ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 766 The Historic New O rleans Collection Focus on Libraries By Pamela D. A rceneaux A stop to make in the French Quarter T he H istoric New O rleans C o llectio n (HNOC), a privately endowed independent museum research center is located in the heart of the French Quarter at 533 Royal St. It was established in 1966 by the late General and Mrs. L. Kemper Williams, private collectors of Loui­ siana m aterial, to maintain and expand their collections and make them available to the public through re search fa cilitie s and e x h ib itio n s . Open to the public since 1974, the re­ search collections, comprising approxi­ mately 14,000 vol­ umes, 9 ,0 0 0 pam ­ phlets, 5,700 linear feet o f documents and manuscripts, a microfilm collection, and approximately A lavishly restored court home to the Historic Ne300,000 photographs, iams Research Center. prints, drawings, and paintings, reflect aspects of the history and cul­ ture of Gulf South, Louisiana, and New Or­ leans. Inhabiting a complex of seven 18th- and 19th-century buildings, the Collection employs a full-time staff of 40 engaged in a three-part mission: preserving and acquiring books, manu­ scripts, and visual materials that document the history and culture of the immediate region; promoting the study and appreciation of local w history and culture through the research cen­ ter, museum exhibitions, and publications; and maintaining the Williams residence as a house museum reflecting the Williams’s French Quar­ ter lifestyle in the mid-20th century. The His­ toric New Orleans Collection has been accred­ ited by the American Association of Museums since 1978. In cooperation with the Louisiana Historical Association, the HNOC annually awards the Kemper and Leila Williams Prize to the best published work in Louisiana history. The awards are pre­ sented every March at the annual confer­ ence of the Louisi­ ana Historical Asso­ ciation. The Collec­ tion also period i­ cally awards Will­ iams Research Fel­ lowships for post­ doctoral and disser­ tation projects. The W illiam s Gallery, located in the 1792 Merieult and police station is now House, is free to the Orleans Collection’s Will­ pu blic and h ig h­ P h o to b y J a n W h ite B ra n tle y lights various as­ pects of the Collection’s holdings through ever- changing exhibitions. For a nominal charge, visi­ tors may view a series of ten permanent his­ tory galleries illustrating the development of the Crescent City or view the Williams residence, a late 19th-century “hidden house” remodeled in the 1940s to accommodate the fine antiques and gracious lifestyle of the General and his wife, Leila. Both tours are interpreted by expe­ rienced docents. P am ela D. A rcen ea u x is referen ce librarian a t The Historic New Orleans Collection/W illiams Research Center; e-m ail: p a m e la @ h n o c.o r g mailto:pamela@hnoc.org 767 The Collection’s Publications Division pro­ duces The Historic New Orleans Collection Q uar­ terly, exhibition catalogs, and many books of local interest, including a popular guidebook series entitled P reservation Guides. These pub­ lications, Louisiana prints, unusual gift items, and estate jewelry are available for purchase from the Shop at the Collection. Services The three research divisions service (Library, Curatorial, and Manuscripts) approximately 7,800 researchers annually by telephone, mail, or in person to the Collection. Researchers range from visitors with a casual curiosity about the New Orleans area to grade-school students working on their first research project to world- renowned scholars, novelists, and filmmakers. Materials do not circulate, and stack areas are closed to the public. Depending upon the cur­ rent workload, reading room staff may under­ take limited research for individuals unable to conduct their own research. Visiting research­ ers are interviewed by the staff concerning their topics and goals and have access to the Collection’s automated catalogs and other find­ ing aids. The Collection has mounted a home­ page on the Internet through the World Wide Web. The Web site provides up-to-date infor­ mation on holdings, galleries and exhibitions, the Williams residence, the Shop at the Collec­ tion, Collection publications, and the annual Williams Prize competition. The Collection’s URL is http://www.hnoc.org/. Visits and tours The Historic New Orleans Collection is open Tuesday-Saturday (except holidays) at 10:00 