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Announcements
Le Comité des Archives de la Louisiane, Inc.
Scholarship Award
The Board of Directors of Le Comité des Archives de la Louisiane, Inc., has approved a new scholarship to be awarded annually. Le Comité will give one $300 scholarship per year for expenses incurred in the process of conducting research which will "promote and facilitate the use of the Louisiana State Archives and Records Service for genealogical and historical research."
Le Comité will award a scholarship for research using material housed or accessed at the Louisiana State Archives, 3851 Essen Lane in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. This award will provide a stipend to assist those interested in Louisiana genealogy and history for whom distance and expenses present an obstacle to research in the state's rich archives. The award will be open to genealogists, independent scholars, and others who are researching Louisiana genealogy and history.
To apply, submit the following in one PDF document by the deadline to Judy Riffel at riffelj@bellsouth.net:
- Cover letter
- Description of the research project (two pages, double-spaced) to include:
a. Title and description of the project;
b. Statement explaining the genealogical and historiographical significance of the proposed work;
c. An indication of the specific Louisiana State Archives collections and/or records services the applicant will use; and
d. A brief project budget.
The awardee is required to submit a report suitable for publication in Le Raconteur. The report can be a short essay summarizing how the grant advanced their project. Specifically, they should state what they did, what records they utilized, whether or not they found the information they were seeking, and how they plan to use the information. Le Comité financial support must be acknowledged in any publication resulting from this funded research.
Le Comité will give the awardee $150 upon announcement at the Annual Meeting and $150 upon receipt of the final report.
Please address all related grant questions to Marianne Fisher-Giorlando at mariannegsu@gmail.com or Judy Riffel at riffelj@bellsouth.net.
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Zoom Presentations
Upcoming Presentations
Saturday, March 1, 2025, 11 a.m.
"Antebellum Lives Forgotten–Researching Plantation Histories to Uncover the Lives of Enslaved Ancestors"
Presented by Ja'el Gordon
This program is dedicated to researching plantation histories to uncover and document the lives of enslaved ancestors who are often excluded from the historical narrative. While plantation history traditionally centers on the lives of the owners, their families, and the architecture, the stories of the enslaved—whose labor built and sustained these estates—are frequently neglected or lost. By delving into records, artifacts, oral histories, and other sources, the program seeks to identify and honor these individuals, ensuring their inclusion and recognition. Through corrective narratives, this initiative reclaims the humanity and legacy of the enslaved, preserving their stories as an integral part of our collective history.
To register, send an e-mail to riffelj@bellsouth.net no later than Friday, February 28th, at 4 p.m. Non-members must join or renew via the PayPal link on the website no later than Thursday, February 27th.
Past Presentations
January 4, 2025, 11 a.m.
"A Deep Dive Into Louisiana Death Records"
Presented by Judy Riffel
Watch video in Members' Section
June 19, 2024, at noon CDT
"10 Million Names.Recover. Restore. Remember."
Presented by Richard Cellini
Watch video in Members' Section
February 7, 2024, at 1 p.m.
"African American Funeral Programs"
Presented by Renate Yarborough
Watch video in Members' Section
June 28, 2023, 2 p.m.
"Black Homesteaders of the South"
presented by Bernice Bennett
Watch video in Members' Section
April 12, 2023, 10 a.m.
"Exploring the Russ Williams Collection"
Presented by Bill Stafford, Archives Supervisor
Members only
Watch video in Members' Section
February 25, 2023, 1 p.m.
"Women in the Louisiana State Penitentiary, 1866-1900"
Presented by Marianne Fisher Giorlando
Members only
Watch video in Members' Section
December 17, 2022, 11 a.m.
"Getting the Most Out of Le Comité's Website"
Presented by Judy Riffel
Free and open to the public
Zoom Video Presentation by Judy Riffel
NOTE: The following passcode must be used to see the archived Zoom Video:
!7mh?p+8
Click here to see PDF of presentation slides.
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Special Interest Groups
"Family Relationships in Lists of the Enslaved:
New Approaches to Analyzing Old Documents"
Presented by
Judy Riffel
Sunday, February 20, 2022
2 p.m.
Via Zoom
(2/3/22) Lists of the enslaved can be found in inventories, succession
sales, conveyances, mortgages, and many other documents.
Family relationships may or may not be spelled out. What
can you do if they're not? Judy Riffel will briefly describe
these documents, then take a deep dive to explain techniques
you can use to uncover hidden family relationships among
lists of the enslaved. The presentation is geared towards
intermediate and advanced genealogists, but beginners can
benefit from the information as well.
Judy Riffel is a professional genealogist who has done research for the
television series Finding Your Roots, Who Do You Think You Are?, Genealogy
Roadshow, and Roots of Faith: Ancestry. She is currently the Lead Genealogist
for the Georgetown Memory Project, a nonprofit organization tracing the
descendants of some 272 enslaved persons sold by the Jesuits in Maryland and
sent to Louisiana plantations in 1838. She is an officer in Le Comité des
Archives de la Louisiane, and has been editor of their journal, Le Raconteur,
since 1984.
