Ouachita Parish History Tidbits

Author: Lora Diane Peppers

  • Stan Shlosman Reveille Seven Collection

    In 1934, LSU Journalism student Stanley “Stan” Shlosman and six other students, worked at the LSU student newspaper “The Reveille”. Senator Huey Long was in power, and the Reveille published…

  • About to go on Facebook Live.

    Posting a little early today to say that in 30 minutes I will be going live on the Ouachita Parish Public Library Facebook page. I will be presenting a short…

  • A Historical Author With Deep Roots in Monroe

    Sylvester Q. Breard, “Syl” to his friends, was a regular patron of the library. Being descended from one of Monroe’s earliest families, he had a deep love of local history.…

  • A Selman Field Navigator’s Letters Home

    The website is called, “The Yap Island Missing Air Crew Project”. In 1943, a young man from the New York, NY named Martin B. Unger was sent for training at…

  • Hide the Naughty Stuff From Mom! A Hilarious Monroe Letter.

    This little one paged, water-damaged letter was written in the Garden District back in 1954 (Scroll to the middle of the page). https://beinecke.library.yale.edu/article/gerrit-lansing-papers It is from a collection of the…

  • Legal Executions in Monroe

    All of these were hangings and all were given a trial and found guilty. Whether they were or were not guilty for the crimes they paid is left to history.…

  • Photos of the 1958 Flood

    Among the items my boss continues to digitize is this little gem: https://www.louisianadigitallibrary.org/islandora/object/oplib-orv%3A92 . It is a booklet with photos of South Grand street during the 1958 flood. They are…

  • Mardi Gras in Monroe

    Today is the official start of the Mardi Gras season. While Mardi Gras in Monroe will look very different from past years, that doesn’t mean we can’t have our share…

  • Concerts at Neville Auditorium.

    I am amazed at the national level talent that came through Monroe in the middle of the last century. I just browsed around searching instances where Neville Auditorium was mentioned…

  • A Stunt at the Natatorium

    Yep. Stunts like the above were all the rage in the 20’s. This particular one happened in 1928. His second attempt was more successful. He exceeded his old record of…