tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31010823246312663382024-03-27T07:00:32.620-05:00Bossier Parish Libraries History Center"Preserving the history and memories of Bossier Parish, Louisiana"Jaketha, I/T Managerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17540276834375511569noreply@blogger.comBlogger644125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101082324631266338.post-13950652424546998722024-03-27T07:00:00.001-05:002024-03-27T07:00:00.135-05:004-H, the State Fair and Pigs, and the Peace Boys of Benton<p> Digitally flip through the book, “Club Men of Louisiana in Caricature,” drawings by W.K. Patrick and Associates, 1917, available online from the Library of Congress, and you’ll find illustrations that poke fun at, yet revere some very influential members of clubs across Louisiana, a powerful, yet limited group. Most of the men are from points further south. However, there’s one illustration that very clearly states it is in Shreveport - William R. Hirsch. A put-together and rather unperturbed-looking, oversize Billy Hirsch sits at a comparatively small desk, labeled “Secretary, State Fair of Louisiana.” The State Fair coliseum (not yet named after Hirsch) and Exposition Building are sketched behind him. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgCb6y2Nej_Xy-u3LfX8yNnFDzAtGRkkBcNj8jnhdYjKj7ND7DIJemtkycyZh6IAPb5MgoZhNIGGl1XU8CuKFp6Pc-x8mp8XH0edP-o2F1WSOc5iGqXQbLwI_hlpuzyo8nSfk_yLjyELMsqP-AUXOM-r6SrgSdset13hxKJ22L9vhoVXTBnKNIqKs9T4Nzq" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="718" data-original-width="504" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgCb6y2Nej_Xy-u3LfX8yNnFDzAtGRkkBcNj8jnhdYjKj7ND7DIJemtkycyZh6IAPb5MgoZhNIGGl1XU8CuKFp6Pc-x8mp8XH0edP-o2F1WSOc5iGqXQbLwI_hlpuzyo8nSfk_yLjyELMsqP-AUXOM-r6SrgSdset13hxKJ22L9vhoVXTBnKNIqKs9T4Nzq" width="168" /></a></div>Surrounding Hirsch in the illustration is a clearly loud, agitated mob of “ladies and gentlemen” assailing him with a barrage of questions or commentary: “I had the goldurned best pertaters in the hull shebang, war’s my prize?” “Tilly Moots got the prize I otta had -shameful!” and, “Samhill! Whar’s the prize on my shote? Thar wuz a blue ribbon on ‘im’?” That one I had to look up – turns out shote, aka shoat is a young pig. <p></p><p><br /></p><p>This cartoon had me wanting to learn more about William Rex Hirsch too. He was president of Hirsch & Leman Company of Shreveport, and secretary of the State Fair, though in more common parlance, he was often known as MISTER State Fair. He had deep roots in Shreveport and wanted to leave a lasting legacy on the city and state. His 1952 obituary said the affairs of youth, particularly the educational improvement of rural youth, was a deep-seated interest of his. The writer speculated it was one of the prime reasons that Mr. Hirsch was involved with the fair. (And if the cartoon was any indication, it was the adults who were “sore losers”.) The writer mentioned that Hirsch was especially a promoter of the livestock auction for 4-H entrants (the youth who were learning to have a future in agriculture) and that it is thought that the Louisiana State Fair under Hirsch was the very first to have 4-H’ers showing pigs, which then become commonplace across the country. </p><p><br /></p><p>By 1929, the swine show for adult farmers at the Louisiana State Fair was considered among the best in the country. Also, that year, the 4-Hers had really hit their stride with the Pig Club event, with Rapides Parish coming out on top. By 1944, 4-H club entries in the swine category at fairs and livestock shows bested even the pigs of adult competitors. </p><p><br /></p><p>By the late 1940’s, the best of the 4-H swine came from Bossier Parish. As announced in the Planters Press Bossier City newspaper of Jan. 30, 1947, three brothers from the Peace family in Benton, Ernest Richard, 13, Jerald, 11, and Marion Dale, 9, not only raised champion pigs and gained national recognition for their methods of care and the fine product that resulted, but then donated the pigs to the March of Dimes Polio fund for auction. The pigs brought in a record-breaking donation of $540, over $7,700 in today’s money!</p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi5eNlfKQRV-8rYZo_y4lfARC_IbGj6tmtqhuZ_P6ysOlgPmjnWWAz-NqTYaWYmlHnI4mTEuJ9x2-a-SQH0oozEsIKV1ihDmdJv7iMvIYgZ75BwHgqJ5iV4rRFsU_kt9HKPLBYyAvgkBGvB5XU2K5MOYvCnBg6jcDQtCrBcfJTKWYWnu5-vPXk-mDa11mR7" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="5866" data-original-width="5808" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi5eNlfKQRV-8rYZo_y4lfARC_IbGj6tmtqhuZ_P6ysOlgPmjnWWAz-NqTYaWYmlHnI4mTEuJ9x2-a-SQH0oozEsIKV1ihDmdJv7iMvIYgZ75BwHgqJ5iV4rRFsU_kt9HKPLBYyAvgkBGvB5XU2K5MOYvCnBg6jcDQtCrBcfJTKWYWnu5-vPXk-mDa11mR7" width="238" /></a></div>In April of 1947, five Bossier 4-H club members exhibited 28 head of swine in the statewide competition at the Louisiana Junior Livestock Show in Baton Rouge, and got many of the honors. The grand championship “fat barrow” prize went to Jerald Peace’s 310-pound Duroc Jersey pig. Ernest Peace also won several places in the swine competition. Marion Dale was too young to participate in that show, but he attended along with their father, stock farmer Mr. E.R. Peace. In addition, Jerald’s pig was sent on an educational tour over the Illinois Central railroad as Bossier’s exhibit, with other 4-H exhibits taking up the entire train. The public was invited to attend this novel event and visit the giant porker during the train’s stop in Shreveport. <p></p><p><br /></p><p>The boys’ 4-H advisor, assistant agricultural extension agent Enoch Nix, and other adults who traveled to Baton Rouge for the exhibition, expressed pride in the Bossier boys’ fine showing at the event. Clearly their behavior, and the generosity of the Peace brothers, could teach the disgruntled adult exhibitors in the cartoon of William Hirsch a thing or two about gracious winning! </p><p><br /></p><p>Do you have any stories or photos to share of your Bossier Parish friends or family of various generations growing, raising, or preparing their own food? If so, we’d love to add either originals or copies to our collection. The Bossier Parish Libraries History Center is located at 2206 Beckett St, Bossier City, LA (across the street from the new Bossier Central Library). We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org</p><p><br /></p><p>For other fun facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.</p><p>Images: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>William Hirsch caricature/courtesy "Club Men of Louisiana in Caricature" & the Library of Congress</li><li>Jerald Peace and his grand champion pig/courtesy The Bossier Banner April 3, 1947</li></ul><div>Article by: Pam Carlisle </div><p></p><div><br /></div>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17844271170816409273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101082324631266338.post-81953409514188455782024-03-20T07:00:00.009-05:002024-03-20T07:00:00.135-05:00Henry L. Aulds, Jr. Branch Library - The Silver Lining of a Family’s Tragic Loss<p>The Bossier Parish Library’s South Bossier branch still has a small-town or neighborhood feel, but it has grown tremendously since it opened in the Shady Grove neighborhood in 1971 with 1, 200 square feet of space, with the limited hours of 2-6pm Mon -Friday. The branch opened in October, 1971 on land donated by Bossier City and was named in memory of Henry L. Aulds, Jr., a Bossier Parish Police Juror, whose efforts were instrumental in its existence.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh1CgtYS2_zrWQoVfyJY4VaLNObXiZo5iYr029Z_1PZGbSatWkAHKXUvHnS6rQqaMjf5fVpR5grY5rN94y90jdDaWDDCk6jOhroVSTz9t_VJamxKYteUoKHgN-J5lIvcTpRJawzrWYUnYa89xlfHMw0u1f9LbNjhBiYnrQoL70JBfaFnbq-YmEK_dVF-Wd-" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1645" data-original-width="1097" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh1CgtYS2_zrWQoVfyJY4VaLNObXiZo5iYr029Z_1PZGbSatWkAHKXUvHnS6rQqaMjf5fVpR5grY5rN94y90jdDaWDDCk6jOhroVSTz9t_VJamxKYteUoKHgN-J5lIvcTpRJawzrWYUnYa89xlfHMw0u1f9LbNjhBiYnrQoL70JBfaFnbq-YmEK_dVF-Wd-" width="160" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Aulds died suddenly in September, 1970, at the age of 42, suffering a heart attack while on a dove hunting trip. He lived in the Shady Grove neighborhood on the same street as the library. He was owner of an investment company and served on many boards, including the YMCA and the recreation commission of Bossier. His wife, Betty, served as the “toybrarian” for the Toy Lending library at the Shady Grove community center.<p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Betty Aulds welcomed guests to the dedication of the new library, including extended family members, police jurors supporting their former colleague, and other Bossier Parish officials, plus guest of honor Miss Elisabeth Williams, the first librarian in the Bossier Parish Library System, and 400 other citizens. She stated, “We, the family and children, are so pleased to see the library for which my husband worked so hard a reality now. We hope the library will mean as much to the community as Mr. Aulds had hoped it would. He saw the need and wanted to make it happen. We are happy that even though he can’t see the results, the people of this area have been so responsive...”</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjBJGEHHAhrJLkzY32JsuEd349h8kwsyD8fxnUghpP7NzEbF6-QDRXSq3LUsz0AFiARR2id7Z8463HqinVoMB0GxnA4rtFWHa6QogZcHSelGeygJ-vWdYuL9XUiXmQrXyMIi2J3iub23IVXTeR4Tavosb4aE9ZPtHwNu_Ybps5dN7zb6bkU_zYvD-Vo35Zy" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="507" data-original-width="665" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjBJGEHHAhrJLkzY32JsuEd349h8kwsyD8fxnUghpP7NzEbF6-QDRXSq3LUsz0AFiARR2id7Z8463HqinVoMB0GxnA4rtFWHa6QogZcHSelGeygJ-vWdYuL9XUiXmQrXyMIi2J3iub23IVXTeR4Tavosb4aE9ZPtHwNu_Ybps5dN7zb6bkU_zYvD-Vo35Zy" width="315" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>Well-known Bossier citizen and longtime Clerk of Court Wilna Mabry concurred, “The new library is a wonderful thing for this part of Bossier City. In talking with residents of the area, I’ve found that everyone is so happy that the library is here. The library couldn’t have been named for a greater man.”</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgPzqxPQYndDdIz1psYxdeu38XYFcEaCIvgL3iD2PU7v-6FGuh3adfxNKbHp7uiojUD1B1Fmc0rQZN_GPg4yTVO3ulX6hOJM_4woYmECzny-EImlVIgmTgs20spWS-SXXBkIPUYn4614sOqT36bU3fDu7vObypy6Y_8LWnKObc5IiiTcPXtgJo-UJC0GAmT" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1572" data-original-width="1920" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgPzqxPQYndDdIz1psYxdeu38XYFcEaCIvgL3iD2PU7v-6FGuh3adfxNKbHp7uiojUD1B1Fmc0rQZN_GPg4yTVO3ulX6hOJM_4woYmECzny-EImlVIgmTgs20spWS-SXXBkIPUYn4614sOqT36bU3fDu7vObypy6Y_8LWnKObc5IiiTcPXtgJo-UJC0GAmT" width="293" /></a></div>The Henry L. Aulds, Jr. library fulfilled its namesake’s wish that it would become a meaningful part of the community. It has served as the meeting spot for numerous community groups over the years, including “The Shady Ladies” homemaking club, the British Wives club (since the library is conveniently located close to Barksdale Air Force Base), and a local Girl Scout troop. The Aulds meeting room is also a voting location. The branch had enough use, that it was renovated and expanded in 1987, less than 20 years from its opening.<p></p><p><br /></p><p>In 1991, the Aulds branch library had the distinction of being the first Bossier Parish library to have a personal computer available for patron use, thanks to the perseverance of Bossier Parish Libraries patron and Barksdale airman Staff Sgt. David Lambert and the forward-thinking Aulds branch librarian, Bonnie Clark. Lambert, who happened to be an information systems manager at Barksdale, had gone to the Bossier Central library to do some research when he found out there were no public use computers available there or in any Bossier Parish public library. When Lambert was told there was no money in the budget for them, he asked around to find a librarian who would be willing to try out a PC for public use. He found Ms. Bonnie at Aulds.</p><p><br /></p><p>Then Lambert asked around for some donations. Donald Bonar of Shreve Systems in Bossier City donated a surplus Commodore “Colt” computer with both a hard drive and a floppy disk drive. The CPU and a dot matrix printer were donated by Francis Huhn and software donated from Keith Barr. The viewing screen, printer cable and controller for the hard drive came from Discount Computers and Software in Shreveport. The computer boasted Microsoft Works software and GW Basic for those who wanted to learn to how to program. In August 1991, Lambert was still looking for donations for additional software.</p><p><br /></p><p>Patrons needed to bring their own 5¼” floppy disks if they wanted to save their work. Lambert and the Aulds library staff planned to have other computer workers from base to help out with maintaining the equipment and conducting classes in how to use the computer. Bonnie Clark the librarian foresaw the only drawback of the computer would be that very soon, one would not be enough!</p><p><br /></p><p>Ms. Bonnie was right of course. In September, 2005, Aulds had an expansion and interior renovation so extensive that it felt like a new branch had opened. This expansion nearly doubled the library’s public service space with a 3,8000 square foot addition, and quadrupled the number of public access computers, as well tripled the children’s area. What Ms. Elisabeth Williams, the Bossier Parish Library system’s first librarian, said at the first dedication for the branch in 1971, could’ve been said at the branch’s re-dedication following the addition in 2005 and could be said again today: “It is wonderful that the library system is growing. Bossier Parish is growing and so is Bossier City.”</p><p><br /></p><p>If you have any stories, photos or other information relating to the history of Bossier Parish libraries, or of Bossier Parish citizens who have worked to contribute to community life in Bossier, the History Center may be interested in adding the materials to its research collection by donation or by scanning them and returning the originals. Call or visit us to learn more. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org. We can also be found online at https://www.facebook.com/BPLHistoryCenter/</p><p>Images: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Henry L. Aulds Jr.</li><li>The original Henry L. Aulds Jr. Branch library building, which opened Fall of 1971.</li><li>Photo of the Shady Ladies Homemaking Club making bean bags and bibs in the Aulds branch library, 1982.</li></ul><div>Article by: Pam Carlisle </div><p></p>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17844271170816409273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101082324631266338.post-82805840975950257652024-03-13T07:00:00.001-05:002024-03-13T07:00:00.129-05:00Bossier City Once Home to Real-Life Miss Moneypenny<p> The character of Miss Moneypenny, made famous by author Ian Fleming in his James Bond novels and the accompanying movies, is intelligent, inquisitive, privy to confidential information, and indispensable to Bond and his director of British Secret Service boss “M”. Few may know that Bossier City was once home to a real-life Moneypenny whose deeds and accomplishments were no less impressive than those of her fictional counterpart.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhgSAbXKFKIOAOLsf1mJqwGEZRn1rPC45ogHKdZUZVXZRo01EDqa0PIB3GG62Bv37kYCg4Fz03NMZreXy8cYpFSueIi7JxySoz3i69Hkt6HHPxXfL-8wHWmqpod64P7SrAlALN2orpDdhphkTrrUF-HDavEuTrQve5yyPPt7YAbEu98Tgd4AuJhL5JoCBgj" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="481" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhgSAbXKFKIOAOLsf1mJqwGEZRn1rPC45ogHKdZUZVXZRo01EDqa0PIB3GG62Bv37kYCg4Fz03NMZreXy8cYpFSueIi7JxySoz3i69Hkt6HHPxXfL-8wHWmqpod64P7SrAlALN2orpDdhphkTrrUF-HDavEuTrQve5yyPPt7YAbEu98Tgd4AuJhL5JoCBgj" width="183" /></a></div>Betty Wells Rathmell had a life that brimmed with travel, interesting locales, intrigue, access to people of power and influence, athletic ability and a talent for music, and included a love of family and friends and a strong Christian faith.<p></p><p>Born in 1937 in Washington D.C., Betty was a good student, achieving a level of academic success in high school that led after graduation to a position as a secretary with the Federal Bureau of Investigations, where she soon became known for her shorthand skills. According to her daughter Julie Kaiser, Betty was often asked to attend meetings because she was so quick with taking dictation. This in-demand skill had her in gatherings where FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover was among the officials present. “She was on call 24 hours a day,” Julie said. “In places like the middle of a church service, she would be called to work.”</p><p>Away from the office, Betty’s athletic abilities took center stage for her employer, as a member of the FBI tennis team. Her prowess on the court helped win tournaments and trophies for the organization.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjfDnE9LlVCtHX-Ml9w_JWftFzqPLTsuRT7cfXPWq08rAuigtXaxxXRW7ap_zUAH6gDevcdLpmWUlsnP_RdDNy6D3gUEBxBgWMZ3c9rFgoBIuhFW6UpfQsTTfQ2WwLL4vYZi609TEE_DfNYB67yBcNkI1rPA7jPx20rQRfzZs5qZsRjCjdEhCyoS1PUXh-f" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="364" data-original-width="470" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjfDnE9LlVCtHX-Ml9w_JWftFzqPLTsuRT7cfXPWq08rAuigtXaxxXRW7ap_zUAH6gDevcdLpmWUlsnP_RdDNy6D3gUEBxBgWMZ3c9rFgoBIuhFW6UpfQsTTfQ2WwLL4vYZi609TEE_DfNYB67yBcNkI1rPA7jPx20rQRfzZs5qZsRjCjdEhCyoS1PUXh-f" width="310" /></a></div><br />Betty spent nine years with the bureau before transferring to the Pentagon for a secretarial position in military intelligence with the Defense Intelligence Agency, and it was there that she met U.S. Air Force Tech Sergeant Jim Rathmell. The two would marry in 1964.<p></p><p>Adventures overseas were next for Betty, as she and Jim were stationed in countries such as Italy, Spain, Germany and Africa for the USAF, and the two reveled in these opportunities. They loved to travel and experience new places. Julie recounted a story from her parent’s time in Spain that demonstrated her mother’s fearless nature. The couple met a man on a motorcycle and began a conversation with him. “The next thing my dad knew, mom had hopped on the motorcycle with the man and was riding away,” she said.</p><p>After five years abroad, Betty and Jim returned to Washington D.C., and in 1969, she accepted a job offer at the White House during the administration of President Richard Nixon. This was soon followed by a promotion. Julie said her mother once mentioned to a family member how the Watergate break-in, which eventually brought down the administration, and the resulting chaos were alarming and frightening for her. But Julie did say her mom liked Nixon and the first family, even naming her daughter after the President’s daughter Julie Nixon.</p><p>One final assignment overseas to the American Embassy in Ankara, Turkey was followed by a move to Bossier City and Barksdale Air Force Base in 1977. Julie said her mother had no trouble transitioning from world traveler and intelligence work to being a mother and homemaker. “She was a wonderful mom,” Julie said.</p><p>Betty became active in church, sharing her musical talent with others by directing the children’s music programs and playing piano during worship services at retirement homes in Bossier. She also maintained her competitive edge, taking to the bowling alley instead of the tennis court. And she became a grandmother, spending lots of quality time with her three grandchildren. Betty passed away in 2013 at age 76, but left a legacy that continues to inspire. The fictional Miss Moneypenny may have some catching up to do.</p><p>If you have any stories, photos or other information relating to women of Bossier Parish who’ve made history, the History Center may be interested in adding the materials to its research collection by donation or by scanning them and returning the originals. Call or visit us to learn more. