BPCC's Early Days

In 1964, when Airline High School first opened its doors, the announcement of the school's opening appeared in a back-to-school article in the newspaper. The article also mentioned that "Members of the board have offered to let the state use the new high school as the temporary site of a proposed two-year junior college in the Shreveport-Bossier City area."

Two years later, Louisiana Legislature established "Airline College," an experimental pilot program to be set up in Airline High School with space, teachers, and provisions for college students. In the fall of 1967, nearly 100 students enrolled in its initial session, which offered English, mathematics, science, history, business subjects, foreign languages, speech, and physical education. Students could take up to 18 credit hours per semester with the ability to transfer those credits to other higher learning institutions in the state that the Louisiana State Board of Education also governed.

When the program opened, there was no official name, often referred to as Airline's 13th and 14th grades. But the students began calling it Airline Junior College. This pilot program made higher education affordable for locals with no tuition or registration costs; a full two years of study cost only $200, including books. The students only had to pay for laboratory fees, texts, and a student union fee. Financing for this experimental program came from the Bossier Parish School Board and the state giving Bossier students preferential treatment in registering.

College and high school students learned under one roof. Still, their areas were maintained separately, sharing only the cafeteria, library, and study halls. The second floor of the F wing of the high school was reserved for college classrooms, a student lounge, and faculty offices. By the first semester of the new year, the enrollment more than doubled, and so did the total number of college credit hours offered.

The experiment was to help determine whether or not to expand the program throughout the state in each metropolitan area in Louisiana. Doing so would make it possible for a large number of people in the state to have access to at least two years of college courses. Only one other community college was developed from this experimental pilot program; the St. Bernard Community College in Chalmette, known as Nunez Community College, today.

The name officially changed to Bossier Parish Community College in 1973, separating from Airline both in name and leadership. Initially, the Airline High School Principal, Bob Horneman, also served as the college dean. But when the name changed, Dr. Douglas Peterson was appointed as dean. Peterson had been the long-time band director at Airline and was the assistant principal for a short time before accepting the position as dean.

After 10-years, and with more than 2,000 students, plans were underway to construct a two-story building to house the college's growing needs. Luckily, the college had opened for night classes in 1972, which helped relieve some of the daytime congestion as enrollment at Airline High School grew just as quickly with 1,400 students. Nonetheless, congestion was a real problem at the High School with that many students.

Besides space, the college had another problem. The college still did not offer a degree. While credits were transferrable to institutions governed by the Louisiana Board of Trustees, only a few credits were accepted by the Louisiana State University system. Just as plans were in the works for a building, efforts were also in motion for the college to have the authority to grant associate degrees by the fall. Doing so would open the door to becoming accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Universities.

1980 was a momentous year for the college because they finally were granted the ability to confer degrees and held their first graduation ceremony that spring. The first graduating class had eight people in it. The associate's degrees conferred were in business administration, office administration, and law enforcement. That fall, the college finally graduated from high school, so to speak, when the new college administrative and classroom building was completed on property adjacent to Airline High School.

What started as an experimental pilot program led to a full-fledged community college. Bossier Parish Community College now offers over 50 Associate degrees within six academic divisions. They also offer certificates in various technical studies, technical diplomas, and career and technical certificates. The college has continued to grow and now has a sprawling campus located at 6220 E. Texas Street with approximately 7,000 students enrolled.

Learn more about the history of local schools by visiting the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center, your leading source for local history. We are adjacent to the Central Library branch at 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City. Whether you want to learn about local history or research your family history, we are here to help.

By: Amy Robertson

Learning to Fly at Barksdale's Aero Club

Champion Tri-Traveler

In 1950 the first U.S. Air Force Aero Club was officially sanctioned at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska by Gen. Curtis LeMay. LeMay was the first commander of Strategic Air Command and later became the fifth chief of staff of the Air Force. Barksdale's Aero Club was one of the few clubs that could trace its roots to those early days.

According to a 2006 article by 2nd Lt. Frank Hartnett, "The Barksdale Aero Club was a benchmark program in many ways. It won the five-star award multiple times from Air Force Services due to its stellar safety record." Hartnett also boasted that the aero club had zero mishaps since 1981. He credited the quality of the staff and the pilots who flew in the aero club for that perfect record.

