Ead's vessels were the first United States' ironclads to enter combat. On January 11, 1862 the Eads-built ironclads St. Louis and Essex fought the Confederate gunboats CSS General Polk, CSS Ivy, and CSS Jackson at Lucas Bend, on the Mississippi River. Subsequently, on February 6, 1862, Eads' ironclads captured Fort Henry on the Tennessee River. This was over a month before the combat actions of the ironclads CSS Virginia and USS Monitor during the March 8–9, 1862 Battle of Hampton Roads. Mississippi River bridge Eads designed and built the first road and rail bridge to cross the Mississippi River at St. Louis. The Eads Bridge, constructed from 1867 through 1874, was the first bridge of a significant size with steel as its primary material, and it was the longest arch bridge in the world when completed. Eads was the first bridge builder to employ the cantilever method, which allowed steam boat traffic to continue using the river during construction. The bridge is still in use today, carrying both automobile and light rail traffic over the river. Mississippi River designs The Mississippi in the 100-mile-plus stretch between the port of New Orleans, Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico frequently suffered from silting up of its outlets, stranding ships or making parts of the river unnavigable for a period of time. Eads solved the problem with a wooden jetty system that narrowed the main outlet of the river, causing the river to speed up and cut its channel deeper, allowing year-round navigation. Eads offered to build the jetties first, and charge the government later. If he was successful, and the jetties caused the river to cut a channel 30 feet deep for 20 years, the government agreed to pay him $8 million. Eads was successful. The jetty system was installed in 1876 and the channel was cleared in February 1877. Journalist Joseph Pulitzer, who had known Eads for five years, invested $20,000 in this project. A flood in 1890 brought calls for a similar system for the entire Mississippi Valley. A jetty system would prevent the floods by deepening the main channel. However, there were concerns about the ability of water moving through a jetty system to cut out the rock and clay on the river bottom. Top officials of the Army Corps of Engineers lobbied Congress for levees and flood walls of their own design, which exacerbated these disasters, and against Eads' jetty system, which would have reduced these disasters. Other work Eads designed a gigantic railway system intended for construction at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, which would carry ocean-going ships across the isthmus from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean; this attracted some interest but was never constructed. In 1884 he became the first U.S. citizen awarded the Albert Medal of the Royal Society of the Arts. Eads died in Nassau, Bahamas, aged 66. He was buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri.
27. LSM1_130524_153.JPG: The Red River Raft The Red River Raft, a series of shifting logjams, blocked the river's channel until eliminated by army engineers in 1873. The Red River Raft was a series of shifting logjams that clogged the Mississippi's main Louisiana tributary. Beginning above Natchitoches, this obstacle to navigation originally extended upriver to Arkansas. Federally funded efforts, led by Henry Shreve, opened a channel in 1838, permitting the development of Shreveport. Natural forces, however, soon sealed it again. After decades of sporadic federal, state, and private efforts, army engineers permanently eliminated the raft in 1873.
28. LSM1_130524_166.JPG: Crossing the River: The Mississippi, initially a barrier to east-west movement, is now crossed by ferries and bridges. The Mississippi was the continent's most important north-south artery for migration, communication, and commerce, but it also proved to be a significant barrier to the east-west flow of the same commodities. Because of its width, depth, and strong currents, the river proved to be difficult, dangerous, and costly to cross. Ferries provided the first means for crossing the river. Bridges followed during the last century.
29. LSM1_130524_169.JPG: Ferries: Ferries, the earliest means of crossing the river, still provide a vital transportation link for many Louisiana citizens. Ferries were one of the earliest means of crossing the River. As people settled along the Mississippi, ferries, usually privately owned but sometimes publicly regulated, were established at towns and other popular crossing points. The earliest ferries were rafts, flatboats, or barges, with steam ferries appearing by 1835. Modern ferries are diesel powered. Bridges have replaced or supplanted most Louisiana ferries, but several, mostly owned by the state or parish governments, still operate.
30. LSM1_130524_173.JPG: Spanning the Mississippi: The completion of the Huey P. Long Bridge in 1935 launched an era of bridge-building in Louisiana. Bridge-building, initially opposed by steamboat operators, came to Louisiana in the late nineteenth century with a proposal to build a railroad bridge near New Orleans. After delays, false starts, and three years of work, the Huey P. >ong Bridge opened in 1935 as the world's longest railroad bridge. Boasting eight spans and rising 135 feet above the river, it also accommodates automobile traffic. Since the 1930s, ten more Mississippi River bridges have been erected in the state, and another one is planned.
31. LSM1_130524_188.JPG: Cotton Innovations: From the 1790s to the 1900s, technological developments improved the production and shipment of cotton. Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin in 1793 allowed cotton growers to save money on labor costs. The new machine led to the expansion of cotton production and slavery throughout Louisiana and the Lower Mississippi Valley. After the Civil War, New Orleans continued to be an international cotton marketing and shipping center with the establishment of the New Orleans Cotton Exchange and the massive Napoleon Avenue cotton press, warehouses, and wharves.
32. LSM1_130524_192.JPG: Two-Row Sugarcane Harvester: Comeco Model S-32: This harvester cuts two rows of cane at once and therefore decreases labor coasts. In the 1940s, the invention of the modern sugar harvester eliminated the need for large gangs of field hands.
33. LSM1_130524_200.JPG: Natural Abundance
34. LSM1_130524_212.JPG: Sugar Harvest The sugar harvest occurs in the fall before the first frost, when the cane is most ripe. The fall harvest (known as the grinding or rolling season) usually takes place from October through December. Prior to the invention of mechanical harvesters, all of the harvesting was done by hand. To ensure that the cane was cut at its peak of ripeness, all able hands, including children, worked in the fields. The cane cutters used knives to cut the stalks, which were then loaded onto carts and taken to the mill.
35. LSM1_130524_216.JPG: The Thibodaux Massacre of 1887: After the Civil War, planters and workers struggled over labor issues. When cane workers formed a union and struck in 1887, Governor Samuel McEnery sent the state militia to Thibodaux at the request of the planters. On November 23, over thirty laborers were killed in a tense standoff. The incident, known as the "Thiboduax Massacre," remains one of the nation's bloodiest labor conflicts. After the Civil War, sugarcane workers struggled with low wages and a seasonal labor market. During harvest, young and old were expected to work.
36. LSM1_130524_221.JPG: Two-Row Sugarcane Harvester: Comeco Model S-32: This harvester cuts two rows of cane at once and therefore decreases labor coasts. In the 1940s, the invention of the modern sugar harvester eliminated the need for large gangs of field hands.
37. LSM1_130524_233.JPG: Bust of John James Audubon Achille Peretti, 1914 A native of Saint-Domingue (Haiti), Audubon first came to the United States in 1803 at the time of the Louisiana Purchase. He arrived in Louisiana in 1820 and began working as a tutor and illustrating a variety of birds in St. Francisville.
38. LSM1_130524_240.JPG: John James Audubon: Audubon lived on a plantation near St. Francisville in the 1820s and began drawing many of the state's birds. Audubon began work on at least 167 (and possible more) of his bird drawings while he lived in Louisiana. Of the 435 bird species contained in his landmark four-volume Birds of America, 377 have been identified in the state -- more than half of all bird species known in North America, excluding Mexico. Because of his work, Audubon gained a reputation as one of the nation's first and greatest naturalists.
39. LSM1_130524_261.JPG: Abundant Artistic Inspiration: In the late 1800s, many artists were inspired to paint Louisiana's wildlife and its lush and distinctive landscapes. In the decades after the Civil War, painters and other artists came to Louisiana to capture the state's beauty just as John James Audubon, some chose to paint images of endangered wildlife. Others focused on the state's rich landscapes. Many painters focused on swamps and bayous while others created images of the upland hills and forests.
40. LSM1_130524_273.JPG: Agriculture, Past and Present: Throughout Louisiana's history, agriculture has played a vital role in this state's economy, society, and culture. French and Spanish colonists sought in vain for a lucrative cash crop. During the American period, however, technological innovation and the growth of slavery produced a profitable agricultural economy. This new economy created significant wealth for plantation owners and those who facilitated trade of the state's two largest cash crops -- sugar and cotton. In the late nineteenth century, rice also became an important staple crop. By 1900, over half of the nation's rice was grown in Louisiana.
41. LSM1_130524_285.JPG: Poverty Point: This large earthworks site in northeast Louisiana is the oldest of the large American Indian mound sites in North America. The Poverty Point earthworks in West Carroll Parish are noted for their size, age, and complexity. Mound-building cultures had existed in Louisiana since 4000 BC, yet none of them built a site as large and complex as the group at Poverty Point around 1500 BC. At that time, Poverty Point was the largest earthwork site in America. Archaeologists have unearthed a rich trove of materials that helps us understand the lives and legacy of Poverty Point's builders.
42. LSM1_130524_290.JPG: The Origins of Poverty Point: Why did the site develop as a major earthworks project? Archaeologists help us understand the historical origins of the site. The Poverty Point site sits on a ridge adjacent to Bayou Macon, a relic river channel. American Indians occupied this portion of Macon Ridge for thousands of years before the Poverty Point Indians. The land and waters surrounding the site supported a productive economy and society. By 1500 BC, the inhabitants had started a large building project, which culminated in a set of concentric earthen ridges and several mounds.
43. LSM1_130524_293.JPG: Macon Ridge: Island in a land of water: Poverty Point is located along Macon Ridge. The 130-mile ridge, located in present-day southeast Arkansas and northeast Louisiana, provided high ground in a land of water and seasonal flooding. Marked by a twenty-five-foot-high bluff on the eastern side, the ridge was convenient for navigating multiple regional waterways by pirogue. This satellite photograph shows Macon Ridge plainly. The light-colored landform in the northeast corner of the state contrasts with the surrounding swamps and rivers.
