NEW! Shell Oil Company Finding Aid

The Southeastern Architectural Archive (SEAA) recently finalized the processing of the Shell Oil Company Collection of Louisiana Plantation Photographs.

The collection consists of professional photographs commissioned by the Shell Oil Company in the late 1960s. They correlate to plantation structures located along the Mississippi River in southeastern Louisiana, which are identified on corresponding maps (earliest map reproduced above).

Read more here.

Image above: Shell Oil Company. Louisiana Plantations Map. Circa 1969. Shell Oil Company/Louisiana Plantation Photographs, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

NEW! Spangenberg Finding Aid

The Southeastern Architectural Archive (SEAA) recently finalized the processing of the Leonard Reese Spangenberg, Jr. Office Records.

Leonard Reese Spangenberg, Jr. (1925-2007) was a New Orleans native who served in the U.S. Navy (1943-46) prior to obtaining his professional education. After the war, Spangenberg apprenticed with Frank Lloyd Wright as a fellow at Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin (1946-47). This led to his appointment as the supervising apprentice on the construction of Wright’s Welbie L. Fuller residence in Pass Christian, Mississippi in 1951 (destroyed, Hurricane Camille). During this period, the young architect pursued a bachelor’s degree at Tulane University (B.Arch. 1952).


Image above: Leonard R. Spangenberg, Jr. & Associates, Architects. The Plaza Tower. Circa 1964. Promotional Brochure.Biographical Files, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

Thermo-Con Cellular Concrete

We have mentioned in previous posts the role of Andrew Higgins in developing post-War building products geared towards affordable housing. This summer, the Association for Preservation Technology International is digitizing a sizable portion of the Southeastern Architectural Archive's trade catalogs, which include Higgins promotional materials.

Image above:  Cover.  Thermo-Con Division. Building with Thermo-Con Cellular Concrete. New Orleans: Higgins Inc. Circa 1948. Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries. View the full brochure via the Internet Archive's Building Technology Heritage Library.

Frank Lotz Miller

We have mentioned the Crescent City's leading mid-century architectural photographer Frank Lotz Miller (1923-1993) in earlier posts, yet we always come across more of his wonderful images. As part of a series recording extant structures associated with a Central Business District parking garage complex designed by Curtis & Davis, Miller captured activities -- his own and the proprietor's -- at Frederick Tailors (158 South Rampart Street) on 23 December 1952.

Image above: Frank Lotz Miller, photographer. Frederick Tailors. 23 December 1952. Curtis and Davis Office Records, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

NEW! Louisiana Landmarks Finding Aid

The Southeastern Architectural Archive (SEAA) recently finalized the processing of the Louisiana Landmarks Society Records and Collection. The Louisiana Landmarks Society (LLS) is the oldest preservation organization in the state, dating to 1949. Founding members included Martha G. Robinson, Samuel Wilson, Jr., Buford Pickens, Angela Gregory and Bernard Lemann.

LLS established its articles of incorporation April 21, 1953. The non-profit organization thereby formalized its primary aims, the first of which was to focus attention on Louisiana’s historic buildings. Secondary aims included the acquisition and preservation of historic landmarks and documents; the dissemination of information about the state’s architectural traditions; and cooperation with other persons and organizations with similar objectives.

Read more here.

Image above: 200 Baronne Street. [Feiblemen's Store AKA Sears, Roebuck and Company; Moise Goldstein, architect].  Circa November 1931.  Louisiana Landmarks Society Records and Collection, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

NEW! Samuel Wilson Finding Aid

The Southeastern Architectural Archive (SEAA) recently finalized the processing of the Samuel Wilson, Jr. Papers and Drawings. Architect and preservationist Samuel Wilson, Jr. (1911-1993) was an early donor to the SEAA and was a member of the American Institute of Architects' Committee on Architectural Archives. He championed the preservation of architectural records and encouraged others to financially support archival repositories. His extensive publication record was informed by research conducted in American and Europeans archives.

The collection includes correspondence, transcriptions and translations of primary documents, typescripts of his publications, receipts associated with various reprographic requests, scrapbooks, photographs  and sketches. Records date from 1930-1975.  Read more here.

Image above: Samuel Wilson, Jr. Circa 1943. Samuel Wilson, Jr. Papers and Drawings, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

Lucille Ball & Douglass Freret

What did Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz have in common with New Orleans architect Douglass V. Freret (1903-1973)? Check out the plantation shutters catalog Freret once kept in his Gravier Street architectural office. It is one of some 1,000 building trade catalogs being digitized this summer by the Association for Preservation Technology International.

Image above:  Devereux Products Company. Plantation Shutters Selected by Lucy and Desi for Their Desert Dream House. Santa Monica, CA: The Company, postmarked 1955.