Louisiana Christian University Library opens new archives room
The Richard W. Norton Memorial Library has a new archives room dedicated to the history of the school and Central Louisiana.
From Louisiana College’s founding charter documents dating back to 1906, artifacts in the archives cover all the eras in the 120-year life of the institution.
Some of the treasures include a photograph of the school’s first football team from 1907, diplomas from the early days of Louisiana College and one from Keachie Female College from 1882—Keachie was one of the two schools that merged to form Louisiana College in 1906—and old editions of the newspaper The Wildcat going back to 1925.
“I think the founders knew their place in history,” said Samantha Ray, the cataloging, reference, special collections and archives coordinator.
Elizabeth Parish, director of the library, said many of the historical documents have been stored in boxes in the library and Alumni House for years, without the time or the staff to go through them all and display them for the public. With Ray’s addition to the library team, she said they took on the task of creating a dedicated space for the archival collection this summer.
“She [Parish] asked me, ‘Do you think you can do this?’ and I was like, ‘Hold my earrings!”
Ray has spearheaded the opening of the LCU archives room. Library staff and student workers diligently tackled the project over the summer to have it ready for fall.
Ray said the project has been a learning process for her. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in library science, which has taught her a lot about archival preservation.
“We wanted to make sure it was ready for Homecoming,” she said. “It’s a place to come and look at the history that their families may have experienced here, or for our alums, what they experienced. For our students, they can visit the history.”
One of the most treasured items in the room, Ray said, is the two volumes of collected papers of the third president of Louisiana College, Dr. Claybrook Cottingham.
“We went through the correspondence sent and received, and organized it by date, so it now reads like a ‘day in the life of the president,” Ray said.
In addition to hundreds of antiquarian books, including a 1913 Louisiana College yearbook and some tiny books, are items like a beanie that freshmen used to wear, a basketball donated by the 1976 Homecoming Queen Becky Brown, and a silver spoon from Keachie College President Dr. G.W. Thigpen. It was a tradition at that time to gift college presidents silver spoons.
LCU also has the bell and a school desk from Mount Lebanon College, founded in 1852, which, alongside Keachie, combined in 1906 to form Louisiana College.
The archives room is open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visitors may check in at Room 212 or at the circulation desk in the library. Reservations may be made for classes to visit.
A ribbon-cutting and video walkthrough for the archives room are in the works for the spring.
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Media Release | September 28, 2026 | Pineville, Louisiana
Contact: Dr. Elizabeth B. Clarke, Director of University Communications | Elizabeth.clarke@lcuniversity.edu