44. LSM1_130524_297.JPG: Poverty Point's Extensive Trade Network: Rock materials found at the site originate throughout the Southeast and the Mississippi Valley. Long-distance trade was a hallmark of Poverty Point culture. The Poverty Point site on Bayou Macon provided water access to the Mississippi and Arkansas Valleys, which were important trade routes. Louisiana Indians trades only on a small scale before Poverty Point was built. By 1500 BC, rocks were major trade goods, and their type and amount indicate that the Poverty Point trade network was quite far-reaching. In fact, it was the most extensive in North America at that time.
45. LSM1_130524_301.JPG: Importing materials to Poverty Point: Stone was the main exchange commodity at Poverty Point. The rock for projectile points at Poverty Point may have come from as far away as the Midwest, and the soapstone for vessels came from present-day Alabama and Georgia. This extensive trade network attests to the complex and sophisticated group of people that built the Poverty Point earthworks. Stone found at Poverty Point may have been imported from a wide area that stretched from the Ozark Mountains to the foothills of present-day Alabama and Georgia.
46. LSM1_130524_307.JPG: Other Mounds in Louisiana: Before and after Poverty Point, Indians in Louisiana built up to seven hundred earthworks that still exist. Several are now open to the public. Louisiana has some of the oldest, most spectacular, and best-preserved Indian mounds in the world. Compared with other places, Louisiana has an unusually large number of mounds and earthworks. By 4000 BC, Indians had begun building mounds in Louisiana, making them some of the oldest in the Western Hemisphere. During the mid-1500s AD, Indians were still constructing mounds in Louisiana. Today these earthworks continue to be sacred places for American Indians.
47. LSM1_130524_312.JPG: At Jonesville on the Tensas River, a mound site included an eighty-foot high stepped pyramid topped by a cone. The structure was destroyed to make the Highway 84 bridge in 1931. The historic Capitol Mound (c 700-1200 AD) is located directly east of the New State Capitol. During the Civil War, the United States Army used it for defense. The forty-two acre Marksville State Historic Site in central Louisiana features six mounds of various shapes and sizes in a semicircle enclosure dating to 50-400 AD. Located in the northwest corner of the LSU campus, two conical LSU Mounds from the Archaic period (4000-1700 BC) are older than the pyramids in Egypt.
48. LSM1_130524_317.JPG: Poverty Point: The Largest of its Day: In 1500 BC the Poverty Point site was the largest earthwork site ever built in North America. Poverty Point was so large and old that 2,500 years would pass before bigger earthworks were built. Poverty Point existed at the time of the great Egyptian pyramids and before all other great pyramids in North America.
49. LSM1_130524_322.JPG: 4000 BC: First mounds built in Louisiana. c 2500 BC: The first Egyptian pyramids. c 2400 BC: Watson Brake (Ouachita Parish) and LSU Mounds built. c 1500 BC: Poverty Point.
50. LSM1_130524_329.JPG: c 50 AD: Marksville Mounds built (Avoyelles Parish). 200 AD: Pyramid of the Sun, Teotihaucan, Mexico. c 500 AD: Troyville Mounds built (Catahoula Parish).
51. LSM1_130524_330.JPG: c 1000 AD: Pyramids at Chichen Itza, Mexico. c 1000 AD: Raffman Mounds built (Madison Parish). c 1050 AD: Cohokia Mounds, Illinois.
52. LSM1_130524_337.JPG: Sugar in Louisiana: Sugar became the state's first lucrative cash crop in the 1790s and remains an important part of the agricultural economy. Sugar was first cultivated in the colonial period by Jesuit priests, but the success and profitability of sugarcane was not assured until the 1790s, when Etienne de Bore developed a process for successfully granulating sugar. Granulation guaranteed that the product was completely dry and could be shipped long distances without spoiling. Sugar cultivation is now highly mechanized.
53. LSM1_130524_341.JPG: The Plantation Complex: Plantations were large agricultural complexes. Their purpose was to produce a staple crop, like sugar or cotton, for a profit. Although many depictions of the plantation focus on the grand plantation house, plantations were first and foremost places for agricultural work and production. All other functions, even the sometimes-opulent hospitality and wealth displayed by their owners, were a result of and came second to the business of growing, processing, and readying crops for transport to markets.
54. LSM1_130524_353.JPG: Growing Cotton in Louisiana: Like sugar, cotton was raised as a cash crop. It became much more profitable after the invention of the cotton gin in the 1790s. Cotton was raised in small quantities in Louisiana in the colonial era. But separating the seeds from the fiber was labor intensive and profits were limited. After the invention of the cotton gin in the 1790s, cotton plantations were established all over Louisiana, especially in the drier, upland portion of the state above Alexandria. Cotton plantations had the potential to make profits no matter what their size, so large plantations and smaller farms cultivated the crop.
55. LSM1_130524_357.JPG: Rice: A South Louisiana Staple: Although introduced during the colonial period (1714-1803), rice became a big-money crop in south Louisiana only after the 1880s. Rice is now a stable of south Louisiana cooking, but the grain was not grown here on a large scale before the Civil War. By the 1880s, new railroads opened up the vast prairies in southwest Louisiana to farming, as wealthy investors from the Northeast and England promoted large-scale rice farming in the region. By the twentieth century, the state emerged as one of the nation's top rice producers, and such towns as Crowley and New Iberia became rice production centers.
56. LSM1_130524_375.JPG: The Bus Boycott: The successful 1953 bus boycott in Baton Rouge served as an inspiration for the famous Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-1956. Baton Rouge African Americans protested the lack of available seating on the city's segregated buses. Activists organized a boycott of the buses, establishing a "free ride" system. After less than a week and the loss of $1,600 per day, the city passed an ordinance expanding black seating but maintaining segregation. That protest served as a model for the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott begun by Rosa Parks and the Women's Political Council and led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
57. LSM1_130524_380.JPG: 1953 Baton Rouge Bus Boycott In 1953 African Americans in Baton Rouge staged a boycott against city buses in an effort to improve their treatment on the bus lines. The boycott initiated a rising tide of successful nonviolent protests in the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
58. LSM1_130524_384.JPG: The Continuing Quest for Equality: Although the United States Supreme Court overturned Plessy v Ferguson in 1954, African Americans in Louisiana and elsewhere continued to battle discrimination and segregation in the schools and in society.
59. LSM1_130524_387.JPG: The Continuing Quest for Equality: After the United States Supreme Court overturned Plessy v. Ferguson in 1954, the civil rights struggle entered a new phase. After 1954 African Americans in Louisiana pushed for greater equality and an end to discrimination. In 1960, New Orleans school desegregation became national news, as United States marshals accompanied African American elementary students to their new schools. That year, college students took part in sit-ins at bus stations and lunch counters in New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
60. LSM1_130524_392.JPG: "We desegregated the lunch counters, and the Greyhound buses. We put blacks in jobs where they had never been before." -- Johnnie A. Jones, activist and attorney (2003)
61. LSM1_130524_406.JPG: "In 1965, there will be a great change made [with the Voting Rights Act]. But... the biggest fight is to keep it. My son, his son might have to fight this fight... How long, heaven only knows. But it will be a long time." -- Charles Sims, Deacons of Defense (1965)
62. LSM1_130524_410.JPG: The Legacy of Plessy v. Ferguson: The Supreme Court ruling defined racial segregation as law and therefore legalized "separate but equal" in the United States. The Supreme Court's 1896 ruling bitterly disappointed Plessy and other civil rights activists. The words "separate but equal," a variation of the phrase from the original Louisiana statue, became shorthand for segregation in public accommodations, transportation, and schools. From the 1880s into the 1960s, all southern states passed segregation laws. In 1954, the Supreme Court overturned Plessy v Ferguson with its decision in Brown v Board of Education. The decision removed one of the major legal foundations for segregation.
63. LSM1_130524_413.JPG: Fighting Segregation: "The colored people, to a man, will rise in the majesty of their offended pride, and use every legal means in their power to oppose that monster of immorality which wants to suck this life blood of Louisiana, metaphorically speaking, through the convenient tube of race prejudice." -- Rudolphe I. Desdunes on the Separate Car Act (1890) "The destinies of two races, in this country, are indissolubly linked together, and the interests of both require that the common government of all shall not permit the seeds of race hate to be planted under the sanctions of law. What can more certainly arouse race hate ... than state enactments which, in fact, proceed on the ground that colored citizens are so inferior and degraded that they cannot be allowed to sit in public coaches occupied by white citizens?" -- Justice John Marshall Harlan, dissent in Plessy v Ferguson (1896)
64. LSM1_130524_418.JPG: Challenging the Separate Car Act: In 1892, Homer Plessy, an African American from New Orleans, challenged the Separate Car Act in an act of civil disobedience. On June 7, 1892, Homer Plessy bought a first-class ticket and boarded an East Louisiana Railroad car to test the segregation law. He was arrested for violating the Separate Car Act and convicted by Judge John H. Ferguson of the Orleans Parish district court. The Comite des Citoyens eventually sued Judge Ferguson for his ruling and took the case to the United States Supreme Court. On May 18, 1896. the Court upheld the constitutionality of Louisiana's Separate Car Act.
65. LSM1_130524_423.JPG: 1896 Plessy v Ferguson: In Plessy v Ferguson, Louisiana activists challenged the 1890 Separate Car Law, which legalized segregation on railroads. In 1896 the United States Supreme Court upheld the law, setting a legal precedent that stood for more than half a century.
66. LSM1_130524_427.JPG: Plessy v. Ferguson In 1896, the United States Supreme Court sanctioned racial segregation in a Louisiana court case that set precedent until 1954. In 1890, Louisiana legalized racial segregation on railroads with the Separate Car Act. This new state law required railroads to "provide equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races" on their trains. Civil rights organizations, such as the newly formed Comite des Citoyens (Citizens Committee), protested. They argued that the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution provided equality for all citizens and prohibited racial discrimination.
