Yearbooks Online at the Internet Archives

Another thing I have noticed is that several Ouachita Parish High School Yearbooks have been digitized here, mainly from the 1960's - 1980's. You will find Ouachita, River Oaks, Carroll, St. Frederick, West Monroe and Neville. There is even one from St. Matthew! Here is a link to Neville's yearbooks: https://archive.org/search?query=creator%3A%22Neville+High+School%22 Just search the name … Continue reading Yearbooks Online at the Internet Archives

A Proposed New Building For the Monroe Academy

Wouldn't this have been a gorgeous building? This was published in the Monroe News Star back in 1913. Professor Foster and the trustees of the Monroe Academy were looking to expand the school space and the following conceptual drawing was made. It never happened to my knowledge. Ten years later, Monroe Colored High School would … Continue reading A Proposed New Building For the Monroe Academy

Students and Faculty of the North Louisiana Industrial Institute

The bulletin for Leland University I found these lists of students in, can be seen on the Internet Archives here : https://archive.org/details/bulletin189798191011lela/page/n121/mode/2up?q=%22Monroe%2C+LA%22 . I also found them digitized on the Hathi Trust page and on the Worldcat database. I transcribed from each brochure the list of students, which added up to around 2,300 names! What … Continue reading Students and Faculty of the North Louisiana Industrial Institute

Monroe’s Ties to a Lost Black University

I am just recently hearing about a private school for African-Americans that was here in the 1890's and the early 1900's. To call out my own biases, I thought that Wisner Colored High School was the only school for African Americans during this time period. I knew of at least one small private school, but … Continue reading Monroe’s Ties to a Lost Black University

Lincoln School

This picture is amazing! https://www.louisianadigitallibrary.org/islandora/object/oplib-bsc%3A44 It shows the faculty and staff of Lincoln School, which was an African American school during segregation. In 1962 or so, the Elm Street Elementary School was renamed Lincoln Elementary and the old Lincoln School became Carroll Jr. High. I am not sure if this Lincoln Elementary or Carroll Jr. … Continue reading Lincoln School

George Riser – South Monroe Jr. High School’s first principal

George Riser was a beloved educator in the local school system for many years. His family has donated some of his things to our collection. This photo was found among them: https://www.louisianadigitallibrary.org/islandora/object/oplib-pho%3A738 . South Monroe Jr. High became Thomas Jefferson Jr. High and is now known as Jefferson Elementary.

Ouachita Parish Schools and the People They Are Named For.

Do you read the Ouachita Parish Public Library's newsletter called Cattails? If you do, you know that in the back of every issue is an article about local history, written by Cyndy Robertson. The latest newsletter article is about some of the Ouachita Parish schools and the people they are named for. You can read … Continue reading Ouachita Parish Schools and the People They Are Named For.