2023 Annual Meeting and Harnett T. Kane Award

Nathan Chapman, Sand Marmillion, and René Fransen

Louisiana Landmarks Society held its Annual Meeting on June 6, 2023. At this meeting, we elected our new board members and awarded the 2023 Harnett T. Kane Award.

Established by Harnett Kane (1910-1994), Louisiana Landmarks Society’s founding member and President, this prestigious award salutes those who have demonstrated lifetime contributions to preservation. We were proud to present the Harnett T. Kane Award to Sand and Norman Marmillion (1946-2022).

The award was presented to Sand Marmillion by Nathan Chapman, who won this award in 2017. In his opening remarks, he notes “Furniture conservator, David Broussard, said, “Just rescuing Laura {Plantation} and Columbia {Plantation} would have been enough,” to merit this award, but Norman and Sand did so much more. They elevated the tourism of the River Road. They changed our perceptions of what is possible when operating a historic house museum. They were storytellers who told it like it was, in terms of our history. That’s a lifetime’s work, what they did.”

Nathan notes Norman and Sand’s background with Norman’s being in not only history but film, video, and puppeteering and Sand’s being in cultural anthropology and theater design. The couple took on the c. 1805 Laura Plantation in 1991 and established Laura Plantation Co. soon after. This massive undertaking proved to be successful as Laura Plantation is now known for its beautiful restoration as a house museum and education due to Norman and Sand’s dedication to the historical truth and passion for challenging the way history is taught.

Norman and Sand Marmillion are both pioneers of the interpretation of accurate Creole history. Nathan Chapman stated on the couple’s research and education methods, “The word of mouth combined with media interviews on this new type of historic house museum began to put Laura on the map, but before you think that Sand and Norman were all show biz, they were deeply committed to historical research. In my conversation with preservation architect Gene Cizek, he stressed to me — multiple times — their commitment to research: investing time, energy, and money.”

2023 Harnett T. Kane Winner, Sand Marmillion (center) with previous Award Winners and LLS members

(left to right: Ann Masson (2018 Winner); John Koerferl (2019 Winner); Sandra Stokes (2022 Winner); Sand Marmillion (2023 Winner); David L. Campbell (2016 Winner); Dr. Patricia O’Brien (2023 Winner); Jim Logan (2015 Winner); Nathan Chapman (2017 Winner); Gene Cizek (1991 Winner); Michael Duplantier (2014 Winner)

Board President René Fransen gives LLS members a recap of the past year

Preceding the Harnett T. Kane Award presentation, Louisiana Landmarks Society members had the opportunity to elect the 2023-2024 Board Members.

Officers Elected: President — René Fransen; First Vice President — Michael Mancuso; Second Vice President — Anthony Marino; Treasurer — Harry Barkerding; Assistant Treasurer — Susan Couvillon; Corresponding Secretary — Theodore Pierre, Jr.; Recording Secretary — Keith Hardie

Continuing Board Members: William Barry, Jr.; John Bernard; Edward Deano; Margot Hammond; Susan Johnson; Lloyd Shields; Peter Wolf

New Board Members: Susan Couvillon; Ouida Laudumiey; Nick Matulich; Michael Reid; Louise Saenz