Aero clubs have played a significant role in building and sustaining ready and resilient Airmen. They are open to active duty, reserve, guard, retired military members and their families; Defense Department civilians; and Civil Air Patrol members. Members must be 16 years old and have a medical certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly solo.

In 1961, the first female to fly solo in Barksdale's Aero Club was Barbara F. Welsh, wife of Capt. (Dr.) John S. Welsh, who joined the club through the "family plan." Her solo flight was in a Champion Tri-Traveler owned by the aero club. Flying schools widely used the Tri-Traveler as a trainer. It was a tandem two-seater with a 90-hp four-cylinder engine and featured a tricycle fixed undercarriage.

Having completed that training phase next, she began cross-country flying, which led to her qualification for a private pilot's license. Being able to fly on an equal basis as her husband, a licensed pilot, was her ultimate goal. The couple longed to fly extensive cross-country trips together for business, vacations, and trips back home.

Aero clubs were most popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with more than 70 U.S. Air Force Aero Clubs in operation. Over time, clubs began closing, shrinking that number to 48 clubs by 1989. When Barksdale closed their Aero Club in 2006, there were only 26 clubs still in operation, and by 2017 there were only 16.

Since aero clubs are non-appropriated fund activities, they generate revenue to support themselves. Declining participation rates led to financial shortfalls, forcing Barksdale's Aero Club to close its doors after more than fifty years in operation. The club was one of three Federal Aviation Administration certified aviation schools in the state of Louisiana. Besides flight training, the aero club also performed search and rescue missions for people on the east reservation.

To learn more about Barksdale or aviation history in Bossier Parish, visit the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center at 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City. Can't come in, call 318-746-7717 or email history-center@bossierlibrary.org with your request. Be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on Facebook, @bplhistorycenter on Tiktok, and check out our blog, http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.

By: Amy Robertson

Back to School, 1964 Edition

Back to school time in 1964 was just like most other school years. Parents were back to school shopping. Teachers were working on lesson plans and preparing their classrooms. Students of all ages wished summer would last longer or were excited about school and seeing their friends. They all were preparing to say goodbye to summer vacation and hello to the school year routine.

There was a lot of excitement for many high school students and perhaps a little bit of nervousness as they would be the first students to attend the all-new Airline High School. Bossier City's second high school, built to accommodate the growing community's needs. It reduced the overcrowding that was starting to be felt at Bossier High and allowed room for future growth.

Arial view of the Airline High School campus.
Bossier Chamber of Commerce Collection: 1998.047.180.001.002

The following article appeared in the "Bossier Tribune" with back-to-school news on Aug. 12, 1964:

"Bossier Parish school officials were working at a feverish pace this week in preparation for an expected record enrollment when schools open their doors for the 1964-65 school term on Aug. 31.

"School Superintendent Emmett Cope said the parish enrollment is expected to reach 16,000 during the term – an increase of some 700 students as compared with last year's enrollment of 15,300.

"The big news in Bossier City is the opening for the first time of the municipality's second high school – Airline High School just north of Greenacres Subdivision.

"Airline High will be ready for students when its doors open with the exception of the auditorium, which was expected to run behind completion of other portions of the sprawling school plant.

"The Bossier School Board accepted bids at its meeting Thursday for auditorium seats, blinds, stage equipment and laundry equipment for the new school.

"Board members are expected to accept the new $2,256,496 high school during a special meeting later this month. Work on the project got underway in the summer of 1963.

"Students residing north of the Illinois Central Railway tracks east from Red River to a junction with U.S. Highway 80 and then east along the highway to the city limits will attend Airline, according to a re-districting plan adopted earlier this year by the board. Pupils living at Barksdale Air Force Base and Bossier Base will also attend the new school. Those students located south of the line will continue to enroll at Bossier High.

"All students at Bossier High may continue there until graduation provided they furnish their own transportation, according to a ruling by the board in early February. The board at that time gave students wishing to remain at Bossier High until Feb. 17 to indicate their desire.

"Airline, which has a capacity of 1,500, is expected to have an enrollment of 1,100 students within two years. Bossier High, which ended the 1963-64 term with 1,545, is expected to spiral to a 1,500-student capacity by the 1966-67 term.

"Members of the Bossier board have offered to let the state use the new high school as the temporary site of a proposed two-year junior college in the Shreveport-Bossier City area."