67. LSM1_130524_432.JPG: "[T]he denial of equal rights and privileges ... was such a shock to her feelings and occasioned so much mental paint, shame and mortification..." -- Petition of Josephine Decuir, filed July 29, 1872, Eighth District Court, Orleans Parish
68. LSM1_130524_437.JPG: 1872 Steamboats: In 1872 Josephine Decuir of Louisiana challenged steamboat segregation after she was denied a stateroom on the steamboat Governor Allen. The case went all the way to the United States Supreme Court, which ruled against Decuir.
69. LSM1_130524_441.JPG: Steamboats and Segregation: The United States Supreme Court heard Decuir v Benson, which challenged racial discrimination on steamboats in Louisiana. In July 1872, Josephine Decuir, a prominent woman of color, was denied a stateroom in the ladies' cabin and the right to eat with white patrons in the dining room. Citing Article 13 of the 1868 Louisiana State Constitution, she sued the owners of the steamboat company. The United States Supreme Court ultimately ruled that Article 13 was unconstitutional because it regulated interstate commerce, a right reserved for Congress.
70. LSM1_130524_445.JPG: "All persons shall enjoy equal rights and privileges upon any conveyance of a public character... without distinction or discrimination on account of race or color." -- Article 13, 1868 Louisiana State Constitution
71. LSM1_130524_449.JPG: 1867 New Orleans Streetcars: In 1867, African Americans in New Orleans protested segregated streetcars, known as "star cars." Their stand ultimately forced city leaders to make streetcars open to all citizens, regardless of race.
72. LSM1_130524_453.JPG: New Orleans City Railroad Company Streetcar Model
73. LSM1_130524_457.JPG: Streetcar Desegregation: In May 1867 African Americans in New Orleans demanded that the city's streetcars be open to all persons, regardless of race. After the Civil War, African Americans challenged segregation in public transportation. Antebellum New Orleans streetcars had been segregated but were integrated during Union occupation. The reestablishment of segregation -- setting aside cars marked with stars for African Americans -- led to black protest. On May 5, 1867, hundreds of African Americans took possession of several streetcars from white conductors. In response, Mayor Edward Heath opened all cars to all citizens.
74. LSM1_130524_463.JPG: Whip: Corporal punishment of slaves was not unusual. Former Louisiana slaves recalled many occasions of physical abuse, and many freed men and women bore scars that proved their mistreatment.
75. LSM1_130524_467.JPG: Uncle Tom's Cabin: Harriet Beecher Stowe's famous antislavery novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, was set, in part, in the Red River region of Louisiana. This wildly successful novel, first published in book form in 1852, portrayed slavery at its worst in the character of Simon Legree, a cruel master whose plantation was in Louisiana's Red River Valley. Stowe's book became a runaway bestseller, outsold only by the Bible in the nineteenth century. Abraham Lincoln comments on the role the novel played in generating sentiment against slavery when he met Stowe at the White House and said, "So you're the little woman who made this great war." Uncle Tom's Cabin also enjoyed great popularity on the stage and in film.
76. LSM1_130524_473.JPG: Uncle Tom's Cabin, First Edition, 1852: In 1851, Stowe's work was first serialized in the antislavery newspaper National Era. The first bound edition of the novel appeared in 1852. Hundreds of versions in dozens of languages appeared in the following years.
77. LSM1_130524_485.JPG: Uncle Tom's Cabin Collectibles: These figurines represent Uncle Tom and Little Eva, the two most sympathetic characters in Stowe's novel. Although the term "Uncle Tom" has acquired a negative meaning, his character generated strong antislavery sentiment in the 1850s.
78. LSM1_130524_492.JPG: Little Eva's Death: The death of Little Eva was one of the best-known scenes in Uncle Tom's Cabin. The widespread manufacture and sale of such collectibles attested to the broad popularity of the novel.
79. LSM1_130524_501.JPG: Resistance and Revolt: Africans and their descendants resisted enslavement in a variety of ways throughout the 145 years slavery existed in Louisiana. Slave resistance in Louisiana included a widespread rebellion in 1811 that began near present-day Norco. The uprising, involving more than 150 slaves, was the largest in the history of the United States. Although most slaves did not participate in armed revolts, many engaged in acts of defiance or sabotage. Some ran away. Others remained but broke tools, performed their work poorly, stole from the homes of their masters and mistresses, killed livestock, or feigned ignorance about how to perform basic tasks.
80. LSM1_130524_505.JPG: The Economic Impact of Slavery: Enslaved men, women, and children were considered commodities and could be sold at any time to raise cash. The sale or purchase of any slave had significant financial ramifications. Slaves were used as collateral and security in a vast array of transactions. Planters who ran into financial difficulties were inclined to sell their slaves rather than their land since it was easier to replace slaves than it was to reassemble valuable Delta plantation lands with access to the Mississippi River.
81. LSM1_130524_514.JPG: Slave Bodies as Commodities: One of the most dreaded and difficult aspects of slave life was being "sold away" and separated from one's family and friends. In Louisiana, most slaves were sold in one of two ways -- at public auction or through a dealer who owned and ran a facility called a slave market or pen. Slaves represented more than just potential labor to their buyers. They were also a significant financial investment. In nineteenth-century America, land was the only asset that exceeded the value of slaves. In 1860, for example, the value of slaves was more than triple the amount invested in manufacturing or in railroads. Between 1800 and 1865, slave values rose by more than three hundred percent.
82. LSM1_130524_524.JPG: Before the Civil War, Louisiana's economy was dependent on the labor of enslaved African Americans and was enriched by the profits made from their sale in the slave markets in New Orleans.
83. LSM1_130524_528.JPG: Urban Slavery: Urban slavery differed from plantation slavery mainly in the kind of work slaves performed in business and households. Slaves in urban settings, especially in New Orleans, experienced a wide variety of living arrangements and performed a staggering array of jobs. Household slaves, who made up the majority of urban slaves, worked as general laborers, domestic servants, nurses, nannies, seamstresses, and cooks. Some slaves lived in the same household as their owners, on a separate floor, or in separate slave quarters behind the house -- areas in which their movements could be monitored.
84. LSM1_130524_533.JPG: The value of skilled domestic slaves: Manette, mulatress, ages around thirty-nine to forty years, Creole of this state, good servant proper for everything, good cook, good laundress, good presser, dry plaiter, and good subject, $2,500. A negres names Maranthe, called Emerance Africaine, aged around forty-seven years, cook and laundress, good servant, good subject, $1,200. -- Inventory, Marie Seghers Succession, New Orleans, 1819 In New Orleans, women slaves often cared for children and carried out domestic tasks, like marketing, for their owners.
85. LSM1_130524_541.JPG: Slave Work: From 1720 through 1865, Louisiana's economy grew and flourished due to the labor of enslaved men, women, and children. Work lay at the center of a slave's existence. Louisiana's terrain, climate, and unique colonial history all combined to make slavery and slave work different from that in other areas. Some crops, including rice and sugar, created distinctive work regimes, as did the nature of trade and social life in New Orleans. The work slaves performed was hard, complex, and never-ending.
86. LSM1_130524_550.JPG: Slaves and Agricultural Work: Imported African slaves were critical to the development and success of staple crop and plantation agriculture in Louisiana. Many of the Africans imported to Louisiana in the eighteenth century were carefully selected for the agricultural skills they could bring to the struggling colony. In 1719, for example, slave traders were instructed to purchase slaves who knew how to cultivate rice. That crop became critical to feeding the population, both black and white. Over time, enslaved people became the main source of labor on Louisiana's cotton and sugar plantations.
87. LSM1_130524_553.JPG: Plantation Agriculture: Most rural slaves lived and worked on plantations. Some plantations included an ornate mansion but others only had a modest main house. Production of a staple crop was a plantation's primary business. Vast fields were dedicated to the cultivation of cotton and sugar, while gins, mills, and other processing outbuildings made up the economic core of the plantation complex.
88. LSM2_130524_001.JPG: Louis Armstrong section
89. LSM2_130524_006.JPG: Huey Long and Louis Armstrong are two Louisiana giants. Long, from Winnfield, shaped national politics in the 1930s. New Orleans's Armstrong became an international ambassador for jazz.
90. LSM2_130524_009.JPG: Louis Armstrong Born in New Orleans, Louis Armstrong became a musical innovator, an international entertainer, and an ambassador of goodwill. Known as "Satchmo" or "Pops," Armstrong popularized jazz in the 1920s and 1930s with his powerful trumpet solos and appealing vocal style. From the 1940s to his death in 1971, he became one of the most adored entertainers in the world on stage, television, and screen. Today, Armstrong remains a dearly beloved figure across the globe and a great Louisiana icon.
91. LSM2_130524_013.JPG: Growing Up in New Orleans: 1900-1922: Louis Armstrong claimed he was born on July 4, 1900. As a young man, he found respect and opportunity by playing his horn well. Louis grew up in a tough, ethnically mixed working-class neighborhood in New Orleans called the Battlefield. In 1954, Louis wrote that Jane Alley, the street on which he lived as a child, "lies in the heart of what is called the Battlefield because the toughest characters in town used to live there, and would shoot and fight so much. In that one block between Gravier and Perdido, more people were crowded that you ever seen in your life." The Karnofsky Family Mentors Louis: As a child, Louis held various jobs. One of his favorites involved working for a neighborhood family that owned a junk store on South Rampart Street. The Karnofskys, Jewish immigrants from Russia, looked after Louis as if he were their own son and lent him money to purchase his first horn. Louis maintained his friendship with the Karnofskys throughout his life.
92. LSM2_130524_023.JPG: Armstrong's Cornet Case: Louis Armstrong used this case to hold his first cornet at the Jones Colored Waif's Home in New Orleans. The Waif's Home later designated the historical importance of the case by painting Louis's name and the date of his stay on the case.
