Richard Joel Russell was a geologist and geographer. He studied the river deltas of America (chiefly the Mississippi River), Spain, France, and Turkey. He also studied the coastal morphology of the Gulf of Mexico; stream patterns; arid areas of the United States; and he worked on a climatic map of California. He came to Louisiana State University in 1928, where he created the Department of Geography, and he remained there all his academic life.

Native American Images note : 180 black and white photographs, maps, diagrams, and sketches of pre-historic Archaic, Tchefuncte, Troysville-Coles, Taensa, Plaquemine, and Caddo Indian sites in parishes throughout Louisiana taken from 1934-1950. Images accompany reports by Russell, with contributions from fellow Louisiana State University colleagues Henry V. Howe and Fred Kniffen, of field investigations of shorelines in legal dispute by various corporations. Site locations include: Chicot Pass, Bayous Perot, Sale, Freshwater, and Choctaw, Grand Lake, and Red River. Geographical and geological in nature, the photographs include shell middens, pottery shards, and mounds of early Native American settlements.

Maps note: There are approximately 150 maps in this collection. They are in various notebooks which give a general indication of the area and sometimes a date. The maps generally are quite small and were sketched on the site of the topographical or geological study then underway. (Realms of Gold, 40).

Physical description

Ca. 5000 items, 6 linear feet.

Provenance

Presented by Richard Joel and accessioned, 1967 (1967 2626ms). See in-house shelf list for additional accession numbers and dates.

Processing information

Inventory not complete.

• Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College. --
• United States. -- Office of Naval Research.

• Diagrams.
• Diaries.
• Gelatin silver prints
• Lectures.
• Maps.
• Notebooks.
• Sketches.

• Louisiana -- Description and travel.
• Morocco -- Description and travel.
• Rhône River Delta (France)
• Turkey -- Description and travel.

• Howe, Henry V. (Henry Van Wagenen)
• Jones, Wellington Downing
• Kniffen, Fred Bowerman
• Lawson, Andrew C. (Andrew Cowper), 1861-1952
• Louderback, George D. (George Davis), 1874-1957
• Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis), 1880-1956
• Morgan, James P. (James Plummer)
• Penck, Albrecht, 1858-1945
• Price, W. Armstrong (William Armstrong)
• Roy, Chalmer John
• Russell, Richard Joel, 1895-1971
• Sauer, Carl Ortwin, 1889-1975
• Sternberg, Hilgard O'Reilly
• Thornthwaite, C. W. (Charles Warren), 1899-1963

• Caddo Indians
• Geography.
• Geology.
• Indians of North America -- Louisiana -- Antiquities
• Indians of North America -- Louisiana -- Caddo Parish -- Antiquities
• Indians of North America -- Louisiana -- Cameron Parish -- Antiquities
• Indians of North America -- Louisiana -- Iberia Parish -- Antiquities
• Indians of North America -- Louisiana -- LaSalle Parish -- Antiquities
• Indians of North America -- Louisiana -- Lafourche Parish -- Antiquities
• Indians of North America -- Louisiana -- Saint Mary Parish -- Antiquities
• Indians of North America -- Louisiana -- Tensas Parish -- Antiquities
• Indians of North America -- Louisiana -- Vermilion Parish -- Antiquities
• Naval research -- United States.
• Physical geography -- Rhône River Valley (Switzerland and France)
• Prehistoric peoples -- Louisiana
• Public lands -- Louisiana.
• Taensa Indians