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Barbara McMahon, Pat Cromiller, and Joan Lennox, 1990
Joan Lennox
Docent, Hired 1978
In the beginning, the staff was very small, so we were able to work on a lot of different projects. It made things very interesting. This was when there were only about 30 employees. I worked on projects for the newsletter, before it was called the Quarterly, and for a couple of books that we published. I discovered that I like organizing things, those types of projects. I once helped the curatorial department by examining old photographs for damage, looking for any tiny mistake here or there. That was not my favorite! But there are so many programs here now. I think that’s a tremendous accomplishment. If you’re a member, there’s something to do every month. And the people I have worked with here have all been wonderful. It has been a remarkable 38 years.
Priscilla Lawrence
Executive Director, Hired 1980
Before I joined the staff at The Collection, I was studying art history in the master’s program at Tulane University. The College Art Association met in New Orleans, and students in our class were asked to assist with sessions. I was assigned to run the slide projector for a presentation by Ann Masson on New Orleans 19th-century architect J. N. B. de Pouillv. Ann’s paper focused on de Pouilly’s massive sketchbook at The Historic New Orleans Collection (1979.93). As 1 heard the talk and thought about the beautiful compilation of early drawings by the designer of St. Louis Cathedral and of many of the monumental tombs in the cemeteries, I thought, “The Historic New Orleans Collection must be an amazing place to work!”
Little did I know that I would get a call from my advisor, Jessie Poesch, several months later about a job opening there, for assistant registrar. Not only did I get the job but, eventually, I was tasked with writing accession numbers on every page of de Pouilly’s
sketchbook and recording a title and date for each. The hands-on aspect of registering every new object in the collection is fascinating. Several years later I became the head registrar, a position that not only requires examining and recording new collections but also involves oversight of packing and shipping items on loan to other institutions or documenting loan collections that come in. It was a wonderful position and a great lesson in why preserving history’s primary evidence is so important. In addition, Ann Masson has been a dear friend and colleague over these many years—36.
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Rampart Street facade, from de Pouilly sketchbook no. 3
1840; ink, wash, and watercolor by Jacques Nicolas Bussiere de Pouilly 1979.93.109 Hi
Priscilla O'Reilly, 1985
Spring 2016	11