The seminar is free to current members of Le Comité des Archives de la Louisiane, Inc. Space
is limited and preregistration is required. To reserve your spot, e-mail riffelj@bellsouth.net.
New and renewal memberships will be accepted if received via PayPal prior to Saturday,
February 19, 2022, at 5 p.m. CST. Please use the PayPal button on the society's website,
www.lecomite.org and send $16. Click here for more information.
View PDFs of PowerPoint Slides and Sources
African American Genealogical Seminar Set for June 15, 2019
(5/25/19) Le Comité's African American Special Interest Group will hold its African American Genealogical Seminar on Saturday, June 15th, at the St. Gabriel Catholic Church Activity Center, 3625 Highway 75, St. Gabriel. Speakers and their topics are: Erin M. Greenwald, "After the Middle Passage: The American Slave Trade from 1808 to 1865"; Kenya Key Rachal, "Written History vs. DNA: When the Historical Record and Genetic Record Don't Align"; Emily "Lee" Gagnet Leumas, "Uncomfortable Entries: Documenting Enslaved People Through Catholic Sacramental Records"; Marie Marcel, "1868 St. Landry Parish Massacre"; and Kathryn Labat, "Felicité." Videos will be shown at lunch–"A Place Called Desire," presented by Leonard Smith, III, and "St. Gabriel Catholic Church," presented by Clifford Normand. Orders for bag lunches from St. Gabriel Grocery will be taken at registration time, or participants may bring their own lunch. The seminar is free to Members of Le Comité. Non-members may join at the door for $15 (Individual Membership) and $25 (Family Membership). For details, see flyer here.
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Annual Meetings
2024 Annual Meeting
Sunday, October 20, 2024, at 1 p.m.
In Person at the Embassy Suites Hotel, 4914 Constitution Avenue, Baton Rouge
and Via Zoom
Speakers are
Ryan Seidemann (in person) and Michael Willis (via Zoom) Click here for the flyer.
Click here for the Program.
Members may attend in person without preregistering. Non-members may join at the door for $15.
Selected society books will be deeply discounted (most at $5 each) this one day only. Available back
issues of Le Raconteur will be offered to Members free of charge. Supplies will be limited and there
will be no rain checks. A handful of used books and periodicals will also be for sale and free.
If attending via Zoom, please preregister by e-mailing Judy Riffel
riffelj@bellsouth.net
no later
than Friday, October 18, 2024.
Members who cannot attend in person are asked to print out the Ballot, vote, sign, and send an image
to riffelj@bellsouth.net or mail to P.O. Box 1547, Baton Rouge, LA, by October 25, 2024.
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Older Announcements
Website Updates
(8/20/18) The 2017 Index to Le Raconteur was added to the public section of the website. On the Members' Page, several out-of-print articles and an updated Accessions file have been posted. Images of three volumes the Confederate Pension Board Registers (1919-1951) have been posted to the Original Records section along with indexes to volumes 1 and 3. The Parish Research Guides have been updated. Thanks go to this year's sponsors: Joan Aleman, Teal Anderson, Mary David Baker, Ruth Bennett, Mary Cargill Blunt, Lori Cummings, Carolyn DeWolfe, Doris Falkenheiner, Alexandra Hainkel, Chris Hansen, Audrey Nabors Jackson, David Ledet, Robert LeJeune, Kenya Key Rachal, Renee Richard, Ann Riffel, Judy Riffel, Joyce Rivette, and Stella Tanoos. The following parishes are available for sponsorship: Bossier, Calcasieu, Caldwell, Grant, Jackson, Lincoln, Madison, Red River, Richland, St. Helena, Tensas, Union, Webster, and Winn.
Gilbert Funeral Home Records
(10/22/17)
A new category has been added to the Members' Page of the website – Original Records. The first set of images posted here are the Gilbert Funeral Home Records for 1905 to 1957. Gilbert Funeral Home was one of the earliest black funeral homes in Baton Rouge, established just after the Civil War. Its records were later acquired by Rhodes United Fidelity Funeral Home on Scenic Highway. In 2002, the funeral home allowed members of Le Comité to borrow the records and microfilm them at the Louisiana State Archives. A copy of the microfilm was deposited at the State Archives. Recently, the society sent a copy to a company to have the images digitized and those images are now posted here. Typed name indexes with links to the images are currently being prepared by members and will be posted as they become available.
Iberville Newspaper Digitization Project Completed
 (10/24/12) A project to digitize the oldest newspapers in the Iberville Parish Clerk of Court's office has been completed. These issues are available (9/16/21) in the Louisiana Digital Library | Louisiana Newspapers. Included are 13 Iberville titles, one West Baton Rouge title, and two Baton Rouge titles. The 139 issues date from 1831 to 1922 and comprise 372 pages. Working on this project were members Judy Riffel, Stella Carline Tanoos, Rita Lynn Erwin Jackson, and Ann DeVillier Riffel. Special thanks go to Iberville Clerk of Court J. Gerald "Bubbie" Dupont for allowing the newspapers to be digitized, and Gina Costello and Sheila Lee at the LSU Libraries. A similar project for St. Martin Parish is currently being explored.
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