Tag: African-American History

A History of Library Service to the African-American Community in Ouachita Parish

I have found another digitized thesis! This one was written in 1967 by Ms. Shirley Rush at Atlanta University. It details the history of the establishment of the Carver Branch library on a level I have never seen before! Many influential names in the African-American community are mentioned. https://radar.auctr.edu/islandora/object/cau.td:1967_rush_shirley_c

Junior Chamber of Commerce Bubble Blowing Contest – 1946

Our grandparents and great grandparents knew how to party! On September 28, 1946, the Junior Chamber of Commerce threw what they called a "Big Teen-Age Party" at the new teen recreation center over the old USO. The City Directory for 1945-46 says the USO was at 113-15 Catalpa Street. That is either the old Club … Continue reading Junior Chamber of Commerce Bubble Blowing Contest – 1946 →

A List of Monroe’s African-American Newspapers

I was browsing through the Genealogy Department's collection, when I found a book called "Bibliographic Checklist of African American Newspapers" by Barbara K. Henritze. It was published in 1995. It is basically a list of all known Black owned newspapers that had been published in the United States. There were a few from Monroe that … Continue reading A List of Monroe’s African-American Newspapers →

31 Nights of Halloween (2021 Edition/Night #1): A Jonestown Victim’s Grave is Identified

Every October, Ms. Antley posts nightly stories about local graves in North Louisiana. I look forward to her posts every October! They are well researched and interestingly written. This post is about a local victim of the Jonestown Massacre. I was the librarian she mentions in this post. It was very moving for me and an honor to have a hand in finding Miss Willis’ grave again.

For The Love of History

November 18, 1978 is one horrifying date in world history. It will forever be marred by the remembrance of Jim Jones and the demise of the residents of his “Jonestown” settlement in Guyana. His followers had joined him in hopes for a better future, instead they had no future. In that day, he convinced over 900 people to willingly drink poison (or in some cases—force feed it to their children). Days later, the U.S. and Guyanese government took over the brutal task of identifying the dead and returning them home.

Initially, the United States had felt it was best to dig a mass grave and bury them there but Guyana officials refused to entertain that idea. This tragedy may have taken place in their soil but they did not want the burials or bad energy left behind.

Jones had followers from all over the United States. In fact, he had…

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HISTORIC HASLEY:  Secrets From The Grave 

Last year, the Ouachita Parish Public Library’s Genealogy and Special Collections Department applied for and won a Rebirth Public Library grant* from the National Endowment for the Humanities.  Our project was to create a virtual cemetery tour of some of the burials in Hasley cemetery, West Monroe.  The fruits of that labor are now available to the public.  … Continue reading HISTORIC HASLEY:  Secrets From The Grave  →