Louisiana Historical Center
Finding Aids
Click here for a general summary of each manuscript collection.
Bonus: read it en Français.
Some of the collections included in the general summary also have item-level inventories that were made by staff or volunteers at various points in time. We will continue to work to update any outdated finding aids and publish new ones.
The archives of colonial Louisiana offer an illuminating case study of the legacies of the Atlantic World in American archives. The collection, which contains the records of the French Superior Council (1714-1769) and the Spanish Judiciary (1769-1803), is now fully digitized and accessible online.
Online Resources for Colonial Documents
The Louisiana State Museum’s cartographic holdings, comprised of originals, photostats, photographic, and facsimile reproductions, date from 1525 to present day. A great number of these maps show a changing Louisiana: from its Colonial-Era beginnings as a large territory with few outposts, through the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, to statehood in 1812 and the development of Louisiana's cities and parishes as they are today.
Click here to see an inventory of the map collection.
See which maps are digitized on Louisiana Digital Library.
Ignace François Broutin, Plan de la Nouvelle Orleans Capitale de la Louisiana (1728) T0055.1997.0275
The Historical Center maintains an especially rich collection of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Louisiana newspapers published in several languages.
Finding Aids
The Mascot holdings
The Stars and Stripes, the official publication of The American Expeditionary Forces: newspaper description
Inventory of LSU student newspapers
Inventory of non-Louisiana newspapers
Inventory of Louisiana newspapers
The LHC library houses some 28,000 items related to various aspects of Louisiana, Mississippi Valley, and Gulf Coast history. The collection contains numerous pamphlets, material in typescript, and a great deal of manuscript material. The LHC's library is non-circulating; its items may not leave the reading room.
Online Resources
LHC holdings related to specific subjects created by staff, interns, and researchers.
Immigration—coming soon!
Slavery—coming soon!
Yellow Fever—coming soon!