93. LSM2_130524_029.JPG: Louis' Early Career: 1914-1922 From 1914 to 1922, Louis emerged as one of New Orleans's hottest young cornet players, playing jazz dances and funerals. In 1919, Armstrong got a big break. Edward "Kid" Ory, the leader of a popular New Orleans jazz band, invited Louis to replace Joe "King" Oliver on cornet after Oliver left for Chicago. Louis gradually became known around New Orleans for his hot playing style. He also began playing jazz funerals for the Tuxedo Brass Band. In 1922, Armstrong moved closer to national stardom when his mentor, King Oliver, recruited him to join his Creole Jazz Band in Chicago.
94. LSM2_130524_033.JPG: Playing on the Riverboats: 1918-1921: In 1918, bandleader Fate Marable invited Armstrong to play cornet in his orchestra, which performed on Mississippi River excursion boats. The job exposed Louis to the world outside of New Orleans. He later recalled, "Fate Marable's Band deserves credit for breaking down a few barriers on the Mississippi... We were the first colored band to play most of the towns at which we stopped."
95. LSM2_130524_038.JPG: Jazz Pioneer: Louis left King Oliver in 1924 to pursue a solo career, and in the process he defined the standards of hot jazz and swing music. In 1924, Armstrong moved to New York to join the popular Fletcher Henderson Orchestra. By 1925, he formed his own group, the Hot Fives. During this period, Armstrong emerged as a star and left a major legacy by teaching musicians the art of swinging jazz notes. "Swing" was a slang term musicians used to describe playing improvised, relaxed melody notes, creating a music that people found appealing and highly danceable.
96. LSM2_130524_044.JPG: Louis scats: Louis's vocal on the Hot Fives' 1926 recording of "Heebie Jeebies" is the first recorded example of "scat" singing, or improvised vocals. "Skeep! Skipe! Skoop! Brip Ber Breep ber la bah Bree heeb bee doo la doo Dee Doo dee doo Det dee der der der der der der der dar dar dee. Tee dee doo dee joo dar der Skeep! Skam! Breep der der dar see dar dip dop dee Breep bee dee dee der clop dee."
97. LSM2_130524_048.JPG: Louis Armstrong's Bugle: Louis Armstrong played this bugle at the Colored Waif's Home in New Orleans. As a youth, Armstrong received his first formal music training from band manager Peter Davis at the Waif's Home, where he resided from January 1913 to June 1914.
98. LSM2_130524_052.JPG: Global Entertainer: As a Hollywood star and international recording artist, Armstrong emerged as one of the world's most popular entertainers. In 1935, Louis Armstrong entered a new stage in his professional career when he signed with booking agent Joe Glaser. With this new professional relationship, Armstrong gained greater international fame as Glaser, a powerful man in the industry, helped propel the music pioneer and Hollywood actor into the public eye through film, television, and tours. From 1946 to 1971, Armstrong fronted a small combo, the All-Stars, and he remained one of the world's most acclaimed performers.
99. LSM2_130524_056.JPG: Signing with Joe Glaser: When Armstrong signed with agent Joe Glaser, some jazz fans believed that Louis became less committed to innovation and improvisation. Although his concerts may not have had the extended twenty-plus solo choruses on "Tiger Rag" or "Ding Dong Daddy" as in the past, Armstrong's commitment to entertaining audiences remained deeply important to him until the end of his life.
100. LSM2_130524_062.JPG: Jim Crow Letter: In this 1945 letter, Louis asks old friend Joe Lindsey in New Orleans for a favor. Since Louis's sister was coming to visit by train, he asked Lindsey to set up the trip so she could avoid "that awful 'James Crow'," Armstrong's reference to racial segregation.
101. LSM2_130524_065.JPG: Ambassador Satch: From the 1930s until his death in 1971, Louis traveled the world as an ambassador of jazz and goodwill for the United States. In 1932, Louis left the United States for the first time, and his visit to Europe helped spread his fame in England, France, Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland, and Italy. After World War II, Louis was one of America's most popular musical exports. Despite political tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, Armstrong constantly served as an ambassador for jazz across political borders and ideologies.
102. LSM2_130524_069.JPG: "This is a diplomatic mission of the utmost delicacy. The question is, who's the best man for it -- John Foster Dulles or Satchmo?"
103. LSM2_130524_073.JPG: Satchmo and the State Department: In the 1950s, the United States State Department promoted Louis as a cultural ambassador. For his government-sponsored tours, Louis traveled to developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, as well as to Communist nations in Eastern Europe. In this 1956 West Africa tour, a CBS camera crew accompanied the All-Stars and later used the footage to create the film "Satchmo the Great". Louis received his nickname "Satchmo" in 1932, when he visited England and a journalist mispronounced his boyhood nickname of "Satchelmouth".
104. LSM2_130524_077.JPG: Louis's Legacy: On and off stage, Louis's warm personality brought people together across barriers of race, religion, and politics. Armstrong left a powerful musical and educational legacy. In modern popular music, he set the standard for stardom and style. He defined the standard of jazz instrumental solos still held today and popularized "scat" singing. He also established the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation to promote music education for youths and help maintain the Louis Armstrong House and Archives, which are open to the public for tours and research in Queens, New York. Armstrong the Writer: Armstrong loved to write letters and stories and took a typewriter with him when he traveled. He often personally answered his fan mail on the typewriter backstage or in his hotel room. He also wrote and published two major autobiographies, "Swing That Music" (1936) and "Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans" (1954).
105. LSM2_130524_082.JPG: Slide Cornet: Louis used this "slide cornet" (actually a soprano trombone) as a prop in the 1923 photograph of King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, shown here. Honore Dutrey, the trombone player in Oliver's band, let it to Louis for the photography session in Chicago.
106. LSM2_130524_087.JPG: Swing That Music 1936 At age thirty-six, Armstrong published his first autobiography, "Swing That Music." The book covers Louis's early life in New Orleans and his rise to international stardom in the 1930s. It was one of the first autobiographies by a jazz musician.
107. LSM2_130524_096.JPG: Slide Cornet: Louis used this "slide cornet" (actually a soprano trombone) as a prop in the 1923 photograph of King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, shown here. Honore Dutrey, the trombone player in Oliver's band, let it to Louis for the photography session in Chicago.
108. LSM2_130524_101.JPG: Every Man a King -- Huey P. Long
109. LSM2_130524_107.JPG: Huey P. Long: Populist: Huey Long shaped national politics as a populist during the Great Depression. Born in Winn Parish on August 30, 1893, Huey Pierce Long grew up in a prosperous family but remained shaped by the populist politics that flourished in his parish from the 1890s to the 1910s. That movement of farmers and workers called for better living conditions, economic opportunities, tax reform, and a more powerful voice in politics. When Long was elected governor in 1928, he addressed many of the same issues.
110. LSM2_130524_126.JPG: Huey P. Long 1893-1935 Sleep on dear friend and take your rest They mourn you most who love you best
111. LSM2_130524_131.JPG: Early Career: Although Long shunned formal education, his natural ambition, intelligence, and wit served him well. After leaving high school just before graduation, Long took his first job selling Cottolene cooking oil and other products to farm women in the early 1910s. Although he had neither a high school diploma nor a college degree, Huey studied law as a noncredit student at Tulane University's law school in 1914 and 1915. After less than a year, the state supreme court admitted him to the bar. He returned home to Winnfield and then relocated to Shreveport, where he established an independent law office.
112. LSM2_130524_136.JPG: Joining the Louisiana Bar: The Huey Way: With the kind of bravado that would characterize his rise to political power, Long approached the Louisiana Supreme Court after studying law for only seven months and asked for a special examination to test his knowledge. He answered questions from a committee of senior lawyers to its satisfaction and was admitted to the Louisiana bar. Huey Long met his future wife, Rose McConnell, at a Cottolene baking contest in Shreveport in 1910. They married in 1913.
113. LSM2_130524_138.JPG: Rise to Political Power: As a lawyer, Long focused on defending the rights of individuals against railroads, oil producers, and other large corporations. When Long first gained elective office in 1918 as a member of the Louisiana Railroad Commission (later renamed the Public Service Commission), he continued his efforts to defend common people against the power of large corporate interests. During his ten years on the commission, Long pushed for greater regulation and higher taxation of powerful oil and utility companies. He focused much of his energy on taming and taxing the Standard Oil Company.
114. LSM2_130524_143.JPG: Champion of the common people: From 1918 to 1928, Huey Long gradually developed a base of personal support throughout Louisiana and a reputation for championing the causes of common folk. He used his popularity in 1928 to get elected governor, an office he held for four years. In 1932, Long was elected to the United States Senate, an office he held until his death in September 1935. Long liked to portray himself as a man of the people. This photo of him chopping wood conveyed clearly his populist image to the public.
115. LSM2_130524_150.JPG: State Politician: Although Long served as governor for only one term, he succeeded in gaining considerable political control through patronage and power. Long expanded the state payroll to give himself the power of patronage. These new opportunities for employment were particularly valuable to people during the Great Depression, which began in 1929. In return for jobs, Long expected employees to subscribe to his newspaper, the Louisiana Progress, and contribute a small percentage of their salaries to his legendary "deduct box," a term for Long's personal slush fund.
116. LSM2_130524_151.JPG: Beginning in 1933, Huey used his newspaper, the American Progress, to promote his political ideas to a national audience. The paper was an expanded version of his Louisiana Progress, which he established in 1930.
117. LSM2_130524_156.JPG: Populist agenda on the books: Among Long's lasting legislative achievements were lower property taxes (the forerunner of the state's homestead exemption), the abolition of the poll tax (which increased the number of low-income white voters), higher taxes on extractive industries (particularly oil companies), free textbooks for schoolchildren, and the improvement of schools and roads. Threats and Intimidation: If legislators opposed his populist program, Huey often used threats, denials of patronage, or vetoes of their pet project bills to enforce his power. After 1932 he held a wide majority of support in the legislature, and only a few plantation parishes and the elite residential districts of New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Shreveport openly opposed him and his political tactics.
