Notable New Orleanians: A Tricentennial Tribute

and which, in 1966, became The Historic New Orleans Collection. Building on the endowment left
by Kemper and Leila Moore Williams, The Collection has grown to include ten historic buildings
making up two French Quarter campuses. As the museum describes its facilities, “the Royal Street
campus, located at 533 Royal Street, serves as our museum headquarters, housing our main space
for rotating exhibitions, the Williams Gallery; our permanent installation, the Louisiana History
Galleries; and our house museum, the Williams Residence. The Chartres Street campus, located at
400 and 410 Chartres Street, comprises the Williams Research Center, the Boyd Cruise Gallery, the
Laura Simon Nelson Galleries for Louisiana Art, and our on-site vault for collections items.” 1
Kemper and Leila Williams were active in the Episcopal Church throughout their lives, Williams
serving on the Vestry of Christ Church Cathedral for over ten years. He also returned to Sewanee
after graduation, serving as Trustee and Regent and receiving an honorary doctorate in 1935. He
also served as president of the New Orleans Community Chest and the New Orleans Philharmonic
Symphony Society.
—William H. Forman, Jr.
For further reading, see A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography, Vol. 11; Glenn R. Conrad, General Editor (Lafayette, LA:
Louisiana Historical Association, 1988)
p. 850; and this author, Christ Church Cathedral: The Third Century Begins (New Orleans, LA: The Historic New Orleans
Collection, 2004) p. 9.
1 Historic New Orleans Collection Web site, retrieved July 26, 2017.
L. Kemper Williams.
THE HISTORIC NEW ORLEANS COLLECTION, THE L.
KEMPER AND LEILA MOORE WILLIAMS FOUNDERS
COLLECTION, 72.135.2A WR.
C AMILLE L UCIE N ICKERSON
(1888-1982)
Camille Lucie Nickerson moved through life to her own Creole rhythm as a pianist, singer and
music educator. Besides founding a New Orleans African-American music club that is still around a
century later, she was a champion of African-American Creole folk music as a researcher; published
her own arrangements of folk songs; and performed as “The Louisiana Lady” in the United States
and, in Europe, for the U.S. Department of State.
She was born in New Orleans in 1888 to Creoles of color Aurelie Duconge and William Joseph
Nickerson. Her mother died when she was eight, and her father married a music teacher, Julia
Ellen Lewis. Her father, known as Professor Nickerson, was a violinist and a respected music
teacher whose pupils included Jelly Roll Morton and “Sweet Emma” Barrett. Manuel Manetta,
another jazz pianist and music teacher, noted that Camille was “the greatest pianist they had
around here.”
When Professor Nickerson formed the Nickerson Ladies Orchestra, his pianist was Camille,
aged nine, joining her cellist stepmother on stage. Camille’s childhood home was filled with New
Orleans music, and memories. Once, she “beheld my father playing an accompaniment in doublestops
on his violin to a most attractive jolly little tune ‘Suzanne, Belle Femme.’” Although her father
also sang, “the sole performer in this interesting picture was my great-grandmother who, with a
brightly colored tignon tied neatly around her head, made graceful play with a madras handkerchief...
while she danced gaily up and down.” She related this story in her Oberlin College Master’s
thesis on Creole folk music. After receiving a degree in 1916, she taught music with her father.
In February of 1917, Camille Nickerson organized the B Sharp Music Club for her advanced students
to explore “the wider field of present day musical thought and cultivate a finer musical taste.”
By 1921, the club had joined the National Association of Negro Musicians (which Camille would later
serve as president) and admitted male members. The club’s aims were to encourage love and appreciation
of “traditional and original Negro music,” encourage musicians and music education through
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