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is <a href="mailto:history-center@bossierlibrary.org">history-center@bossierlibrary.org</a>. We can also be found online at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BPLHistoryCenter/">https://www.facebook.com/BPLHistoryCenter/</a></p><p>Images: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>First photo: Betty Wells Rathmell/family photo</li><li>Second photo: Betty standing next to J. Edgar Hoover with her tennis trophy/courtesy Julie Kaiser</li></ul><div>Article by: Kevin Flowers</div><p></p>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17844271170816409273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101082324631266338.post-77321025667220533322024-03-06T07:00:00.001-06:002024-03-06T07:00:00.240-06:00Marching to the Tune of Temperance: Women and Prohibition<p>March is Women’s History Month. For much of history, women were encouraged to live their lives in the private, or home sphere. But the temperance movement, and prohibition, forbidding by law the sale and/or consumption of alcohol, had women as its most active proponents. Temperance was closely aligned with the women’s suffrage movement. Especially in the south, temperance gave many women, black and white, their first taste of political activism. Bossier Parish was no exception. </p><p><br /></p><p>The effort to eliminate alcohol, or the “dry” movement, as it was often known, began in force in the 1840s. By 1873, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) eclipsed other national antialcohol movements, especially becoming a political power across much of the Midwest and South including Louisiana. This was especially true in the strongly Baptist and Methodist areas of north Louisiana. The Women’s Christian Temperance Unions for Black women in Louisiana and some other states were called “Sojourner Truth” departments of the WCTU, named after the famous abolitionist and temperance advocate. </p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD7c626kSqVt6WtnNWVIauBbnFDSKxGcSNSQguwh7Qf9ACo2Zjf1ddvXlMvd2smh0KN-wwl_bJ9XGRnGnaRoldUELqGI8z-Z7QGhkm8hBqAf6EATWcmQTbmqSGix_p_9v2Mi_LflKfDaPgwuILpAQUIdHDEt-Gqyhnx9e79LgM9iOBgp4KKLnge0Tp8QVU/s638/Frances_Willard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="638" data-original-width="512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD7c626kSqVt6WtnNWVIauBbnFDSKxGcSNSQguwh7Qf9ACo2Zjf1ddvXlMvd2smh0KN-wwl_bJ9XGRnGnaRoldUELqGI8z-Z7QGhkm8hBqAf6EATWcmQTbmqSGix_p_9v2Mi_LflKfDaPgwuILpAQUIdHDEt-Gqyhnx9e79LgM9iOBgp4KKLnge0Tp8QVU/s320/Frances_Willard.jpg" width="257" /></a></div>There was more to the Temperance Movement than just social views on drinking alcohol. For the women in this movement, their real battle was against the ramifications alcohol had on their lives. Women began in the movement with no voting rights, no or limited rights to their own property, and few ways to make a living on their own, even if the effects of a husband’s alcohol consumption included violence or squandering the family’s funds. Frances Willard, who became the second, and very effective, WCTU president in 1879, smartly applied the WCTU’s doctrine of “home protection” to include suffrage. It was only with political access and power that women could affect the social reforms that would, as Willard called it, “make the whole world home-like,” and safe. <p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbkuvGoIpkYCR5fobzJ1xXRdx0y_mO-gGv5JkdnSimP9NYTYkYgDEjhkEAzHLy8HjY_W-uKz1Yil8HlgaqpftKctrbMuvZirzNU-CB8VjP-8c3YBS1R8BGin6QlM_gQoYzeai8QG3QbAAYIoxD6UvSVW69V4qwKku30isH5tW1FkAQhJmE9aUh3MgveJxO/s1432/Rootbeer_ad_for_temperance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1432" data-original-width="738" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbkuvGoIpkYCR5fobzJ1xXRdx0y_mO-gGv5JkdnSimP9NYTYkYgDEjhkEAzHLy8HjY_W-uKz1Yil8HlgaqpftKctrbMuvZirzNU-CB8VjP-8c3YBS1R8BGin6QlM_gQoYzeai8QG3QbAAYIoxD6UvSVW69V4qwKku30isH5tW1FkAQhJmE9aUh3MgveJxO/s320/Rootbeer_ad_for_temperance.jpg" width="165" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>By the end of the nineteenth century, Bossier Parish had “voted out whisky” and outlawed the sale of alcoholic beverages. The editor of the “Bossier Banner-Progress,” Francis Scanland, stopped taking ads for whisky, even though, according him, they’d been offered ads for a sum of money they could have really used but they “cheerfully took our position with the women and children and prohibitionists of Bossier in their opposition to the whisky monster.” In an editorial in 1912 titled, “No more Whisky Ads,” Scanland went on to applaud other papers in surrounding parishes that were following suit and encouraged other editors to do the same. </p><p></p><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>In the United States from 1920 to 1933, a nationwide constitutional law, the Eighteenth Amendment, prohibited the manufacture, sale and transportation of intoxicating beverages. It did not outlaw the possession or consumption of alcohol. The Volstead Act, the federal law that provided for the enforcement of Prohibition, had enough loopholes and weaknesses to open the door to countless schemes to evade the “dry” mandate. Several of these schemes flourished in the backwoods, fields and even towns of Bossier Parish and northwest Louisiana. Reports in the local newspapers show that Bossier Parish law enforcement was kept busy tracking down the bootleggers (illegal manufacturers and distributors of alcoholic drink) and their hidden stills in the towns and remote corners of the parish. </p><p><br /></p><p>The WCTU saw that they still had work to do . On July 1, 1926, the “Bossier Banner-Progress” reported that Mrs. J.H. Wheeler, president of the Plain Dealing chapter of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union remarked on the WCTU’s current purposes: 1) “To permit no weakening of the Volstead Law,” 2) “To protest against the weakening or repeal of state enforcement laws, and urge the strengthening of those not in harmony with the Volstead Law,” and 3) “To work patiently, lawfully, fairly, patriotically and prayerfully for the observance and enforcement of the Eighteenth Amendment in the confidence that it will forever remain a part of the Constitution.” To those ends, they would work to win a million members who would each sign the total abstinence pledge and had taken on the slogan, “Help Us to Hold and Enforce the Eighteenth Amendment and the Volstead Law.” They would also enlist all governors, mayors, health directors, businessmen and other authorities to “bring to the attention of the people a realization of the disasters that would follow the return of the traffic in wine and beer.”</p><p><br /></p><p>Of course, their assumption that the 18th Amendment would forever remain part of the Constitution, was proven incorrect in 1933, but liquor distillers’ activities were put on hold to make alcohol for war purposes. By 1945, this ban was about to lifted and Bossier WCTU women went right back into action themselves. The Bossier City chapter sent an angry telegram to President Harry S. Turman, reminding him of the of the “drunkenness, foolishness, debauchery, immorality, highway accidents, mayhem, suicide and murder” attributed to alcohol consumption, and also emphasized that with grains and sugars used in the manufacture of alcoholic beverages still at a shortage, he needed to save the grain for bread in areas facing starvation in Europe and China, and for them, the women of Bossier, he needed to save the sugar required for their canning of essential foods. The Bossier City WCTU also federated with three unions in Shreveport and a new WCTU chapter was formed in 1947 in Haughton. As a result of their efforts some parts of Bossier did remain dry by local ordinance well after Prohibition ended. </p><p><br /></p><p>If you’d like to know more about Prohibition you can watch episodes of the Ken Burns documentary series “Prohibition” which is available to stream for free with your library card through Kanopy. If you need help accessing Kanopy, contact or visit us at the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center. You can also visit or contact us to peruse our oral history collection, and read the transcript of interviews that talk about prohibition. We are located at 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City. We are open: M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. For more information, and for other intriguing facts, photos, and videos of Bossier Parish history, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok</p><p>Images: </p><p style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Frances Willard, image from the Library of Congress, c. 1890</i></li><li><i><a data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0" href="https://www.newspapers.com/article/bossier-banner-progress-rootbeer-ad-for/142308558/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><span style="border: 0px; color: windowtext; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Root beer ad for temperance</span></a> from the <a data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="1" href="https://www.newspapers.com/paper/bossier-banner-progress/23530/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Bossier Banner-Progress"><span style="border: 0px; color: windowtext; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Bossier Banner-Progress</span></a> Aug 05, 1897</i></li></ul><div>Article by: Pam Carlisle</div><p></p>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17844271170816409273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101082324631266338.post-23762448078459083792024-02-28T07:00:00.009-06:002024-02-28T07:00:00.160-06:00From Bright Lights Back to Bossier City: There Was No Place Like Home for Judi Ann Mason<p>When Carter G. Woodson established Negro History week in February, 1926 (which became Black History Month in 1976), he wanted to provide a yearly theme to help focus the public’s attention. The 2024 theme is African Americans and the Arts, including the fields of visual and performing arts, literature, fashion, folklore, language, film, music, architecture, and culinary arts.</p><p><img border="0" data-original-height="231" data-original-width="165" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5rYPxM-HEImPXu2PlBUQf1GIRLQ7G6J4NTQmvjYtCjMvRGcokJ9X3qc8gnnlETbEgRglfAG3zXP_sla-gvqhUP_KSFjHsIshWWJ5U3R9HLQLxN6EbGHcd9WQu6LNqEyYWYvPYR9LydqjnWoq5P6zpl4IM-Ej8wib6VO19PlHACx_dxk4pjt6MOr3yTHkX/s1600/Judi%20Ann%20Mason%201973%20PHS%20Senior%20Pic.jpg" width="165" /></p><p>Judi Ann Mason was born Feb. 2, 1955, in Bossier City, Louisiana and grew up in Elm Grove, where her families’ history goes back several generations. Her father was a Baptist preacher, as was her grandfather and great-father and more generations back. She became an orphan as a teenager when her father, the Rev. Walter Mason, passed away. Her mother passed away when Judi Ann was 8. She and a sister were raised by their older sister Viola. She graduated from Parkway High School in 1973, where she was among the first African American students to attend. Bossier Parish schools did not desegregate until 1970. The very first year of integration was her sophomore year, which she spent at Bossier High School, then transferred to Parkway for her last two years.</p><p>In high school, Judi-Ann participated in choir, drama, journalism club and Future Teachers of America. As the only African-American member in many of these clubs and leadership positions, Judi Ann was already a trailblazer. She recalls classmates laughing at her dreams to attend college (saying marriage or immediately joining the workforce was the more typical plan among her peers), and they really howled with laughter when she said she planned to study speech and drama, laughingly asking, “What are you going to do, go to Hollywood?”</p><p>Judi Ann went away to college, but not too far, attending north Louisiana’s HBCU (historically black college or university), Grambling College, which a year later, in 1974, became Grambling State University, and studying speech and drama in the journalism department. While there, she saw an ad for a playwriting contest, with a prize of $ 2,500. She said, “Boy, I could sure use that money,” Mason recalled to the New Orleans Times-Picayune in 1995 and penned her first play, “Living Fat,” at the age of 19. She won that American College Theater Festival’s 1975 Norman Lear award for best original comedy.</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBPdHxJ8ioDkstwgUJOFFXJSJZl8n-xWmDISGwCe6U23YpOqJ-crAaswXDd0NuNzGSdXgZx20CttK0myid78hv78i6pqcKwtkYaldsf5nF1GR5DgLu5_AU30mve7Dnf2AAtvlmCuv6_CGYrAOEJIMe2bL0LT5Ie7_D61WbJSMelll8EAkCSK_8IlUi5fKt/s1182/Judi_Ann_MasonLivinFatPlay.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1182" data-original-width="628" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBPdHxJ8ioDkstwgUJOFFXJSJZl8n-xWmDISGwCe6U23YpOqJ-crAaswXDd0NuNzGSdXgZx20CttK0myid78hv78i6pqcKwtkYaldsf5nF1GR5DgLu5_AU30mve7Dnf2AAtvlmCuv6_CGYrAOEJIMe2bL0LT5Ie7_D61WbJSMelll8EAkCSK_8IlUi5fKt/s320/Judi_Ann_MasonLivinFatPlay.jpg" width="170" /></a></p><p>“Living Fat” was a comedy, which apparently fit with Judi Ann’s sunny personality, Lear later remembered in memorial articles. It covered the dilemma of a poor southern African-American family faced when the father, a bank janitor, came across a windfall of stolen money. It was produced in New York City while Mason was still a college student. Again, while still at Grambling, Mason wrote the play, "A Star Ain't Nothin' but a Hole in Heaven," a semiautobiographical play about an orphaned girl who leaves behind relatives in Louisiana for a broader education. Her senior year in college, it won the first Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award in 1977 for best student-written play. That amazing year Judi Ann also was chosen by Glamour Magazine for its annual list and feature article, “Top Ten College Women.”</p><p>When Judi Ann was fresh out of college, and barely 20 years old, Norman Lear hired her to work on his comedy “Good Times” when she moved to Hollywood to pursue a career in screenwriting. Later, she wrote episodes for “Sanford,” and “Beverly Hills, 90120” and co-wrote the 1996 cable TV movie “Sophie & the Moonhanger.” She became executive story editor for “A Different World,” executive story editor for “I’ll Fly Away,” and development executive and associate head writer for the NBC soap opera, “Generations,” the first soap opera to have an African-American family as main characters. She also wrote the screenplay for the Whoopi Goldberg movie, “Sister Act II: Back in the Habit.” She gained several Emmys for her television work, which sometimes based her out of New York City. As the first</p><p>African-American woman, and also the youngest woman (of any race) in so many of these roles, she inspired other African-American women and young playwrights and screenwriters after her.</p><p>Later in her career, Judi Ann Mason found her calling back home in Bossier City. The Sept 20, 2000 issue of the Shreveport Times reported Judi Ann recalling that she had hiked up to a waterfall at Robert Redford’s ranch in Utah. She realized the peace she found while sitting beside the waterfall, feeling its mist on her face, was something she’d been deeply missing that she wasn’t going to find in Hollywood. She had always maintained a home in Bossier City, and she made the decision to move back fulltime, continuing her writing projects from her Bossier home office.</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq4YDVjbjatZ1D_1BEMVZ_Jm-gKok6c4h_DZZEbaYaxMliDslkh19E9IZY6e9gt3gRg2OFpLKoG-F6eHVuQvpmEneIHdaubhEQB5hxf3Mqs-6Su6Ka2MtEukvdJfrurFdhW2mSeRQ8d3enh9D8vkA35qC9XkZyIpXuzoH8rmu5MejYArDngopOFJk6veIe/s2535/Judi_Ann_Mason_picture.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2535" data-original-width="1452" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq4YDVjbjatZ1D_1BEMVZ_Jm-gKok6c4h_DZZEbaYaxMliDslkh19E9IZY6e9gt3gRg2OFpLKoG-F6eHVuQvpmEneIHdaubhEQB5hxf3Mqs-6Su6Ka2MtEukvdJfrurFdhW2mSeRQ8d3enh9D8vkA35qC9XkZyIpXuzoH8rmu5MejYArDngopOFJk6veIe/s320/Judi_Ann_Mason_picture.jpg" width="183" /></a></p><p>Once back in Bossier, the children of some old friends asked Judi Ann if she would write a Christmas play for them to perform at their church. She wrote “Joyful, Joyful,” and the play was a hit. The kids asked her for more; she complied, and she realized she had a great love for children’s theatre and inspiring local children to find their voice and follow their dreams. Soon she’d put together an acting team called Rock Sold T4Y (Theater for Youth). Tragically, Judi Ann Mason died too young on July 8, 2009 of a ruptured aorta. She left behind two children.</p><p>Visit the History Center to look at an oral history interview with her brother Rev. Walter Mason (Sr.), one of several Baptist ministers who preached here in Bossier. To be able to present the well-rounded view of American history that Carter G. Woodson promoted, the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center is always looking to add more photographs or documents of African-American life in Bossier Parish. We can always make copies and you keep the originals. We are currently focused especially on obtaining photographs and church histories from as many African-American religious congregations in Bossier Parish as possible.</p><p>The Bossier Parish Libraries History Center is located at 2206 Beckett St., Bossier City, LA. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org</p><p></p><p>For other fun facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.</p><p><br /></p><p>Images: </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Judi Ann Mason’s senior picture in the 1973 Parkway High School yearbook</i></li><li><i style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Advertisement for “Livin’ Fat,” A Family Comedy by Judi Ann Mason at the Jubilee Theatre in downtown Fort Worth, TX</i><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">. “</span><i style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Fort Worth Star-Telegram,</i><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span><i style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Dec. 29, 1995</i></li><li><i>Judi Ann Mason pictured in Washington, D. C. with Louisiana Fourth District Congressman Joe D Waggonner Jr, “Bossier Tribune,” Nov. 10, 1977</i></li></ul><p></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px;"><a data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0" href="https://www.newspapers.com/paper/bossier-tribune/23538/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"></a></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div>Article by: Pam Carlisle</div><p></p>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17844271170816409273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101082324631266338.post-75800351459379322892024-02-21T07:00:00.001-06:002024-02-21T07:00:00.146-06:00Phyllis Kidd’s Words from the Heart<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br />The special recognition of Black history was begun by Dr. Carter G. Woodson (1875 – 1950), a Harvard-trained historian whose parents had been enslaved. Dr. Woodson believed black people had a culture and tradition that scholars should investigate and artists should use as inspiration. He challenged all Americans to understand their country by seeing beyond American culture as simply transplanted British culture.<p></p><p><br /></p><p>When Carter G. Woodson established Negro History week in February, 1926 (which became Black History Month in 1976), he wanted to provide a yearly theme to help focus the public’s attention. The 2024 theme is African Americans and the Arts, including the fields of visual and performing arts, literature, fashion, folklore, language, film, music, architecture, and culinary arts.</p><p><br /></p><p>Ms. Phyllis A. Kidd was a local author and poet from Bossier City. She put her heart and soul into every word she wrote and encouraged other writers, including children, visiting schools and volunteering for Artbreak, a hands-on family festival celebrating the importance of curriculum-based arts programs. She began writing around 1994. Her inspiration to write arrived through her faith in God and heart complications that frightened her into thinking each heartbeat could be her last. She decided it was time to share some things with her two children, and she started with simply writing them letters.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUiG-OfBJqyKP2qZB2xlvnyO2HXvKhhyphenhyphenHjk4VqS6054zZBGzXdJ-oiVytA_Z_UMmlqFFJLg-jNt4FzE8pxbvO55sAUHQCeg3UzhWRsZeogfqwczUKQB_luDLro_jUYbuFuRqBxqEfO4vKtjtZs953wi1QOwfCiVFJssGgDpRmtFkV6nGlIhPUamnD0oumO/s2608/IMG_20240215_152647.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2608" data-original-width="2313" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUiG-OfBJqyKP2qZB2xlvnyO2HXvKhhyphenhyphenHjk4VqS6054zZBGzXdJ-oiVytA_Z_UMmlqFFJLg-jNt4FzE8pxbvO55sAUHQCeg3UzhWRsZeogfqwczUKQB_luDLro_jUYbuFuRqBxqEfO4vKtjtZs953wi1QOwfCiVFJssGgDpRmtFkV6nGlIhPUamnD0oumO/s320/IMG_20240215_152647.jpg" width="284" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDI0rppsA2V9RYn-f-Ygey_dBYUXHJkZvCRR8-oszt-vPGDJx32xJ0nG0JvOFo4RWRTGfsEbvcPCW72zVD94KdmS3V_T6YN9Ye0jPSbzrEScZZipXEWK3xPolDdtxppyljBd-_Knr3W_kVY7VIMMWFVj6-lkNKo7keheYPBuGTDnUemj89zJfCEEXXVLJC/s3264/IMG_20240215_152514.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDI0rppsA2V9RYn-f-Ygey_dBYUXHJkZvCRR8-oszt-vPGDJx32xJ0nG0JvOFo4RWRTGfsEbvcPCW72zVD94KdmS3V_T6YN9Ye0jPSbzrEScZZipXEWK3xPolDdtxppyljBd-_Knr3W_kVY7VIMMWFVj6-lkNKo7keheYPBuGTDnUemj89zJfCEEXXVLJC/s320/IMG_20240215_152514.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><p></p><p><br /></p><p>Additional hardships also prompted her to write, including the loss of her job. She recognized that God gave her the desire to write about things she knew about and lived on a daily basis. She found encouragement, kindred spirits and an avenue for publication and poetry readings with the local Trapped Truth Poetry Society. Ms. Kidd’s first book of poems is suitably titled “Straight from the Heart of Phyllis Kidd” located at the History Center. Her later book, “I Still Have My Joy,” was initially typed and proofread by her friend Adrian Lee, who worked at Bossier Central Library. Sadly, Phyllis Kidd passed away in 2001 when she was only 50 years old. Her poem, “Then I Came to Myself” was read at her funeral by her sister Cynthia Kidd:</p><p><br /></p><p>…I was almost overcome, I was almost vexed beyond belief, I was perplexed, I of all people had become fearful, I was about to give up, to succumb to the enemy, he had me going for a while, “Then I Came to Myself”</p><p><br /></p><p>...No! No! Self-help Book delivered me, no transcendental meditation did this; it was God all the way!”</p><p><br /></p><p>I literally took Him at His word, “Then I Came to Myself” (excerpt)</p><p><br /></p><p>Phyllis Kidd wrote her poem I HAVE AN ATTITUDE (yes, she meant for it to be in all caps) in honor of Black History month:</p><p><br /></p><p>I HAVE AN ATTITUDE</p><p><br /></p><p>We are Magnificent, Resourceful, Brilliant, Suave, Arrogant, Proud and Angry, Yes!</p><p><br /></p><p>And I Wonder Why?</p><p><br /></p><p>We have Prodigies. We are Skilled. We are Wise. We can Excel, even after being Prohibited. And Angry, Yes!</p><p><br /></p><p>And I Wonder Why?</p><p><br /></p><p>We are Perceptive, Keen, Abiding, Submissive, Enduring Servitude, being of Grandeur Descent, and Angry, Yes!</p><p><br /></p><p>And I Wonder Why?</p><p><br /></p><p>The Long Hidden Secret is Out. We Are, We Were, We Will Again. And Angry, No!</p><p><br /></p><p>Because I Know Why.</p><p><br /></p><p>Her piece titled Jamil Guess What! is in reference to another poem of hers, What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up? based on the time her then seven-year-old granddaughter asked her that very question.</p><p><br /></p><p>Jamil Guess What! (excerpt)</p><p><br /></p><p>…Who would have ever thought that I would be writing and reading poetry? One never knows what a day may bring. We don’t know what God has in store for us. We don’t know what our lives will evolve into. When you asked me the question, “What do you want to be when I grow up?”, I had no earthly idea that I was still growing. It’s amazing, for life is truly a “journey and not a destination.” I thought I had become all that I was supposed to be.</p><p><br /></p><p>…So, Jamil, guess what, I’m an Author, or at least somewhat!</p><p><br /></p><p>Visit the History Center to look at Phyllis Kidd’s poetry books in our collection or view her oral history transcript. (You can also access that in our online collections database.) To be able to present the well-rounded view of American History that Carter G. Woodson promoted, the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center is always looking to add more photographs or documents of African-American life in Bossier Parish. We can always make copies and you keep the originals. We are currently focused especially on obtaining photographs and church histories from as many African-American religious congregations in Bossier Parish as possible.