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PRESERVATION

•  Instrumental in saving the historic Cabildo from destruction in the 1890’s. The Dames’ work was recognized by installation of a bronze plaque in 1903.
• Promoted a legislative act that purchased the land on which to found Chalmette National Battlefield and transferred it to the U.S. Park Service.
• Saved the 1907 Alexandria City Library from demolition, which now houses the Alexandria Historical and Genealogical Library and Louisiana History Museum.
• Instrumental in getting Baton Rouge’s Old State Capital and Arsenal Buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
• Advocated with state legislators for the restoration of Madame John’s Legacy.
• Preserved the ruins of the pre-1812 Versailles Plantation through installation of a fence. Served as custodian of its Avenue of Live Oaks.
• Installed in 1938 a historical marker commemorating El Camino Real, the Spanish Colonial “Royal Road” on Highway 6 near Natchitoches.
• In association with the Associations of the Vieux Carré and others, helped save the Upper Pontalba from purchase by the private sector.
• Acquired and renovated our historic Headquarters building in New Orleans’ Garden District – Louisiana House – the one time residence of 19th century writer Kate Chopin.
• Assumed ownership and renovated the building located at 525 Spring Street in downtown Shreveport, an 1865 National Register property with impressive cast iron and brick architecture.
• Supports St. Francisville’s Oakley Plantation, the 1806 home where John James Audubon painted much of Birds of America in 1854. The Baton Rouge Town Committee furnished the library and donated a new period armoire.
• Supports the 1831 Herman-Grima House in New Orleans’ French Quarter, a National Register property. Dames furnished and decorated the parlor and center hall.
• Plays an instrumental role in Kent House, an 18th century example of French-Spanish Colonial architecture. The Alexandria Town Committee recently donated an updated sign.
• Served as custodian of the Isaiah Garrett Law Office building in Monroe, the first structure listed on the National Register in Ouachita Parish.
• Launched the Headquarters Antique and Decorative Arts project to ensure that our valuable collection of antique furniture, artwork, decorative accessories, treasured memorabilia, and silver, china, and crystal, is catalogued, restored if necessary, and adequately maintained.

HISTORICAL ACTIVITIES

• Published Louisiana Portraits in 1975, a book featuring 400 paintings either located in Louisiana, having a Louisianian as the subject, or painted in the state before 1869.
• Researched and published First Ladies of Louisiana (2000), a book presenting biographical sketches of each of the wives of our state’s governors.
• Established the Spring Street Museum in Shreveport in 1976.
• Developed Historical Profile Shreveport 1850, written by two Dames and sold in support of the Spring Street Museum.
• Dames partnered with the Heritage Society to reopen the Isiah Garrett Law Office Museum, which includes some of Garrett’s original legal documents and an outstanding costume collection.
• Contributed beautifully framed copies of the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights to the State on the occasion of the Louisiana Bicentennial in 1975.
• Compiled a Louisiana Oral History tape in 1985, which was presented at a workshop on historical activities during the Region III conference.
• Sponsored the Heirloom Exhibit, a showing of fine rugs, period furniture, portraits, crystal, and china in a Garden District home designed by James Gallier.
• Sponsored a Parade of Fashion featuring clothing of the pre-revolutionary period.
• Compiled a collection of slides of old New Orleans homes, projected on a screen via a “Magic Lantern”.
• Compiled a transcript of Baptismal, Marriage and Death Records of Christ Episcopal Cathedral, New Orleans, 1849-1900, in the 1940s.
• Published An Index of Cemetery and Church Records in Louisiana.
• The National Committee’s Pioneer Women (1980), included biographical sketches of 12 Louisiana women which the state society bound and sent to local libraries.
• Created Louisiana, A Pictorial History 1539-1850, a video using the glass lantern slides made during the Depression.
• Donated funds over an 8 year period to the History Department of Tulane University to microfilm rare Colonial publications useful for research.
• Designed and hosted a tour of historic Catholic churches in New Orleans.
• In conjunction with a national project, made records of Court House surveys of Louisiana parishes.
• Compiled a history of the New Orleans Custom House.
• Published To a King’s Taste in 1962, a cookbook that combined the subjects of Louisiana Food and Mardi Gras celebrations.
• Published Dames Delight, a cookbook featuring an assortment of recipes submitted by Louisiana Dames.6

EDUCATION

• Launched the newsletter Dames Doings in 1985, whose format was adopted by the national society as Dames Dispatch.
• Created Louisiana Legacy in 1996, a video that describes the State historic properties and the role of the Dames in preserving them.
• Developed the Climb Your Family Tree program, under which over 20,000 Louisiana Girl Scouts earned merit badges in the 1980s and 1990s.
• Initiated the Street Marker Project in 1954, designed to indicate the boundaries of New Orleans as it grew, and the original plantations incorporated. The joint venture with the City was unfortunately abandoned after 6 years due to red tape.
• Assisted the Society of Colonial Wars in organizing a New Orleans society by allowing access to genealogical records in our files.

PATRIOTIC SERVICE

• During World Wars I and II, collected over 3,000 blankets for use in case of air raids; assisted in promoting the sale of War Bonds; collected hundreds of books for recreation centers; and raised money toward purchase of a bomber plane and equipping a Navy ship operating room.
• During the Vietnam War, supplied 2,776 ditty bags for patients aboard the Hospital Ships Sanctuary and Repose, filled with $2,126 in cash donations for patient use.
• Sent letters and packages to soldiers serving in Desert Storm and Desert Shield.
• Hosted various programs for new United States citizens, and for foreign students at Tulane University.