To clarify, Airline was not the second high school in Bossier City; it was the third. The other high school in Bossier City that the writer failed to mention was Charlotte A. Mitchell High School. The failure to mention Charlotte A. Mitchell High School is an example of segregation in the news during that period in our history.

Charlotte A. Mitchell High School, originally Bossier City Colored High School, was opened in 1941 for elementary through high school students. In 1950, a new school was built on Cox Street for the high school students leaving the younger classes at the original building. The 1969 graduating class was the last class to graduate before the school closed due to desegregation.

By: Amy Robertson

Fighting Forest Fires in the 1940s

Historically, timber is Louisiana's top agricultural crop and is a multi-billion dollar industry. Forests cover a little over fifty percent of Louisiana's land area. They support the state's extensive forest products industry, provide habitat for wildlife, recreational opportunity, and other environmental benefits.

Forestry and forest products are not only a valuable source of income for the state of Louisiana but also for Bossier Parish. The value-added, to Bossier Parish alone, is over fifteen million dollars per year. Value-added represents the creation of new wealth and goes into the economy through payments made to workers, interest, profits, and indirect business taxes.

It goes without saying, the need to protect our forests is a high priority. Research of forest fires began in earnest in the early 1900s on a federal level. By 1940, the Louisiana Forestry Commission was created through an amendment of the Louisiana Constitution. In the early days of the commission, look-out towers, telephone networks, and fire-fighting teams were strategically placed, providing a network of protection for each district in the state.

Bossier Parish started with two towers, the Plain Dealing tower near Rocky Mount and the Bodcau tower near Bellevue. The towers were constructed of steel and ranged between 100 and 120 feet tall, depending on the elevation of each location. Atop each tower sat a seven-square-foot observation cabin enclosed in glass on four sides. All of the towers in the fourth district were interconnected by two privately operated telephone lines, which terminated at the district headquarters in Minden.

In 1946, a third tower was built on Gidden's Hill, the second-highest point in Louisiana. With Gidden's Hill being 525 feet above sea level, the 100-foot tower, on a clear day, could easily see Shreveport and Minden, and sometimes the Plain Dealing tower and the town of Springhill. A fourth and final tower went up in the Bolinger area in 1948. All of the towers operated 12 months of the year, except the Bolinger tower, which operated for six months of the year.

The fire tower watchmen were on call 24/7 except when there was a lot of rain. They typically lived in a cottage that was on the premises of or very near the tower. Because of this, there was a phone installed at the residence in addition to the tower. A typical day found the watchmen climbing up the 100-foot tower to the observation deck at least three times.

Preventing and squashing forest fires requires a group effort from citizens exercising caution when smoking or making campfires to local fire departments and citizens joining in the fight to extinguish the blaze. After a fire, an investigation takes place to determine the cause and catch those who start fires.

Bossier Parish Highway Department workers helped fight a forest fire that was consuming
hundreds of acres, 1952. (L to R) Hayet Whatley, Tom Sistrunk, and Clifford Jones.
Carol Young Collection: 1998.081.082.

Malicious burning of another's property is a felony. If found guilty, the maximum penalty for malicious burning was, during that time, a fine of $500 and up to six months in jail. And, negligent burning could draw a penalty of $300 or thirty days in jail. Today, the fines and jail time are much higher.

The Louisiana Forestry Commission also promoted forestry education among the general public and in schools. Rural schools began establishing school forests and offering forestry programs, such as the Plain Dealing High School Forest, which started in 1946. They also developed nurseries to grow saplings for replanting harvested timberlands, areas destroyed by fire, and planting school forests.

Today, "the Louisiana Office of Forestry is the only state agency with statewide wildland fire-fighting capabilities detected by aircraft or are reported by the public, and are then suppressed by trained forestry crews. It involves approximately 106 wildland firefighters equipped with trucks, tractor-plows and two-way radios. These professional crews are employed year-round. Statistics show that the tractor-plow operator in the southern United States has the most hazardous wildland fire-fighting job in the nation."

To learn more about forestry in Bossier Parish, visit the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center at 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City. Be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB and check out our blog, http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/. There you will find photographs to go with this article and previous articles. We also have some fun and informative videos on Tiktok; follow @bplhistorycenter to see them.

By: Amy Robertson