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Bossier Parish Libraries History Center is located at 2206 Beckett St., Bossier City, LA. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org</p><p><br /></p><p>For other fun facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok,</p>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17844271170816409273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101082324631266338.post-39353538534375358122024-02-14T07:00:00.001-06:002024-02-14T07:00:00.249-06:00The Green Book: A Remnant of a Segregated World<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"> </span>Before the days of the Interstate, Henry Smith, Sr. was driving with his wife and two young children, Henry, Jr. and Cheryl, across country, from their home in Seattle, Washington to his and his wife’s home state of Louisiana. They planned to visit relatives outside of Baton Rouge. They had just crossed into northwestern Louisiana when little Cheryl piped up from the back that she needed to use the restroom. Henry, Sr. looked at the road signs. They were just entering Bossier City, an area with which he was well familiar, having served in the Civilian Conservation Corps on Barksdale Air Force Base and in the small Bossier Parish communities of Haughton and Plain Dealing prior to his service in WWII. Barksdale and the CCC camps had offered the all-black units some protection, but off-base or out-of-camp, he hadn’t forgotten how the black units were made to feel unwelcome and unsafe. He begged her to wait, exclaiming that Bossier City was the absolute worst place of the entire trip for them to have to make a stop. The little girl insisted she could NOT wait.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEide3u_-WJQPhAM21bM1QFERGDeCVardNUVGIlcViQeO6YbB62FRIV3CcFBjg8whhdRo4GFH-3_RC5jYr8qfyfe5Vt3McwaLdWgzF4-Ru4ApA9K3F0iYuSWMC1uystQWVUOsR_HBg0cOoN-WOG_L-Mw-hG1ydw6Wn9G3mIwQVreuT7kHRrcXiw55TlhcxpJ/w162-h162/HenrySmithByOliverLudlow.jpg" width="162" /> <img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQBu5_1yxP4AY9gxnJSkRQBL2uRMzNgeR0vgYFyW4HB6AgEjaRvhO5K3vied61StO1IoA2hfj0E_66gHTRCKyzUVEiTX-3p0lkkvl3ufYuGQ_wK2IgKe1UeY1ovfl00SoYq0YtgVmaYGDj2w0bHivoRrYXFkha1LVEIAMphC7BdgXdANqCbYp2-9wQluMs/w159-h159/Kevin%20Shannahan.jpg" width="159" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Mr. Henry Smith (junior), researcher and author, can tell you this story better, and how upon seeing the condition of the segregated “facilities” the white gas station attendant offered, his little sister realized she could “hold it” after all. You will have the opportunity to hear him tell this story and others at Green Book Sites in Louisiana: Remnants and Recollections of a Segregated World: A Black History Month talk and slideshow at the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center along with Kevin Shannahan, reporter and photographer. This special program will be held Thursday, Feb. 22nd, 2024 at 6pm at 2206 Beckett St., Bossier City, LA.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh0wArv3DPtpEYETpRMxP6_F53FsYWhAkgieuKNXDl_k5HchPoXZ550zXjRSl-BSmG8BZor_NanDBCnCOzViIcjiSn9fokOfqBkiq67fPgxLNzTgV6yoFmEodUHdSPFiIsfk3hKgGj43b7iLP85HISO8HqYhI1F5lLQo3wuCfz_b63XgieEgASIlHoyUinQ" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1023" data-original-width="735" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh0wArv3DPtpEYETpRMxP6_F53FsYWhAkgieuKNXDl_k5HchPoXZ550zXjRSl-BSmG8BZor_NanDBCnCOzViIcjiSn9fokOfqBkiq67fPgxLNzTgV6yoFmEodUHdSPFiIsfk3hKgGj43b7iLP85HISO8HqYhI1F5lLQo3wuCfz_b63XgieEgASIlHoyUinQ" width="172" /></a></div><p>The “Negro Motorist/Travelers’ Green Book” was a road-travel and vacation guide for African-Americans that was published in the U.S. from 1936 to 1967, a time when segregation and suspicion toward African-American travelers meant anything from a lack of available services, to grave threats toward their safety. “The Green Book” was a directory of service providers and accommodations that welcomed African-American travelers, including hotels, motels, gas stations, and beauty salons. With a characteristic green cover, it was published by an African-American postal worker in Harlem, New York named Victor Hugo Green. The book expanded as Green gathered tips from readers and other postal workers from around the country, eventually listing more than 9,500 safe havens nationwide.</p><p></p><p><br /></p><p>Kevin Shannahan’s images of the remnants of Green Book sites in Louisiana provide a way to explore African-American history through a photographic lens that highlights black entrepreneurship in Louisiana. His photos show the architectural and artifactual remains of these historically successful businesses that served local African American customers and those who were making safe passage to somewhere else. A reporter and photographer, Mr. Shannahan has been a resident of Natchitoches since 1994. A former Air Force officer, he taught in the Troops to Teachers Program in Red River Parish for four years and is a recently retired state employee. Kevin has a professional photography business, Kevin Shannahan Photography and is a writer and photographer for the Natchitoches Parish Journal. He is also an amateur historian with an interest in Louisiana during the Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras.</p><p> <img border="0" data-original-height="1177" data-original-width="1600" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6e7lkBCs6ojy60f5kZCLXPE_Fr8HggwiRYjY0iRv1mfTfo4n2KqR57QeyDUKAUKMNp3CumK18eX0-axQcGCVni8i9Y-qpQHp7WaroZp8JfbWDDGtKbYIiMBSnrbGy2jL_6ymfiaDM9hogFWkvGV_sKgKtA-_37QKJtq5VJ0wH3YwBV5RbgicNHbMvreN0/w202-h148/Carrie'sBeautySchool.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="202" /><span style="text-align: center;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjigTcUF9eelzlSSJw6HEQCBcLa4Mt9-1jsrae12bjvPYKdC52t9w6NjgcHx7loWANpPaZl_HaKASG8s0_dCARGrmOVBL5FVG7l4k0D704TGzRKZ7vpnOSYR05CPjlWcQUUCKWmmiE9L_BqfvZr5W_BR_C-paNM3SivJWuV233DSFF5ufN_0r7jaiksKf4X/s1600/HotelLincolnDiningRoom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1600" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjigTcUF9eelzlSSJw6HEQCBcLa4Mt9-1jsrae12bjvPYKdC52t9w6NjgcHx7loWANpPaZl_HaKASG8s0_dCARGrmOVBL5FVG7l4k0D704TGzRKZ7vpnOSYR05CPjlWcQUUCKWmmiE9L_BqfvZr5W_BR_C-paNM3SivJWuV233DSFF5ufN_0r7jaiksKf4X/w215-h144/HotelLincolnDiningRoom.jpg" width="215" /></a></p><p>Mr. Smith’s stories of traveling cross-country by automobile with his parents and little sister from Seattle to Louisiana in the 1950’s will vividly provide the context within which the Green Book existed, the inconveniences and perils for African-Americans traveling the roads of America in the Jim-Crow era. Currently of Bossier City, Mr. Smith was raised in Seattle, Washington. He was the Dr. James W. Washington, Jr. and Janie Rogella Washington Foundation Writer-in-Residence for June 2019 in Seattle. He is a Board member of The Gloster Arts Project of Gloster, MS, and has formerly worked as a libraryand archives technician, including for the National Archives in Atlanta, Georgia and Washington, DC. He is completing a book based on his father’s life story called The Big Picture.</p><p>Please come visit us on Thursday night February 22nd to hear Mr. Smith’s and Shannahan’s program. Or stop by anytime this month to see our black history month displays, including a small one on the Green Book that also highlights additional resources on the Green Book, such as books and videos, both digital and traditional, available for all ages within the Bossier Parish Libraries system. The Bossier Parish Libraries History Center is located at 2206 Beckett St., Bossier City, LA. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org</p><p><br /></p><p>For other fun facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok.</p>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17844271170816409273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101082324631266338.post-8369656069997838272024-02-07T07:00:00.001-06:002024-02-07T07:00:00.409-06:00Mysterious Disappearance of Barksdale General and Airmen Still Unsolved<p>Throughout history there have been many intriguing and mysterious disappearances that remain unsolved such as the Lost Colony of Roanoke, the crew of the Mary Celeste, Amelia Earhart, and the men of Flight 19. One such disappearance has ties to Barksdale Air Force Base, and, although not as well-known as these more famous cases, it nonetheless is still mystifying 73 years after it happened.</p><p>In early 1951, the U.S. Air Force’s Strategic Air Command (SAC) established the 7th Air Division and assigned it to England to help counter the growing threat from the Soviet Union. SAC bombers stationed there could serve as a deterrent to Soviet hostilities. Brigadier General Paul Cullen was chosen to command the division and oversee its operations.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcKNMGHLQuvb9ZwCJYy7v4gx539Qshg-He7bDUEQvefaqe2y1P3bwTvT_uBOI28H_zVljybYeU7GnAJ49fVfyKIgk5zQVEzIfTmfjHYSKqMZM6nq-dC33SUlZDqdEj1Mp8BdCJtWcnT8xhL9nyesteluyLs3jAFGUYQ1BF7Dcvn6bMfdUhZYAbnyEOaF6e/s678/general%20paul%20cullen%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="585" data-original-width="678" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcKNMGHLQuvb9ZwCJYy7v4gx539Qshg-He7bDUEQvefaqe2y1P3bwTvT_uBOI28H_zVljybYeU7GnAJ49fVfyKIgk5zQVEzIfTmfjHYSKqMZM6nq-dC33SUlZDqdEj1Mp8BdCJtWcnT8xhL9nyesteluyLs3jAFGUYQ1BF7Dcvn6bMfdUhZYAbnyEOaF6e/w249-h215/general%20paul%20cullen%202.jpg" width="249" /></a></div><p>Born in 1901, Cullen joined the military at a time when aviation was still developing. According to his official Air Force biography, he entered service as a flying cadet in June, 1928. Only a year earlier, Charles Lindbergh had become the first person to fly solo, nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean. Cullen would become proficient in photo reconnaissance, and his biography states that, among his career achievements, he commanded the Air Force Photo Unit during Operation Crossroads, the atom bomb tests conducted just after World War II.</p><p></p><p>Cullen’s association with Barksdale came as commander and later vice commander of the 2nd Air Force, which was headquartered at the base beginning in 1949. And it was at Barksdale that Cullen boarded the flight which would carry him and 52 others into the unknown.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH_tStJ_9dIugdKDfJ-sd-RTG90J2bgfCE4pZZr1o9SyOkSASuIw-qt-ZLFRIrJv0PUk4RLBkSMsPtLrBoUhGjV24WZqMKaOLb5Sph43b9Gfs_l_v1113xo2L0s0wbOxtrziNUPbQlIVdqGC_3n618RNYF20HTtWuimcykmMd8zers5X4cA-0MYiQiS5Fx/s800/C-124C_Globemaster_II.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH_tStJ_9dIugdKDfJ-sd-RTG90J2bgfCE4pZZr1o9SyOkSASuIw-qt-ZLFRIrJv0PUk4RLBkSMsPtLrBoUhGjV24WZqMKaOLb5Sph43b9Gfs_l_v1113xo2L0s0wbOxtrziNUPbQlIVdqGC_3n618RNYF20HTtWuimcykmMd8zers5X4cA-0MYiQiS5Fx/s320/C-124C_Globemaster_II.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The Douglas C-124 Globemaster II departed Walker Air Force Base in Roswell, New Mexico on March 21, 1951 and flew to Barksdale where Brig. Gen. Cullen and his staff joined the other passengers, which included experts in various air defense operations. England was their destination where Cullen would take charge of the 7th. According to Flying Magazine, the Globemaster was an aircraft which “tended to shake a lot, even in calm skies, earning it the nickname ‘Old Shaky.’” It was in these somewhat uncomfortable conditions that the flight made a brief refueling stop in Maine before heading out over the open North Atlantic on Friday, March 23rd. Checking in with weather ships along the route, the flight’s radio operator reported the plane’s position Friday evening as being approximately 800 miles from the coast of Ireland. All seemed to be going well, but that suddenly changed.<p></p><p>An article titled “Last Flight, the Missing Airmen, March 1951” on the Walker Aviation Museum website states that the C-124 gave out a mayday call, reporting a fire in the cargo crates and saying that the plane would have to set down in the ocean. “The aircraft was intact when it touched down,” according to the website. “All hands exited the aircraft wearing life preservers and climbed into inflated 5-man life rafts. The rafts were equipped with cold weather gear, food, water, flares, and … hand-crank emergency radios.” Having survived the forced water landing, the crew and passengers awaited rescue. It came too late.</p><p>An Air Force B-29 was sent from England and located the men and circled their position, but had to return to base after running low on fuel. According to the Walker Aviation Museum website, “Not one ship or a single aircraft returned to the position … until Sunday, the 25th of March, 1951.” When help did come, rescuers found nothing other than “some charred crates and a partially deflated life raft,” the website states. The 53 men were gone, vanished without a trace. A search lasting several days proved futile.</p><p>Despite the passage of time, answers to the mystery of what happened to Cullen and the others haven’t been forthcoming. Could a sudden storm have created rough seas that swamped the life rafts? Did the Russians, as some have speculated, snatch the men? The website for the Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives states that “… it was revealed that Soviet submarines and surface vessels were active in the area.” The website also notes, “Due to their expertise in nuclear and other defense matters, Cullen and the other men on the airplane would have been an intelligence windfall to the Soviets.”</p><p>Questions have been asked about the delay in help arriving. Could the men have been saved if rescue had come sooner? Perhaps one day, we’ll know. Perhaps a long-secret document will come to light that will provide some sense of closure for the men’s families. For now, the “Last Flight” article may sum up the situation best. “We do not know what fate befell these men,” it states.</p><p>Thanks to William Lane Callaway, historian for the Eighth Air Force, Joint-Global Strike Operations Center and Air Forces Strategic-Air Directorates, for his assistance with this article.</p><p><br /></p><p>If you have any photos or other information relating to mysterious happenings in Bossier Parish, the History Center may be interested in adding the materials to its research collection by donation or by scanning them and returning the originals. Call or visit us to learn more. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org. We can also be found online at https://www.facebook.com/BPLHistoryCenter/</p><p>Images: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Brigadier General Paul Cullen/courtesy United States Air Force</li><li>C-124 Globemaster II/courtesy United States Air Force</li></ul><div>Article by: Kevin Flowers</div><p></p>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17844271170816409273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101082324631266338.post-6242085647518649012024-01-31T07:00:00.004-06:002024-01-31T07:00:00.138-06:00Bossier City Library: From Small Branch to The Central Complex<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Bossier City Library Branch opened on September 21, 1940 in the old Bossier City Hall on Barksdale Boulevard, under librarian Miss Margaret Frances Wiseman, with library experience from Concordia and Morehouse Parishes, and assisted by Myra Wiley of Bossier City. It was among the first three branches of the brand-new, “demonstration” Bossier Parish Library System (along with Plain Dealing and Haughton and Benton Headquarters), meant to give parish voters the opportunities to see the possibilities and value of a library system, initially operated with largely state and federal resources, and then vote to keep it going with local funding.</div><p></p><p>Homer T. Cox, chairman of the Bossier City Library Committee, announcing the opening in an article in the Shreveport Times on 20 Sept. 1940, said that about 2,000 books would be available at the Bossier City branch. (Now the Bossier City “branch” is considered the Central Library, and has about that many items for loan in the category of “Tween,” kids roughly age 9-12, alone!)</p><p>A prized photograph in the History Center’s collection shows the Bossier Branch Library in the court room spectator area of Bossier City Hall, Oct. 2, 1941. The low railing separating the the litigation (well) area and the public (spectator) areas can be seen in the foreground. (If a court session ran over into scheduled “library time,” library users would just have to wait).</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8L8wLQ4hauIsMuIKcpncaEkctFnCUp4pM0YD5EF9zK_ZiDTMXtA982z_fPIRdp642rJnckDkDN7uBw3ukduwG4cV5eXYaoUhNdQWLSa0ImcVSilD__DyPJXHChUyXeQinHQSAOZqyZafr3nBNNQefHxdkt-xW-U4208lgbhMQ5r7E5q2yCdODbrhA7x6Q/s1238/SoldiersInLibrary.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="926" data-original-width="1238" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8L8wLQ4hauIsMuIKcpncaEkctFnCUp4pM0YD5EF9zK_ZiDTMXtA982z_fPIRdp642rJnckDkDN7uBw3ukduwG4cV5eXYaoUhNdQWLSa0ImcVSilD__DyPJXHChUyXeQinHQSAOZqyZafr3nBNNQefHxdkt-xW-U4208lgbhMQ5r7E5q2yCdODbrhA7x6Q/s320/SoldiersInLibrary.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p></p><p>In this photo, a group of servicemen in uniform and librarian Irma Rayne are shown sitting or standing, writing, reading or visiting. The photo is From Bossier Tribune, Oct. 2, 1941. The newspaper story with the photograph is titled, “Soldiers Enjoy Use of Library:”</p><p>“That soldiers on maneuver (training exercises in Louisiana to prepare for the event of US entry into WWII), lonely and far from home, find libraries a godsend is testified by the above photograph of soldiers making themselves at home in the Bossier City branch library. The library makes a standing offer of stationery and writing materials for any solder desiring to use them…Night after night soldiers appeared to seat themselves at the reading tables and write home. Others enjoyed the newspapers, current magazines and books provided by the library. All were pleased with the friendly hospitality shown them…[and] the library was pleased to be of service.”</p><p>The Bossier City branch remained there for several years before moving to a neighboring storefront location on Barksdale Blvd. In 1959, the library moved again to its current location on Benton Road (at the corner of Beckett Street.) This Benton Road location doubled in size with a 1967 expansion. A major remodel in 1988 resulted in the current library facility, which is facing Beckett Street.</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbn9w1v_vYDabFBtXlgaHrBiseTg3k7J2Gk0pfnsubLajKfKZv0oixG6icBghEuMsSb2cCTJuZpGgxuVI5T3uF3n_zMHnLGyKW4r3ti9fb99PwpVI1C2Z4EXzRNjf6xFjEaUnvC-6IUnHQDtvOKjdlslmN1restyMODFfwHbSCvf_4Byn3AXU3_rfaLu8x/s739/BCLibrary2BarksdaleBlvd.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="739" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbn9w1v_vYDabFBtXlgaHrBiseTg3k7J2Gk0pfnsubLajKfKZv0oixG6icBghEuMsSb2cCTJuZpGgxuVI5T3uF3n_zMHnLGyKW4r3ti9fb99PwpVI1C2Z4EXzRNjf6xFjEaUnvC-6IUnHQDtvOKjdlslmN1restyMODFfwHbSCvf_4Byn3AXU3_rfaLu8x/s320/BCLibrary2BarksdaleBlvd.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p></p><p>In the early 1960s, the Bossier Parish Library announced plans to compile a collection of photographs, scrapbooks, and other information related to the history of the parish. These items were indexed and kept at the Bossier City branch. A dedicated history center opened in 1998, directly behind the Central Branch on Beckett Street. The building features large exhibit spaces and a storage room for archival material, and its adjacent but separate addition made the Central Library a complex of three different structures that had been pieced together over three decades.</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1MwQ7LKjzxs1Qz8ivyUiwub_r2Htw5U9SZ5lzMUJ1tj6Y4LfMUYLaOUdA2JNfHQuVuJg8lda6U1PTb2UKKn9J-MkAgS7rlF9QM3Yj_f8WLwMRx3z7lLlYIw02FnOF5w08Io1aEJQgPGqMBaAto8dxbVt7rD5dA1ukhN8_rhwFDmA8n1MLQ4syefiGZoiJ/s627/BCLibraryC1959BentonRd.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="439" data-original-width="627" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1MwQ7LKjzxs1Qz8ivyUiwub_r2Htw5U9SZ5lzMUJ1tj6Y4LfMUYLaOUdA2JNfHQuVuJg8lda6U1PTb2UKKn9J-MkAgS7rlF9QM3Yj_f8WLwMRx3z7lLlYIw02FnOF5w08Io1aEJQgPGqMBaAto8dxbVt7rD5dA1ukhN8_rhwFDmA8n1MLQ4syefiGZoiJ/s320/BCLibraryC1959BentonRd.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p>We are excited that a new 39,000-plus square foot state-of-the-art facility has been built directly across Beckett Street from this complex at the corner of City Hall Drive. Features of the new library include large-capacity, multi-functional community meeting spaces and more computers and technology equipment. The current facility was built before computers were even available to the public! The expected move-in time for the Central Library is coming in March of 2024. The History Center will follow Central across the street several months later.</p><p>To learn more about any Bossier Parish library history, visit the Bossier Parish Library’s History Center, 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City. The History Center is open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org</p><p>For other fun facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.</p><p><br /></p><p>Photos: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Soldiers on maneuvers using the Bossier City Branch library, located in the courtroom of old Bossier City Hall on Barksdale Blvd (currently home of the Bossier Arts Council). 1941.</li><li>Bossier City Library in a storefront on Barksdale Blvd., downtown Bossier City, c. 1950.</li><li>Bossier City Library on Benton Road, c.1959</li></ul><div>Article by: Pam Carlisle</div><p></p>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17844271170816409273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101082324631266338.post-68041877599750304272024-01-17T07:00:00.001-06:002024-01-17T07:00:00.130-06:00Still Waters: The Freezing of a River and its Lasting Impact<p> The waters of the Red River, normally free flowing, came to a halt in December 1983, and 40 years later, this event is still a source of wonder and awe. Few times in local history have cold temperatures made their presence known on such a grand scale or created such a stunning display.