118. LSM2_130524_160.JPG: Dictator, Demagogue, or Democrat? Long's critics believed he was a dictator, a danger to democracy, and a demagogue with an unquenchable thirst for power. Long gradually achieved total control of state government by controlling the majority of the legislature through intimidation and threats. He then had laws passed that gave him patronage authority over local and municipal agencies and the power to manage city finances. He gerrymandered state districts favoring Longite candidates. His critics feared that he was becoming a dictator like Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in Europe at that time.
119. LSM2_130524_168.JPG: Long and African Americans: Unlike many southern demagogues of his time, Long refused to use race and racism as a divisive issue. He never battled segregation or supported equal rights. Yet many African Americans endorsed his policies and appreciated his efforts to improve public schools, issue free textbooks, and provide free health care for the poor and elderly. Members of the state highway patrol accompanied Long for his protection. Huey's critics named them the "Brownshirts" in a comparison to Hitler's guards.
120. LSM2_130524_172.JPG: Transforming LSU: As governor, Huey Long transformed LSU into a top university with a nationally prominent faculty and athletics program. Long enhanced Louisiana State University's academic programs by increasing faculty salaries, recruiting a first-rate faculty, and funding the construction of new buildings. He also expanded the football program significantly and made the LSU band the largest in the South. While critics charge that these projects took money from academics, Huey argued that overall support would increase with people's enthusiasm for the impressive marching band and football victories.
121. LSM2_130524_178.JPG: The Long Residence 14 Audubon Boulevard, New Orleans These painted panels came from a custom-built bar in the Long home. Huey also maintained suites at the Heidelberg Hotel in Baton Rouge and the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans for his political deal-making.
122. LSM2_130524_184.JPG: The Long Residence 14 Audubon Boulevard, New Orleans These painted panels came from a custom-built bar in the Long home. Huey also maintained suites at the Heidelberg Hotel in Baton Rouge and the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans for his political deal-making.
123. LSM2_130524_189.JPG: Huey's Buildings: Huey Long commissioned significant public works, one of his greatest legacies. Huey Long's physical legacy includes the new state capitol, the LSU School of Medicine, the Old Governor's Mansion, and numerous LSU buildings, including a woman's dormitory, a student union, a music and arts building, and an addition to Tiger Stadium. LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans: Long promoted the expansion of health care services, especially in rural areas. To provide more doctors, he established the LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans. Long also laid the groundwork for a comprehensive system of state aid for the sick and elderly, far in advance of the national programs established in the 1960s.
124. LSM2_130524_193.JPG: Huey the Builder: As governor, Huey promised to upgrade the state's roads and build bridges to span the state's many waterways. Under Long's leadership, Louisiana's transportation infrastructure entered the modern age. During Long's tenure as governor (1928-1932), the state added 2,500 miles of paved roads, 1,308 miles of asphalt roads, and 9,000 miles of gravel roads. Long also initiated the construction of several large bridges in the state, including the Huey P. Long Bridge above New Orleans, the first bridge to span the lower Mississippi River.
125. LSM2_130524_199.JPG: Under Long's resurfacing program, the state's roads improved greatly. Major highways were paved and expanded, while the construction of new bridges across Louisiana's waterways made automobile travel more efficient.
126. LSM2_130524_205.JPG: The Huey P. Long Bridge above New Orleans opened in December 1935, only months after Long's assassination. For many Louisianans, the bridge symbolized the important infrastructure projects that Long initiated as governor.
127. LSM2_130524_216.JPG: Huey on the National Stage: When Long served as United States senator from Louisiana from 1932 to 1935, he gained national publicity and wide popularity. Long was elected senator in 1930 but did not take office until his term as governor expired in 1932. From 1932 to his death in 1935, Long shuttled back and forth between Washington DC and Baton Rouge with great regularity. He continued to cal the shots in Baton Rouge, even as he began to make a name for himself at the national level. In part, Long sought to distinguish himself by criticizing President Roosevelt and his Senate colleagues.
128. LSM2_130524_220.JPG: People of America -- In every community get together at once and organize a Share Our Wealth Society Motto: Every Man a King This broadside is Huey's manifesto for Share Our Wealth, his political tax reform and pension plan introduced in 1934. The plan's popularity in part led Roosevelt to create a federal social security system in 1935. Share Our Wealth From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Share The Wealth was a movement begun in February 1934, during the Great Depression, by Huey Long, a governor and later United States Senator from Louisiana. Major provisions of "Share The Wealth" The key planks of the Share The Wealth platform included: (1) No person would be allowed to accumulate a personal net worth of more than 300 times the average family fortune, which would limit personal assets to between $5 million and $8 million. A graduated capital levy tax would be assessed on all persons with a net worth exceeding $1 million. (2) Annual incomes would be limited to $1 million and inheritances would be capped at $5 million. (3) Every family was to be furnished with a homestead allowance of not less than one-third the average family wealth of the country. Every family was to be guaranteed an annual family income of at least $2,000 to $2,500, or not less than one-third of the average annual family income in the United States. Yearly income, however, cannot exceed more than 300 times the size of the average family income. (4) An old-age pension would be made available for all persons over 60. (5) To balance agricultural production, the government would preserve/store surplus goods, abolishing the practice of destroying surplus food and other necessities due to lack of purchasing power. (6) Veterans would be paid what they were owed (a pension and healthcare benefits). (7) Free education and training for all students to have equal opportunities in all schools, colleges, universities, and other institutions for training in the professions and vocations of life. (8) The raising of revenue and taxes for the support of this program was to come from the reduction of swollen fortunes from the top, as well as for the support of public works to give employment whenever there may be any slackening necessary in private enterprise.
129. LSM2_130524_223.JPG: Campaigning for Hattie Caraway: In 1932, Long campaigned successfully in Arkansas for Senator Hattie Caraway, the first woman elected to the United States Senate. In doing so, Long extended his political campaigning and public exposure outside of Louisiana and helped to build a national following.
130. LSM2_130524_229.JPG: Every Man a King Original Manuscript This 434-page manuscript of Every Man a King, the autobiography and self-promotional book that Long published in 1933, shows his extensive revisions in pencil.
131. LSM2_130524_239.JPG: Roosevelt's Rival: 1934-1935: As a senator, Huey Long emerged as a popular campaigner and political rival of President Franklin Roosevelt. Long campaigned for Franklin D. Roosevelt. By 1934, however, Long's ambition to be president led him to compete with Roosevelt. Long used his newspaper, the American Progress, to criticize Roosevelt and promote his own populist tax reform and pension program, Share Our Wealth. The popularity of Long's Share Our Wealth plan in part led Roosevelt to adopt the federal Social Security program in 1935.
132. LSM2_130524_241.JPG: Huey's Assassination: The Kingfish died after a shootout in the state capitol. On Sunday evening, September 8, 1935, Long was shot at the State capitol. Most historians and eyewitnesses agree that Dr. Carl Austin Weiss, a young respected Baton Rouge surgeon, entered the capitol and approached Senator Long sometime around 9:00 pm. According to some eyewitnesses, Weiss pulled a gun and shot Long once at point-blank range. Long's bodyguards immediately opened fire on Weiss with .45-caliber pistols and riddled his body with more than thirty bullets, killing him.
133. LSM2_130524_248.JPG: "I have so much to do." After he was shot, Long ran down the stairs of the capitol and was taken to Our Lady of the Lake Hospital. During surgery, doctors missed a nick in one of Long's kidneys, and although he was given a massive blood transfusion, he died two days later on September 10. Some witnesses allege that his last words were "God, don't let me die. I have so much to do." The public wake at the state capitol: On September 12, 1935, close to 100,000 persons made their way to Baton Rouge and waited in line for hours to view Long's body lying in state. Although Long originally received a modest headstone, the state later marked his grave site with a large and impressive monument that faces the capitol he loved. Dr. Carl Weiss, a young surgeon from Baton Rouge, is alleged to have shot Long on September 8. Weiss was not active politically, and his motive is still debated.
134. LSM2_130524_255.JPG: Huey Long's public wake at the state capitol on September 12, 1935, drew close to 100,000 persons. It stands as one of the best-attended public funerals in Louisiana history.
135. LSM2_130524_264.JPG: Mixed Legacy: Long left a national legacy with Share Our Wealth and the modernization of Louisiana's health care, education, and infrastructure. Most historians agree that the radical reforms Long proposed in his Share Our Wealth plan forced President Roosevelt to adopt the Social Security system. While his public works programs, education subsidies, and the expansion of the LSU system benefited Louisiana greatly. Long's history of political fraud, graft, thuggery, and intimidation remains uncontroversial and distasteful to his critics.
136. LSM2_130524_268.JPG: Higgins Industries: Higgins Industries of New Orleans designed and manufactured boats that were crucial to the Allied victory. Higgins Industries was largely unknown to the United States military when World War II began. Owned by Nebraska native Andrew Jackson Higgins, the company created a landing craft that could unload troops, vehicles, and machinery onto a beach quickly and then retreat without having to turn around in the surf. These boats made possible the numerous island assaults in the Pacific as well as the two major European campaigns in Italy and France, including D-Day in June 1944.
137. LSM3_130524_001.JPG: Maneuvers Ambulance: This wagon served as an ambulance for the mounted cavalry during the Louisiana Maneuvers. This style of wagon dates to the Civil War period and was a convenient vehicle for military field transportation up to the beginning of World War II, when the Louisiana Maneuvers convinced the army to dissolve the mounted cavalry.
