Academic

1941 – 1969, Albert Dent was Dillard University’s
President. Tom Dent is a noteworthy Freedom
Writer, where his writing began while working
for the Houston Informer and the New York
Age. He became a public information worker for
the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
in 1961. Heavy involvement in the Civil Rights
Movement and the significance of its struggle was
reflected greatly within Tom’s writings. The Dent
Family Collection contains three series, each
dedicated to the respected Dents. The details
of the collection consist of: school publications,
writings and addresses, programs, correspondence,
collected articles, collected publications, dedications,
newspaper clippings, and flyers.
• General Rare Book Collection – Includes
first edition and/or signed copies of works by
Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Phyllis Wheatley,
Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington and
Harriet Beecher Stowe.
• George E. Haynes Collection - George E.
Haynes was a devoted sociologist, race relations
expert, and Urban League founder. The collection
consists of seven series mostly: writings produced
in the 1930s and 1940s, awards, biographical
information, correspondence, and a collection of
writings by W. Montague Cobb’s (the First African
American to receive a Ph.D. in Anthropology).
• George Longe Collection - George Longe
was an educator and one who devoted himself
to community service in New Orleans. He served
as a principal for many New Orleans schools
and was involved greatly in New Orleans’ groups
focused on racial and community improvement.
The collection is arranged into three series
featuring: public school materials, organizations,
associations, photos, booklets, and requisitions.
• Gilbert Academy Collection - Gilbert
Academy received its name from William L. Gilbert,
a farmer and businessman who contributed to
the education and welfare of African Americans
in the South. Gilbert Academy began with the
Colored Orphan’s Home located on plantation
lands of Bayou Teche, which was established by
the Freedman’s Bureau. The orphanage housed
orphan children of African American Union
7
Soldiers. Gilbert Academy is the culmination of
this orphanage and a preparatory school called La
Teche Seminary. From 1935 to 1949, the Academy
served as a diverse co-ed private high school for
African Americans in New Orleans. The Academy
was reinstated in 2000, as Dillard University
past President Michael Lomax sought to create
a summer enrichment programs for high school
students seeking a college education.
• Gilbert D. Fletcher Collection - Mr. Fletcher
is a Dillard University graduate, whom over time
organized art activities for preschool children as
a teacher and was an art editor for R. R. Bowker
Company in New York. Mr. Fletcher’s paintings
have appeared in published poems. The collection
contains works ranging from the 1970s to the
1980s. The collection is composed of seven
series featuring: announcements, invitations and
programs, awards, as well as correspondence.
• Goldstein Collection – Moise H. Goldstein
(1882-1972) was a renowned New Orleans
architect who designed and built many of the
Dillard University buildings. This collection contains
more than 350 volumes of early 19th - 20th
century architectural and literary works as well as
architectural drawings.
• Patton Collection – A major collection of
resources by African-Americans authors.
• Henson Artifacts – Artifacts of the explorer,
Matthew Alexander Henson (1866-1955), include
snowshoes, a parka and sealskin boots worn by
Henson on his journey to the North Pole with
Robert Peary in 1909.
• James Hardy Dillard Collection – Mr. Dillard
is the philanthropist after whom Dillard University
is named. While working with the New Orleans
Public Library, Child Welfare Association, and the
Louisiana State Board of Education, Mr. Dillard
was able to drastically improve race relations and
education opportunities for African Americans.
He was the first president and director of the
Negro Rural School Fund. The collection is
comprised of Mr. Dillard’s own materials and
materials written about him. This is a five series
collection composed of: articles, addresses, and a
report of the Phelps-Strokes Fund (A non-profit