a.m. The Williams Gallery closes at 4:45 p.m.; the Williams Research Center closes at 4:30 p.m. Research guides are available upon request. Tours of the history galleries and Will­ iams residence are $2 each. Reservations re­ quired for groups of eight or more and for school groups. For further information, please contact: The Historic New Orleans Collection, 533 Royal Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70130; (504) 523-4662. W illia m s R e s e a r c h C e n te r, 4 10 Chartres Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70130; (504) 598-7171. This guide to New Orleans’ red-light district can be found at the Williams Research Center. yelt n ar B W hi te naJ y b to o Ph The Collections Among the “gems” of the Collection are 37,000 photographs and negatives of the American photographer, Clarence John Laughlin, and the approximately 1,800 drawings made mostly for H arp er’s Weekly by 19th-century illustrator, Al­ fred R. Waud. The Vieux C arrê Survey, an ar­ chive of some 160 binders, contains informa­ tion about individual pieces of property in the French Quarter and is accessible by current street address. The first printed account of Loui­ siana, Abbé H ennepin’s D escrip tion d e la L o u is ia n e (1 6 8 3 ); H et G ro o le T a fe r e e l d e r D w aash eid (The Great M irror o f Folly, 1720), satirical cartoons, essays, and verse describing ohn Law’s Mississippi schemes; and Les Cenelles (1845), the earliest volume of published poetry by free men of color in the United States, are among the Collection’s most noteworthy items. Manuscript collections include a variety of letters, diaries, land tenure records, financial and legal papers, as well as extensive micro­ filmed documents from the Archives Nationales de France, the Archivo General de Indies, and the National Archives. New Orleans newspa­ pers from 1803 to the present form a large por­ tion of the microfilm collection. N ew W illiam s Research Center facilitates service The HNOC is at the threshold of a new era in its history. Until recently, researchers were re­ J http://www.hnoc.org/ 768 quired to visit three separate reading rooms, shoehorned into three different buildings in the Royal Street complex in order to access mate­ rials. Named in honor o f the Collection’s founders, the new Williams Research Center, located at 410 Chartres St. (about two blocks away from the Royal Street headquarters) opened on January 20, 1996, with a series of lectures during the day and a black-tie gala that evening. The building, a lavish restoration of the Sec­ ond City Criminal Court and Third District Po­ lice Station, boasts a spacious reading room on the second floor. This new reading room elimi­ nates the need for researchers to be escorted from one research area to another. Books, manuscripts, microfilm, photographs, maps, and a wealth of other primary and secondary re­ sources may be consulted in one setting with, perhaps, the assistance of only one staff mem­ ber. As visitors enter the Williams Research Cen­ ter, they are directed to a sweeping stairway or to public elevators, which take them to the sec­ ond-floor reading room with its huge arched windows, mezzanine stacks, handmade library tables, and vintage chandeliers. Fanning out from the centerpiece reading room are storage vaults, staff workspaces, and equipment housing. The new Williams Research Center’s home is in the Beaux Arts municipal building, de­ signed by prolific architect Edgar Angelo Christy (1881-1959). When it was built in 1915, it re­ placed a row of decrepit, 19th-century shops. Hired as a New Orleans city architect in 1904, Christy was largely noted for his firehouse de­ signs. Between 1911 and 1940, he served as the supervising architect of the Orleans Parish School Board and was responsible for design­ ing some of the city’s earliest modern public schools; many are still in use, a testament to their sturdy construction. Bought by the state of Louisiana in 1957, the old court and police station was vacant and exposed to the elements for nearly 20 years when the HNOC acquired it in 1993. The sensitive restoration and adaptive re­ use of this fine, though long-neglected build­ ing not only provides a more convenient facil­ ity for researchers, more capacity for storage of existing collections and future acquisitions, and office space for research and technical staff, but it also reflects the HNOC’s continued faith in the vitality of the French Quarter. ■ 769