Ouachita Parish History Tidbits

Tag: African-American History

  • The Cantillon Settlers

    Tuesday’s post had me thinking about the Cantillon settlement, established over three hundred years ago. Who were these people? If you remember my post a while ago on it, I…

  • Colorful Characters of Fort Miro Program

    I just wanted to let everyone know that on this Thursday the 17th at 5:30 pm at the Main Branch of Ouachita Parish Public Library, I and three of my…

  • The Davis Market and the Central Cafe

    What you are looking at is an ad for two businesses, owned by a very forward thinking young man named T.J. Davis. Mr. Davis was only 23 years old when…

  • I Finally Have Proof!

    I have always heard that Louis Armstrong played at the Savoy in the Miller Roy building. I never found concrete proof of that. I found ads for him playing at…

  • Elderly Former Enslaved Man Passes Away

    Any mention of an enslaved person gets my attention, since so few of their stories remain. On the front page of the Southern Broadcast, Saturday, January 9, 1937, was the…

  • Monroe Colored High School Annex – 1936

    Here is another clipping from 1936. I have never seen this before!

  • Fats Waller at the Savoy – 1936

    I have been able to get my hands on a rare collection of Monroe African American newspapers from the mid 1930s. My jaw is continually on the ground from what…

  • The Monroe Monarchs

    Did you know Monroe hosted the 1932 Negro League World Series championship game? The great Satchel Paige and several other Hall of Famers played in those games right here in…

  • More Information on George Byron Hamlet

    I got curious in January and decided to search for Mayor Hamlet’s name on Google. I found this great little website that talks about what happened to George after he…

  • Critters’ Creek

    Early in 1979, Mr. Melvin Ward entered into an agreement with the city of Monroe to build a water park in Chennault Park. Construction began that spring, with a planned…