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2016 Sunset Report |
OLG & DCRT Strategic Plan 2020-21 through 2024-25 |
Source: The Impact of the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism on Louisiana's Economy and Quality of Life for Louisiana's Citizens - June 2006
Source: The Impact of the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism on Louisiana's Economy and Quality of Life for Louisiana's Citizens - June 2006
The Atchafalaya Heritage Area has been designated by Congress as a National Heritage Area.
Source: The Impact of the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism on Louisiana's Economy and Quality of Life for Louisiana's Citizens - June 2006
Source: The Impact of the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism on Louisiana's Economy and Quality of Life for Louisiana's Citizens - June 2006
Source: The Impact of the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism on Louisiana's Economy and Quality of Life for Louisiana's Citizens - June 2006
Source: The Impact of the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism on Louisiana's Economy and Quality of Life for Louisiana's Citizens - June 2006
Source: The Impact of the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism on Louisiana's Economy and Quality of Life for Louisiana's Citizens - June 2006
Source: The Impact of the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism on Louisiana's Economy and Quality of Life for Louisiana's Citizens - June 2006
Source: The Impact of the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism on Louisiana's Economy and Quality of Life for Louisiana's Citizens - June 2006
Source: The Impact of the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism on Louisiana's Economy and Quality of Life for Louisiana's Citizens - June 2006
Source: The Impact of the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism on Louisiana's Economy and Quality of Life for Louisiana's Citizens - June 2006
English, 1875-1945
Born in England in 1875, Tebbs immigrated to the United States when he was a teenager. After a stint in the U.S. Marines during the Spanish-American War, he worked as a photojournalist for Hearst newspapers, specializing in sporting events. Tebbs married fellow English immigrant Jeanne Spitz (1887-1980) in 1907, and the couple moved to New York City. He worked as a freelance photojournalist for a time, but soon began capitalizing on the growing demand for architectural photography.
Tebbs began photographing nineteenth-century churches in New York. He soon began receiving more commissions than he could handle alone. Charles E. Knell became Tebbs's trusted partner in 1923. Billed as "Photographers to Architects & Decorators," the firm supplied photographic documentation of both historic and new construction projects across the country. A favorite of many of the largest architectural firms, Tebbs documented Grand Central Station in New York City for Warren and Wetmore and Reed and Stem (1913) and the Merchandise Mart in Chicago for Graham, Anderson, Probst and White (1930).
Tebbs also began working with an emerging cadre of historic preservationists, notably Richard Koch of New Orleans, in the early 1920s. After completing a book project in Charleston for the American Institute of Architects, Tebbs was hired to produce the first photographic survey of Louisiana's plantations. In 1926, he began photographing plantations and other rural architecture across the state.
The Louisiana project was cancelled, and the Great Depression brought an abrupt halt to most construction and renovation projects. Tebbs and Knell dissolved in the early 1930s. Tebbs was stricken with a mysterious illness but recovered after seeking help from Christian Science practitioners. He spent his final year doing menial photographic copy work at a Mack Truck factory.
In 1956, his widow, Jeanne Tebbs, sold his collection of photographs, including glass plates, to the Louisiana State Museum.
![]() click for larger image | Elmwood Plantation 1926 Vintage gelatin silver print, 8 x 10 inches Louisiana State Museum, 1956.087.331 Elmwood was built between 1723 and 1820 near Harahan in Jefferson Parish. |
![]() click for larger image | Labatut Plantation Robert W. Tebbs 1926 Vintage gelatin silver print, 10 x 8 inches Louisiana State Museum, 1956.087.100 Labatut Plantation may have been built as late as 1830 for Zénon Porché (c. 1791- c. 1861) and his wife Julie Pourciau (1825-1880), both free people of color. It is unlikely that Evarist Barra (fl. 1790-1830), a Spanish nobleman, built the house, as some writers have contended. |
![]() click for larger image | Whitney Plantation, Faux Decorative Painting by Dominico Canova, Lower Rear Gallery Robert W. Tebbs 1926 Vintage gelatin silver print, 10 x 8 inches Louisiana State Museum, 1956.087.002 Jean-Jacques Haydel, Sr. (1741-1826) and Nicolas Haydel (1764-1812) probably built a modest house on the site about 1790. It was expanded to near present dimensions in 1803. Jean-François Marcelin Haydel (1788-1839) remodeled it in the 1830s, employing Dominique Canova to paint trompe l'oeil decorations. Whitney is located near Vacherie, St. John the Baptist Parish. |
![]() click for larger image | The Cottage, Interior with Mantle Robert W. Tebbs 1926 Vintage gelatin silver print, 8 x 10 inches Louisiana State Museum, 1956.087.220b The Cottage is located in St. Francisville, West Feliciana Parish. The basic structure was built by John and Patrick Allen about 1795. Judge Thomas Butler (1785-1847) enlarged the main house over the course of three building campaigns. A Campeche chair is seen on the right. |
![]() click for larger image | Oakley Plantation, Rear Elevation Robert W. Tebbs 1926 Gelatin silver print, 8 x 10 inches Louisiana State Museum, 1956.087.038 Ruffin Gray (ca.1765-1799) probably built the first house at Oakley. The present appearance dates to about 1815, built by Lucretia (née Alston; 1772-1833), better known as Lucy, and her second husband James Pirrie (1769-1824). John James Audubon taught painting, music, dancing, and French to their daughter Eliza (1805-1851) at Oakley in 1821. |
![]() click for larger image | Belle Chasse Robert W. Tebbs 1926 Vintage gelatin silver print, 8 x 10 inches Louisiana State Museum, 1956.087.042 Judah P. Benjamin (1811-1884) purchased 300 acres in Plaquemines Parish in 1844. He demolished a modest house that had been built about 1810 and constructed an impressive Greek Revival mansion. Belle Chasse was razed in 1960. |
![]() click for larger image | Shadows-on-the-Teche Plantation Robert W. Tebbs 1926 Vintage gelatin silver print, 10 x 8 inches Louisiana State Museum, 1956.087.042 Mason Jeremiah Clark and carpenter James Bedell built "The Shadows" between 1831 and 1834 for David Weeks (1786 -1834) and his wife, Mary Clara (née Conrad; 1796 -1863). Following the work of Weeks Hall (1894 - 1958), Shadows-on-the-Teche has been preserved by the Shadows National Historic Trust as a "house and garden museum of its period." |
![]() click for larger image | Robert W. Tebbs in U.S. Marine Uniform Robert W. Tebbs Unidentified photographer c. 1900 Albumen print Co |