</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF3KWy2LLqkxe7pPPkKYqvqyVMBpbGJbO8VGMrQ81SCPanEQMGOM1P0KbT2ZA7Qbr5Jputbml4ZhYwTMuMN5jUZLRsZfxLCI9PQ9NcssT3BzxCmOsoP0UmNV2RRYeBW4uLWT1qcAx5UxtaR9Zhwoq60wJUEUwEA48IGldtgux7Q2pvCAEpLA9y8br9ToIf/s4298/Bossier_Tribune_Fri__Dec_30__1983_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2846" data-original-width="4298" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF3KWy2LLqkxe7pPPkKYqvqyVMBpbGJbO8VGMrQ81SCPanEQMGOM1P0KbT2ZA7Qbr5Jputbml4ZhYwTMuMN5jUZLRsZfxLCI9PQ9NcssT3BzxCmOsoP0UmNV2RRYeBW4uLWT1qcAx5UxtaR9Zhwoq60wJUEUwEA48IGldtgux7Q2pvCAEpLA9y8br9ToIf/s320/Bossier_Tribune_Fri__Dec_30__1983_.jpg" width="320" /></a>As residents prepared for Christmas in ’83, the weather gave no hint of what was to come. According to author and National Weather Service observer Billy Andrews, conditions were nothing out of the ordinary. “The first ten days of the month were typical of December weather ... ranging from above to slightly below normal on temperatures,” he writes in his book “Outstanding Weather Phenomena in the ARK-LA-TEX.” “Most of us would not remember that the high temperature on December 9th was 72 degrees.” Those mild temps would not last.</p><p>Bone-chilling arctic winds began blowing south from Canada and reached our area on December 16th, dumping nearly six inches of snow, according to Andrews. By the 21st, the daytime high never got above freezing. This unrelenting cold set the stage for a spectacle that hadn’t been seen here in nearly a century.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjffBn9bl6dGXJnaIgIW09KcRnCrmn0W5i4tsZ7M7nl4mvDJPkA9rYssY_xtBKTQfsZC9hzcndtpwVyCk6Gr9zrxQIkcN-tEveveqzLVKVzN7K62QHe0Ah04VkPvfhK6o3QkFYcQLmRl4YfRergx3rHrCNWYFk7N8v5LQKb4EPBFHDskbpbc0BFLQ6CLgKy/s960/roger%20braniff%20image%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="639" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjffBn9bl6dGXJnaIgIW09KcRnCrmn0W5i4tsZ7M7nl4mvDJPkA9rYssY_xtBKTQfsZC9hzcndtpwVyCk6Gr9zrxQIkcN-tEveveqzLVKVzN7K62QHe0Ah04VkPvfhK6o3QkFYcQLmRl4YfRergx3rHrCNWYFk7N8v5LQKb4EPBFHDskbpbc0BFLQ6CLgKy/s320/roger%20braniff%20image%203.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>With temperatures plunging to new lows seemingly every day, chunks of ice began appearing in the Red River, amassing along both banks. As this buildup grew, open water slowly vanished. Helped by a record low of six degrees on Christmas Day, nature worked its magic; the mighty Red was stilled, its waters frozen. Like a vanquished foe, the river lay silent and motionless.<p></p><p><br /></p><p>The curious braved the elements to witness this once-in-a generation occurrence, professional photographer Roger Braniff, Sr. among them. With camera in hand, he ventured out with members of his family. “We just decided to drive around to see what we could see,” he said. “We drove down to the river and were surprised by what we found.” The amazing photos he took are priceless, capturing the Red at its most unrecognizable. Braniff admitted being somewhat concerned watching people walk out onto the ice. “I didn’t know how thick it was and thought they could fall through,” he said.</p><p><br /></p><p>In his book, Andrews states that from December 21st through the 27th, the area endured 138 straight hours of temperatures at or below freezing. “The extended period of very cold weather the latter half of the month … resulted in the coldest December of record,” he writes. “The magnitude of the ice jam ... probably has not occurred since February 1895.” Conditions during that 19th century winter were very similar to conditions in 1983, according to his book, with temperatures of 32 degrees or below lasting 168 consecutive hours.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwhg1JhyM-G9gneyjPLN7KLRkCiQmu9stBMESAvTsaJpWJo-9_yE2DwOZG2K2J5sV77BvlxUO0TYN33YlQf6RPVnWOsGEEz095rRVLJV0JjGPHQ2TxGJMgk21eoel3C24rgrR3kwmIW7kiexQ-k0w8k2NaxDdWYB_dhepwqBwCDCNheik5K5wFBo7X1jZX/s960/roger%20braniff%20image%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="960" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwhg1JhyM-G9gneyjPLN7KLRkCiQmu9stBMESAvTsaJpWJo-9_yE2DwOZG2K2J5sV77BvlxUO0TYN33YlQf6RPVnWOsGEEz095rRVLJV0JjGPHQ2TxGJMgk21eoel3C24rgrR3kwmIW7kiexQ-k0w8k2NaxDdWYB_dhepwqBwCDCNheik5K5wFBo7X1jZX/s320/roger%20braniff%20image%202.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p>Despite the passage of 40 years, the events of December ‘83 still play a role in Braniff’s life. After storing his images decades ago, he decided to post them to his Facebook page where they were noticed and shared by Mike and Mark Mangham of Twin Blends: Northwest Louisiana History Hunters and garnered lots of likes and comments. Then came my phone call with questions for this article. The attention has been unexpected. “I’ve been amazed, actually,” Braniff said. “I had the photos filed away for 35 years.” Their coming to light again demonstrates that sometimes life’s unexpected moments can have the most lasting impact.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p><p>If you have any photos or other information relating to unusual weather phenomena in Bossier Parish, the History Center may be interested in adding the materials to its research collection by donation or by scanning them and returning the originals. Call or visit us to learn more. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org. We can also be found online at https://www.facebook.com/BPLHistoryCenter/ and http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/<br /><br /><br /></p><p>Images: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Both photos are courtesy of Roger Braniff Sr. Photography. </i></li><li><i>The image shows a headline in the Bossier Tribune from December 30, 1983.</i></li></ul><div>Article by: Kevin Flowers</div><p></p>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17844271170816409273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101082324631266338.post-50044734658479339342024-01-10T07:00:00.003-06:002024-01-10T07:00:00.144-06:00Haughton’s Dorothy Elston Alford Memorial Branch Library<p> Haughton was home to one of the three original Bossier Parish Library branches, along with Plain Dealing and Bossier City, and a Benton headquarters. The Haughton library opened Monday Sept 16, 1940, inside the Lea Lawrence store, a historic building in “old Haughton” by the railroad depot that burned down in the late 1990’s.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj35PmT-1Gv8ARKMIQrlNV1Nv3vGNs5iUvuEoxhyphenhyphenr8LDdDkwYSqLIdu1x7-J3SU9_fRlKwU-psgb6brTx633nlXNtfQZycJhKPpBj3dzBCDjjn1hWSt-ShJz3e8hQFSZHM6E-_Bl6tDf0tV1cTM5QAWyEelQvW2TwnzZbqhppxglSElX_OhlRYEY3Oe0vF/s1480/Library_sponsors_group_pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1140" data-original-width="1480" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj35PmT-1Gv8ARKMIQrlNV1Nv3vGNs5iUvuEoxhyphenhyphenr8LDdDkwYSqLIdu1x7-J3SU9_fRlKwU-psgb6brTx633nlXNtfQZycJhKPpBj3dzBCDjjn1hWSt-ShJz3e8hQFSZHM6E-_Bl6tDf0tV1cTM5QAWyEelQvW2TwnzZbqhppxglSElX_OhlRYEY3Oe0vF/s320/Library_sponsors_group_pic.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Winona Tomlinson of Haughton deserves credit not only for establishing the Haughton library but for the parish library system as a whole. As part of the Bossier Parish Parent-Teacher Council, and head of the Bossier Parish Police Jury’s library committee, she worked hard in the 1930s to finally get a “demonstration” library system in the parish, through the State Library of Louisiana in 1940.<p></p><p><br /></p><p>The December 12, 1940 Planters Press newspaper of Bossier City reported on a press release from the state capital with the headline, “Bossier Library Service [is] Meeting with Approval, Late Report Indicates. As a ringing example of this approval, the report stated that in the Haughton post office, the postmistress “rarely misses an opportunity to tell those who come in for mail about the good books to be borrowed.” In addition, the story reported, one of the mail carriers who would regularly come through her post office would pick up the library bookmobile’s weekly schedule from her so he could advise the people on his rural route of when they could meet ”the library on wheels.”</p><p><br /></p><p>The Haughton library moved into the Haughton Masonic building in 1949, and in 1970, the village of Haughton donated land and $5,000 toward the construction of a new library building. The new 1,800-sq. foot building housed both the library and the town hall. When that building was about to open, the Bossier Parish librarian Mrs. Betty Sommer said proudly in the Bossier Press of July 2, 1970, that the Haughton library would have 4,500 books plus records, magazines, and newspapers and that films from the state library would also be available. A highlight was that it will be open forty hours a week, almost twice what it was previously. A special boast was that it was “made of brick, is air-conditioned and has a paved parking lot.”</p><p><br /></p><p>Within less than 20 years, more space was needed for both facilities and the library expanded into the town hall portion of the building in 1987. A new town hall was constructed next door. After this expansion and remodel, the Haughton library was dedicated and renamed the “Dorothy Elston Alford Memorial Haughton Branch.” Mrs. Alford, a lifelong resident of Haughton who received a library degree from Northwestern State in 1943, served as the Haughton branch librarian for 19 years.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjca7Ej7-zQiSTB7LCtcKaQ7JE1jemS4WwKnHeFtjy77rBaFKHq953HQ4-TXV0RjUyFaTAZBVUMEXOat4DnXywlnMjHAtPrdw9X4_xNo1DoaVShhQodzDo0bR_XedRVzLv67TSPZXTBis2fJJavcwR37GC6hxsR_L-DwbhfqUChwrDnQPtIQmHyBvdf21Kx/s567/Haughton%20Library%20C1950.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="542" data-original-width="567" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjca7Ej7-zQiSTB7LCtcKaQ7JE1jemS4WwKnHeFtjy77rBaFKHq953HQ4-TXV0RjUyFaTAZBVUMEXOat4DnXywlnMjHAtPrdw9X4_xNo1DoaVShhQodzDo0bR_XedRVzLv67TSPZXTBis2fJJavcwR37GC6hxsR_L-DwbhfqUChwrDnQPtIQmHyBvdf21Kx/s320/Haughton%20Library%20C1950.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>When the police jury passed the resolution to authorize the renaming and present a commendation to her family, they described the ways in which Dorothy Elston was an inspirational leader, committed to quality and cooperation in staff projects. They stated that children who use the Haughton library “quickly learned to love and appreciate Mrs. Alford because of the courtesy, respect and gentleness with she which she served them…There exists much public support in the Haughton area to name the Haughton branch after Dorothy Elston Alford in memory of the service and personal attention rendered by her.” The name change was resolved in order to perpetuate “the contributions and memory of this unselfish dedicated public servant,” and adopted July 14, 1987, just days after her death at age 64.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Haughton library was again renovated and expanded in 2001. A special touch to the library was its cornerstone, provided by the Haughton Lodge #95 of the Freemasons, laid by Haughton Mayor Billy Maxey and Bossier Sheriff’s deputy Charles Rosalee, who previously had been a brick mason and was also a member of the Freemasons. The cornerstone was the finishing touch to the placement of a time capsule to commemorate the Haughton Masons and all involved and interested in the library, from the police jury members, the school board, sheriff etc. The cornerstone sealed the time capsule for an anticipated 50 years at minimum.</p><p><br /></p><p>To learn more about Mrs. Alford or any Bossier Parish library history, visit the Bossier Parish Library’s History Center, 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City. The History Center is open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org</p><p>For other fun facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.</p><p><br /></p><p>Images: </p><p style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Haughton branch library of Bossier Parish Libraries, C. 1950 (Now called the Dorothy Elston Alford Memorial Branch)</i></span></li><li><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Picture of “Sponsors of the Bossier library project” from the Shreveport Journal, Sept. 21, 1940 <br /><br /></i></span><i style="font-family: times; font-size: 11pt;">Mrs. T.R. (Winona) Tomlinson of Haughton is second from left</i></li></ul><div>Article by: <i>Pam Carlisle</i></div><p></p>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17844271170816409273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101082324631266338.post-25887254621942358262024-01-03T07:00:00.001-06:002024-01-03T07:00:00.141-06:00Creative Relief Efforts in World War II<p> “Bundles for Britain” and the clever and organized World War II fundraising effort by music students at Benton High School, who ran a Christmas carol singalong with a bundle of warm clothing for Brits during Christmas 1941 as the price of admission, was featured in a recent column. Creativity was the name of the game in many wartime fundraising and relief efforts, and there’s more to highlight. Musicians played their part. So did pet lovers, or even the military, using exhibitions of Wartime “trophy” exhibits.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2GqNs9qitBeWGiHXfIc9gwt_V1j9m-chhLjhqDxe2cm7mYNIfSCAb45Qw9lOfeG56i1SM5opaDu3shz9jE7sKpwONWGSE_4g34dsRi_7BEUj52yvnS8KJLLlThW6ME7YpgWsEQB770XSikedYm_KFJaFSJceCBrgC4V49iJBrxo2-s7KTeZNp7JGKmqQF/s3150/FalaPhotographingPhotographers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2397" data-original-width="3150" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2GqNs9qitBeWGiHXfIc9gwt_V1j9m-chhLjhqDxe2cm7mYNIfSCAb45Qw9lOfeG56i1SM5opaDu3shz9jE7sKpwONWGSE_4g34dsRi_7BEUj52yvnS8KJLLlThW6ME7YpgWsEQB770XSikedYm_KFJaFSJceCBrgC4V49iJBrxo2-s7KTeZNp7JGKmqQF/s320/FalaPhotographingPhotographers.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>“Barkers for Britain” used the popularity of Falla, President Roosevelt’s Scottish terrier, to raise money for the Bundles for Britain program to help the Brits make it through an exceptionally cold and under-supplied winter. Dog owners sent in 50 cents and got a Fala-approved tag for their dog’s collar. Not to be outdone by the dogs, my personal favorite, “Kittens for Britain” with spokes cat General Gray, pet of the Director of the United States Office of War Information, Elmer Davis, inspired the same effort. Cat owners could send in their 50 cents and get a bell tag for their pets’ collars.<p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY5-F9X4pvkIqpLOZqMfdO53oLiwlchhJGUx1Et5sQU19ZtCF5Ix1lAudyNyWyJV30ueEeF34HfllPmQ-5ZO9NM-QOSWEntZ_Ickx4VRTttGROrFORJf8eSE-60pK99L_FGNKZRUTyGVCt0K8LfsenGycQP9rc7wa4taYSvmp5iMMsuE4B1rkGCNLpupp7/s432/fala-tag-l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="306" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY5-F9X4pvkIqpLOZqMfdO53oLiwlchhJGUx1Et5sQU19ZtCF5Ix1lAudyNyWyJV30ueEeF34HfllPmQ-5ZO9NM-QOSWEntZ_Ickx4VRTttGROrFORJf8eSE-60pK99L_FGNKZRUTyGVCt0K8LfsenGycQP9rc7wa4taYSvmp5iMMsuE4B1rkGCNLpupp7/s320/fala-tag-l.jpg" width="227" /></a></div>A yellow Persian cat, Bouncey, from Cheneyville, La. was appointed an honorary recruiter in Central Louisiana for the Kittens for Britain club after “writing” a letter that appeared in The Bunkie Record on December 12, 1941, saying that she was tired of just being beautiful and wanted a purpose in life. The “Secretary” of Kittens for Britain, Scoopy, responded in the paper with both congratulations and admonishment: “I am so glad that you have decided not to be just a beautiful, bored darling any longer but instead to join our organization and purr with a purpose. I have always heard that blondes are go-getters, so get busy right now and round up some more members.”<p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Also, to raise awareness of and money for Bundles for Britian, a captured Nazi Messerschmitt 109 fighter plane traveled by truck and trailers to be on display at the Louisiana State Fairgrounds. Upon arrival, seven Noncommissioned technical staff officers from Barksdale Airfield assembled it under the supervision of an engineer lieutenant. It had a prominent spot in a tent on the main street of the fair, diagonally opposite from the grandstand. As announced in the Shreveport Journal that day, already by noon of its arrival on Monday, October 20, 1941, an estimated 850 children had paid to go through the tent to see the plane.</p><p><br /></p><p>In 1943, when the US itself was at war, Bundles for Britain spun off Bundles for Blue Jackets to aid sailors on both American and British war ships. The U.S. also had its own fundraising with war bond sales. Like the Nazi fighter plane, a captured “war trophy” was used to lure visitors and donors. The March 1st 1943, Shreveport Journal wrote that war bond sales were promoted with a display of a captured Japanese submarine at downtown Shreveport’s courthouse.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijS54JA_PC76G1k980cJP2vMFgNcapBJehopzy8WQZSoOUx3puaJ3uApdgHD5dJfOidX5T_2745oRD324nW9J_1ntk5qr9F1nA96uZH5WNVGiOjwI-M0sWNplIJ8ye9eg89w1kHPTMccG5Qp4FUQrpnJT3MM7EGeGYfhbg7h68HguHyjBJ-ldZ2fOHVOBf/s1462/Nazi_Plane_at_State_Fair%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1462" data-original-width="817" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijS54JA_PC76G1k980cJP2vMFgNcapBJehopzy8WQZSoOUx3puaJ3uApdgHD5dJfOidX5T_2745oRD324nW9J_1ntk5qr9F1nA96uZH5WNVGiOjwI-M0sWNplIJ8ye9eg89w1kHPTMccG5Qp4FUQrpnJT3MM7EGeGYfhbg7h68HguHyjBJ-ldZ2fOHVOBf/s320/Nazi_Plane_at_State_Fair%20(1).jpg" width="179" /></a></div>Visitors in long queues waited on both sides of Texas Street to view the submarine if they bought one dollar worth of stamps. They could look through portholes “cut by the Navy and covered with plexiglass,” and see, “A Japanese officer in full regalia set at his post in control of two torpedoes.” The exhibit scared children and adults alike, since the wax figures looked so lifelike. Fear is clearly intended; the models had features as stereotyped as war propaganda posters, which distorted and dehumanized the enemy. One of the wax figures was a “crew man with buck teeth and sinister smirk (who) sat aft where the demolition charge was stored.” Adding to the stimulating atmosphere, over a loudspeaker the suicide mission of the sub and its officers was explained to visitors. This particular sub was grounded, sighted by the coastal patrol and brought ashore by the US Navy with assistance of the Army , and the officer was later captured on Oahu Island. Local high school bands also played all day during the exhibition, and the Barksdale band was scheduled to play in the evening.<p></p><p><br /></p><p>If you like learning about World War II, don’t forget to attend World War Tuesdays on the second Tuesday of the month from 10:30 – noon at the History Center. Next month’s meeting is on January 9th. The History Center is located at 2206 Beckett St, Bossier City, LA. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>For other fun facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.</p><p><br /></p><p>Images: </p><p style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"></p><ul style="font-size: 11pt; text-align: left;"><li><i><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Fala (FDR’s popular Scottish terrier) Photographing the Photographers at the White House, Washington, DC, </span><span style="border: 0px; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">April 7, 1942. </span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Franklin D. Roosevelt Library Photographs, </span><span style="border: 0px; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, U.S. National Archives</span></i></li><li><span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>Fala’s Barkers for Britain tag, U.S. National Archives</i></span></li><li><span style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>State Fair advertisement in The Crowley Post-Signal, Crowley, Louisiana · Wednesday, October 22, 1941</i></span></li></ul><div>Article by: Pam Carlisle<br /><br /><br /></div><p></p>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17844271170816409273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101082324631266338.post-89989731000948203842023-12-27T07:00:00.012-06:002023-12-27T07:00:00.152-06:00Plain Dealing Man Earns Bronze Star During First Major Battle of Vietnam<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkhwwN7cmuRpsCvzSLGBJEvFKfzsNbkXyZz03OsGE6VLEJOJ2VGVTnsJIRo52mUi-iPEZEBPKJJRU197dOFmj8-dTeh6NX5M0_URg25o4fgy_2dyybjK3f6_IdkuJYS8xvxjpepi4l3nIypQA3BCHnJjACaqJN0p_Qb1fVXj7hYQp5DPJGUwmaHK9ElXW8/s4724/Dr.%20Johnson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4724" data-original-width="3840" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkhwwN7cmuRpsCvzSLGBJEvFKfzsNbkXyZz03OsGE6VLEJOJ2VGVTnsJIRo52mUi-iPEZEBPKJJRU197dOFmj8-dTeh6NX5M0_URg25o4fgy_2dyybjK3f6_IdkuJYS8xvxjpepi4l3nIypQA3BCHnJjACaqJN0p_Qb1fVXj7hYQp5DPJGUwmaHK9ElXW8/w169-h208/Dr.%20Johnson.jpg" width="169" /></a></div>Christmas of 1965 is likely one that Plain Dealing native Dr. Tone Johnson won’t forget. He was recovering from wounds suffered in the first major confrontation in Vietnam between U.S. forces and North Vietnamese troops – the Battle of Ia Drang Valley. Prior to this engagement, American involvement had been mainly advisory. That changed with this battle and left a lasting impact on Johnson’s life. What follows is not an uplifting read, but one of courage and bravery in a fight for survival.</div><p>With echoes of the brutal Korean conflict still reverberating across East Asia, the United States stepped up its attempts to halt the spread of communism across the continent by sending combat units to Vietnam in the spring of ’65. That fall, Johnson’s outfit - the 2nd Battalion, 7th Calvary Regiment - faced an enemy that was, as stated in an article in the military news source Stars and Stripes, “well-trained, well-equipped” and “prepared to stand and fight.” The jungle canopy, chest-high elephant grass and vehicle-sized termite mounds gave the North Vietnamese a distinct advantage.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>For Johnson, Ia Drang was literally a world away from the life he’d known growing up in Plain Dealing. The son of a farmer and a graduate of Carrie Martin High School, he enlisted in the Army at age 17 after graduation, and as a private first class, found himself among those souls airlifted into a nightmare.<p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMFYg9xsv72JhjE3q2XYFB9LyJF3dWzVFjvCNwh_1yFIm82AwsipVfFtyVmTdZX305Mn8F0OM3CDPHFyrRLM7H7IMua38yDikaR-d7TKr5Agbg_Av9zGMMUiuSnARlewgh08Keq-3XlK2809ryp8hK3rF8aUnIrm6aE8ZfNduNSvnlzcX-C8bILzFUfMqv/s1200/Huey%20image.