Queer Places:
Tulane University, 7001 Freret St, New Orleans, LA 70188
Machpelah Cemetery, 5112 Macphelah Rd, Pascagoula, MS 39581, United States
Dr. Albert Bledsoe Dinwiddie (April 3, 1871 - November 21, 1935) was born on April 3, 1871, in Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky, to Rev. William W.
Dinwiddie and Emily Albertine Bledsoe. He pursued an academic path, serving as a Professor of Mathematics from 1906 to 1918 before holding the position
of President of Tulane University from 1918 until his passing. In 1897, he married Caroline Arthur "Carrie" Summey in Tennessee, and together they raised
a family that included at least three sons and three daughters, namely Emily, E. Worth, Albert Jr., William, and additional children noted in family
registries like George and Mary. Throughout his life, Dr. Dinwiddie's career and personal background as a Presbyterian and university leader placed him
within prominent educational and cultural circles, notably connected to the historical networks of New Orleans figures, artists, and academics of his
era. He spent his final period living in the United States and briefly in West Point, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, in 1935, before passing away on
November 21, 1935, in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was subsequently laid to rest at Machpelah Cemetery in Pascagoula, Jackson County, Mississippi.
In 1926 Pelican Bookshop Press, New Orleans, published "William Spratling and William Faulkner, Sherwood Anderson and Other Famous Creoles: A Gallery of Contemporary New Orleans",
issued in 250 copies. The “Famous Creoles” (with ages in 1926) were
- Conrad Albrizio, 27, New York-born, serious artist, Spratling’s neighbor, Arts and Crafts Club stalwart
- Sherwood Anderson, 50, “Lion of the Latin Quarter,” eminence gris, generous to respectful younger writers (LGBTQ friendly)
- Marc Antony and Lucille Godchaux Antony, both 28, Love-match between heiress and lower-middle-class boy, local artists
- Hamilton “Ham” Basso, 22, Star-struck recent Tulane grad, aspiring writer, good dancer (LGBTQ friendly)
- Charles “Uncle Charlie” Bein, 35, Director of Arts and Crafts Club’s art school; lived with mother, sister, and aunt (GAY)
- Frans Blom, 33, Danish archeologist of Maya, Tulane professor, colorful resident of Quarter
- Roark Bradford, 30, Newspaperman, jokester, hit pay dirt with Negro dialect stories
- Nathaniel Cortlandt Curtis, 45, Tulane architecture professor, preservationist, recorded old buildings
- Albert Bledsoe Dinwiddie, 55, President of Tulane, Presbyterian
- Marian Draper, 20, Ziegfeld Follies alum, Tulane cheerleader, prize-winning architecture student
- Caroline “Carrie” Wogan Durieux, 30, Genuine Creole, talented artist living in Cuba and Mexico, painted by Rivera
- William “Bill” Faulkner, 29, Needs no introduction, but wrote the one to Famous Creoles (LGBTQ friendly)
- Flo Field, 50, French Quarter guide, ex-journalist, sometime playwright, single mother
- Louis Andrews Fischer, 25, Gender-bending Mardi Gras designer, named for her father (LGBTQ friendly)
- Meigs O. Frost, 44, Reporter’s reporter; lived in Quarter; covered crime, revolutions, and arts
- Samuel Louis “Sam” Gilmore, 27, Greenery-yallery poet and playwright, from prominent family (GAY)
- Moise Goldstein, 44, Versatile and successful architect, preservationist, active in Arts and Crafts Club
- Weeks Hall, 32, Master of and slave to Shadows-on-the-Teche plantation, painter, deeply strange (GAY)
- Ronald Hargrave, 44, Painter from Illinois formerly active in Quarter art scene, relocated to Majorca
- R. Emmet Kennedy, 49, Working-class Irish boy, collected and performed Negro songs and stories
- Grace King, 74, Grande dame of local color literature and no-fault history, salonnière
- Alberta Kinsey, 51, Quaker spinster, Quarter pioneer, indefatigable painter of courtyards
