021 TOM STAGG (1923- ) PAPERS.

21 linear ft.

Delegate to 1973 Constitutional Convention, Tom Stagg was also a Shreveport attorney and a real estate investment executive. He was appointed judge of the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana by President Richard M. Nixon in 1974. This collection includes working papers, committee proposals, resolutions and memoranda, files of news clippings, correspondence, pamphlets, and published notes and studies on developing a constitution.

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022 DEWEY SOMDAL (1898-1973) COLLECTION, 1780-1972.

44 linear ft.; 31 maps.

Dewey Somdal was an architect with the well-known Shreveport firm, Neild & Somdal, and one of founding directors of Historic Preservation of Shreveport. Included in this collection are correspondence, clippings, ledgers, court records, portage books, notes, diaries, journals, and photographs, mainly relating to steam boating in the 19th and 20th centuries; research notes and rough drafts of a biography of steamboat Captain Thomas P. Leathers; some journals, ordinances, books and notes on the Mississippi River, the Red River, and New Orleans. J. Fair Hardin papers relate to cases of graft and corruption in construction on Louisiana college campuses and reports on buildings and highways. Some photographs and architectural plans of Neild, Somdal, Smitherman Associates are included as well.

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023 CAPTAIN M. L. SCOVELL REMINISCENCES, 1865-1908.

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Reminiscences of steamboat captain on upper Red River, 1865-1890, second clerk, pilot, and a chief clerk, 1865-1875, and Master of Inland Steamers from 1875, relating to steam boating on the Red River and to Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1873.

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024 ALBERT HARRIS LEONARD (1839-1917) MEMOIRS, 1835-1861.

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(Originals with donor.)

Born in Mobile, Alabama, Albert Harris Leonard moved to Shreveport in the 1840’s, where his father managed the Palmetto Hotel. In 1858, he became a law student and was selected clerk for the Police Jury and Secretary of the City Council. His reminiscences are of Shreveport places and events in the 1840’s and 1850’s.

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025 JAN GARBER (1894-1977) COLLECTION, 1916-1972.

7 linear ft.

Composer and leader of the Jan Garber Orchestra for 55 years. The collection includes newspaper clippings and photographs of his band and its activities, 1925-1974, scrapbooks of news articles and publicity, 1932-1960, and photographs of famous Hollywood personalities from the 30’s through the 50’s.

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026 CADDO PARISH ELECTION RETURNS, 1861, 1864, 1865.

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Election results from Caddo Parish, Louisiana, for delegates to the State Secession Convention in Baton Rouge in 1861, for mayor of Shreveport in 1864, and for Judge of the 10th Judicial District in 1865.

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027 E. L. McGUIRE (1914-1983) CADDO PARISH SCHOOL BOARD RECORDS, 1962-1970.

4 linear ft.

Caddo Parish School Board member from 1962-1970, E. L. McGuire resigned to run unsuccessfully for Mayor of Shreveport. School Board minutes, reports, meeting notices, teacher lists, vocational educational studies and budget information primarily from 1964-1970; plans, recommendations, correspondence and court cases concerning desegregation, 1966-1970; material on school vandalism, drop-out reports, special education an personnel data and some publications on schools.

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028 JOSEPH PAXTON LETTER, AUGUST 1, 1828.

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Bachelor and early medical doctor who practiced his profession on horseback up and down the banks of the Red River from Fulton, Arkansas. His letter to Judge A. H. Sevier, Delegate to Congress from the Territory of Arkansas, is regarding the Raft of Red River and includes description of the Raft, its formation, and the best plan and route by which to open it. Many of these suggestions later acted on by Henry Miller Shreve.

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029 CADDO INDIANS CORRESPONDENCE AND DOCUMENTS, 1835.

10.5 linear ft. (photocopies.)

Includes material related to the 1835 treaty between the Caddo Indian Nation and the United States of America, represented by Commissioner Jehiel Brooks, and publications related to the Caddo Indians.

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030 F. M. AND S. B. HICKS COMPANY CARGO RECORDS, 1889-1903.

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Merchandising commission business established in Shreveport in 1868. Well-known wholesale grocers by 1890’s with son, S. B., as full manager; name changed to Hicks Company Limited in 1892. Records of cargo, consignee, destination, shipper contents, and by whom received.

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