The following is a guest post by Alexander Salopek, a collection development specialist in the Collection Services Division of the Law Library of Congress. He previously wrote posts on Fred Korematsu’s Drive for Justice, Fred Korematsu Winning Justice, What a Difference 17 Years Made, Frances Glessner Lee and the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death, and The Coroner’s Court, Westminster, London, among others.
On a recent trip to New Orleans, celebrating my brother’s birthday, I was surprised to a see a brutalist federal building–an architectural style I though only Washington, D.C. was blessed with. This building, located in the Lafayette Square Historic District of the Central Business District, contains both federal offices and a federal court, and opened in 1976. It is dedicated to Hale Boggs Sr., a Democratic representative for Louisiana‘s 2nd District who disappeared in an airplane over Alaska in 1972. Ann Hemmens wrote a blog post that will tell you more about Rep. Boggs and his family. The building’s architects included August Perez III who was also one of the founders of the Krewe of Bacchus. (They famously are the first Mardi Gras krewe parade to include celebrities, such as: Bob Hope, Hulk Hogan, Henry Winkler, and Charlton Heston.) Excitingly, you can also see a photograph of the Hale Boggs Federal Building and Courthouse, taken by Carol M. Highsmith – which is part of the Library’s collections.
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