Edith Garland Dupré Library has acquired the original editions of the Lafayette Gazette newspaper that were printed from 1893 to 1908.
The donation was made by Art Mouton and members of his family during a ceremony Friday at Dupré Library. MoutonСAPPs great uncle, Homer Mouton, and a business partner, Charles Thomas, were the first owners and publishers of the weekly newspaper.
Although some issues are missing from the collection, it contains all that are known to exist, including the first published on March 11, 1893.
The papers had been entrusted to Art Mouton by his aunt, Jeanne Mouton Jeanmard.
СAPPThe directions to me were to protect them, and to find a good home. I consider these family treasures to keep and protect, but also to share,СAPP said Mouton, who added that the decision to donate the originals was difficult. СAPPIСAPPve always been hesitant to part with these papers, as they tie our family back to the beginning of Lafayette.СAPP
Charles Triche, dean of the СAPP libraries, said the donation of the newspapers represented СAPPan important and significant additionСAPP to Dupré LibraryСAPPs special collections archives. The broadsheets, brittle with age, will be kept inside acid-free boxes and stored in the dark for preservation.
The pages of the Gazette are studded with local history, from the beginnings of the СAPP, to the construction of the cityСAPPs first light plant, to early discoveries of oil in the region, Mouton said. СAPPOne of the more interesting articles related that the publisher of the Advertiser and the head of the Lafayette City Council had been in a duel. The report was that they met at dawn, each man fired one shot, and no one was hurt.СAPP
News articles and colorful features ran side by side in several issues displayed during the donation ceremony. And, facts and commentary often were woven into the text of the same story, as illustrated by a front-page brief from the Saturday, Jan. 7, 1905 edition. Two area fishermen СAPPwere arrested and brought before a judge, charged with selling fish contrary to law,СAPP it said. The offenders were each fined $10 plus court costs, and СAPPdeparted with heavier hearts if lighter purses.СAPP
The newspapers recorded events of the day, but also played a role in the fledgling cityСAPPs development, Triche said.
Advertisements, which were published on the front page, offered all sorts of wares and services, from winter millinery, a term for womenСAPPs hats, to the latest СAPPvehiclesСAPP available from the Denbo and Nicholson Co. СAPP horse-drawn carriages.
СAPPWhat the Gazette urged merchants to do was keep commerce flowing, and that kept LafayetteСAPPs economy growing,СAPP Triche said.
are housed in several locations, including the Library of Congress, UL Lafayette and online.