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1PRST 6510 - Studio in BuildingPreservation – G. Cizek, M. Thomas, H. Knight – April 17, 2010

Anthony DelRosario

Studio in Building Preservation

Professors G. Cizek, M. Thomas, and H. Knight

Master in Preservation Studies

Tulane School of Architecture

On April 9, Studio in Building Preservation made our seventh field trip of the

semester to Baton Rouge to visit the Rural Life Museum (Fig. 1), the Old Louisiana

State Capitol (Fig. 2), the Louisiana State Capitol (Fig. 3), and the offices of the Division

of Historic Preservation in the Capitol Annex Building (Fig. 4). During the day, the class

saw a well-composed outdoor museum, two national historic landmarks, and a

presentation from several employees of the StateHistoric Preservation Office.

The Rural Life Museum is a “center for the collection, preservation, and

interpretation of the material culture, cultural landscapes and vernacular architecture of

Louisiana and the Lower Mississippi River Valley” (rurallife.lsu.edu). The museum sits

Anthony DelRosario – Masterin Preservation Studies - Tulane School of Architecture


on land that is part of a 450 acre tract,once known as Windrush Plantation (Fig. 5),

donated by the Burden Family in 1966. This gift is the largest received by Louisiana

State University and is valued at over 270 million dollars (rurallife.lsu.edu). Between

1970 and 1972, the first buildings to be moved to the land were six buildings to create a

“working” plantation with an overseer’s house, schoolhouse, blacksmith shop, and three

slave cabins. These buildings along with several pigeonniers(Fig. 6) and other

additional buildings comprise the plantation area.

Another section of the museum is the Upland South Area which contains

interesting buildings from northern Louisiana such as a dog trot house (Fig. 9), a

pioneer’s cabin, and a Carolina cabin. A newer section is the Acadian Area which has

an Acadian house and barn (Fig. 7), a shotgun house, and the Germain Bergeron

House (Fig. 8), a bousillage-entre-poteaux house that is one of the oldest surviving

Acadian dwellings in Louisiana (Historic American Building Surveys). A newly

constructed barn houses a large collection of artifacts of rural life from prehistoric times

to the twentieth century including paintings by folk artist Clementine Hunter (Fig. 10).

The Rural Life Museum can be compared to Whitney Plantation. Both sites are

collecting orphaned buildings from Louisiana to preserve. However, the two differ in the

execution of this goal. The Rural Life Museum has existed for nearly forty years and

those involved have had a lot of time to decide on the objectives of the museum.

Executive Director David Floyd told the class that the museum has been offered several

excellent buildings from outside of Louisiana and the Mississippi River Valley area

which were turned down because the buildings were outside the scope of the museum.

The Rural Life Museum keeps a scholarly focus on what is presented and how it is



presented. On the other hand, at Whitney Plantation, John Cummings has been

preserving endangered buildings without a well-laid out plan. The Whitney Plantation

effort needs a better defined goal to complement John Cumming’s ideas. Not only does

a large interpretative plantation require a plan but also a significant amount of money.

The kind donation of the Burden Family made the Rural Life Museum possible, but a

budget from the state keeps it running. In the case of Whitney Plantation, currently the

project is funded with personal money from John Cummings.

The class visited two national historic landmarks in downtown Baton Rouge, the

Old Louisiana State Capitol and the current Louisiana State Capitol. Both are

architectural marvels – an exquisite Gothic Revival castle and an imposing Art Deco

tower that “epitomized the end of Beaux-Arts architectural tradition in America” (NRHP).

The Old State Capitol has an interior and an exterior of different eras due to the fires

that gutted the building during the Civil War. The exterior dates to 1850 and was

described by project architect James Dakin as "Castellated Gothic." The interior dates

to 1882 when William Freret led the reconstruction and installed a grand staircase (Fig.

11) and a magnificent stained glass rotunda dome (Fig. 12). The state government

vacated Dakin’s castle in 1932, the building once housed the Louisiana Art Commission

and offices of veterans' organizations for several decades (NRHP). The building went

through several restorations during the early 1990s and now houses the Old State

Capitol Center for Political and Governmental History. During the tour of the building,

the class was able to go to the third floor, which is usually off limits to the public, and

see the stained glass dome from a closer view.