138. LSM3_130524_007.JPG: POWs in Louisiana: 1942-1946: In 1942, the War Department established POW camps throughout the United States. Louisiana had thirty-four camps and bases. Louisiana POW camps provided labor for the cotton, sugarcane, rice and lumber industries. The War Department offered the use of POWs to rural employers who claimed to suffer from labor shortages. With the war, many rural workers fled their low-wage jobs in agriculture and lumber for high-paying defense jobs in New Orleans, Lake Charles, Texas, and California. In 1940, new defense jobs paid in two hours what some cotton pickers made in one day.
139. LSM3_130524_012.JPG: The Long-Term Impact: After the war, many rural employers refused to pay the wages that workers demanded. Most cotton growers gradually switched to mechanical harvesters or transformed their cotton fields into livestock pasture lands. This decline in rural jobs provided the motive for many African Americans to leave rural Louisiana in the postwar years.
140. LSM3_130524_017.JPG: Maneuvers Ambulance: This wagon served as an ambulance for the mounted cavalry during the Louisiana Maneuvers. This style of wagon dates to the Civil War period and was a convenient vehicle for military field transportation up to the beginning of World War II, when the Louisiana Maneuvers convinced the army to dissolve the mounted cavalry.
141. LSM3_130524_021.JPG: Louisiana Maneuvers: 1941: In 1940 and 1941, Louisiana hosted crucial military war games. As World War II began in 1939, the United States military ranked seventeenth in the world in terms of size. Given the possibility of an attack by either Japan or Germany, many persons in the military were concerned that the armed forces were incapable of defending the nation. In September 1941, war games in Louisiana tested military preparedness. Some 472,000 troops took part in the exercises.
142. LSM3_130524_026.JPG: Phase One: September 15-19, 1941: The first phase pitted two forces, the Red and Blue Armies, against each other at the site of present-day Fort Polk. This exercise helped the military evaluate its command system, the fitness of its leaders and armored forces, and its new anti-tank and air-support strategies. Phase Two: September 24-28, 1941: In the second phase, the Red and Blue Armies battled each other in western Louisiana. This operation tested the mobility of a small force (Red) in a purely defensive operation against a better-armed attacker (Blue). Colonel George S. Patton Jr. commanded the armored tank forces of the Blue Army to capture Shreveport from the Red Army.
143. LSM3_130524_032.JPG: World War II and Louisiana: Louisiana played a vital role as a military training and defense industry center during the war. The state hosted the United States Army's National War Games during 1941 and 1942, providing a vital test for military strategies and equipment that proved key in the Allied victory. In New Orleans, Higgins Industries built thousands of boats that allowed the United States and the Allies to storm beaches against the Axis powers across the European and Pacific theaters. Louisiana native Claire Lee Channault emerged as a hero in the Pacific as he led American pilots against Japanese forces in China.
144. LSM3_130524_033.JPG: Louisiana at War
145. LSM3_130524_044.JPG: The Civil War in Louisiana: Like the United States, Louisiana was a state divided. Newly elected President Abraham Lincoln opposed the expansion of slavery in the United States, and proslavery forces feared he would abolish slavery altogether. In January 1861, following South Carolina's secession, Louisiana voters elected the delegates to a secession convention. The state's residents were divided over the issue, as reflected in the convention's 80 pro-secession votes and 44 "cooperationist" (opposing immediate secession) voters. Louisiana was the sixth state to secede.
146. LSM3_130524_048.JPG: The Home Front: The United States military and local philanthropists attempted to meet the needs of Louisiana residents. Because of the economic disruptions caused by the war, food shortages developed throughout Louisiana, especially in cities. Union commanders won the support of the urban poor by distributing free food and opening markets. These markets in New Orleans and Baton Rouge provided food to people who could not afford it and helped distribute goods that were in short supply.
147. LSM3_130524_054.JPG: After emancipation, African American men had the opportunity to serve in the United States military. Louisiana was the first state in which the Union recruited and employed black soldiers. The army also employed African American women.
148. LSM3_130524_058.JPG: Margaret Haughery: Philanthropist: Haughery (1814-1882) was one of New Orleans's greatest philanthropists during the nineteenth century. Originally from Ireland, then Baltimore, she devoted her life to assisting children and those in need. During the Civil War, Haughery provided bread and flour from her successful bakery (Margaret's Bakery) to the destitute citizens of the city. This New Orleans statue of Margaret Haughery is reportedly the first in the United States dedicated to a woman. It was erected in 1884, two years after her death.
149. LSM3_130524_069.JPG: PGT Beauregard's Canes: These canes belonged to Confederate General PGT Beauregard. The thinner cane was made from a sapling that grew at the Shiloh battlefield in Tennessee, and the wider cane was carved from a Union flagstaff captured at the Battle of Manassas (First Bull Run) in Virginia. Beauregard commanded troops at both battles.
150. LSM3_130524_073.JPG: Confederates in Louisiana: Many important Confederate leaders had direct connections to Louisiana. Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy, is the best-known Confederate with Louisiana ties. Davis grew up for a short time in St. Mary Parish before moving to Mississippi. In 1835, he married Zachary Taylor's daughter Sarah, who died from malaria three months later in St. Francisville. Ten years later, he married Varina Howell, who was born in Louisiana. In the Mexican War, Davis served as a colonel, disembarking at New Orleans and fighting under Zachary Taylor.
151. LSM3_130524_078.JPG: Jefferson Davis and Louisiana: For his service as Confederate president, the United States charged Davis with treason. He served two years as a federal prisoner at Fort Monroe, Virginia. The government eventually dropped the charges, and after his release he lived as a businessman and author. Davis died in New Orleans in 1889.
152. LSM3_130524_083.JPG: Beauregard's Bracelet: Beauregard had this bracelet made from his Civil War uniform coat buttons. Beauregard commanded the Confederate troops at Charleston, South Carolina. On April 12, 1861, he gave the command to bombard the Union's Fort Sumter, beginning the Civil War.
153. LSM3_130524_086.JPG: Beauregard's Colt Revolver
154. LSM3_130524_091.JPG: Running the Blockade: Following the Anaconda Plan, the United States Navy blockaded Confederate ports and waterways throughout the year. As part of its strategy in Louisiana, the Union prevents Confederate craft or privateers from transporting supplies on the Mississippi or trading such commodities as cotton to Latin America via the Gulf of Mexico. Despite the navy's presence, Louisiana Confederates used special boats called blockade runners to smuggle goods. Blockade runners floated low in the water to minimize their silhouettes, and they were built to outrun Union sailing ships.
155. LSM3_130524_098.JPG: Anaconda Plan: War on the River: In 1861 the Union devised a plan to control the Mississippi River and thereby divide and conquer the South. The Mississippi River was key to military control of the Western Front. In the spring of 1862, the United States Navy, under David Farragut, launched a campaign to control the river by capturing all major Confederate ports, including New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Vicksburg. Over a two-year period, United States troops fought a series of campaigns and battles to control the waters of Louisiana.
156. LSM3_130524_103.JPG: Anaconda Campaigns: The war in Louisiana was fought mostly on the state's rivers and bayous. While the Union focused mainly on controlling the Mississippi River in Louisiana, it launched two other important river campaigns. In 1862 and 1863, Union forces took control of the Atchafalaya River and Bayou Teche in south Louisiana. The United States launched a failed campaign in 1864 to seize the Red River and northwest Louisiana.
157. LSM3_130524_109.JPG: The Mexican War: 1846-1848: The United States declared war on Mexico in 1846, as the two nations squared off over the location of the international border. After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the United States had Spanish Texas, which became part of Mexico in 1821, as its western neighbor. During the 1820s and 1830s, Americans continued moving west into Texas, and expansionists in the United States wanted to acquire Texas and California from Mexico. In 1845, the Untied States annexed Texas, and the new president, James Polk, an expansionist Democrat, went to war with Mexico over the disputed border.
158. LSM3_130524_114.JPG: Expansionist fever in Louisiana: New Orleans's proximity to the Gulf of Mexico made it a logical port of debarkation and a supply base for the United States Army during the Mexican War. "It may be asked what was New Orleans to reap from Texas: In the first place, the belligerent excitement was in accordance with the feeling of the southern population... The occupation of Texas by the white race would open the door to rich natural production of Mexico." -- William Boolaert, traveler to New Orleans, 1842
159. LSM3_130524_118.JPG: Zachary Taylor's Sword
160. LSM3_130524_122.JPG: General Zachary Taylor: In 1846 and 1847 Taylor led United States troops to successive victories in Mexico. His last great battle was at Buena Vista. The war's turning point came in February 1847 at the Battle of Buena Vista near Mexico City. With less than 5,000 troops, Taylor's army held its ground against Mexican General Santa Anna's force of over 29,000. Taylor's success in northern Mexico made him popular with the American public. As a Whig, he was a political threat to Democratic President James K. Polk, so Polk replaced him with General Winfield Scott. Taylor returned to Louisiana a hero in 1847.
161. LSM3_130524_127.JPG: Making a Home in Louisiana: Taylor came to Louisiana in 1819 as a road builder for the United States Army. In 1820 he remarked, "The axe, pick, saw and trowel has become more the implement of the American soldier than the cannon, musket, or sword... A man who would make a good overseer, or Negro driver, is better qualified for our services, than one who received a first rate military education." The Taylors' four-room house in Baton Rouge was located south of the Pentagon Barracks. Originally built in the 1770s, the structure was demolished in 1859.
162. LSM3_130524_133.JPG: G.W. Kendall: Pioneer Journalist: New Orleans emerged as the center of innovative war journalism during the Mexican War. George Wilkins Kendall, part-owner of the New Orleans Picayune newspaper, used horseback couriers in Mexico to take his reports from inland battles to the port of Veracruz, where he had a quick steamboat equipped with typesetters and printing equipment. Kendall's workers printed news on board so that it was available as soon as the ship reached New Orleans. In many cases, Kendall's correspondence arrived before the military couriers.