- Richard R. Kirk, 49, Tulane English professor and poet, loyal Michigan Wolverine alumnus
- Oliver La Farge, 25, New England Brahmin, Tulane anthropologist and fiction-writer, liked a party
- Harold Levy, 32, Musician who ran family’s box factory, knew everybody, turned up everywhere
- Lillian Friend Marcus, 35, Young widow from wealthy family, angel and manager of Double Dealer (LGBTQ friendly)
- John “Jack” McClure, 33, Poet, newspaper columnist and reviewer, Double Dealer editor, bookshop owner
- Virginia Parker Nagle, 29, Promising artist, governor’s niece, Arts and Crafts Club teacher
- Louise Jonas “Mother” Nixon, 70, A founder of Le Petit Theatre and its president-for-life, well-connected widow
- William C. “Cicero” Odiorne, 45, Louche photographer, Famous Creoles’ Paris contact (GAY)
- Frederick “Freddie” Oechsner, 24, Recent Tulane graduate, ambitious cub reporter, amateur actor
- Genevieve “Jenny” Pitot, 25, Old-family Creole, classical pianist living in New York, party girl
- Lyle Saxon, 35, Journalist, raconteur, bon vivant, host, preservationist, bachelor (GAY)
- Helen Pitkin Schertz, 56, Clubwoman, civic activist, French Quarter guide, writer, harpist
- Natalie Scott, 36, Journalist, equestrian, real-estate investor, Junior Leaguer, social organizer (LGBTQ friendly)
- William “Bill” Spratling, 25, Famous Creoles illustrator, Tulane teacher, lynchpin of Quarter social life (GAY)
- Keith Temple, 27, Australian editorial cartoonist, artist, sometimes pretended to be a bishop
- Fanny Craig Ventadour, 29, Painter, Arts and Crafts Club regular, lately married and living in France
- Elizebeth Werlein, 39, Suffragette with colorful past, crusading preservationist, businessman’s widow
- Joseph Woodson “Pops” Whitesell, 50, Photographic jack-of-all-trades, French Quarter eccentric, inventor (GAY)
- Daniel “Dan” Whitney, 32, Arts and Crafts Club teacher, married (two) students, beauty pageant judge
- Ellsworth Woodward, 65, Artistic elder statesman, old-fashioned founder of Newcomb art department
References:
Other references:
- Dictionary of Louisiana Biography (Vol. 1) – Published by the Louisiana Historical Association, featuring a dedicated biographical entry on Albert Bledsoe Dinwiddie detailing his academic career, birth in Lexington, and tenure as university president.
- Tulane University Archives, Howard-Tilton Memorial Library – Holds institutional records, presidential papers, correspondence, and administrative documents spanning his years as Professor of Mathematics (1906–1918) and President of Tulane University (1918–1935).
- Ducros Family Papers, Manuscript Division, Howard-Tilton Library (Tulane University) – Contains interconnected regional and academic correspondence referencing figures of the era.
- Dinwiddie Hall Records – Documentation surrounding the naming and dedication of Dinwiddie Hall (formerly the Science Building/Science Annex) at Tulane University, renamed in his honor in 1936.
- The New Orleans Times-Picayune – Contemporary newspaper archives featuring articles, editorials, and expert commentary by Dinwiddie—including historical coverage of his commentary on astronomy and Halley's Comet in 1910, as well as his obituary and tributes following his passing in November 1935.
- The Tulane Hullabaloo – Student newspaper archives documenting his presidency, campus policies, and historical retrospectives on his administration.
- United States Federal Census Records (1880–1930) – Documenting his early life in Lexington, Kentucky, through his academic career in Tennessee and Louisiana.
- Machpelah Cemetery Records (Pascagoula, Mississippi) – Burial and marker registries for Albert Bledsoe Dinwiddie and members of the Dinwiddie/Summey family.
- Dinwiddie Family Records – Published genealogical compilations documenting the lineage of Rev. William W. Dinwiddie and Emily Albertine Bledsoe.
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