The current Louisiana State Capitol building is an incredible monument-to-

himself that Huey P. Long imagined while running for Governor in 1928. Long used his

political prowess to build a new State Capitol as well as get himself elected as Governor

of Louisiana and U.S. Senator of Louisiana. At the time of construction, the new

Louisiana State Capitol building was only the second capitol building to not be a

traditional state capitol modeled after the U.S. Capitol (NRHP). To design the new

building, Long commissioned New Orleans firm Weiss, Dreyfous, and Seiferth who also

designed many buildings at Louisiana State University during Long’s term and designed

Charity Hospital in New Orleans after Long’s death. Long will forever be connected with

the Louisiana State Capitol as he was assassinated in the building in 1935 and is buried

in the gardens in front of the Capitol. The fact that such an extravagant building was

designed, constructed, and ornamented within a year and a half amidst the Depression

is quite amazing. In light of the current financial situation, no government, state or

federal, could even begin to suggest a project of this scope. The Louisiana State

Capitol came to being only through the impetus of Huey Long.

The class also visited the Capitol Annex Building (Fig. 15), the home of the

offices of the Division of Historic Preservation (DHP). Several employees made a

presentation about different facets of the Louisiana State Historic Preservation Office

(SHPO). Phil Boggan (Fig. 16), Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of Cultural

Development, welcomed the class to the offices. The class also met Nicole Hobson-

Morris, Executive Director of DHP; Alison Saunders, Tax Program Director; Pat Duncan,

National Register Program Coordinator, Heritage Education Program Staff; Mike

Varnado, Section 106 Coordinator, State Marker Program Coordinator; Ray Scriber,



Main Street Director, Certified Local Government Program Director. The group gave

very informative overview of the many aspects of the Louisiana SHPO. The group also

provided several practicum opportunities for interested students. If I did not have a full

time job commitment, I might have been interested in learning more about the National

Register process with Pat Duncan.


iPRST 6510 - Studio in BuildingPreservation – G. Cizek, M. Thomas, H. Knight – April 17, 2010

Sources

Explore the History and Culture of Southeastern Louisiana: ANational Register of

Historic Places Travel Itinerary.

<http://www.nps.gov/history/NR/travel/louisiana/index.htm>

Library of Congress Historic American Buildings Survey

Collection.<http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/>

Jean Charles Germain Bergeron House documentation,

<http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/la0355/>

Louisiana Division of Historic Preservation's National Register

Website.<http://crt.louisiana.gov/hp/nationalregister/historicplacesdatabase.aspx

>.

Louisiana State Capitol National Register

document.<http://crt.louisiana.gov/hp/nationalregister/nhl/document2.asp?

name=17025001.pdf>

Louisiana State Capitol (1849-62; 1882-1932) National Register

document.<http://crt.louisiana.gov/hp/nationalregister/nhl/document2.asp?

name=17037001pdf>

Louisiana Office of Historic Preservation Website.<http://www.crt.state.la.us/hp/>

Louisiana State University Rural Life Museum Website.<http://rurallife.lsu.edu>


iiPRST 6510 - Studio in BuildingPreservation – G. Cizek, M. Thomas, H. Knight – April 17, 2010

Figure 1: Rural Life Museum Figure 2: Old Louisiana State Capitol

Figure 3: Louisiana State Capitol Figure 4: Capitol Annex Building

Figure 5: Burden Family home Figure 6: Small pigeonnier and outhouse


iiiPRST 6510 - Studio in BuildingPreservation – G. Cizek, M. Thomas, H. Knight – April 17, 2010

Figure 7: Acadian house and barn Figure 8: Germain Bergeron House

Figure 9: Dog trot house Figure 10: Clementine Hunter painting

Figure 11: Grand staircase in Old State Capitol Figure 12: Stained glass rotunda in Old State Capitol


ivPRST 6510 - Studio in BuildingPreservation – G. Cizek, M. Thomas, H. Knight – April 17, 2010

Figure 13: Exterior detail of Capitol Figure 14: Interior detail of Capitol

Figure 15: Capitol Annex Building Figure 16: Phil Boggan outside Capitol Annex

All photographs were taken by the author.

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