163. LSM3_130524_143.JPG: The Mystery of the Submarine: Found in Lake Pontchartrain near the mouth of Bayou St. John in New Orleans in 1878, the submarine's origins and identity remain a mystery. The Confederate vessel was likely scuttled when Union forces entered New Orleans in April 1862. One theory is that an ironworks in the city manufactured the vessel during 1861 and 1862, and it was designed to sink Federal ships. Another theory is that the submarine may have been a prototype for a larger vessel. Regardless of its shrouded origins, the submarine is a unique marine vessel. Only a few Civil War submarines have ever been recovered.
164. LSM3_130524_147.JPG: CSS Pioneer: Unraveling the Mystery: For years, some experts believed this submarine was the CSS Pioneer, a vessel that the Confederates scuttled in New Orleans. In 1998, a naval historian discovered these sketches of the Pioneer made by Union naval ensign David Stauffer. The drawings prove that the vessel exhibited here are not the Pioneer, so the identity of the submarine remains a mystery.
165. LSM3_130524_152.JPG: CSS Pioneer model
166. LSM3_130524_158.JPG: The Mexican War: 1846-1848: When the United States declared war on Mexico in 1846, Louisiana played a key role as a supply base and point of departure. With the initial mobilization effort in 1845, the War Department first sent troops to Texas from Fort Jesup on Louisiana's western border. Throughout the war, New Orleans served as the nation's most important port for sending soldiers and supplies to Mexico. As a result, the city emerged as a center of innovative journalism and trade. General Zachary Taylor, who had established roots and family ties in Louisiana, commanded the United States troops successfully and returned a hero.
167. LSM3_130524_161.JPG: Zachary Taylor's Sombrero: Taylor wore this felt sombrero while serving in the Mexican War. Taylor's troops gave him the nickname "Old Rough and Ready" because of his informal style of dress and bravery in battle. In camp, troops often mistook Taylor for an enlisted man.
168. LSM3_130524_168.JPG: The Battle of New Orleans: Louisiana Halts a British Invasion
169. LSM3_130524_177.JPG: The War of 1812: In 1812, the United States and Great Britain went to war. Louisiana became a central battleground when the British invaded in 1814. The young United States declared war on the empire of Great Britain, resulting in a conflict often called the "second American Revolution." Britain planned a three-prong attack on the United States: (1) from Canada into New York, (2) into Washington DC and Baltimore, and (3) into New Orleans. After burning the Capitol in Washington and retreating from Baltimore, Great Britain proceeded with an attack on Louisiana in December, 1814. Major General Andrew Jackson, who led the the [sic] Seventh Regiment, rushed from Tennessee to Louisiana to meet the British at New Orleans.
170. LSM3_130524_182.JPG: Mobilizing Louisiana: Andrew Jackson mobilized a diverse Louisiana population into a unified force against Britain. The process of mobilizing the local people in New Orleans served as a test of Louisiana's loyalty to the United States. Despite differences in language, religion, and culture between Creoles and Americans in Louisiana, the Battle of New Orleans helped the state's residents forge an American national identity. In the end, the state's residents successfully united to defeat the British forces.
171. LSM3_130524_184.JPG: Creoles: Initially, some American military men questioned the loyalty of the French Creoles. The Creoles, however, relished the idea of fighting their longtime foe, Britain. They organized the Committee of Defense to oversee the gathering of war materiel, loan money for supplies, set up hospitals and first aid, and recruit volunteer soldiers. Free Men of Color: Free men of color volunteered to fight the British. Some 180 French-speaking persons of African and French ancestry composed the First and Second Battalions of Free Men of Color, which became the first volunteer militia of black soldiers in United States history. Many of the men had recently emigrated from Haiti. Following the battle they received a commendation from Andrew Jackson for their service.
172. LSM3_130524_190.JPG: Baratarians: Andrew Jackson recruited privateer Jean Laffite and his men. Known locally as the Baratarians, the group had a large supply of ammunition and artillery. Tennessee and Kentucky Volunteers: Volunteers from the Upper South came to fight the British in New Orleans. The woodsmen were known as the "dirty shirts" because their clothes were in such poor condition.
173. LSM3_130524_193.JPG: Choctaws: Members of the Choctaw Nation fought for the United States at New Orleans. Under Chief Pushmataha, the Choctaws defended the American line that ran through the swamp. African Americans in Bondage: African American slaves were instrumental. Prohibited from carrying arms, they built the fortifications that withstood the British assault.
174. LSM3_130524_198.JPG: Creole and American Women: Creole and American women in New Orleans also played a vital role. They made uniforms for the soldiers and provided medical care for the wounded.
175. LSM3_130524_201.JPG: Home Front: Loyal Creoles: Some Anglo-Americans questioned the commitment of French Creoles and free persons of color to the defense of Louisiana. Bernard de Marigny, a Creole veteran of the battle, later defended the loyalty of Creoles. "One cannot be French, or of French origin, without detesting the English domination... In 1812, [Louisiana] was erected into a state and henceforth its inhabitants were in the enjoyments of all their rights... Our state was free, independent and part of the union and should we sacrifice such noble privileges in order to become an English colony? What a horrible idea!"
176. LSM3_130524_205.JPG: The Creole Women of New Orleans: Marigny also affirmed the support of Creole women: "[I]n a city threatened by all the horrors of a conquest by a large army, no lady fled from the city... and if by misfortune the first line of Andrew Jackson had been carried, more than one young lady would have assumed an Amazon costume and taken the lance."
177. LSM3_130524_207.JPG: Home Front: Slavery & Freedom: African American slaves played a key role in building defenses, but some sought the freedom offered by Britain. Slaves were crucial in constructing the American fortifications at Chalmette. Jackson employed slaves from plantations along the Mississippi to deepen and widen the Rodriguez Canal and build up the breastworks that proved central to the United States victory. While Great Britain formally declared respect for civilian property in Louisiana, some two hundred slaves found freedom and refuge aboard the British army's retreating boats.
178. LSM3_130524_211.JPG: Andrew Jackson: Military Hero: Major General Jackson commanded the United States Army in the South. His toughness earned him the nickname "Old Hickory." Jackson mobilized a force of 3,000 to defend New Orleans. Taking advantage of a tradition of colonial-era free black militia, he persuaded Louisiana governor William Claiborne to allow some 180 free men of color to bear arms in a state where slaves were forbidden to carry any guns. Jackson also used privateer Jean Lafitte's experienced artillery corps for the American cause after he pardoned Lafitte for violating United States commerce laws with his smuggling operations.
179. LSM3_130524_214.JPG: The Kentucky and Tennessee Volunteers: Jackson's volunteers from the Upper South used guerrilla warfare tactics. Their nightly "hunting parties" to British lines kept the invading army in a state of alarm and tension.
180. LSM3_130524_218.JPG: Chalmette Battlefield Artifacts: These artifacts -- a three pound cannonball, single-musket ball, and projectiles -- were excavated from the Chalmette National Battlefield.
181. LSM3_130524_231.JPG: The Legacy of the Battle: The Battle of New Orleans holds an important place in Louisiana and American history for several reasons. (1) The successful assemblage of diverse groups to defend New Orleans symbolized the nation's ability to unite its citizens in a time of war. (2) By defeating the world's most powerful military force, the young country gained confidence in foreign affairs. (3) Jackson was elected president of the United States in 1828, based largely on his leadership and success in battle. He served for two terms, from 1828 to 1836. [Actually, he served from 1829 to 1837.]
182. LSM3_130524_235.JPG: Louisiana forges an American identity: The contribution of the state's Creoles in the battle helped create an American identity in the largely French-speaking state. Whereas some Americans initially doubted the sincerity of Creole support for the United States, such men as Major Generals Gabriel Villere and Jean Baptiste Plauche emerged as American heroes. The American victory at New Orleans sealed Britain's defeat in the War of 1812 and signaled to Americans that their experiment in democracy was enduring.
183. LSM3_130524_237.JPG: On January 8, 1815, Britain attempted a final charge on the American line. The American troops defended their ground well, and the British military was soundly defeated by a force half its size.
184. LSM3_130524_266.JPG: Lewis and Clark: Thomas Jefferson sent the Corps of Discovery to explore the Louisiana Territory and find a route to the Pacific Ocean. The Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery expedition up the Missouri River is the most famous of the American-sponsored explorations of the new territory. Departing St. Louis in May 1804 with nearly four dozen men, the expedition made it across the Rocky Mountains and to the Pacific Ocean in 1805 with assistance from American Indians. The group returned to St. Louis in September 1806. Their successful mission helped garner publicity for Louisiana as a place for settlement.
185. LSM3_130524_270.JPG: Louisiana's people have played a vital role in the military endeavors of the United States. The state has also been the site of such major military events as the Battle of New Orleans.
186. LSM3_130524_274.JPG: Disputes with Great Britain: The United States defended its new lands and waters. After 1803, British warships and privateers began to ply the waters off the mouth of the Mississippi River. Although British ships could legally raid Spanish ships in the Gulf of Mexico, they often violated United States sovereignty by boarding American ships. In response to such actions, the United States Revenue Service expanded operations to the coast of Louisiana to protect merchantmen and ensure the collection of duties.
187. LSM3_130524_277.JPG: Disputes with Spain: The United States and Spain created a neutral ground between Texas and Louisiana. From 1806 to 1819, the border between American Louisiana and Spanish Texas remained undefined and a source of diplomatic controversy. Three years after the Purchase, the United States and Spain established the "neutral ground," a strip of land east of the Sabine River and west of Arroyo Hondo (present-day Young's Bayou near Natchitoches) and the Calcasieu River. In 1819 the Adams-Onis Treaty finally resolved this dispute by creating the current border between Louisiana and Texas.
188. LSM3_130524_284.JPG: Exploration and Boundary: The United States established claims to the western borders of the Louisiana Territory. The Purchase Treaty did not clearly define the western boundary of the Louisiana Territory. In 1804, the territory bordered Spanish lands in the Southwest and the unclaimed territory of Oregon in the Northwest. Following the Purchase, the United States sponsored several expeditions to survey the lands, determine their natural resources, and establish trade relations with Native Americans. While Lewis and Clark led the most famous journey, two other expeditions began in present-day Louisiana, one to explore the Red River, the other, the Ouachita River.
