Ouachita Parish History Tidbits

Tag: African-American History

  • Photos of Mulberry Grove and Layton Castle

    I recently went back to the Layton Castle website. They have recently added photos of the building before and after it was turned into a castle. You can see them…

  • A Former Enslaved Person Passes Away

    I have a feeling I am going to be sharing quite a few things from the new Willis collection! One of the things that was found was a newspaper clipping…

  • St. James Methodist Church

  • Monroe Colored High School Class of 1929

    You can see Professor M.J. Foster in front in the black cap and gown. The school building was fairly new. One of the ladies in this class is Mrs. Ollie…

  • The Voter Purge of 1956

    Imagine getting a notice from the Voter’s Registration Office that there is something wrong with your voting registration and you need to come in to the office at the courthouse…

  • Women Who Lead the Way in Ouachita Parish

    I was asked to write an article about some of the women who made history in Ouachita Parish. I chose Louisa Lamy McGuire, Eliza Pinkston and Mary Goss. You can…

  • A Monroe Tuskegee Airman

    Did you know one of the Tuskegee airmen was from Monroe? You would if you had read an article in the Monroe Free Press back in February 2022! James Weldon…

  • The Ritz Theater

    The below photo shows a rare view of the old Ritz theater, which was the only African American theater in town during segregation. It was located at 911 DeSiard street,…

  • 1955 Les Martiniques Debutantes

    Debutante balls were still a thing well into the 20th century. I think Les Martiniques still has them today! Above are the beautiful debutantes of 1955, sixty eight years ago. According…

  • The First African-American That Tried to Integrate ULM

    The first African-Americans to integrate ULM were Sarah McCoy (Abakwue) and Bobby Saucier in 1964, and the first to graduate was Donald Wayne Smith in 1967, but did you know…