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Science and Technology Collection The Science and Technology collection consists primarily of tools people have used to shape their environment. The approximately 6,000 artifacts date from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. Little is known about much of the collection. Items are recognized as old tools or machines with little other significant information. What follows are the highlights and general descriptions of the science and technology collection. The categories chosen reflect a condensed version of the nomenclature used to organize the artifacts into related groups.
Items in the architectural collection range from pieces of prominent buildings to objects used to facilitate plumbing and temperature control within commonplace period interiors. Artifacts might have been directly removed from the structures in which they stood or found using archaeological field methods. Notable examples include: Models The museum has a scale model of St. Louis Cathedral exhibited at the New Orleans Industrial Exposition in 1899. Other notable building models include the United States Custom House of New Orleans, the French Market, and both the Cabildo and the Presbytere. On a popular note, LSM maintains possession of a model fort used in the filming of Cecil B. DeMille's The Buccaneer filmed in 1937. Specific Building Features The museum maintains a collection of artifacts that were found in or were part of prominent Louisiana buildings. Some of the buildings represented include the St. Louis Hotel, the St. Charles Hotel, the Ursuline Convent, and the French Opera House in New Orleans. The variety of artifacts ranges from door hinges and keys to windows, doors and shutters. Huey Pierce Long's Bar Door Of particular note in this collection is a door that was found in the Audubon Blvd. residence of Huey P. Long in New Orleans. Latrobe Waterworks Pipes Benjamin Henry Latrobe, the architect of the United States Capitol and the White House, spent his final days in New Orleans. During this period, he was commissioned to design and build a water supply system for the city. The project was begun in 1811 and was interrupted by the War of 1812. Though Latrobe died in 1820 of yellow fever, the project went on to be completed in 1822. The museum has five different sections of the original Latrobe water pipes. The pipe was constructed from whole logs drilled through the center and joined end to end. Tools and Equipment to Manipulate Materials This group of artifacts includes those objects used to manipulate and harvest raw materials and commodities into salable products. The industries represented are diverse, but have all been found in Louisiana at some point in its history. Objects relating to Agriculture The cotton industry is well represented by a portable cotton press and several scales used on plantations and on the waterfront in New Orleans to prepare cotton for market. Items relating to the sugar industry include iron kettles, thermometers, saccharometers and marble mortars. A tobacco press along with cigar rollers, cutters and carrots of tobacco are remnants of a now nearly extinct tobacco industry in this state. Dozens of other agricultural products are represented in an extensive collection of colorful trade labels from products manufactured and sold by Louisiana producers. Textile Working An extensive collection of Acadian tools for making textiles is held by the museum. These include four full-size looms and several small clock reels, bobbins and spinning reels. The museum also has a small cotton gin on display that would probably have served the textile production needs of an independent farm in Louisiana. Metalworking Prominent Louisiana metalworkers whose tools are represented in the museum’s collection include some of the doubloon dies and test strikes of H. Alvin Sharp, known locally as the father of the modern Mardi Gras doubloon. Also included are the clock maker’s tools of Stansilaus Fournier and the silversmith tools of Adolph Himmel. Perhaps most significant among the museum’s metalworking collection is the Old United States Mint. Though the museum currently has none of the original machinery housed at the Mint, the building itself is a monument to the coining of currency that went on throughout the second half of the nineteenth century in Louisiana. Woodworking Tools Various woodworkers are represented in the museum’s collection of tools designed to manipulate wood. These include the shipwright’s tools of Lino Florentino, the wheelwright’s tools of Charles Nicholas Foltz, and the tools and patterns of John Turpin. Stone Mason's Tools of Herbert L. Sayas Sr. c. 1930-1950 - These tools were used by Mr. Sayas and his partner Albert Cazalot in the construction and repair of tombs in New Orleans cemeteries. The two worked mainly in St. Louis Cemetery Number Three, but also did work in Metairie Cemetery. The collection includes hammers and chisels for hand carving as well as chisels for use with pneumatic hammers. Armament and Protection The Louisiana State Museum maintains a substantial collection of Louisiana and non-Louisiana related edged weapons, firearms and regulative and protective devices. While some are important merely because of their technical attributions, others have an association with important Louisiana military battles, individuals or place used. Edged Weapons The edged weapon collection contains over 200 items from around the world ranging from a samurai sword to weapons carried by Louisiana infantrymen in the Civil War. Prominent makers of American swords included in the collection are Nathan Starr and Son, Scheble and Fisher, W. H. Horstmann Co., N. P. Ames Manufacturing Co., E. J. Johnston and Co., and Boyule, Gamble, and McFee. Of particular note is a sword made by Thomas Griswald and Company of New Orleans. Battle of New Orleans swords include those of Colonel Michel Fortier, Francois Bonaventure Alpuente, Major P. D. De la Ronde, Major Henry Chotard (aide to General Jackson) and Lieutenant Hugh Hector McLean, a British officer who served during the battle. Civil War swords include those of Francis T. Nichols and Major B. M. Harrod. Of particular note in the edged weapons collection is a sword carried by Zachary Taylor in the Mexican American War and a presentation sword given to General Ogden by members of the Crescent City White League. Firearms The firearms collection consists of over 200 items from late eighteenth century French pistols to World War II semiautomatic weapons. A majority of these items date from the nineteenth century and were used in either the Battle of New Orleans or the Civil War. Manufacturers represented include: Smith and Wesson, William Mulr and Co., A. Waters, Le Faucheaux, Allen and Wheelock, Manhattan Arms Co., Derringer, Lewis and Jones, and the Metropolitan Arms Co. The collection maintains several Potsdam rifles that were used extensively in the Civil War, including those used on the catafalque of Jefferson Davis. Several German, Austrian, French, American, and Japanese firearms represent the two World Wars along with spent cartridges and neutralized ammunition from these wars. Of particular note in this collection is General P. G. T. Beauregard’s Colt Pistol and the Winchester rifle of Reconstruction Governor Henry Warmouth. Thomas Bailey Shotgun The museum recently acquired a New Orleans made double-barreled shotgun with German silver components and an English Barrel. The rifle was assembled by Thomas Bailey in New Orleans for Samuel McCutchon, a local sugar planter. Artillery