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="938" data-original-width="1200" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMFYg9xsv72JhjE3q2XYFB9LyJF3dWzVFjvCNwh_1yFIm82AwsipVfFtyVmTdZX305Mn8F0OM3CDPHFyrRLM7H7IMua38yDikaR-d7TKr5Agbg_Av9zGMMUiuSnARlewgh08Keq-3XlK2809ryp8hK3rF8aUnIrm6aE8ZfNduNSvnlzcX-C8bILzFUfMqv/w246-h192/Huey%20image.jpg" width="246" /></a></div>Air mobility – landing and extracting troops and supplies by helicopter - was a new concept at the time and one the Army was ready to test in battle. For the 2nd Battalion, that test started on November 16th as the unit was dropped off at a point called LZ (Landing Zone) X-Ray to relieve the men of 1st Battalion, 7th Calvary, who had been in a fierce firefight for nearly three days with three enemy regiments. With the assistance of airstrikes and artillery support, the North Vietnamese were driven back, and the 2nd was ordered to march the following day a few miles to a new landing zone, LZ Albany, for extraction.<p></p><p>Marching in heat and humidity while exhausted and hungry was not a task the 2nd Battalion was eager to do, but ignoring orders was not an option. The march proceeded uneventfully, until the men stopped to rest. That’s when, as Johnson recalled in an article in The Times in 1997, “All hell broke loose.” Enemy troops hiding under jungle cover opened up on the Americans with mortar and sniper fire. The 2nd returned fire, but was outnumbered. Johnson fell unconscious after being shot and hit by shrapnel. During a Vietnam War summit televised by C-SPAN in 2016, Johnson described what happened when he awoke. “I felt my face, and it was like somebody had caked mud all over my face,” he said. “It was my own blood, and it was covering my eyes, and I couldn’t see.” Eventually, Johnson was able to continue firing, and as with the fighting at LZ X-Ray, airstrikes and artillery finally drove back the enemy, and Johnson and the other survivors were able to receive medical attention. According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, 155 men of the 2nd were killed in the ambush in what the Stars and Stripes article calls “the U.S. military’s single bloodiest day in Vietnam through the entire war.” Seventy nine other Americans lost their lives at LZ X-Ray.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip79p7-Rlp8vn_bbjioU1Hm96orI2Hyf3QhvgLU6cN5dyqAmJFDKKeH6xJJKnmRQXx3GNi3RZjNv31mpH8JcP07W-7xm_YVB_oCf75IWJ8Yvx6LBnBjhW9a4P9tsovcfepqMZ2d8TUOCDc7DOuiUMFjguSLrSjUk89tlO0CMIfWQFLrxCHuIYCWQ0l57T9/s500/We%20Were%20Soldiers.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="331" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip79p7-Rlp8vn_bbjioU1Hm96orI2Hyf3QhvgLU6cN5dyqAmJFDKKeH6xJJKnmRQXx3GNi3RZjNv31mpH8JcP07W-7xm_YVB_oCf75IWJ8Yvx6LBnBjhW9a4P9tsovcfepqMZ2d8TUOCDc7DOuiUMFjguSLrSjUk89tlO0CMIfWQFLrxCHuIYCWQ0l57T9/w132-h200/We%20Were%20Soldiers.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>The Battle of Ia Drang Valley left no doubt that the conflict in Vietnam would be long and costly. It was detailed in the best-seller “We Were Soldiers Once…and Young,” written by Lt. General Harold Moore and journalist Joseph Galloway, and in the movie “We Were Soldiers” starring Mel Gibson. For his part, Johnson would be awarded the Bronze Star for bravery. The care he received in the hospital convinced him to pursue a career in medicine. But Johnson is apparently uneasy being called a hero. In The Times article from ’97, he is quoted as saying, “I’m just an ordinary guy who made it through with a little bit of ….willpower. I really think if I wouldn’t have had a concept of God and country, I wouldn’t have made it.”<p></p><p><br /></p><p>If you have any letters, photos or other information relating to residents of Bossier Parish who’ve served in the military, the History Center may be interested in adding the material to its research collection. Call or visit us to learn more. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org. We can also be found online at https://www.facebook.com/BPLHistoryCenter/ and http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.</p><p><br /></p><p>Images: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Dr. Tone Johnson/courtesy Newspapers.com (taken from article in The Times from 1997)</i></li><li><i>Huey helicopter/courtesy Pixabay.com</i></li><li><i>Book cover/courtesy Amazon.com</i></li></ul><div>Article by: Kevin Flowers</div><p></p>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17844271170816409273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101082324631266338.post-155301289061074412023-12-20T07:00:00.002-06:002023-12-28T11:54:26.171-06:00Christmas Presents in Christmases Past: Stories from the History Center’s Oral History Collection<p> What was your favorite childhood Christmas present ever? Chances are, no matter how long ago, your memory of finding it Christmas morning is as clear as a bell. Perhaps the memories are especially held close if they are memories of a leaner time, when your family still made sure some childhood wishes came true, or a patient sense of anticipation was rewarded. We have an abundance of those kinds of memories recorded in the History Center’s collection of oral history interviews conducted over the past twenty-five years.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvlUGKHgZ6D1hKlIapzTyX3AnO7vweVrTS5Hq0jXDEEzCvViVrFU5O7lJSzgeNJ4Yp2ll0gMT9Hr3RqxrI1LvEl9ytH8LqfWPfBHdHGHhotnHCnuk_O4XrrvTDSIKC7AXCmaWBTvO83-xeX-dyCgIByYgpUHoywmg-8Xs5o5hDX5JDZt3TjlwswhV40Axu/s1635/2000.059.022%20Minnie%20Payne%20age%204%20and%20mom%20in%201930.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1635" data-original-width="1182" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvlUGKHgZ6D1hKlIapzTyX3AnO7vweVrTS5Hq0jXDEEzCvViVrFU5O7lJSzgeNJ4Yp2ll0gMT9Hr3RqxrI1LvEl9ytH8LqfWPfBHdHGHhotnHCnuk_O4XrrvTDSIKC7AXCmaWBTvO83-xeX-dyCgIByYgpUHoywmg-8Xs5o5hDX5JDZt3TjlwswhV40Axu/w177-h245/2000.059.022%20Minnie%20Payne%20age%204%20and%20mom%20in%201930.jpg" width="177" /></a></div><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Mrs. Minnie B. Walker Payne was born in 1926 and grew up in the community of McDade in south Bossier Parish. Minnie remembered when her father would hook up the mules to the wagon at three in the morning, heading for Shreveport to buy toys for Christmas, such as dolls and little cooking sets and children’s wagons.</p><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><p style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1223" data-original-width="957" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHtv-RQZ0RpKwx3_U3_2cYXlbz8PnOZYHbDe6fe_Q9CGQjHket-vCOturI23onZHpfFpjMJTRwo2Ce5EbvUwXRb6pxVVKdllsCj3YFEzrrMX-RWC2CUzAri86v1s_DGdONd0RUE6JjTLH8NbkWvlL6_X5x7mdwVcXvn1ASqf1vhwnvMFaPaffD2pfqJMnd/w164-h209/McLelland.jpg" width="164" /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Mrs. Mathilde Gatlin McLelland, also from McDade, remembers the Great Depression as “a time when my parents started looking so worried.” So she was amazed as a seventh-grader that they managed to give her a bicycle. She couldn’t wait to ride it – and rode it right off the porch into her mother’s rose bush!</p><p></p><p></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbwXNdsbzYKw8ZAKtzpqA3m6bp3sJBU9a5r8ODbyPrKAhj_d3D-ZWHhQHEgXlL4H3wmnODqqHbOOfCY8MS286djhvJVq1lvIX41gf8TvBDh02uNk8L1Wp8X5MfkYpy3LslaGGngFonruVzxIzq7NQAIS6hvugBAGQw5Qg_4YwxqpTRUe3LK10sPcVYp8U_/s622/burks.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbwXNdsbzYKw8ZAKtzpqA3m6bp3sJBU9a5r8ODbyPrKAhj_d3D-ZWHhQHEgXlL4H3wmnODqqHbOOfCY8MS286djhvJVq1lvIX41gf8TvBDh02uNk8L1Wp8X5MfkYpy3LslaGGngFonruVzxIzq7NQAIS6hvugBAGQw5Qg_4YwxqpTRUe3LK10sPcVYp8U_/s622/burks.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="622" data-original-width="591" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbwXNdsbzYKw8ZAKtzpqA3m6bp3sJBU9a5r8ODbyPrKAhj_d3D-ZWHhQHEgXlL4H3wmnODqqHbOOfCY8MS286djhvJVq1lvIX41gf8TvBDh02uNk8L1Wp8X5MfkYpy3LslaGGngFonruVzxIzq7NQAIS6hvugBAGQw5Qg_4YwxqpTRUe3LK10sPcVYp8U_/s320/burks.jpg" width="304" /></a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Mrs. Ophelia Burks, of Haughton, was born October 25, 1903, into a family of hardworking sharecroppers. She said normally she and her siblings didn’t have time for games. Christmas was a day for fun though. Leading up to the big day, however, there was lots of work to do. They even had to sweep thoroughly under their house to make everything looking good for the arrival of Santa. (Parents, take note: Ms. Ophelia said as a girl she loved cleaning house when it was for Santa Claus.) Santa’s elves could’ve had a toymaking lesson from Ms. Ophelia’s father, who went out in the woods and cut some small pine trees and made wagons for the children. Ophelia remembered that he “put the little tongue and everything in it where you could pull it. That’s what we had for Christmas.” Her mama put little stockings up on the wall “and stick us a little apples and candy in there. Oh, we thought we were living then!” she remembered with laughter.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTg5c3QQZaeOZ8NqxWq7hycuBoP-E7ukd4MQP0bmIiBxc25rGUiWNTInGZ6MpIEVKmtnScSsFrYuHCSWTxy4PSLf7c-H0CW60vPSuFlPI5EFM6n0rqaxolG1Tp7xo3_YOAYk2Lmail8GlpyZDy_VU5zJjmSdoaFBem45PNtb0pK4_k3hJm9rcMzPJuPXh6/s1521/Gloria%20D.%20Roberts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1521" data-original-width="969" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTg5c3QQZaeOZ8NqxWq7hycuBoP-E7ukd4MQP0bmIiBxc25rGUiWNTInGZ6MpIEVKmtnScSsFrYuHCSWTxy4PSLf7c-H0CW60vPSuFlPI5EFM6n0rqaxolG1Tp7xo3_YOAYk2Lmail8GlpyZDy_VU5zJjmSdoaFBem45PNtb0pK4_k3hJm9rcMzPJuPXh6/w133-h208/Gloria%20D.%20Roberts.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><br />Gloria Daigle Roberts, who was born in 1927 and lived as a child in the 1930’s near present-day Bossier Elementary, where her mom operated the private cafeteria for the school when it served all grades, couldn’t believe that one Christmas morning the living room in their multigenerational family home was wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling presents, “like we never knew that it was the Depression or that we didn’t have anything.”<p></p><p></p><p></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik4OYiOK_4VRAoZ1371qOFuRpR8CTwQ4YUULWLXJVYcS1SdzrmK8cnPliR3mHJSKSCT88trKJ3NjLLVuL9cSfVKGL5Cb7S5BfXbLq6Y8Aq0G1AXsH03qGZ4urZSDC1Nlv_GRfF5onsBFgyfRY2fDqVcbrZGx4QKYptIoermAh6CzNlEA1Dtmhk8LwZO3T9/s1507/john%20c%20williams.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik4OYiOK_4VRAoZ1371qOFuRpR8CTwQ4YUULWLXJVYcS1SdzrmK8cnPliR3mHJSKSCT88trKJ3NjLLVuL9cSfVKGL5Cb7S5BfXbLq6Y8Aq0G1AXsH03qGZ4urZSDC1Nlv_GRfF5onsBFgyfRY2fDqVcbrZGx4QKYptIoermAh6CzNlEA1Dtmhk8LwZO3T9/s1507/john%20c%20williams.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1507" data-original-width="1042" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik4OYiOK_4VRAoZ1371qOFuRpR8CTwQ4YUULWLXJVYcS1SdzrmK8cnPliR3mHJSKSCT88trKJ3NjLLVuL9cSfVKGL5Cb7S5BfXbLq6Y8Aq0G1AXsH03qGZ4urZSDC1Nlv_GRfF5onsBFgyfRY2fDqVcbrZGx4QKYptIoermAh6CzNlEA1Dtmhk8LwZO3T9/w155-h225/john%20c%20williams.jpg" width="155" /></a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>John Williams, born in Koran in 1920, remembered his mother kept the children’s Christmas presents locked in an “armie” (armoire). He knew it was always things to eat, which they would find in their stockings – an apple, an orange and a few pieces of candy. When his mother went into town for Christmas, she would buy all the cloth to make his sister’s clothes. She would cut, he would sew and his sisters would get their new clothes for the year at Christmastime.</p><p></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBVDSgDLZJqh8hdUeMqeiBsX9hdvPqEw-yKHSMwK5TDx0a2EFQtMlol3xR1JaFP-rphsKyCm-TpSJB0M22X34inq7vffdc6ETCuoxMhoqK_uOzd2tPOpcbVWgdytxCnS8Bo3SrfLsZaQXRKXQ_Wf3QbeTuC0mL6sLMngpBmPt2_PZx3oOaxvZ_6lZC-NH8/s330/2019049655CarlHawkins.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBVDSgDLZJqh8hdUeMqeiBsX9hdvPqEw-yKHSMwK5TDx0a2EFQtMlol3xR1JaFP-rphsKyCm-TpSJB0M22X34inq7vffdc6ETCuoxMhoqK_uOzd2tPOpcbVWgdytxCnS8Bo3SrfLsZaQXRKXQ_Wf3QbeTuC0mL6sLMngpBmPt2_PZx3oOaxvZ_6lZC-NH8/s330/2019049655CarlHawkins.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="330" data-original-width="222" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBVDSgDLZJqh8hdUeMqeiBsX9hdvPqEw-yKHSMwK5TDx0a2EFQtMlol3xR1JaFP-rphsKyCm-TpSJB0M22X34inq7vffdc6ETCuoxMhoqK_uOzd2tPOpcbVWgdytxCnS8Bo3SrfLsZaQXRKXQ_Wf3QbeTuC0mL6sLMngpBmPt2_PZx3oOaxvZ_6lZC-NH8/w140-h209/2019049655CarlHawkins.JPG" width="140" /></a></p><p><br /></p><p>Rev. Carl Hawkins Sr., who grew up in Princeton in the 1930’s, said he and his siblings always looked forward to Christmas because, like John Williams, that was the time when they got fruits. He said they didn’t get fruit like children have now anytime of the year. They had to wait until Christmas, and find the treats in their stockings. “We would get one apple, one orange, one, two little pieces of candy, couple of pecans, couple of English walnuts and maybe sometimes a few grapes. That’s about it, and one little toy.” For the boys that was often a little cap buster (toy cap gun). He didn’t know why he so dearly wanted a cap buster because he didn’t go to any Western movies at that young age, but “we always wanted to see if we could go running around across the old woods with our cap busters like we were cowboys.” His sisters always got dolls and they all had “Firecrackers. Firecrackers was a big thing. We didn’t worry about shooting firecrackers on the 4th of July; we shot all our firecrackers at Christmas. We didn’t shoot too many at New Year’s either, because we would have shot them all up by New Year’s.”</p><p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh-tAfjw7iJSpYtFgAbNrrwW7XoA0CI2y4R7aGArSuA3hZ8lsAcTuQDFkz1w2ozOQZpLiGRxVMJqtuVfFTqvc7L7dhBEXG5caX_x9iKno5LLtsNy3jYtRffJFwQcygWCDF0w-MLswSiUpMtgLqQaI3RXL2o0JoKwKC09Ri_jGKtoFnSrZ1c83wp_8ET4A7T" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="175" data-original-width="174" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh-tAfjw7iJSpYtFgAbNrrwW7XoA0CI2y4R7aGArSuA3hZ8lsAcTuQDFkz1w2ozOQZpLiGRxVMJqtuVfFTqvc7L7dhBEXG5caX_x9iKno5LLtsNy3jYtRffJFwQcygWCDF0w-MLswSiUpMtgLqQaI3RXL2o0JoKwKC09Ri_jGKtoFnSrZ1c83wp_8ET4A7T" width="239" /></a></div>Clark Strayhan of Brushy in north Bossier Parish and born in 1920, said Christmas was very frugal in their household but they always got something. The present that made the most impression on him was the pedal car he wanted so badly. “In those days [there] wasn’t any such thing as antifreeze at night. If it was going to freeze, you either drained your radiator or you covered it with blankets and quilts. I got this little pedal car and boy, it was pretty and Santa Claus had covered the motor up with a quilt to keep it from freezing. That tickled me and I said, ‘Look what Santa Claus did!’”<p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiusBgbfqScjkkNy1UGSEHVzK_wbUkmCZWdbhp0YSnS9s-hN1NCbhQjo7xntyC9I0cZRU1gRkkMVbe0sJZGCxklSnMPjzRCrLjcGnKrrdrKmcTOt4aj_SZy9kt3jUS8FpSsTIC4yDfmxYwotg0UtvFQN1M3vm3dMOUIiKNSHBKVu62_0QF4AMNUVZVFlsP7/s793/1998.047.202%20Santa%20with%20oranges.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="793" data-original-width="773" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiusBgbfqScjkkNy1UGSEHVzK_wbUkmCZWdbhp0YSnS9s-hN1NCbhQjo7xntyC9I0cZRU1gRkkMVbe0sJZGCxklSnMPjzRCrLjcGnKrrdrKmcTOt4aj_SZy9kt3jUS8FpSsTIC4yDfmxYwotg0UtvFQN1M3vm3dMOUIiKNSHBKVu62_0QF4AMNUVZVFlsP7/w216-h222/1998.047.202%20Santa%20with%20oranges.jpg" width="216" /></a>We hope Santa Claus treats you and your family well, too. If you have any information, stories, or photos about Christmas and other holiday traditions in Bossier Parish, we would love to add them (or scanned copies) to our History Center’s research collection. Contact us at 318-746-7717 or email history-center@bossierlibrary.org or visit us at 2206 Beckett St., Bossier City. We are open: M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. For other intriguing facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Images: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i> Minnie Payne, age 4, and her mother, 1930.</i></li><li><i>1997: Mrs. Mathilde Gatlin McLelland 1997.076.003 </i></li><li><i>Ophelia Burks, The Shreveport Times 15 Jul 2005VF001-7066</i></li><li><i>1999: Gloria Roberts taken at Bossier High Reunion, Classes of 1940-1944. 1999.119.009</i></li><li><i>John C. Williams, Sr. 2019.049.312</i></li><li><i>Rev. Carl Hawkins Sr., who grew up in Princeton, La. as a young C.M.E. minister</i></li><li><i>Clark Strayhan attending the Plain Dealing Dogwood Program held in the Plain Dealing Library in honor of former Dogwood Queens. 2001.021.049</i></li><li><i>Photograph of a masked Santa Claus at the first parish-wide Christmas Party sponsored by the Bossier Parish Chamber of Commerce, held at Bossier High School. Men from the Chamber are handing out oranges, a Christmas-time treat. 21 Dec 1949.</i></li></ul><p></p><p>Article by: Pam Carlisle</p>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17844271170816409273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101082324631266338.post-58914252310092082432023-12-13T07:00:00.034-06:002023-12-13T07:00:00.146-06:00Christmas Bundles for Britain<p> Great Britain was overwhelmed by Nazi Germany’s aerial bombing from 1940 to 1942, and German U-boat attacks on shipping caused shortages of critical supplies. In the United States, a nationwide effort to provide nonmilitary aid to the British was called Bundles for Britain, which collected donations of clothing, blankets, and other basic necessities, as well as cash. Bundles for Britain was started soon after the war in Europe broke out by a young mother in New York City named Natalie Latham originally as a knitting project but rapidly expanded its activities.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg22kfkG_h0Dj2l_iWwCZK1VXJVz_Xd7qmqgWWENUicDBZtQG2ZcrNNl_32AFy7kN3yYxEe_vh422XjPky1hwlc_9ld7V2eq4YNLwnBMJsyzVZQxBxU2cJTKDar-GiegAz5IzjvbOD6Q3uqiSPpnnCtXDWFhY0YSN25aeUz3MqxocWfBCVuz5wQwc96mr-w/s2048/Bundles_for_Britain_cartoon.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1253" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg22kfkG_h0Dj2l_iWwCZK1VXJVz_Xd7qmqgWWENUicDBZtQG2ZcrNNl_32AFy7kN3yYxEe_vh422XjPky1hwlc_9ld7V2eq4YNLwnBMJsyzVZQxBxU2cJTKDar-GiegAz5IzjvbOD6Q3uqiSPpnnCtXDWFhY0YSN25aeUz3MqxocWfBCVuz5wQwc96mr-w/s320/Bundles_for_Britain_cartoon.jpg" width="196" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>The coming of a cold British Isles winter in 1941 was making the need for warm shoes and clothing especially acute. For the Christmas season, the National Federation of Music Clubs, or NFMC, a nationwide organization begun in 1898 to promote and support American music, performers and music education for all ages, decided to do its part. The federation organized “A Million Christmas Bundles for Britain from a Million Club Members,” an initiative for a series of “musicales,” some version of a small concert or performance of Christmas music, for which the “price” of admission would be a “bundle” of wool clothing, like wool underwear, sweaters, socks, flannel pajamas or shoes for British men, women, and children.</p><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>An article in “The Shreveport Journal” on Friday, Dec 5, 1941, shared the federation’s urgent announcement:</p><p>"This call is an urgent appeal and each club in every region throughout the state is requested to participate. Instructions for packing and mailing have been given to all regional chairmen and may be obtained from them. Christmas is three short weeks away, and if the bundles are to be collected by that time, it is necessary to act at once. Chairman of the Shreveport region (of which Benton club was a part) is Mrs. Earl Bellows."</p><p>The music club of Benton High School, a “junior club” affiliate of the NFMC, was called the St. Cecelia Club after the patron saint of music. The St. Cecelia Club decided to do its part for the Million Christmas Bundles musical events. The high schoolers kept it simple yet festive, holding an “old-fashioned singing of Christmas carols at the high school on Monday, December 15th, where the only charge was a bundle of warm clothing for British men, women or children.” In “The Bossier Banner-Progress” of December 11, 1941, just three days after the U.S. entered World War II following the surprise Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor, the front-page article about the singing event implored, “Christmas comes to America with war alarms, and ‘giving at Christmas time’ needs no justification when men and women daily ask, ‘What can we do to help?’ By giving material aid we offer also the necessary expression of friendliness and cause for courage, so much needed during trying times.”</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiagVXYCe6NcaAffMjrltZUEp1Ifwj9jyh2NReNRyrce_Uvw-VrEFGl3UhcMsdyRlvztVPBepDnqpNOCmfJkaGM5GHnEEXKcFqrU_iJJI_jpDZIzDlsqKqtDCOFz5UYBgERBivkyUnF1NxlD11PjI4IEotNhVi3SJLCzsLBUwLauwtbU_8DoRBIxbcUn33x/s746/Becky_Hall_McCuller.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="746" data-original-width="610" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiagVXYCe6NcaAffMjrltZUEp1Ifwj9jyh2NReNRyrce_Uvw-VrEFGl3UhcMsdyRlvztVPBepDnqpNOCmfJkaGM5GHnEEXKcFqrU_iJJI_jpDZIzDlsqKqtDCOFz5UYBgERBivkyUnF1NxlD11PjI4IEotNhVi3SJLCzsLBUwLauwtbU_8DoRBIxbcUn33x/s320/Becky_Hall_McCuller.jpg" width="262" /></a></div>It seemed a pretty big task for a group of teens, though this was an impressive group led by club president Becky Hall, daughter of Dr. J.B. and Josie Hall. Whenever roll was called at club meetings, members had to answer with a specific musical or informational exercise. In a December meeting, members answered roll with the name of a Christmas carol and its composer. At another meeting, they answered by singing a line from the inspiring yet vocally challenging U.S. National Anthem. On December 11th, they organized a Christmas tea for their mothers, complete with musical entertainment, just a few days before hosting the urgently planned Christmas Bundles for Britain fundraising event.<p></p><p><br /></p><p>If you like learning about World War II, don’t forget to attend World War Tuesdays on the second Tuesday of the month from 10:30 – noon at the History Center. Next month’s meeting is on January 9th. The History Center is located at 2206 Beckett St, Bossier City, LA. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org</p><p><br /></p><p>For other fun facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Images: <div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Bundles for Britain cartoon in the Shreveport Times, Monday, October 20, 1941</i></li></ul><div><i><br /></i></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Photo of Becky Hall McCuller. Becky Hall was the president of the St. Cecelia Club and was elected parish chairman of the Bossier Parish Junior Music Club Council, when she was a student at Benton High School. She became a high school music teacher and the first choir director at Bossier High School.