189. LSM3_130524_289.JPG: Boundary Bottles: These American bottles designated the border between Texas and Louisiana in the 1840s when Louisiana was a state and Texas was an independent republic. Spain and the United States had established the border in 1819.
190. LSM3_130524_297.JPG: In 1803, the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million. The addition of the new territory's 600 million acres doubled the size of the young nation.
191. LSM3_130524_301.JPG: Designs on Louisiana: France, Spain, Great Britain, and the United States vied for control of North America. During the age of colonialism in North America (1492-1821), the Mississippi River was the key to controlling the interior of the continent. Throughout this period, Louisiana was at the center of efforts by France, Spain, Great Britain, and eventually the United States to dominate North America. Louisiana held tremendous economic, military, and political importance for these European powers from 1682 until the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.
192. LSM3_130524_304.JPG: Spanish Designs on Louisiana: Spain takes control of the territory from France. Spain received Louisiana from France in 1763 and held the large territory as part of its North American empire, which stretched from California to the Mississippi River and Florida until 1800. During the American War of Independence (1775-1781), Spain assisted the United States by capturing Great Britain's Fort Richmond in Baton Rouge in 1779. From 1779 to 1810, Spain controlled West Florida, which extended all the way to the Mississippi River and included Baton Rouge. Spain returns Louisiana to France: In 1800, Spain's King Carlos IV returned Louisiana to France. French First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte hoped to use the colony to reestablish an empire in the Americas. Carlos IV traded Louisiana in exchange for Napoleon's promise to create an Italian duchy for his nephew. Between 1800 and 1821, Spain lost all of its North American empire.
193. LSM3_130524_310.JPG: French Designs on Louisiana: France claimed the Mississippi Valley and its tributaries for King Louis XIV. The establishment of Louisiana in 1682 confirmed France's land claims in North America. France's loss to Great Britain in the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), however, led King Louis XV to transfer the Louisiana Territory west of the Mississippi River to Spain to keep the lands out of Britain's hands. After the Treaty of Paris (1763), Great Britain controlled the original territory lands east of the Mississippi River except for Spanish Florida and New Orleans. Napoleon and Louisiana: 1800-1803: With Napoleon Bonaparte's rise to power in 1799, France once again had designs on Louisiana. In 1800, Napoleon negotiated the transfer of Louisiana from Spain to France through the Treaty of San Ildefonso. Napoleon wanted to use Louisiana to provide food for the prosperous sugar-producing French colony of Saint-Dominigue in the Caribbean.
194. LSM3_130524_318.JPG: American Designs on Louisiana: Thomas Jefferson foresaw the eventual settlement of Americans in the West and hoped to acquire Louisiana through diplomacy. In 1763, France ceded Louisiana to Spain. By 1800, Spain's King Carlos IV viewed American dominance of the Mississippi River trade as a threat to Spanish control of the colony. Spain closed the port of New Orleans to Americans in 1802. Western farmers, who depended on shipping their goods through the port, were outraged. In response, Jefferson made an effort to purchase New Orleans from Napoleon, who had recently regained control of the colony from Spain. Treaty of San Ildefonso, 1800: In 1800, Spain secretly returned Louisiana to France through the Treaty of Ildefonso. Napoleon Bonaparte, France's first consul, hoped to use the colony as the foundation of a French empire in the West. By 1803, however, his plans had changed, and he no longer wanted Louisiana. Thus, he decided to sell the entire territory to the United States for $15 million.
195. LSM3_130524_324.JPG: Napoleon Peace Medal c 1800
196. LSM3_130524_328.JPG: The Haitian Revolution: The successful Haitian slave revolt dashed Napoleon's dream of a French empire in the Americas. The Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) was the first successful large-scale slave revolt in the western hemisphere. Led by former slave Toussant L'Ouverture, rebel slaves on the French island of Saint Dominigue (present-day Haiti) defeated French forces sent by Napoleon. The lost of Saint Dominigue destroyed Napoleon's dream of a French empire in the West.
197. LSM3_130524_332.JPG: Napoleon's Death Mask Plaster recast by JW Rubridge, May 7, 1821 Napoleon sold Louisiana to the United States to finance a war against Great Britain. His military failures, however, ultimately resulted in his exile from France. This mask is a plaster copy of one of four death masks made at the time of his death in 1821.
198. LSM3_130524_340.JPG: Napoleon: Dreams of a French Empire: In 1800, Napoleon Bonaparte envisioned a French empire in the Americas. According to his plan, Louisiana would serve as a vital granary for France's Caribbean islands. That year he negotiated the transfer of Louisiana from Spain toe France with the Treaty of San Ildefonso. By 1803, however, Napoleon abandoned his idea of a western empire and decided to sell Louisiana to the United States to acquire funds to wage war against Great Britain.
199. LSM3_130524_346.JPG: Thomas Jefferson: The founding father and third president of the United States purchased Louisiana from France for $15 million. In 1801, new President Thomas Jefferson was a leading proponent of United States expansion across North America. Jefferson envisioned a republic of small farmers and believed that settlers in search of new land would inevitably move westward. After learning of the secret Treaty of San Ildefonso, through which France reacquired Louisiana from Spain, Jefferson successfully maneuvered to purchase the territory from Napoleon.
200. LSM3_130524_350.JPG: Celebrating the Purchase: In 1903 and again in 1953, large celebrations were held to commemorate this landmark event in our nation's history. The 1903 centennial included celebrations at the Cabildo and a special mass at St. Louis Cathedral. President Dwight Eisenhower visited New Orleans for a flag-raising ceremony to mark the 150th anniversary in 1953. The bicentennial celebration in December 2003 united dignitaries from the United States, France, and Spain.
201. LSM3_130524_354.JPG: The Purchase: France sold Louisiana to the United States for $15 million. In 1802, Thomas Jefferson sent Robert Livingston, and, later, James Monroe to France to negotiate the sale of New Orleans to the United States. France initially refused, but by 1803 Napoleon decided to sell the entire colony of Louisiana to keep it out of British hands and finance a war against that nation. Napoleon surprised the Americans by offering all of Louisiana for $15 million. The official Purchase Treaty was signed in France on April 30, 1803.
202. LSM3_130524_358.JPG: $15 million price tag: When Napoleon unexpectedly offered to sell Louisiana, United States representatives Robert Livingston and James Monroe were unable to discuss the price with Jefferson, who was back in Washington. The American diplomats signed the treaty and hoped that Jefferson and Congress would approve. Congress ratified the treaty in October 1803. James Monroe, originally from Virginia, became the fifth president of the United States, serving from 1817 to 1825.
203. LSM3_130524_362.JPG: Hoisting the Stars and Stripes: The United States takes control of Louisiana. On November 30, 1803, Spain officially ceded control of Louisiana to France. Less than a month later, on December 20, France transferred Louisiana to the United States in a ceremony at the Cabildo in New Orleans. President Thomas Jefferson selected William C. C. Claiborne to govern the new territory. General James Wilkinson and six hundred United States troops accompanied Claiborne to New Orleans for the transfer.
204. LSM3_130524_366.JPG: General Philemon Thomas, c 1845
205. LSM3_130524_381.JPG: The Louisiana Experience: Discovering the Soul of America: Mardi Gras Louisiana Routes Louisiana Dancehall
206. LSM3_130524_439.JPG: Louisiana's Recording Legacy: Many records made in Louisiana during the 1950s and 1960s are classics still heard today on radio and on popular CD reissues. Louisiana recording studios may have been small and independent, but the records that came from them had a worldwide impact. Such artists as Fats Domino, Little Richard, and Frankie Ford became national stars through records produced in New Orleans. Likewise, artists from outside of New Orleans, such as Phil Phillips and Slim Harpo, recorded songs with enduring appeal.
207. LSM3_130524_461.JPG: Bonnie and Clyde: This legendary Texas outlaw couple was killed by Texas and Louisiana lawmen east of Shreveport on May 23, 1934. Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker were part of the notorious fugitive Barrow Gang, which went on a two-year crime spree in Texas and several midwestern states. In May 1934 they were finally ambushed by a posse on Highway 154 between Sailes and Gibsland in Bienville Parish. Every May, Gibsland holds the Bonnie and Clyde Festival to commemorate the event.
208. LSM3_130524_467.JPG: Cemetery Statue c 1840 This statue was removed form the Girod Street Cemetery in New Orleans before it was demolished in 1957. This cemetery, established in 1822 by Christ Church, was the city's first separate burial ground for Protestants. Today the Superdome occupies the space.
Wikipedia Description: Louisiana State Museum – Baton Rouge
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Louisiana State Museum - Baton Rouge is a branch of the Louisiana State Museum located at 660 N. 4th Street, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

There are two permanent exhibits on the history and culture of Louisiana. The building was designed by New Orleans-based design studio Eskew+Dumez+Ripple and exhibits were created by Christopher Chadbourne & Associates.

Notable objects include the Bayou St. John Confederate Submarine and Louis Armstrong's childhood bugle.
Bigger photos? To save server space, the full-sized versions of these images have either not been loaded to the server or have been removed from the server. (Only some pages are loaded with full-sized images and those usually get removed after three months.) I still have them though. If you want me to email them to you, please send an email to guthrie.bruce@gmail.com and I can email them to you, or, depending on the number of images, just repost the page again will the full-sized images.
Connection Not Secure messages? Those warnings you get from your browser about this site not having secure connections worry some people. This means this site does not have SSL installed (the link is http:, not https:). That's bad if you're entering credit card numbers, passwords, or other personal information. But this site doesn't collect any personal information so SSL is not necessary. Life's good!
Photo Contact: [Email Bruce Guthrie].