The attendance at all of the meetings was quite satisfactory and indicates a live interest in the work of the Society by the members. MEMBERSHIP. Seventy-one applicants were elected to active membership in the Society-fifty-three gentlemen and eighteen ladies. Three were made honorary members. During the year there were twenty-one resignations and thirteen deaths from among the members. The net increase in membership for 1916 is thirty-seven active, two honorary, making a total of five hundred and eighty-eight active members and fifteen honorary members on the roster of the Society on January 1, 1917. It is with much sorrow that we record the death of the following active members of the Louisiana Historical Society during 1916. GUSTAV REINHOLD WESTFELDT BERNARD BRUENN JOHN C. LEVY DR. E. W. JONES C. W. G. RARESHIDE F. A. DANIELS GEORGE H. SMITH J. G. HARRISON JOHN N. SCHROEDEL E. A. CARRERE E. P. ANDREE LOUIS N. BRUEGGERHOFF EDGAR T. LECHE All the members in good standing receive the annual volume of the Society's Proceedings as soon as published. Those members who are in arrears receive the publication as soon as their dues are paid to the Treasurer. Volume Eight was published in April and Volume Nine is now being prepared for the printer by Miss Grace King and will shortly be issued. During the session of the Legislature of 1916 the following act was passed providing for the printing of the Annual Reports and a quarterly Journal of History of the Louisiana Historical Society: Senate Bill No. 239. ACT No. 274. By Mr. Leon R. Smith (by request). Regarding the printing of the reports and journals of the Louisiana Historical Society. Whereas, the Louisiana Historical Society which has existed for over three-quarters of a century, and under various acts of the General Assembly of Louisiana has been made the custodian of valuable and important documents relating to the history of the State of Louisiana while a French and Spanish province, said documents being at the disposal of the public and the State and having been used to advantage by the State in the great oyster litigation with the State of Mississippi, and in reference to lakes and water courses in the State and the publications and journals of said society being valuable to present and future historians, therefore, Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Louisiana, That the Secretary of State be, and he is hereby directed to cause to be printed and delivered to said society one thousand copies of its yearly report and one thousand copies each of any journal that said society may desire to publish not oftener than once in every three months, the cost of said printing to be charged and paid for as other public printing of the State. Section 2. Be it further enacted, etc., That should said society desire more than one thousand copies of each publication as herein provided for, it shall have the right to contract for same at its own expense with the public printer. The act was drafted by Mr. W. O. Hart and it was largely through his efforts that it was passed. At a meeting of the Executive Committee, Senator John Dymond and Robert Glenk were named a committee to take charge of the publication of the Quarterly Journal, and work on the same is now progressing. The first number will contain a report of the Diary of Galvez during the War in West Florida; Information concerning the controversy regarding the boundary lines of Province of Texas and the Province of Louisiana from Zacatecas, Mexico, and an installment of the earliest records of the Superior Council of the Cabildo, translated by Mr. Wm. Price and edited by Miss Grace King. LOANS AND GIFTS TO THE SOCIETY. The following gifts have been received and deposited with the Society's collections in the Louisiana State Museum in the Cabildo, during 1916: Dr. H. B. Seebold-Twelve pencil sketches of portraits, nineteen water-color sketches of views and buildings in old New Orleans. William Edenborn-Builders' stone of old St. Louis Hotel, 1838. O. M. Samuel-One Springfield rifle, found under floor of old St. Louis Hotel when being demolished in August, 1916. Mrs. F. P. Hardenstein, Washington, D. C.-Photograph of Jos. H. Jones, faithful servant of Jefferson Davis (through W. O. Hart). H. Duvalle-Old silk flag used by Continental Guards; handkerchief used by John L. Sullivan at prize fight at Richburg, Miss. U. S. Daughters 1776-1812-Jefferson Troop flag, presented by State of Illinois to the City of New Orleans, Jan. 8, 1916. Edward Curtis, San Francisco-Colonial silk flag, 13 stars, 13 stripes, with inscription, G. of L. Historical Society of East and West Baton Rouge-Copy of letter written by British officer after the Battle of New Orleans, 1815. Southern Yacht Club-Lloyd canoe which made the trip from Chancellor of French Consulate-Loaned French flag. Mrs. D. A. S. Vaught-Biographical sketches and important official letters of Governor Gayle of Alabama, 1792-1858. American Peace Centenary Committee, New York-The official Peace Medal. Mr. W. O. Hart-Two medals worn on the occasion of the visit of the Liberty Bell in New Orleans; delegate's badge, National Democratic Convention, St. Louis, 1916; admission tickets to National Democratic Convention; flag (U. S.) used at opening exercises of convention, and woman's suffrage flag displayed at same convention; three tickets National Republican Convention, Chicago, 1916; program Helen Keller lecture, New Orleans, March, 1916; centennial program, American Bible Society; Law Student's Helper, Vol. 23 p. and 7; "Industry and Education," by D. S. Hill; Tracts Nos. 92, 94, 95, Western Reserve Historical Society; Report of Board of Commissioners on Uniform Legislation in U. S., 1916; official program Republican National Convention, 1916; Library Classification of History, Library of Congress; Americanization Day program, July 4, 1916; New Orleans booklet issued by Southern Pacific Railroad; tornado views of Omaha, Neb., 1913; badges, Lafayette celebration, Sept. 6, 1916; Lafayette book, by National Life Association; Yearbook, Empire State Society. LIBRARY. To the Library of the Society have been added 112 bound volumes, pamphlets and parts of volumes, making a total of 975 books and 2700 pamphlets on the shelves. A list of publications received as gifts and exchanges follows: Gifts and Exchanges. American Antiquarian Society, Proceedings, 1915-1916. Bangor Historical Society, Proceedings of Fiftieth Anniversary. New Haven Colony Historical Society, Bells, J. S. Hotchkiss. Smithsonian Institution, Proceedings Ninth Annual Conference of Historical Societies, 1914. Georgia Historical Society, Annals, 1915; Letters of Benjamin Hawkins. Illinois State Historical Society, Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, 1915-16. Illinois State Historical Library, Publication 18; Transactions Illinois State Historical Society, 1912-1913. Indiana Historical Society, Indiana Magazine of History, Vols. 9-11; Publications, Vol. 5. Historical Department of Iowa, Annals of Iowa, 1916. Iowa State Historical Society, Iowa Journal of History and Politics, 1916; Bulletin of Information No. 7; Decisive Episodes in Western History, L. S. Weldon. Kansas State Historical Society, Nineteenth Biennial Report. Kentucky State Historical Society, Arbor Day at the Capital, H. T. Stanford; Bibliography of Dr. Thomas E. Pickett; Boone-Bryan History, by Dr. J. D. Bryan; Catalogue of Prehistoric Relics, W. J. Curtis; Dick Johnson's Indian School; Proceedings, Kentucky State Historical Society; Boone Day; Register, 20 volumes. Walter L. Fleming, Baton Rouge, Deportation and Colonization, 1914. John Dymond, Louisiana Planter, 1916. William O. Scroggs, Baton Rouge, Report on Archives of State of Louisiana. Maine Historical Society, Collections, vols. 17 to 22; Proceedings, 1914. Cambridge Historical Society, Publications, Vol. 8. Michigan Historical Commissioner, Bulletins 1-4; Third Annual Report; In Memory of J. McMillan. Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society, Historical Collections, Vols. 30 to 38; Index to Volumes 1 to 30; Report of Fortyfirst meeting. Thunder Bay Historical Society, Fifth and Sixth Annual Report. Minnesota Historical Society, Bulletin, Vol. 1; Collections, Vol. 15; Eighteenth Biennial Report. |