</i></li></ul><div>Articloe by: Pam Carlisle</div></div></div>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17844271170816409273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101082324631266338.post-88399394728941732632023-12-06T07:00:00.001-06:002023-12-06T07:00:00.159-06:00Rosie the Santa Claus: World War II Santa Shortages<p> It is well-known that women filled many military and manufacturing roles during World War II, to compensate for men fighting overseas, as well as meet the ramped-up wartime needs in manufacturing.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWLyItb6QlAfoOD4sWqmeJxI4BKbhJOZ9IF9qpUcccfosYBVod0yQ3iDEcQt95vy85h1JtNwqv-3Qc9qSL7-YBMnOXdqMwBe8xN7AJJ8FA0uYzXh3Ww6Cq2Lnt8ldTpMiljCF0_Q7sB2l_wMnXP4xphEGp513osEpBWUncwl_UlFbQvjXFsE6Qcs_hyphenhyphenLkv/s599/Rosie%20the%20Riveter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="463" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWLyItb6QlAfoOD4sWqmeJxI4BKbhJOZ9IF9qpUcccfosYBVod0yQ3iDEcQt95vy85h1JtNwqv-3Qc9qSL7-YBMnOXdqMwBe8xN7AJJ8FA0uYzXh3Ww6Cq2Lnt8ldTpMiljCF0_Q7sB2l_wMnXP4xphEGp513osEpBWUncwl_UlFbQvjXFsE6Qcs_hyphenhyphenLkv/s320/Rosie%20the%20Riveter.jpg" width="247" /></a></div>The symbol of this wartime woman worker became the “Rosie the Riveter,” of the famous Westinghouse factory poster of a young woman in a blue work shirt, sleeves rolled up to show off muscular arms, her curly brunette hair held back from her rosy-cheeked face with a red handkerchief. In the Norman Rockwell version of Rosie, she’s depicted in a blue work shirt, also with rolled up sleeves and mighty, muscular arms, with blue overalls. By December of 1942, another role that was traditionally men-only was making it into the media of the day. This time, however, the women were sporting red – and pillows around their middle. Wartime women stepped up at Christmastime to play the big man himself, Santa Claus.<p></p><br /><br /><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQAHwkmn6BWRpgw1gUUV9bEO_WNyME3ZpkQbX0RIf4yLyU4i8741QpTYUXPrVTCczSGNC3KN189IntV2TMtl7mQKLmIAf27XL5UivfEyslFyDbihoxGJxlTsur5scDp2tQlWBeSAGVMexlfBwjzfpvRlSE1rMQ0mYGCXGEXEUatUgIUiUyV3TkAwxH9VRa/s1613/Lady_Santa_Claus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1613" data-original-width="859" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQAHwkmn6BWRpgw1gUUV9bEO_WNyME3ZpkQbX0RIf4yLyU4i8741QpTYUXPrVTCczSGNC3KN189IntV2TMtl7mQKLmIAf27XL5UivfEyslFyDbihoxGJxlTsur5scDp2tQlWBeSAGVMexlfBwjzfpvRlSE1rMQ0mYGCXGEXEUatUgIUiUyV3TkAwxH9VRa/s320/Lady_Santa_Claus.jpg" width="170" /></a></div><p></p><p></p><p>The December 9, 1943, “Planters Press” newspaper of Bossier City published Hollywood make-up expert and businessman Max Factor’s advice to women who will play Santa. Max Factor suggested they “lower their voices, puff out their cheeks with cotton and put on a false nose.” The “Shreveport Times” for Christmas 1943, published an AP wire story out of Tampa, Florida where a “Pinch-Hitting Female Santa Frightens Tots”. The Santa’s appearance was fine, the nursery workers explained, it was just the cognitive dissonance caused once Santa opened her mouth that caused the wee ones to cry. They weren’t expecting a “high voice.”</p><p></p><p>Syndicated columnist Henry McLemore had a widely distributed piece (including in the Shreveport Times on December 8, 1942,) titled, “Holy Smoke - Susie Santa Claus!” Mr. McLemore expressed a tongue-in-cheek horror at the realization he was seeing a woman dressed as Santa in the toy department: “There she stood, a little ol’ wren of a Santa Claus” who “minced around on size 3 shoes and worst of all, she giggled.”</p><p></p><p>One might ask, why didn’t the Mrs. Claus just pitch in? Perhaps because as a character she really wasn’t yet known. The idea of Mrs. Claus was popularized in the Baby Boom era. (Nat King Cole’s 1953 song “Mrs. Santa Claus” and Phyllis McGinley’s 1963 children’s book, “How Mrs. Santa Claus Saved Christmas” helped give the Mrs. her due.) In fact, a woman filling in for an absent male Santa in the 1940’s did try out the Mrs. Claus role, and was met with a child’s disbelief that Santa was married!</p><p></p><p>The WACs (Women’s Army Corps) at Barksdale had already figured this out, though. The December 30, 1944, Barksdale Bark reported more than 100 of the young women set their alarms for 2:00 AM to catch the “red-knickered gent” known as Santa Claus coming down the chimney. Apparently, he’d outsmarted them, arriving prior to 2:00 and leaving a bag of gifts. One of the WACs, Sgt. Nora Bigley, dressed as “Mrs. Santa Claus” and, aided by some “pert elves,” shouldered the bag of gifts and distributed them to the lucky young women. The pajama party broke up at 4 am and the women returned to their barracks to snooze some more.</p><p></p><p>There were other ways to compensate for the absence of the Jolly Old Elf. At Gunter Field in Alabama, a major said he’d give the one remaining Christmastime furlough to the soldier with the most compelling reason for why he wanted it. The soldier who said he played Santa at his hometown orphanage every year and wanted to return home to continue to fulfill the role got the furlough. The WACs in Monroe, La. were featured in a story titled, “WACs Play Santa for 125 Children at Baptist Home.” They entertained the children at a Christmas party. The party went so well that the WACs made plans to host the children for outings after the holiday, too. Meanwhile, men overseas found ways to be Father Christmas as “Santa Claus with an American Accent,” a small story which was printed in the “Bossier Banner-Progress” on Nov 11, 1943. The men of the 8th Army Air Force in England set up a workshop where they built thousands of wooden toys in their free time, making items like trucks and doll cradles for local children in need, and saving their candy rations to put inside the toys.</p><p></p><p>Henry McLemore, the columnist who expressed he had the shock of his life by seeing that a department store Santa was a diminutive female, conceded all the “horrors” with this sentiment: “War is primarily a matter of big things. But there are a lot of little things that it changes, too. Sweet little things.”</p><p></p><p>If you like learning about World War II, don’t forget to attend World War Tuesdays on the second Tuesday of the month from 10:30 – noon at the History Center. This month’s meeting is on December 12th and will feature Pearl Harbor and the 1941 holiday that suddenly became a wartime Christmas. The History Center is located at 2206 Beckett St, Bossier City, LA. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org</p><p></p><p>For other fun facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.</p><p><br /></p><p>Images: </p><p style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">Rosie the Riveter poster that occasionally hung in Westinghouse factories during WWII.</span></i></li><li><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">Photo that accompanied Hollywood make-up expert Max Factor’s advice to women playing Santa, from the December 9, 1943, “Planters Press”</span></i></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Article by: Pam Carlisle </span></div><p></p>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17844271170816409273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101082324631266338.post-44435871400676310272023-11-29T07:00:00.001-06:002023-11-29T07:00:00.152-06:00“WAAC, Wisconsin Girl, Teacher:” Putting a Near-Century of Life into Words<p> As a member of the WAAC (Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, later known simply as WAC), which formed early in the United States’ involvement in WWII, who had been a longtime resident of the north Bossier community of Plain Dealing, the 2017 obituary of Dorothy “Chris” Christoffersen Walker caught my eye. I had actually been scrolling through digitized historic newspapers looking for something else entirely, but I always want to know more about local WACs. The obituary comprehensively covered the scope of her 99 years, and it also had me wanting to know more.</p><p><br /></p><p>Dorothy started her life as a small-town Wisconsin girl, the child of Norwegian immigrants. She was an honor roll student in Menasha High School, and received her college degree from Iowa State in 1939, where she won an award for her outstanding leadership in YWCA activities while in college. She stayed in Iowa and taught home economics and then went back to Wisconsin to teach the subject in the School of Vocational and Adult Education in Marshfield.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinuAprfH81-Pu-h4wezBaIzzNfytvgyFkpoT6iQA4ih5vsDhL01R-A6xi9Rfxj6uJSezYdOA0pDlVNNKBeXs2XxPmr1Lw1J326INgFz_DFJkdzSFgGIC0ga7_FV0vfak3TGV6MD3pRSG29WhO_5qCOz01rVzUD_HywRUNwXKnURNEEIGxIPLwV3lCwSD3u/s1153/Dorothy_C_Walker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1153" data-original-width="748" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinuAprfH81-Pu-h4wezBaIzzNfytvgyFkpoT6iQA4ih5vsDhL01R-A6xi9Rfxj6uJSezYdOA0pDlVNNKBeXs2XxPmr1Lw1J326INgFz_DFJkdzSFgGIC0ga7_FV0vfak3TGV6MD3pRSG29WhO_5qCOz01rVzUD_HywRUNwXKnURNEEIGxIPLwV3lCwSD3u/s320/Dorothy_C_Walker.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>During her time in Marshfield, the local newspaper issues were peppered with household tips from Miss Christoffersen, under the byline, “Have you Heard? By D. Christofferson” or “Dorothy Christoffersen says.” Some pretty handy advice would follow: An empty baking powder can is an excellent device for chopping cooked potatoes into small pieces for frying or creaming. Or, A little salt sprinkled in the pan before putting in fat helps to prevent grease from sputtering when meat is fried. She also was in demand as a guest speaker or instructor in the community. This was wartime, and home economics, promoting how to run a household well and efficiently in a time of shortage and sacrifice, was a serious subject.<p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Dorothy, however, wanted to go afield and make an impact beyond the literal home front. On December 18th, 1942, in Milwaukee, Dorothy Christoffersen was sworn into the WAAC to serve as an officer. The Marshfield News-Herald shows that the Board of Vocational and Adult Education accepted her resignation on Dec 30th. They could not approve her initial request for a leave of absence because she’d not been in their employ for the required year. Amazingly, considering she appeared in the Marshfield newspaper over fifty times since the beginning of her tenure at the vocational school, she’d only been in the position for four months.</p><p><br /></p><p>As it turned out, she would not be returning to Wisconsin. While serving as a WAAC, Dorothy, who went by Chris, met fellow officer Elmer Scovell Walker, a B17 bomber pilot. She married Capt. Walker, who went by Scovell, in Greensboro, North Carolina in August, 1944. Following the war, they settled in Scovell’s hometown of Plain Dealing, La. If the young couple had any thoughts of instead returning to Chris’ home state of Wisconsin, perhaps their wedding gift of the Square Deal Plantation in Plain Dealing, homesite of Scovell’s ancestor and “town father,” George O. Gilmer, persuaded the couple to head South.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK_kzutolRspxqRZH58mjaKUwHrr01fsjs-slSWO2qTurT54cEPow02hhDt-sjZEcL5d_aVc_VGJD_E1uedVfTeJ2SJXPeetb1acL_X9B0qQBicu9GhBIRXOhDUGgA9I8eLfD5lxboap0KIFaQ99w6RGQeaqd-GdA3yUGRUOCnMpJKwgLD1M8JQO1yAz0u/s375/1968.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="328" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK_kzutolRspxqRZH58mjaKUwHrr01fsjs-slSWO2qTurT54cEPow02hhDt-sjZEcL5d_aVc_VGJD_E1uedVfTeJ2SJXPeetb1acL_X9B0qQBicu9GhBIRXOhDUGgA9I8eLfD5lxboap0KIFaQ99w6RGQeaqd-GdA3yUGRUOCnMpJKwgLD1M8JQO1yAz0u/s320/1968.jpg" width="280" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>A forester with a degree from LSU, Scovell Walker kept the plantation a certified tree farm, as well as worked for 30 years for the S.H. Bolinger lumber company. Mrs. Walker raised three children and taught school in Plain Dealing at Plain Dealing High School (in the junior high section) and Plain Dealing Academy. According to her obituary, “She was appreciated by countless former students and loved by family and friends.”<p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Though they cannot tell the whole story of a life, obituaries are an important source of information for our researchers of genealogy and local history, and the History Center collects all Bossier Parish-related obituaries and/or funeral notices that we find or receive. To donate to or research this collection, please visit or contact us. The History Center is located at 2206 Beckett St, Bossier City, LA. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org</p><p><br /></p><p>For other fun facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/. You may also check out the History and Genealogy page under Resources at www.bossierlibrary.org<br /><br /></p>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17844271170816409273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101082324631266338.post-9289062166063279512023-11-22T07:00:00.029-06:002023-11-22T07:00:00.146-06:00Bossier’s Cold War Fallout Shelters, Gone, But Not Forgotten<p><span style="font-family: times;">During the 1950s and 60s, Bossier Parish, like the rest of the country, was on edge. The alliance between the U.S. and Russia that had secured victory over Germany during the second world war had deteriorated, and the threat of nuclear attack by the Soviets was ever present. For a generation of school children, the phrase duck and cover became synonymous with that threat, and fallout shelters became part of the American landscape. But while memories of life in Bossier during the Cold War may remain vivid, physical remnants seem few.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">A map in the History Center’s archive that was published by the Caddo-Bossier Civil Defense Agency lists four fallout shelter sites in the city for use by the public – Bossier City jail, Bossier Bank and Trust, Bossier Elementary School, and Bossier’s Water Treatment Plant. A newspaper article from September 1964, in The Bossier Press includes Bossier High School in this list and adds that “the new Airline High School is expected to be okayed as a shelter area in the near future.” The article also states that the school board had approved stocking the shelters at Bossier High and Bossier Elementary with emergency rations such as water and first aid equipment. Today, these locations seem to bear little witness to their time as shelters.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg_JwIDqXCXUC73ORYJD5OQ66grSLrQc5wNLnBuql3tniM-saBrsbJRqk8mxk6rMVXPC7GTZO7-bkORaWS6bwTWpeupEJhGczvQHnC0JFNR7tlI8FT68Y__PSZOHJSvbdFOoi7UpPQsARWx2avQvQxWoUv97x9I02C38vLqWhnhRJQQ9Jt0TxO0gHV6UR0x" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img alt="" data-original-height="732" data-original-width="1920" height="122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg_JwIDqXCXUC73ORYJD5OQ66grSLrQc5wNLnBuql3tniM-saBrsbJRqk8mxk6rMVXPC7GTZO7-bkORaWS6bwTWpeupEJhGczvQHnC0JFNR7tlI8FT68Y__PSZOHJSvbdFOoi7UpPQsARWx2avQvQxWoUv97x9I02C38vLqWhnhRJQQ9Jt0TxO0gHV6UR0x" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">I was recently given access to two of these sites to see what ghosts of the past might still be found within their walls. The building that once served as the city jail is now home to the Bossier Arts Council, a place where art and artists flourish. Cells that once housed prisoners are now used as dressing rooms by performers who delight audiences at the council’s East Bank Theatre. An intriguing space separated from the staff offices by a wall was inaccessible. Any signage or other indications that the facility was once a shelter must have been removed long ago.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgKPsHB1RB_zM_Lvkl3knSPabBWcF_gzxJOzyVjzFWyO4WCeAzSmhjkzXWqkFOqsMiTxuNKB1uZKsMphCoxpGNB_HKHDD9gPjFIj1kXwb-4lz9k0RzRrAtDmks4gKV-mlAfcOFPPTHguy4q3HG9tZkj-TTq0bWmhfjNf_yA1ocmGRdyBpIP9fnd9LHdQWPJ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1335" data-original-width="1920" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgKPsHB1RB_zM_Lvkl3knSPabBWcF_gzxJOzyVjzFWyO4WCeAzSmhjkzXWqkFOqsMiTxuNKB1uZKsMphCoxpGNB_HKHDD9gPjFIj1kXwb-4lz9k0RzRrAtDmks4gKV-mlAfcOFPPTHguy4q3HG9tZkj-TTq0bWmhfjNf_yA1ocmGRdyBpIP9fnd9LHdQWPJ" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Bossier Elementary School’s original brick building dates back to 1923. It retains wonderful architectural features like an auditorium with its original wood floors. As I stood on those floors, I thought of all the students and all the productions that must have graced the auditorium’s stage in the last 100 years. The school’s designation as a fallout shelter is simply part of its storied history. My hope was that some of the rations supplied to the school might still be in the basement of the old building, but to my great disappointment, there were none. Only plumbing and darkness inhabit the space now. I was pleased to find fallout shelter signs attached to the front and back of the building. They show the shelter could accommodate 280 people.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Although I visited the building on Barksdale Boulevard that once housed Bossier Bank and Trust, I saw no evidence of its having been a shelter, other than the bank vault. One assumes the vault’s thick walls and heavy door could have provided protection from radioactive fallout, but lack of oxygen would have proved just as deadly.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">I was unable to visit the Water Treatment Plant, but was told during a phone call to the plant that there is apparently no evidence of its past as a shelter. Built in 1958, the plant has been expanded and updated as Bossier has grown, so its civil defense legacy may be lost. I was also unable to visit the fallout shelter at Bossier High as it is inaccessible. Perhaps its supply of rations may one day be found and this part of the celebrated school’s history secured.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">The History Center’s civil defense map lists two public shelters outside the Bossier City limits – Plain Dealing Upper Elementary School and the Bossier Parish jail and offices in Benton. My research is ongoing concerning these sites. Whether they may have indications of their past as shelters is still to be determined.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiHMsHTEY0vKmhYexmHvP6U_-YIFDs473RgyasGXML16bN8LcYQMWDuW0lyDaVQxwJ7EnBhBSH_RD1wAt2eLkrc-0nOTQEc9oSzX5QZnRdKXdkzKw77OhtVgLAsRIz7eJqTImuf6e5MOT878Ck4Un5IdR5qRlH9ZXchaHf7nmi_UqZkXboOCWyVCmFdzUsF" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2898" data-original-width="1920" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiHMsHTEY0vKmhYexmHvP6U_-YIFDs473RgyasGXML16bN8LcYQMWDuW0lyDaVQxwJ7EnBhBSH_RD1wAt2eLkrc-0nOTQEc9oSzX5QZnRdKXdkzKw77OhtVgLAsRIz7eJqTImuf6e5MOT878Ck4Un5IdR5qRlH9ZXchaHf7nmi_UqZkXboOCWyVCmFdzUsF" width="159" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Thanks to the following people for helping make this column possible: Bossier Arts Council Director Brittainy Pope and her staff, Bossier School’s Assistant Superintendent Jason Rowland and Public Relations Liaison Sonja Bailes, and Bossier Elementary Principal Dr. Norcha Lacy.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Do you have items or information relating to the civil defense history of Bossier Parish? If you do, the History Center is interested in speaking with you. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org. We can also be found online at https://www.facebook.com/BPLHistoryCenter/ and http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><b>Images: </b></span></p><p><i><span style="font-family: times;">1) Map of community shelter plan for Caddo-Bossier Parishes published by the Caddo-Bossier Civil Defense Agency. </span></i><span style="font-family: times;"><i>2012.020.051</i></span><i><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></i></p><p><i style="font-family: times;">2) The old jail cell is located on the 2nd floor of the Bossier Arts Council building. It once housed prisoners in the city jail. The cell is now used as a dressing room for performers at the East Bank Theatre. </i><span style="font-family: times;"> Courtesy of Kevin Flowers</span></p><p><i><span style="font-family: times;">3) </span></i><span style="font-family: times;"><i>The fallout shelter sign is located on the rear exterior wall of Bossier Elementary School's original building which was constructed in 1923. The sign shows the school's shelter could accommodate 280 people. </i></span><span style="font-family: times;">Courtesy of Kevin Flowers</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><b>Article by: </b>Kevin Flowers</span></p>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17844271170816409273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101082324631266338.post-18912091539329477372023-11-15T11:47:00.001-06:002023-11-15T11:47:49.626-06:00Water Fights: Bossier City’s New Municipal Water Supply, 1959<p> Recently this column relayed how in the 1920’s, after several devastating fires, a young Bossier City desperately needed a municipal water supply. In 1928, when Bossier City connected to Shreveport’s water system that was fed by Cross Lake, the connection happened with much fanfare. The event was marked by an “industrial parade” with beginning and ending ceremonies on either side of the Red River. The parade was a tribute to the industrial resources of Shreveport-Bossier. The less celebratory part of that story was the simultaneous, unsuccessful lawsuits filed to stop the connection.</p><p>About 30 years later, Bossier City disconnected from the Shreveport water supply and opened a water treatment plant and delivery system of its own, using the Red River as its water source. The actual disconnect was not done with any fanfare - in fact the change-over happened in secret and caught Bossier residents by surprise, for reasons I have not yet discovered. But once the changeover took place and was “out in the open”, again there was both spectacle and controversy to accompany the arrival of water to the homes and businesses of Bossier City.