Monroe Boys March Off to War

How about this one? It shows a parade of Infantry soldiers marching off to fight in France during WWI. You can see Allen's Pharmacy and the Wexler Cigar building in the background, which would have been in the 200 block of DeSiard Street, where R & A Jewelers was. Notice the brick paving on DeSiard … Continue reading Monroe Boys March Off to War →

Letters of a War Hero

You have heard about Barkdull Faulk Elementary and Barkdull Faulk American Legion Post, but do you know about the man behind the name? Leonidas Barkdull Faulk was a WWI Medic embedded with the British military during WWI. Leonidas was on the front lines taking care of the wounded and sick soldiers. He survived a gas … Continue reading Letters of a War Hero →

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 →

Victory Gardens in Monroe During WWI

And this last photo, shows just one of the gardens grown in Monroe during WWI for the war effort. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017667718/ The article I cited in yesterday's post, also talked about the children's war gardens that had popped up all over town. News Star, September 21, 1918: The boys and girls have over two hundred war … Continue reading Victory Gardens in Monroe During WWI →

The Junior Red Cross Auxiliary “Does their bit”.

I found this photo: https://www.loc.gov/resource/anrc.01733/ at the Library of Congress and found this paragraph in the News Star on September 21, 1918 that I believe describes it: Another way was when the people in town had a parade for the Liberty Loan, the girls took their service flag through the streets, being headed by a … Continue reading The Junior Red Cross Auxiliary “Does their bit”. →

Picking Cotton For the War Effort

Back in 1918 during WWI, the Homefront was doing their part. This included the children. The big thing to do was to buy "Liberty Bonds" from the government. At the time, at the Old City High School, there were two literary societies, the Dialectics and the Philomatheans. To raise money to buy Liberty Bonds, an … Continue reading Picking Cotton For the War Effort →