Colonial Louisiana Records Collection

Collection 329

Colonial Louisiana Records. Collection, 1626-1928

7.5 inches; microfilm: 1292 reels

The Colonial Louisiana Records Collection was established by the Center for Louisiana Studies to gather primary source materials from repositories in France, Spain and North America. Drawn from French and Spanish colonial archives, the British Museum and Public Records Office, and various state and parish repositories, the collection focuses on the history of European settlement in the Mississippi Valley, New France, Acadia, Ile Royale, and the French Antilles. The Microfilm was transferred to the University Archives and Acadiana Manuscripts Collection in May 2013.

This collection includes most of the materials listed in Nancy M. Miller Surrey’s Calendar of Manuscripts in Paris Archives and Libraries Relating to the History of the Mississippi Valley to 1803. This calendar acts as a comprehensive guide documenting the French experience in the Mississippi Valley. A database containing a fully updated version of the calendar was completed through a partnership between the Center for Louisiana Studies, The Historic New Orleans Collection, and the École Nationale des Chartes. The database is housed at The Historic New Orleans Collection.

Parish records received with the colonial records were transferred to separate collections. See Ascension Parish Records, Collection 351; Assumption Parish Records, Collection 352; Avoyelles Parish Colonial Records, Collection 129; East Baton Rouge Parish Civil Records, Collection 131; Iberia Parish Records, Collection 353; Iberville Parish Records, Collection 354; Lafayette Parish Police Jury Records, Collection 361; Orleans Parish Notarial Records, Collection 355; Pointe Coupee Parish Records, Collection 356; St. Charles Parish Court Records, Collection 152; St. James Parish Records, Collection 357; St. John the Baptist Parish Records, Collection 360; St. Martin Parish Records, Collection 358; St. Mary Parish Records, Collection 359; and West Feliciana Parish Civil Records, Collection 370. Catholic Church records were transferred to Collection 365.

For a further description of the Colonial Louisiana Records Collection, see: Brasseaux, Carl A. “The Colonial Records Collection of the Center for Louisiana Studies”, Louisiana History, Vol. XXV, No. 2. pp. 181-188, Spring 1984.

To see Surrey's Calendar in electronic form, see "A Guide to French Louisiana Manuscripts: An expanded and revised edition of the 1926 Surrey Calendar with Appendices" from The Historic New Orleans Collection.

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Colonial Louisiana Records. Collection, 1626-1928