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>A bond had already passed in 1956 allowing for the city to build its water treatment plant. The bond had passed after the distribution of false information, claimed Ned Touchstone of the “Bossier Press,” citing a statement issued prior to the bond vote that the water would not be taken from the Red River. Instead, it was purported to be taken from deep wells near the river, stating that would avoid some of the salt content in the river.<p></p><p>Mr. Touchstone’s newspaper led the fight to halt construction of the new water system, with the main argument against it being the City of Dallas’ problems with using Red River water for its city water. Newspapers around the country reported on the problem of Dallas’ salty city water in 1955 and 1956, following a drought going back to the late 1940’s.</p><p>On Thursday, May 7, 1959, Touchstone reported that there was a “secret attempt” to switch Bossier to the Red River water. He remarked that it was no longer secret thanks to his investigating and to the tastebuds of “Bossier housewives:”</p><p>More than a score of them [housewives] had called the “Bossier Press” during the last three days to complain about the “different, flatter taste [of the city water]. At 8 a.m. Wednesday, a “Bossier Press” representative drove to the new water plant and found it in full operation. An employee at that plant protested that it wasn’t in use, ‘but we’re just running the machines to get used to running them.’” Touchstone reported that at 9:15, the Shreveport water commissioner also would not disclose if Bossier had discontinued its water purchase, but at 4 pm, Bossier City Mayor Jake Cameron confirmed that, “the practice of mixing relatively small amounts of Red River water with Cross Lake water had been discontinued in favor of the new source.”</p><p>A story in the May 10, 1959, “Bossier Tribune” confirmed that the “Water Link with Shreveport is Severed April 28.” Bossier City’s Commissioner of Finance and Utilities, Clyde W. Fowler announced that the city’s $1,150,000 water plant had gone into fulltime operation and that calls he was receiving were favorable on the taste and quality of the water. He added that unlike Shreveport, there isn’t an algae problem with the water source. A photo in the issue showed city officials making a “Toast to a New Era,” as they sipped glasses of water processed through the new plant.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiCCGFon1eEiJnQSpZ99V-1wE2Y_knovA2dYO75Ri-W52lCGvaL_dsn6qiQkiXz8htU_vd4SfrZGspVJlT_8mfFv5mPRS7IAZGr9qryw4Bsim9U_VTnRj8LBLAXZ_JkZv4QQvwB43FeLtx4pi52iyJjfyCnWjVAgZa4TfX4DYxnVXpJdUUVNSh2xBmjT3HW" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="836" data-original-width="1920" height="122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiCCGFon1eEiJnQSpZ99V-1wE2Y_knovA2dYO75Ri-W52lCGvaL_dsn6qiQkiXz8htU_vd4SfrZGspVJlT_8mfFv5mPRS7IAZGr9qryw4Bsim9U_VTnRj8LBLAXZ_JkZv4QQvwB43FeLtx4pi52iyJjfyCnWjVAgZa4TfX4DYxnVXpJdUUVNSh2xBmjT3HW=w280-h122" width="280" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh-_YuAcJLnhqWd0m5AuuAh6_admRUiv6yhcaZ0NDT_ML_CNjaWW3DIy66_1ANbkRdEReJf-iSl445wIG2__mdxhHqkv-WGt5a9RU9zq-PxkvYFcGF3FMnAV1TFSGRnxWyXRxNMlssQg3PxtJMGSfk63FxdlQnp0opvPHyRjfrAhU03-BXRlNlVZTY_Ms9x" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1968" data-original-width="1920" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh-_YuAcJLnhqWd0m5AuuAh6_admRUiv6yhcaZ0NDT_ML_CNjaWW3DIy66_1ANbkRdEReJf-iSl445wIG2__mdxhHqkv-WGt5a9RU9zq-PxkvYFcGF3FMnAV1TFSGRnxWyXRxNMlssQg3PxtJMGSfk63FxdlQnp0opvPHyRjfrAhU03-BXRlNlVZTY_Ms9x=w193-h198" width="193" /><br /></a><p></p><p></p><p>The article also announced the official dedication ceremonies for the treatment facility to be held on May 23rd, followed by an open house with tours of the new plant. Another announcement of the dedication proclaimed that “hill-billy singer” Jimmy Davis (former Louisiana Governor) would be there for entertainment. Current Governor, Earl Long, was invited as guest of honor but sent his regrets. Mayor Jake Cameron was to slash the ribbon.</p><p>The plant was said to be deemed a “model of its kind in the South” by engineers and was featured in the November, 1959, issue of the “American City,” a national trade magazine for municipalities. Bossier City was the first municipality to source its water from the Red River.</p><p>Does your family have any photos, letters, or other items relating to early infrastructure of Bossier City? The History Center would also like to expand our collection of fire department and police department material. If you have photographs, papers, uniforms, or other items, please consider donating them to the History Center or simply making them available to us to scan. Contact us at 318-746-7717 or email history-center@bossierlibrary.org or visit us at 2206 Beckett St., Bossier City. We are open: M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. For other intriguing facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Images:</b> </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>“Toast to a New Era,” from the Bossier Tribune, Sunday, May 10, 1959</i></li><li><i>Headline, “Water is On!” from the front page of the Bossier Press, Thursday, May 07, 1959</i></li></ul><div><b>Article by:</b> Pam Carlisle </div><p></p>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17844271170816409273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101082324631266338.post-37397791796838462742023-11-08T07:00:00.014-06:002023-11-08T07:00:00.139-06:00Benton: The First Bossier Parish Library, September 1940<p> In 1925, the American Libraries Association selected Louisiana, out of twelve competing states, to be the recipient of a $50,000 grant from the Carnegie Corporation to establish rural public libraries. The Louisiana Library Commission then selected Miss Essae (pronounced “Essay”) Culver, a 42-year-old librarian who had fallen in love with library work as a student at California’s Pomona College and who’d helped establish libraries in Oregon and California, to begin the project in Louisiana. She decided to work with a northern parish and a southern parish in which to establish a library system, Ouachita and Jefferson Davis. It wasn’t long after those first two projects before she set her sights on Bossier Parish, holding “mass meetings” across Bossier in 1928 to support the founding of a library system.</p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYF_6iQmiAP7TjEQv_x4VVUXtZB-mxKyeZo8zQujKmfPOZUUb4DXm2TFPJO54Rirar5iFGCtRdA5-xaLbyX-ktkFTLfxmWrIKhK2H3nJxmJacYiwTAyvLZ2SlA5yp_iUyy4Sz9WykF3VbuoiRff9pL84IHWi2pgLikvJo2lqYeJyKHt7SfXTHmrqQLCKez/s746/EssaeCulver%202.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="746" data-original-width="621" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYF_6iQmiAP7TjEQv_x4VVUXtZB-mxKyeZo8zQujKmfPOZUUb4DXm2TFPJO54Rirar5iFGCtRdA5-xaLbyX-ktkFTLfxmWrIKhK2H3nJxmJacYiwTAyvLZ2SlA5yp_iUyy4Sz9WykF3VbuoiRff9pL84IHWi2pgLikvJo2lqYeJyKHt7SfXTHmrqQLCKez/s320/EssaeCulver%202.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>These meetings were arranged by the local library committee under Mr. J.E. Williams, of Benton, the executive secretary, who was also Bossier Parish Supervisor of Schools. Mrs. S. C. Barr, president of the Bossie Parish PTA, “made a forceful address” at one of these meetings, as did Mrs. Volney V. Whitington of Benton and other “very enthusiastic” people, as reported by the Bossier Banner-Progress on December 13, 1928. Well-practiced speaker Miss Culver held the “undivided attention of her hearers,” and the local social pages noted that Miss Culver also had a local dinner invitation while in the area, enjoying a turkey dinner at the “Wendt home,” likely the home of J.R. Wendt, parish engineer, who lived in Benton with his family as neighbors of the Bossier Banner office.<p></p><p><br /></p><p>With Louisiana recovering from the great flood of 1927 and the nation entering the Great Depression in 1929, creation of public library systems stalled. In the meantime, Miss Culver encouraged the formation of readers’ clubs in the parish, for which the state library commission could supply books. However, it was a Depression-era government program that also helped the library project come to fruition. In 1940, the Bossier Parish Police Jury approved the formation of a parish library system on a “demonstration” basis, to be funded by the State Library of Louisiana for one year with the Work Projects Administration (WPA) providing several assistant librarians and custodians.</p><p><br /></p><p>A New Deal agency, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), renamed the Work Projects Administration in 1939, employed 8.5 million people between 1935 and 1943. One initiative of the WPA was to sponsor nationwide, state-level library demonstration projects to encourage the development of library services to underserved populations and to extend rural service while simultaneously providing temporary work for the unemployed.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Louisiana Library Commission supplied the demonstration library books. In an agreement between Bossier Parish and the State Library, the state also provided a bookmobile and other equipment, while a parish tax was used to maintain and expand library services. A headline in the local Planters Press newspaper from August 22, 1940 announced, “Library Books Reach Benton on Wednesday.” The article mentioned that the work of remodeling the old Post Office building for the library was going forward and the fixtures would soon be completed. It also said that once the books were arranged, the library would be ready to open to the public.</p><p><br /></p><p>Located in the parish seat and serving as the Bossier Parish Library headquarters, the Benton library was the very first of the Bossier Parish libraries to open, on Friday, Sept 20, 1940. The library opened in Benton’s 1910 post office building, one of the oldest buildings in town. The opening was marked by a program featuring Miss Essae Culver and Mr. J. O. Modisette, an attorney who was chair of the state library commission. Elisabeth Williams, who came, along with the initial set of library books, from a demonstration library in Arcadia in Bienville Parish, served as Bossier Parish librarian from 1940 until her retirement in 1967. Because it was considered library “headquarters,” she worked from the Benton library.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwe-a8u4zGQuRykJvIjYzjfop-QVdDfHGDeIPPxW2Hrz7mA7WKAdd0DDQJOTiFiuKCz0Cgsn98U5itcudx5HS30mh6rgx90xrvPUdbyoT8Zx8bXBQxnYHgTzHRc5KYYoBOljpCG7BqNlvaFEalXQfjk5k5KHxxbl_4c6q5JDNsK1cgrR4l5kYsjHglQ9gZ/s597/Bossier%20Parish%20library%20in%20Benton%20Louisiana%20in%201941.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="378" data-original-width="597" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwe-a8u4zGQuRykJvIjYzjfop-QVdDfHGDeIPPxW2Hrz7mA7WKAdd0DDQJOTiFiuKCz0Cgsn98U5itcudx5HS30mh6rgx90xrvPUdbyoT8Zx8bXBQxnYHgTzHRc5KYYoBOljpCG7BqNlvaFEalXQfjk5k5KHxxbl_4c6q5JDNsK1cgrR4l5kYsjHglQ9gZ/s320/Bossier%20Parish%20library%20in%20Benton%20Louisiana%20in%201941.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The November 7, 1940, issue of the Planters Press noted that since the opening of the Parish’s four libraries that year (in Bossier City, Benton, Haughton and Plain Dealing) and having a book mobile on the road, 5,705 books circulated and 1,493 people registered as library users. At the end of that first demonstration year, the Police Jury approved the library on a permanent basis with the passage of a one-half millage sustaining tax in June of 1941, which was approved by Bossier Parish voters. By the end of 1944, the Benton Branch had circulated 5,885 books for a full year, and, along with the new branch located within the school in Elm Grove, had a perfect circulation record; all of the circulating books were accounted for.<p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9lxhjw-LE17teW7M0CRI_MuaYBw3jJ9JY1-e0jtmKea-cZoAJx9vuzSpHSAz3LeOjw1vB6kjNlWRxm43ltX8FkscXioGHyRdUmfMN-z8vjMAFbKSJvD2N98D08_aLYxfQpu4fXLqR78uIE23q5IsIL6Zwg5oo7vGsgOnC1NbKoLjgq6QLMAMlj-7sdfd4/s2802/2017028043.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1971" data-original-width="2802" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9lxhjw-LE17teW7M0CRI_MuaYBw3jJ9JY1-e0jtmKea-cZoAJx9vuzSpHSAz3LeOjw1vB6kjNlWRxm43ltX8FkscXioGHyRdUmfMN-z8vjMAFbKSJvD2N98D08_aLYxfQpu4fXLqR78uIE23q5IsIL6Zwg5oo7vGsgOnC1NbKoLjgq6QLMAMlj-7sdfd4/s320/2017028043.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>In 1959, the Benton library moved from its original building to more modern (and air conditioned!) quarters on the corner of Sibley and Sixth Streets, just half a block away. This location proved to be too small when library usage increased in the late 1980s, so the building was renovated and expanded in 1987 to provide a dedicated children’s area, magazine display shelves, and a casual reading area. The current Benton Branch building was constructed and opened in 2006, just down the street from the Bossier Parish Courthouse.<p></p><p><br /></p><p>The Bossier Parish Libraries no longer has a bookmobile, but we now have six branch libraries plus the Central Library and History Center complex. We also have an outreach service for homebound patrons. To see us in person, please visit the History Center at 2206 Beckett St, Bossier City, LA and are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary. For other fun facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.</p><br />Images: <div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>1950s. State Librarian Essae M. Culver showing Audubon prints that are part of the Louisiana State Library collection. Photo: State Library of Louisiana Bossier Parish Library in Benton, LA, 1941.</i></li><li><i>Bossier Parish Library, Headquarters/Benton Branch with Louisiana Library Commission Bookmobile. Sign donated by the Coca Cola Company. May, 1941. Photo: State Library of Louisiana</i></li><li><i>Entrance to Bossier Parish Libraries Benton branch c.1966. Bossier Parish Libraries History Center photo.</i></li></ul></div></div>Article by: Pam Carlisle<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /></div>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17844271170816409273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101082324631266338.post-17300585086732644422023-11-01T07:00:00.001-05:002023-11-01T07:00:00.130-05:00The Parade to Welcome Cross Lake Water: Bossier City 1928<p> Like the precipitating event in a coming-of-age novel, devastating fires that destroyed much of downtown Bossier City in the mid-1920’s prompted city leaders to work together to get a municipal water system and a new fire alarm system for the people and businesses of Bossier City. (Read more about this event in the September 6, 1923 article.)</p><p>Bossier found its first municipal water supply across the Red River (rather than from the Red River, like today) when it was connected to Shreveport’s water system, supplied by Cross Lake. This connection happened with much fanfare. In fact, this modern era of Bossier history was literally ushered in with a parade.</p><p>The planning for this grand parade, dubbed an “industrial parade” for the popular nineteenth and early 20th century parade format with a vehicle to highlight each of an area’s industries, was discussed for months in Bossier City and Shreveport newspapers. The planning continued even when a lawsuit against Bossier City and the Louisiana Oil Refining Company (LORECO), was filed on December 3rd by Bossier City resident Rufus E. McDonald to stop the water systems connecting. The case was dismissed December 10th.</p><p>One of the most vocal proponents of the water system connection, the area’s industrial potential and, especially, the industrial parade from Shreveport to Bossier City was Col. Francis M. Witherspoon, “public relations man” of LORECO. LORECO, of Shreveport, was starting in 1923 through 1929, building a refinery in Bossier City for the production of home heating and fuel oil.</p><p>Just prior to the parade and ceremonies, Col. Witherspoon expounded in “The Planters Press” under the title, “Watch Bossier Grow,” that just a few years before, Bossier City consisted of only a handful of streets, some of which were “only mud holes bordered with wooden buildings.” (About a third of the wooden buildings burned down in Bossier’s downtown fire of 1925.) He contrasted that primitive image with the present day’s “city of unquestioned opportunities,” with “concrete streets, modern commodious commercial houses” that could offer investors “highways, railways, waterways and airways together with an unlimited supply of white coal…natural gas, oil and plenty of pure water.” He also noted that in addition to all those resources, the fortunate community was “surrounded with lands as fertile as any in the world.”</p><p>The parade formed at Texas and Spring streets in Shreveport at 3:30 in the afternoon on Dec 13, 1928. Headed by Shreveport mayor L.E. Thomas and city officials, participants marched through the business section of Shreveport and crossed the Red River on the traffic bridge, where the group was to be welcomed by Bossier City mayor Thomas Hickman, Albert J Dupuy, chair of the “Bossier reception committee,” and representatives of the Bossier Lions Club.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <img alt="" data-original-height="2041" data-original-width="1464" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhSu8sbNPueSA3LJHQ3xPQNHc08vvN8o8_nF8U7Q-bc2hPMTDKgaRdZIRwUgt0oOFLan9Wwt27bRKC5LPlLB_9uWAjcUrgaxrR014hrLzsORhml7jLiZQ1H7x8BpGDnz6yFZAcdPTM5OqORZ5HO9wD_nu9k2w5Xi2_tK9Qja-Ud6GL3vWmTzMlLr6ijDsBk" width="172" /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgAjDdkzX2UCEkgpP8_nTS-fUiKTWUniVldGvwNO787_cyYpf3GX52IYKLPjebprIHb3HLRcbEoCF7zYCtABHTfBOS3LN31jDTZm1K36AAmwLegMQqWBC6fDrcbYplKPj1FmVQqoygf1AEg1tEADWeEtKjBVeiErQfTQSpur_EjWjF9lQbhZQPGLaSYciqg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1493" data-original-width="772" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgAjDdkzX2UCEkgpP8_nTS-fUiKTWUniVldGvwNO787_cyYpf3GX52IYKLPjebprIHb3HLRcbEoCF7zYCtABHTfBOS3LN31jDTZm1K36AAmwLegMQqWBC6fDrcbYplKPj1FmVQqoygf1AEg1tEADWeEtKjBVeiErQfTQSpur_EjWjF9lQbhZQPGLaSYciqg" width="124" /></a></div><p>Pictures of the Shreveport side of the parade were published in the December 14th Shreveport Times. According to the Times, on a platform constructed in front of the Bossier City Hall on Cain Street (now Barksdale Blvd.), the mayors clasped hands to symbolize goodwill and cooperation of Shreveport and Bossier City. Bossier Mayor Hickman proclaimed, “It is indeed a noteworthy occasion. Our residents are genuinely appreciative [for the water supply] and promise their future co-operation with their larger neighbor to the fullest extent.” The ceremony, the Times said, was meant to represent “another bond cementing more solidly the relations of Shreveport and its neighbor.”</p><p>Does your family have any photos, letters, or other items relating to this parade? The History Center would also like to expand our collection of fire department and police department material. If you have photographs, papers, uniforms, or other items please consider donating them to the Historical Center or simply making them available to us to scan. Contact us at 318-746-7717 or email history-center@bossierlibrary.org or visit us at 2206 Beckett St., Bossier City. We are open: M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. For other intriguing facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok</p><p><br /></p><p>Images: </p><p><i>Thomas Hickman, Mayor of Bossier City from 1925 – 1937. Bossier Parish Libraries History Center photo courtesy of Mrs. Stella Stokes</i></p><p><i>Lee Emmett Thomas, Mayor of Shreveport from 1922 – 1930. Photo from The Gazette, Farmerville, LA, October 5, 1939</i></p><p>Article by: Pam Carlsile</p>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17844271170816409273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101082324631266338.post-29564699487747048632023-10-25T07:00:00.008-05:002023-10-25T07:00:00.136-05:00Intriguing Bottles, Questionable Claims: Patent Medicines<p> October is Louisiana Archaeology Month. What does the word archaeological artifact invoke for you? Some may think of mummies, in the pyramids of Egypt, or if more local, perhaps they think of “arrowheads” or pottery. Archaeological artifacts can be more recent too, part of a field called historical archaeology. Examples of historical archaeological artifacts can be coins, nails, bullets, toys like marbles. Among the most intriguing and visually appealing are glass bottles, particularly patent medicine bottles. “Patent medicine” historically describes medicines sold without a doctor’s prescription through the first half of the twentieth century when there was inadequate (or none at all!) oversight of the medicine’s ingredients or claims.</p><p><br /></p><p>Sometimes the bottles one might find no longer have the labels on them. Archaeologists still have ways to date, and possibly identify, a bottle by looking at its shape how it was manufactured. If you’re lucky enough to have a bottle still with its label, many of which are in our collection, you can read the list of questionable ingredients and claims for the contents. But you can also look at advertisements from newspapers, including the local, historical Bossier Banner newspaper, to learn about these claims and the advertising tricks used by patent medicine manufacturers.</p><p><br /></p><p>Some examples are two ads from the Banner for Pe-ru-na from 1900. Pe-ru-na was a very popular remedy, chiefly because of its high alcohol content. Why did so many medicines contain so much alcohol? Manufacturers said it was necessary to preserve herbs, but this wasn't the whole truth. Stores didn't need a liquor license to sell medication and any liquor taxes did not apply to the patent remedies. The alcohol found in patent medication provided the public with an economical way to drink. Pe-ru-na's widespread usage was also thanks to its claims to cure “catarrh.” Catarrh is when mucus accumulates in your nose, throat, or sinuses, but any kind of pain or discomfort could be pinned on catarrh by the Pe-ru-na salesmen. To hear them tell it, catarrh was the cause of stomach troubles, runny noses, earaches, and fevers. The ads boasted that no matter where the “catarrh” was in your body, Pe-ru-na could cure it.