Albert Weiblen Marble and Granite Company Office Records

Collection

Identifier: SEAA-039

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection of records from the Albert Weiblen Marble and Granite Company includes project drawings and contracts for tombs and monuments, professional correspondence, design scrapbooks, tomb decoration samples, and project models.

Dates

1905–1973

Creator

Albert Weiblen Marble and Granite Company (New Orleans, La.) (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

This collection is the physical property of Tulane University Special Collections. Copyright belongs to the creators or their legal heirs and assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or owner’s heir for permission to publish where Tulane University Special Collections does not hold the copyright. For further information, please contact Research Services at specialcollections@tulane.edu.

Biographical / Historical

Albert Weiblen (1857-1957), born in Wurttemberg, Germany, came to New Orleans in 1885. He worked as a stone carver for tomb builders Kursheedt and Bienvenu, eventually purchasing the company from them in 1887. He changed the name of the company to the Albert Weiblen Marble and Granite Company, which became one of the most prolific tomb and memorial builders in New Orleans and the southern United States. The company also designed many commemorative monuments and tombs in New Orleans, including many of the late nineteenth century Gilded Age tombs of Metairie Cemetery. Albert Weiblen died in 1957, but his company continued under the direction of his daughter-in-law, Norma Merritt Weiblen until 1969 when the company was sold to Stewart Enterprises.

Extent

255.05 Linear Feet (41 folders, 92 boxes, 6 volumes, 32 photographic folders)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into four series: Series 1: Project Drawings; Series 2: Project Records and Material Samples; Series 3: Oversize Contract Records, Design Scrapbooks, Reliefs, and Models; Series 4: Project and Property Records.

Custodial History

Records were generated and preserved by the Weiblen Company over the course of its existence until it was bought by Stewart Enterprises, Inc. in 1969. Many records were discarded, but a good deal of material was saved by long time Weiblen employees, Henri Gandolfo and Ralph Phillippi. Stewart Enterprises donated the saved records to Special Collections of Tulane Library in the 1970s, and eventually all was transferred to SEAA in 1980. Some items were given by Henri Gandolfo and Ralph Phillippi in the 1980s.