Science & Technology Collection

The Science and Technology collection consists primarily of tools and other objects used by people to shape the industrial, scientific, domestic, and recreational aspects of daily life. The collection contains approximately 6,000 artifacts that represent the history of Louisiana in the context of technological development from the 16th to the 21st century. The collection features a wide variety of artifacts ranging from manufacturing tools to children's toys. The categories shown above reflect the diversity of this expansive collection.

Science & Technology Collection
Garage Door with SPCA and Hurricane Katrina Rescue Markings, 2005. Aluminum. Gift of Cynthia and Brenda Anne Du Faur. Louisiana State Museum 2006.043.

Architecture

Acadian Weaving Shuttles, c. 1860. Wood. Gift of Friends of the Cabildo. Louisiana State Museums 1980.144.13-.14

Tools & Equipment to Manipulate Materials

Sword and scabbard. Manufactured by N.P. Ames Co., c. 1830. Gift of Miss Gracinta Cornay. Louisiana State Museum 11871.20 a-b.

Armament & Protection

Lighthouse Lens. Manufactured by Barbier et Fenetra of Paris, c. 1872. Louisiana State Museum 13013.

Tools & Equipment for Scientific Processes

This airplane is a flyable replica of the Wedell-Williams racer airplane Miss Patterson #44.  Pratt and Whitney 985 engine, Hamilton standard propeller, built by Jim Clevenger for the Wedell-Williams Memorial Foundation. One of many airplanes on display at the Wedell-Williams Aviation & Cypress Sawmill Museum in Patterson, LA.

Communication & Trade

Political Button, c. 1934. Louisiana State Museum 2007.140.

Personal Symbols

Gambling Chips, c. 1940. Louisiana State Museum 2007.010.1-.3.

Recreation & Entertainment 

Bowl. Neo-Indian Period. Gift of Dr. W. Lawrence Stevenson. Louisiana State Museum.

Ethnological Artifacts

Collections of the Louisiana State Museum
Madame John’s Legacy, William Woodward, ca. 1910, oil on canvas, Louisiana State Museum 12231

Visual Arts Collection

King Oliver's band playing on the sidewalk, Walter C. Allen, 1921. Gift of the New Orleans Jazz Club. Louisiana State Museum 1978.118(B).00665.

Jazz Collection

This woolen coat was worn by U.S. Army Lt. Col. William Sutherland Hamilton who saw action in the Great Lakes early in the War of 1812, and possibly in skirmishes near New Orleans in 1815. Hamilton later became a prominent planter and politician in West Feliciana Parish, serving in the Louisiana Legislature and running unsuccessfully for governor in 1830. (Louisiana State Museum)

Costumes & Textiles Collection

Airplane Exhibit at Wedell-Williams Aviation and Cypress Sawmill Museum

Science & Technology Collection

Little Miss Muffet mug, Newcomb Pottery, 1928. Louisiana State Museum 2007.104

Decorative Arts Collection

Louisiana Colonial Documents

Louisiana Historical Center