</p><p><br /></p><p>These two ads for Pe-ru-na used "celebrity endorsements." Whether these men and women actually gave permission for the companies to use their likeness or received any compensation is unlikely. Belva Ann Lockwood was a noted attorney in Washington D.C., and was apparently the "best known woman in America" thanks to her run for president of the United States in 1884 and 1888. In one of the ads, Pe-ru-na uses her face to appeal to women across the country. In a letter supposedly from Lockwood, we learn that it is an "invaluable remedy for cold, catarrh, hay fever, and kindred diseases."</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2824" data-original-width="1608" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh5j4LhA8wQgbnfjT0bkIoCzHacBqRzek4C0GIfw1YgqiRMwpFXhEQzsvk5eEWIpmXKnzcgCZh2svRE9uuYAcHwz6yj7QAhFyEXtQVq_m46GR-h8bP3WKsnHwq0gZtfjx3qf47cmDGEVaHF99vT7L0XUiAT5lYd-LtXGI1rd-AO_99J-rSCwY9VYx936sUh" width="137" /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh-N5CrLI4MkAq7fOCZy2HWkAgntYiebBSaQys-t094HTSTPidtRpCUPSPVkVsGiCDX11nhocqiKIC46UkOjgy1iWBiC3LAnZD-FV1ezDnf914YBAeaivSH30LSagjZeM5_tigxYEGi90HAwS-MrYYNPx4ApT4RcG2HP1Up7nAj1OFo-eax8gpzeeP6KC3N" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="321" data-original-width="260" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh-N5CrLI4MkAq7fOCZy2HWkAgntYiebBSaQys-t094HTSTPidtRpCUPSPVkVsGiCDX11nhocqiKIC46UkOjgy1iWBiC3LAnZD-FV1ezDnf914YBAeaivSH30LSagjZeM5_tigxYEGi90HAwS-MrYYNPx4ApT4RcG2HP1Up7nAj1OFo-eax8gpzeeP6KC3N" width="194" /></a></div><br /><br />The other ad doesn't show a famous face, but rather a famous ship from the Spanish-American War. Ann Gridley touts the wonders of catarrh-curing Pe-ru-na, calling it a "grand tonic and a woman's friend." Ann was the mother of Captain Charles Gridley, the commander of the USS Olympia during the American victory at the Battle of Manila Bay. Gridley received the well-known order, "You may fire when you are ready, Gridley," from Admiral George Dewey. This ad mentions Dewey three times, implying an endorsement from the heroic admiral himself. Come to the Historical Center to see more ads or ask to look through our back issues of the Bossier Banner newspaper. Don’t forget too, that you can request our programs on Archaeology or other local history topics for your group here at the History Center or request a presentation by our staff at your classroom or other public facility. We are located at 2206 Beckett St, Bossier City, LA and are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org<p><br /></p><p>For other fun facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok.</p><p>Images: <i>Ads from 1900 in the Bosser Banner newspaper for Pe-ru-na patent medicine, which claimed to cure “catarrh</i>”</p><p>Article by: Pam Carlisle</p>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17844271170816409273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101082324631266338.post-77785563518870222232023-10-18T07:00:00.001-05:002023-10-18T07:00:00.139-05:00The Lumberjack Ghost: A Spectral Story from North Bossier Parish<p> Local legends abound in nearly every American town. Investigating the origins of some of these scary stories often reveals actual historical happenings. Let’s explore the history that could be behind a ghost story from the Plain Dealing area about a lumberjack ghost who appears with large boots and carries an axe.</p><p><br /></p><p>Timber has been a thriving economic activity here since the last two decades of the nineteenth century, when Northern forests had largely been over-harvested, and the untouched forests here became more accessible after the clearings of the Great Raft of the Red River. 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. 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.)</p><p><br /></p><p>Dangerous occupations or places are often the start of legends. Perhaps they might be meant to serve as warnings. Being a lumberjack, someone who went into the woods to cut down and transport trees, was an especially risky occupation. In fact, by 1948, due to its many deadly or life-altering dangers (loss of limb was also common), the Plain Dealing Progress reported on April 8th that the U.S. Secretary of Labor L.B. Swelling had issued a revised Hazardous Occupation Order which became effective February 2nd that prohibited the employment of minors under 18 years old in all occupations in the logging industry, with some exceptions, such as certain clerical, repair, clean-up, tallying or camp jobs.</p><p><br /></p><p>First, the act of cutting and then felling the area’s tall trees could be deadly. Through the early 20th century, lumberjacks would cut down entire forests using axes or large, two-person hand saws. It was difficult, dangerous work even with more modern equipment like chainsaws. In 1959, Earl Whatley Jr., a 32-year-old El Dorado, Arkansas man and logging company employee was reported in the “Hope Star” in 1959 as being killed when struck by a falling tree. Logging also required some lumberjacks to live in very basic camps far away from the nearest towns and cities. Camp life itself was dangerous, with fights and violence among the isolated workers. It was often alcohol-fueled, as recalled in the S.H. Bolinger Company timber company history in the History Center’s collection.</p><p><br /></p><p>For lumberjacks, cutting down the trees was only the beginning of the job. Once the trees were down, they had to transport them to sawmills for processing. Since they often worked in dense forests miles from the nearest road or railroad, this could be a complicated, risky endeavor. First, they used teams of oxen, and in more recent years, trucks. Serious accidents occurred, such as in 1936 when Dalton Dees, a 22-year-old man from Springhill, was crushed when a log rolled on him while he was loading logs onto a truck. The Shreveport Journal reported his funeral. Serious road collisions involving logging trucks also occurred, and their heavy loads made such accidents especially dangerous.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgSrC_0vDWgoAVyfSkY-l6z5m0I4I57nrJSUOrSkO8sZRf4gzbimihpcSqz3BZLzRu3bxRP_3ZLPm0imsT7w4g0QpFgrXFxC1KY_RHGOqV6vVUPPuCgMy-LB5ZgrBOeNJQeiThvbLJ608F8kBsftCmoTy92v9rThYPQYb8kbTJPcVhWdlj2FVEYrAYhcdxC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1124" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgSrC_0vDWgoAVyfSkY-l6z5m0I4I57nrJSUOrSkO8sZRf4gzbimihpcSqz3BZLzRu3bxRP_3ZLPm0imsT7w4g0QpFgrXFxC1KY_RHGOqV6vVUPPuCgMy-LB5ZgrBOeNJQeiThvbLJ608F8kBsftCmoTy92v9rThYPQYb8kbTJPcVhWdlj2FVEYrAYhcdxC" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>After trees are cut down, they’re often split into planks, or lumber, in sawmills. The machinery in the mills was highly dangerous. A photo of the inside of a Bolinger company sawmill shows a sign that warns: “Safety First. All moving machinery is dangerous. Visitors Keep Out.” With sawdust in the air, fire was also always a threat. Just a few of the mill fires from around the Plain Dealing area were: The 1895 Anthion Mill fire, the 1895 Cavill & Cavill saw and planing mills fire, the 1901 Bolinger sawmill fire, which entirely destroyed the mill, the 1938 planing mill fire at Alden Bridge, and the 1948 Ray Johnson sawmill fire in Plain Dealing.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiBImpOsSXa3byJj8BvoZTzwCJBLyHAslUtBQchiFjiwLuR0LhQ9tftrvkjm2_sel8R2Rp6dZnYMTzqrPHLU61WRnbe5O-I_cbqqLqgnLhEOt-1zr6QiXkqepkgrmw8RQGNcbZPK3o6Rz0J2as92MjqmOKzqVeg4bPf83oTGxv447r0bxc3wvhaHA06m0rg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1340" data-original-width="1920" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiBImpOsSXa3byJj8BvoZTzwCJBLyHAslUtBQchiFjiwLuR0LhQ9tftrvkjm2_sel8R2Rp6dZnYMTzqrPHLU61WRnbe5O-I_cbqqLqgnLhEOt-1zr6QiXkqepkgrmw8RQGNcbZPK3o6Rz0J2as92MjqmOKzqVeg4bPf83oTGxv447r0bxc3wvhaHA06m0rg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>To learn more about forestry in Bossier Parish, or local ghost stories and the splinters of truth within them, visit the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center at 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City. Or let us know some stories you have heard! You may also enjoy our special program at the History Center, Haunting Performances: Spooky Stories of the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium on Thursday, October 19, 2023 at 6:00 PM. The Shreveport Municipal Auditorium is a National Historic Landmark known internationally for its music history. It also has another notable distinction as one of the most haunted places in north Louisiana. Former Municipal Auditorium tour guide and current Community Life Coordinator at the Stiles Apartments at The Glen, Teresa Micheels, will reveal some of this storied building’s favorite hauntings and unexplained occurrences. The History Center is open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org</p><p><br /></p><p>For other fun facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok</p><p>Image: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Transporting logs, Plain Dealing-area timber industry. Date unknown.</i></li><li><i>Fire at the Ray Johnson sawmill near Plain Dealing in 1948.</i></li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p><p>Article by: Pam Carlisle </p>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17844271170816409273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101082324631266338.post-37605749086912769992023-10-11T07:00:00.001-05:002023-10-11T07:00:00.142-05:00Rita Keoun and the Plain Dealing Library Branch<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Bossier Parish Library System was first discussed by the PTA of Bossier High School in 1940. The Bossier Parish Police Jury approved the formation of the library on a “demonstration” basis. The demonstration library was initially funded by the State Library of Louisiana for one year, and operated with the Works Progress Administration, a federal work relief program of the Great Depression era. At the end of that year, the Police Jury approved the library on a permanent basis with the passage of a one-half millage sustaining tax in June of 1941. The first branches were located in Bossier City, Haughton, Plain Dealing and the parish seat, Benton.</div><p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjprTXVlC17CBwnJjAK6y8Kcg7v1CtIkqU4f55FYvt60jeiGGsZSrWDDYcu44R6ImyGx04teBmz_aduLCPG9HX2Eoqp_hGRIlZ2NZuQd22TtcnScokV_4m1CBbm_60t_vPjWFKInJDH0p929OxCRulo8BJCucV0BjQM0-X7dI1NcI1iDXgFmtMqVimcdEcs/s2228/PDLibrary1975.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2128" data-original-width="2228" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjprTXVlC17CBwnJjAK6y8Kcg7v1CtIkqU4f55FYvt60jeiGGsZSrWDDYcu44R6ImyGx04teBmz_aduLCPG9HX2Eoqp_hGRIlZ2NZuQd22TtcnScokV_4m1CBbm_60t_vPjWFKInJDH0p929OxCRulo8BJCucV0BjQM0-X7dI1NcI1iDXgFmtMqVimcdEcs/s320/PDLibrary1975.jpg" width="320" /></a></p>The Plain Dealing branch was one of the original three branches of the Bossier Parish Library system. The library in Benton, the Parish seat, was considered “headquarters”. The other branches were in Bossier City and Haughton. The Plain Dealing library was located on North Cotton Belt Street until 1944, when it moved to the South Lynch Street location where it remained until 1959, when the Police Jury approved the construction of a new building at Mary Lee and Lynch Street. A children’s area and preschool activity center were added during a 1987 expansion, along with the doubling in size of the public service space. The Plain Dealing Branch was renovated and expanded in 2003, almost tripling its square footage. Plain Dealing native Katie Lusk Allen and her husband, Curtis Allen, donated the property for the expansion in memory of the Arthur Clyde Lusk, Sr. family. Along with additional space for library services, the expansion allowed for exhibit spaces showcasing Bossier Parish history.<div><br /><p></p><p>In 1991, the library was renamed the “Rita Sanders Keoun Memorial Plain Dealing Branch” in honor of a former Bossier Parish Libraries Board of Control member of over 40 years. Miss Rita, as she was most affectionately known, was born in Plain Dealing on Dec. 8, 1901. After graduating from high school in 1918, she went to Louisiana Polytechnic Institute in Ruston, where she completed her education degree in 1923. For the first six years of her teaching career, Miss Rita taught home economics and anything else that was needed, first, in Lisbon and then in Hosston, until Bossier school superintendent R.V. Kerr offered her a teaching position in Plain Dealing, bringing her back home to the community she loved. As the daughter and sister of three Plain Dealing mayors, Plain Dealing was her home.</p><p><br /></p><p>For the next forty years, Miss Rita taught second grade to children in Plain Dealing. As a lifelong educator, she was also a lifelong learner, returning to school every summer during breaks, eventually receiving a master’s degree in primary education. In November 1949, Rita Keoun joined the Bossier Parish Library Board of Control and was elected president in 1960. In her forty-plus years on the board, she only missed one meeting due to car troubles. And, as the story goes, to keep Mrs. Keoun’s prized perfect attendance record, the board decided to just have that meeting “off the record.”</p><p><br /></p><p>Miss Rita also assisted the Plain Dealing library in a very hands-on way through her participation in the Plain Dealing women’s club, the Kadelphian Club. Kadelphians, Miss Rita, chief among them, held children’s story hours and raised money for the library, and saw to it that both the grounds and interior were looking good, even raising money for draperies for the library!</p><p><br /></p><p>Miss Rita was recognized for her contributions by many organizations on a regional, state, and national level. She was the recipient of the 1980 James O. Modisette Award for Public Library Trustees. Not only did the parish recognize her on “Rita Keoun Appreciation Day,” declared by the Bossier Parish Police Jury for Jun. 14, 1987, Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards proclaimed Jun. 14, 1987, as “Rita Keoun Day” as well. When asked how she had felt about this special day, Miss Rita stated, “I was embarrassed to death.”</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnABrED2X3B_1eOHUlFzHgL_XXVfsfK_tGAdPC1gklBq-M3rUzwzAZ1WKtPgC7UcmCwFsvFX4kPMJY744B-zIqely9up05grdztBzEL2GgIXY_w5lyAqlToYgYHErJCDlhrg0orubliRjpUSIBFuSYZZwd3NNE9BQWp-fPAJM2vFoZBW7nPHRbjhyILCOH/s1705/1997005005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1149" data-original-width="1705" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnABrED2X3B_1eOHUlFzHgL_XXVfsfK_tGAdPC1gklBq-M3rUzwzAZ1WKtPgC7UcmCwFsvFX4kPMJY744B-zIqely9up05grdztBzEL2GgIXY_w5lyAqlToYgYHErJCDlhrg0orubliRjpUSIBFuSYZZwd3NNE9BQWp-fPAJM2vFoZBW7nPHRbjhyILCOH/w239-h161/1997005005.JPG" width="239" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqXiripDuAGHJ9tmN3EXBLrofrSH170E1rkqcP7y_HQlSENuNLAV9ZOxKuGciqZVP9VtNcGpCCDumd2ECW7jhYa5pYH9waLEAPBEgf-gSU17uPiE1rST_khtTZsaex-zI8ZVeYNqxg9OfuYxNBZbUrnosn7-w5PoXjtn8UBDLWInP4oXl4WEojQihKrZN7/s445/RSKappreciation%20day.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="305" data-original-width="445" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqXiripDuAGHJ9tmN3EXBLrofrSH170E1rkqcP7y_HQlSENuNLAV9ZOxKuGciqZVP9VtNcGpCCDumd2ECW7jhYa5pYH9waLEAPBEgf-gSU17uPiE1rST_khtTZsaex-zI8ZVeYNqxg9OfuYxNBZbUrnosn7-w5PoXjtn8UBDLWInP4oXl4WEojQihKrZN7/w232-h159/RSKappreciation%20day.jpg" width="232" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnABrED2X3B_1eOHUlFzHgL_XXVfsfK_tGAdPC1gklBq-M3rUzwzAZ1WKtPgC7UcmCwFsvFX4kPMJY744B-zIqely9up05grdztBzEL2GgIXY_w5lyAqlToYgYHErJCDlhrg0orubliRjpUSIBFuSYZZwd3NNE9BQWp-fPAJM2vFoZBW7nPHRbjhyILCOH/s1705/1997005005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><br /></a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>To learn more about Miss Rita or any Bossier Parish library history, visit the Bossier Parish Library’s History Center, 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City. The History Center is open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org For other fun facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.</p><p>Images: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Rita Keoun receiving an award at the Plain Dealing library branch.</i></li><li><i>Black and white photo of Plain Dealing Library taken in 1975.</i> </li></ul><p></p><p>Article by: Pam Carlisle</p><p></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnABrED2X3B_1eOHUlFzHgL_XXVfsfK_tGAdPC1gklBq-M3rUzwzAZ1WKtPgC7UcmCwFsvFX4kPMJY744B-zIqely9up05grdztBzEL2GgIXY_w5lyAqlToYgYHErJCDlhrg0orubliRjpUSIBFuSYZZwd3NNE9BQWp-fPAJM2vFoZBW7nPHRbjhyILCOH/s1705/1997005005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><br /></a></p></div>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17844271170816409273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3101082324631266338.post-4969793655760627842023-10-04T07:00:00.014-05:002023-10-04T07:00:00.143-05:00INTERSECTING HISTORY MONTHS: HISPANIC HERITAGE AND UNDERGROUND RAILROAD<p> It’s the end of September, but the middle of Hispanic -American Heritage Month (September 15-October 15), which celebrates America’s rich Hispanic history and culture. National Hispanic Heritage Month, with roots going back to 1968, commemorates the anniversary of independence of five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Mexico, Chile, and Belize also celebrate their independence days during this period.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgAovJt5pbArZXxiU2_LrI3S-IJ6YuAdJNX78YD8p94ordfelrtFbwbZIOlLyg3cNDMdmX6m-41SvjpHDjBBZBEEUh77aNJ6I41X5BihZhh7NoD6gOxTgQ5iI5740x9hGQtEwHLVfopve5fw0TLyt1cMXav0qx5S7E5Q1HREew1uEEHLzasRgqrfMg5-ZK6" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="392" data-original-width="400" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgAovJt5pbArZXxiU2_LrI3S-IJ6YuAdJNX78YD8p94ordfelrtFbwbZIOlLyg3cNDMdmX6m-41SvjpHDjBBZBEEUh77aNJ6I41X5BihZhh7NoD6gOxTgQ5iI5740x9hGQtEwHLVfopve5fw0TLyt1cMXav0qx5S7E5Q1HREew1uEEHLzasRgqrfMg5-ZK6" width="245" /></a></div></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p>September was also International Underground Railroad month, chosen because it was the month two of the most famous freedom-seekers, and later operatives of the “Underground Railroad” network, Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass, escaped slavery. Historians are only just beginning to see how these two themes fit together, besides just some overlap on the calendar of commemorative month.</p><p></p><p>Here in the western part of Louisiana, it’s actually easy to see how these themes of Hispanic history and the Underground Railroad intertwine by looking not on a calendar but on a map! Mexico abolished slavery in 1829 and then more completely in 1837. Many freedom seekers held in slavery in what is present-day Louisiana and Texas often chose to attempt an escape to Mexico, a much shorter journey than to Canada, the more famous terminus of the Underground Railroad. Just as the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 had required free states to return escapees to the South, the U.S. wanted Mexico to sign a fugitive slave treaty promising to return escaped freedom-seekers to the U.S. But Mexico refused, stating that all enslaved people were free when they set foot on Mexican soil.</p><p></p><p>Anthropologist and former History Center speaker Dr. Rolonda Teal is an expert on this southern route of the Underground Railroad and was instrumental in getting Louisiana’s Los Adaes State Historic Site in Natchitoches Parish listed on the U.S. National Park Service's Network to Freedom, a map and directory of sites affiliated with the Underground Railroad to coordinate preservation and education efforts nationwide. Los Adaes was under the jurisdiction of the Spanish Crown which prohibited the enslavement of peoples in the New World, and at Los Adaes, cattle ranching and subsistence farming were the primary economic activities of residents, activities that did not rely on enslaved labor the way cotton or sugar farming did.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiLd724jL0Jiz94_RPI5xdeg0AMMdwA-N93ZFvzfehEFAEWF9qx6zeOuIF3dZc16tOmYcyfGEc_A5D20Zxuf5uILDNyTSLHG7haKUfUc_1zFarSzJ0cmVOymDS0gEmRQFprEbbwwF7HHv1rby0j_RfWEsQ-_FWSamPgQPqzamg7yvcVEsWeKvgqgAj4Nxe1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiLd724jL0Jiz94_RPI5xdeg0AMMdwA-N93ZFvzfehEFAEWF9qx6zeOuIF3dZc16tOmYcyfGEc_A5D20Zxuf5uILDNyTSLHG7haKUfUc_1zFarSzJ0cmVOymDS0gEmRQFprEbbwwF7HHv1rby0j_RfWEsQ-_FWSamPgQPqzamg7yvcVEsWeKvgqgAj4Nxe1" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p>Los Adaes’ listing on the Network to Freedom says, “The Spanish colonial mission and fort known as Los Adaes held the unique position of being a borderland site and served as both a destination and an Underground Railroad way station on an established route between French Louisiana and Spanish Texas.” This route, known today as El Camino Real de los Tejas, the Royal Road, had been established because Los Adaes was not self-sufficient and residents needed to trade for food with the French at nearby Natchitoches, La. The resulting path between the two countries (Spanish Texas - French Natchitoches,) also marked a route chosen by freedom seekers escaping to Los Adaes and other parts of the Spanish interior.</p><p></p><p>Los Adaes is part of the Cane River National Heritage area. It is an easy day trip from Bossier. The grounds are open to visitors on certain days of the week. Check the website for up-to-date information. https://www.canerivernha.org You can also visit parts of El Camino Real de los Tejas, now a National Historic Trail administered by the National Park Service. Visit that website at https://www.nps.gov/elte</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>If you have any Bossier Parish-related stories, photos or documents of Hispanic heritage, we would love to add that to the History Center’s collection and knowledge. Early voting will take place at the History Center through Saturday, October 7th. We will be open our regular hours for visitors and researchers during early voting, although if you would like ample space and quiet for your research, you may wish to wait until Tuesday Oct 10th for your visit. Monday October 9th will be closed for Staff Day. Our regular hours are M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org</p><p></p><p>For other fun facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.</p><p><br /></p><p>Images:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Hispanic Heritage Month illustration from the National Park Service</i></li><li><i>Artist rendition of the fort that once stood at Los Adaes. Credit: Louisiana State Parks</i></li></ul><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"></ul><p></p><div>Article by: Pam Carlisle</div><p></p>Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17844271170816409273noreply@blogger.com0