The greatest strength in this area is in items relating to fire fighting. The museum maintains a turn of the century hook and ladder truck, a circa 1870 hose carriage, and several fire marks and alarms. Locks, padlocks and keys from several significant Louisiana buildings are also found within this collection. Items related to the enslavement of African-Americans include a cat o’ nine tails, a ball and chain, and a slave collar with three bells worn to announce the wearer’s presence. A cell door from Fairview Plantation and wooden stocks from LeBeouf Plantation, circa 1830 are also found in this collection. Of particular interest to some is a link of chain used during the Civil War to stretch barges across the Mississippi River in an attempt to protect the city from Union Forces. Also of interest is the electric chair once used to execute criminals sentenced to death in Louisiana Tools and Equipment for Scientific Processes Medical Equipment The Louisiana State Museum maintains a fairly large collection of Medical equipment from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This includes dozens of instruments used in the medical profession including phrenology heads from the 1890s, mortar and pestles, leech jars, bleeders, and an autopsy table and several medical probes and tools from the twentieth century which belonged to Dr. Isidore Cohn. Of particular note are the Civil War medical, surgical and optical instruments of Dr. V. Grima, Dr. J. Wirtz, and Dr. W. B. Robertson. In addition, the museum has two large medical kits and a Post-Mortem dissection kit which belonged to Dr. Joseph Jones, Confederate States Army Surgeon and professor of Chemistry and Medicine at the University of Louisiana. Photographic Equipment Several famous Louisiana photographers are represented by the museum’s collection of photographic equipment. Items used by George Mugnier, H. F. Reynick, Charles Frank, and Fonville Winans are all housed at the museum. Of particular interest are Winans’ hand-made development boxes. These homemade instruments are quite interesting to photography enthusiasts. Surveying and Navigation Several compasses and telescopes are held in this collection as well as other items used to aide navigation. Interesting items in this collection include a French-made light house lens that was used at South Pass at the mouth of the Mississippi River from the 1890s until the 1920s; a transit used by Louis Pilié, surveyor of the City of New Orleans in the mid-nineteenth century; drafting tools of General G. T. Beauregard; and a terrestrial telescope used by Judge A. G. Brice to gaze at ships coming up the Mississippi River. Tools and Equipment for Communication and Trade Artifacts relating to all types of merchandising and communication are also held within the Science and Technology Collection. Musical This collection includes all musical instruments that do not relate to the history of Jazz. It primarily consists of orchestral instruments and those used in military regiments. Highlights include several orchestral instruments once used in the New Orleans French Opera House and other music halls in the city. Military items include a cavalry bugle carried by Civil War regiments and several marching drums. Of particular note is the drum used by Jordan Noble to beat the call to arms at the Battle of New Orleans. Also included in this category are the museum’s collection of bells from different plantations, ships, and important Louisiana buildings. Trade The Louisiana State Museum has a significant number of items related to trade in the state. We have over 3000 trade labels within the museum’s collection which were used in the merchandising of goods of all types from foodstuffs to tobacco. In addition, the museum has a growing collection of store signs from various businesses around New Orleans and merchandising equipment from businesses around the state. These include Waldhorn Antiques, Henry Stern Antiques, Covington Hardware and The Fatted Calf Restaurant. Exchange Medium The Museum’s currency collection is quite extensive with coins and bills from all over the world. Of particular interest are early bank notes from Louisiana, the young United States, and the Confederate States of America. Local banks represented include the Citizen’s Bank of Louisiana and the New Orleans Canal and Banking Company. The museum also maintains an extensive collection of U.S. coins minted in the New Orleans Mint and elsewhere. Transportation The Transportation collection can be divided into artifacts which have to do with land travel and those which are related to water travel. Notable land items include stirrups from the Battle of New Orleans, leather saddlebags from the Spanish American War, a brake light made out of a stuffed alligator, and two nineteenth century carriages. Water items include various models of famous steamboats and lesser known sailing vessels that traveled through Louisiana waters, ships= wheels from the U. S. S. Louisiana and the steam towboat C. D. O-Conner, pieces of the steamboats Natchez and Robert E. Lee, and several Louisiana dugout canoes. Personal Symbols The museum’s collection of personal symbols include those items used to represent beliefs, preferences, achievements, or status. These are items commonly referred to as "mementos," "ephemera," or "souvenirs." The collection includes political buttons, awards, medals, and pins representing organizations of many types from political associations to military regiments. These include military medals from all major wars in which Louisianians participated, especially those of the famous Washington Artillery. Political campaigns represented include those of Huey Long, Earl Long, and many other local, state and federal elections. Ethnology A majority of this collection consists of Native American artifacts from tribes both inside and outside of Louisiana. In addition, the museum has collected items over time from indigenous populations around the world. The cultures of the South Pacific, the Far East, Central and South America, and Africa are represented in this collection. Of particular interest in the ethnology collection are several Native American baskets. The most significant baskets in the museum’s collection can be traced back to Coushatta, Chitimacha, and Choctaw tribes. Types include large flat baskets (or tapa), winnowing baskets, sieves, elbow baskets, pointed baskets, double woven covered baskets and pack baskets. 
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