Fowler-Armstrong Family papers

The papers of the Fowler-Armstrong Family document the lives and careers of multiple generations of a Loiuisiana African-American family. The collection primarily documents Lolette Fowler of New Orleans; Mary Ella Louise Armstrong, who was the first Black teacher in Acadia Parish; and Maude A. Cummings (nee Armstrong), teacher at J.W. Hoffman Public School and principal of Paul L. Dunbar Elementary School in New Orleans. Materials include correspondence, school records and teaching certificates and materials, photographs, and writings. Other family members represented in the collection include Bertha Briller, Julia Briller Fowler, and Furnis A. Fowler.

Over half the collection is comprised of photographs of individuals and groups, most of which are unidentified, but presumably of friends and members of the Fowler-Armstrong Family. Items of note include an album of tintypes and carte-de-visites, and cabinet cards produced by photography studios in New Orleans; Lafayette, Louisiana; Greenville, Mississippi; and Huntsville, Alabama. Present are photographs by Magnolia Studio and Villard Paddio of New Orleans. Also included are numerous photographs of boy scouts and scout encampments from the 1920s-1950s. Oversized poster boards, likely produced by Lolette Fowler for various family and African American history displays are also present. An addendum received in 2010 to the Fowler-Armstrong Family papers includes materials related to the education of Maude C. Armstrong, including a book of stitches prepared as part of a domestic arts class at New Orleans University and college catalogs (1927-1937) from The Chicago Musical College and Dillard University (New Orleans). Materials related to Lolette Fowler include correspondence (1960-1969), news clippings, and collected writings.