Francois Ludger Diard poetry notebook and Mobile scrapbook

Collection

Identifier: W-0025

Scope and Contents

This collection contains a notebook of Diard's poetry and a scrapbook of newspaper clippings and letters relating to his work. Diard annotated many of the poems collected in this 200-page notebook, noting when they were written and/or published. The majority of the notebook contains clippings of poetry published by local newspapers during World War I. Most of these poems are patriotic, praising the sacrifices of Alabama servicemen. Toward the back of the volume are several letters to Diard from the vice-president of the Mobile Register, Erwin Craighead, soliciting poems for an anthology of Mobile literati.

The Mobile scrapbook contains newspaper items clipped from theMobile Register, the Mobile Times, and other Mobile newspapers. The articles were published between 1849 and 1945, with most of the articles published between 1929 and 1945. While most of the items address city events and Mobile's literary community, other items include obituaries and state and national news briefs. Approximately one-quarter of the articles clipped are copies of Erwin Craighead's column "Dropped Stitches From Mobile's Past."

Dates

1917-1929

Creator

Diard, Francois Ludger (Author, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Due to the nature of certain archival formats, including digital and audio-visual materials, access to certain materials may require additional advance notice.

Biographical / Historical

Francois Ludger Diard, son of Charles August R. and Sarah Antonia Ludgere Diard, was born on 29 October 1883 in Mobile, Alabama. He was the author of many poems, including "We Have Kept the Faith," a response to "We Shall Not Sleep, Tho Poppies Grow in Flanders Fields" written by Lieutenant Colonel Dr. John McRae of Canada while the second battle of Ypres, Belgium, was in progress. He also wrote The Tree: Being the Strange Case of Charles R. S. Boyington about the 1835 Mobile murder of Nathaniel Frost by Charles Boyington. Diard died in Mobile on 25 March 1955.

Extent

0.45 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Overview

Notebook of this Mobile, Alabama, native's poetry and a scrapbook of newspaper clippings and letters relating to his work.

Physical Location

The A. S. Williams III Americana Collection, Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library, The University of Alabama

Provenance

Gift of A. S. Williams III, 2010

Related Materials

Daniel Geary scrapbook of the history of the Mobile Volunteer Fire Companies, The A. S. Williams III Americana Collection, University Division of Special Collections, The University of Alabama.

Inside the front cover of Francois Diard's Mobile scrapbook is a handwritten receipt for three exemption waiver notes from Daniel Geary, dated 21 June 1881. In the 1880 United States Census in Mobile, Sarah L. Diard, her husband (Charles), and children, are listed as living "with her father" under Daniel Geary's entry.

Tree: Being the Strange Case of Charles R. S. Boyington, F326.B69 D53/F326.B68 D4, The A. S. Williams III Americana Collection, University Division of Special Collections, The University of Alabama.

Tree: Being the Strange Case of Charles R. S. Boyington, F326.B68 D4, Alabama Collection, W. S. Hoole Special Collections Library, University Division of Special Collections, The University of Alabama.

Tree: Being the Strange Case of Charles R. S. Boyington, F326.B68 D4, Rucker Agee Collection, W. S. Hoole Special Collections Library, University Division of Special Collections, The University of Alabama.

Tree: Being the Strange Case of Charles R. S. Boyington, F326.B68 D4, Wade Hall Collection, W. S. Hoole Special Collections Library, University Division of Special Collections, The University of Alabama.