Field Studies 07 - Baton Rouge

Field Studies
Baton Rouge
Anthony DelRosario Studio in Building Preservation Professors G. Cizek, M. Thomas, and H. Knight Master in Preservation Studies Tulane School of Architecture
PRST 6510 - Studio in Building Preservation G. Cizek, M. Thomas, H. Knight April 17, 2010
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 State Historic 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 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 overseers 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 pioneers 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
Anthony DelRosario Master in Preservation Studies - Tulane School of Architecture
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 Cummings 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 Dakins 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-tohimself 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 Longs term and designed Charity Hospital in New Orleans after Longs 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 HobsonMorris, 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.
Sources
Explore the History and Culture of Southeastern Louisiana: A National 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=17037001 pdf> Louisiana Office of Historic Preservation Website. <http://www.crt.state.la.us/hp/> Louisiana State University Rural Life Museum Website. <http://rurallife.lsu.edu>
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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
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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
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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.

Field Studies 07 - Baton Rouge

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Field Studies

Anthony DelRosario Master in Preservation Studies - Tulane School of Architecture

Anthony DelRosario Master in Preservation Studies - Tulane School of Architecture

Anthony DelRosario Master in Preservation Studies - Tulane School of Architecture

Anthony DelRosario Master in Preservation Studies - Tulane School of Architecture

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

Anthony DelRosario Master in Preservation Studies - Tulane School of Architecture

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

Anthony DelRosario Master in Preservation Studies - Tulane School of Architecture

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.

Anthony DelRosario Master in Preservation Studies - Tulane School of Architecture

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