Ouachita Parish High School Graduating Classes

We still continue to go through and find treasures in our collection. Two Ouachita Parish High School documents from the 1920's are of particular interest. The first is a 1921 OPHS graduation invitiation, which lists all of the graduating class members. You may recognize some of the names! https://www.louisianadigitallibrary.org/islandora/object/oplib-orv%3A116 The second document is a program … Continue reading Ouachita Parish High School Graduating Classes →

1904 Ouachita Parish High School Catalogue

Here is a treasure! A new document just digitized for our collection is almost 120 years old! It is a rare Ouachita Parish high School handbook published in 1904. In it you will find a history of the school, the School Board members, faculty, a list of alumni and even the course listing for each … Continue reading 1904 Ouachita Parish High School Catalogue →

A List of Ouachita Parish High School Alumni Who Fell During War

Back in May, 1945 Ouachita Parish High School's seniors had a newsletter called the Ouachita Lion. It served as a sort of yearbook since the yearbook wasn't publishing during WWII. On one of the pages of the May, 1945 issue, they paid tribute to what they called "Gold Star Honor Roll". Basically, alumni of OPHS … Continue reading A List of Ouachita Parish High School Alumni Who Fell During War →

The First School Bus in Monroe

How about this old newspaper clipping? It shows an early Monroe school bus, circa 1915, parked in front of Kern's Blacksmith Shop, which had built it. Kern's Blacksmith was located on Jackson Street right where Grammont comes in.

Beloved Sterlington Principal Leaves Behind a 43 Year Legacy in Education.

Dedication page photo from the 1951-52 Smithy yearbook. Some of you from the Sterlington area may have had this gentleman as a principal. Mr. O.K. Bailey, Sr. served for 43 years as principal of Sterlington's elementary, Jr. High and High School. The above photo was taken when he served as principal for A.L. Smith School. … Continue reading Beloved Sterlington Principal Leaves Behind a 43 Year Legacy in Education. →

Eddy Arnold and the Duke of Paducah Perform at OPHS

Probably the biggest names to perform on the stage at OPHS were Country Music Hall of Famers Eddy Arnold and Benjamin Francis Ford (AKA the Duke of Paducah) in 1949. You can read about the concert in the clipping below:

Walley Fowler and His Famous Oak Ridge Quartet Plays the Ouachita Parish High School Auditorium.

A while back, I told you about all the famous acts that came and performed at Neville auditorium. I decided to see who came to OPHS. I got curious when I found this concert ad in 1951. Surely it can't be who I think it is. After a little digging, I found out that these … Continue reading Walley Fowler and His Famous Oak Ridge Quartet Plays the Ouachita Parish High School Auditorium. →

Ouachita Parish High School Entry

This is a postcard I won on Ebay. It shows one of the entrances to the old Ouachita Parish High School on South Grand (the second OPHS building). Today it is Ouachita Grand Plaza. What I found interesting was a stamp on the back saying it was, "Trimmed with algonite furnished by Algonite Stone Mfg. … Continue reading Ouachita Parish High School Entry →

Area High Schools Once Had Live Mascots!

Did you know that Neville and Ouachita Parish High School once had live mascots? Above is pictured Shasta the tiger, who was Neville's mascot. Ouachita's lion mascot was called Cheepa, named after the noise he made as a cub! Both animals were kept at the Zoo and used in the zoo's captive breeding program, but … Continue reading Area High Schools Once Had Live Mascots! →

Lenwil School

If you have any friends or relatives that may have gone to school at Lenwil in West Monroe back in the 40's to 50's, you may want to look at these! These came from a Lenwil P.T.A. scrapbook, and show mothers, students and faculty/staff of the school. An added bonus is an aerial shot of … Continue reading Lenwil School →