Henry L. Aulds, Jr. Branch Library - The Silver Lining of a Family’s Tragic Loss

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.

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.

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...”

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.”

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/

Images: 

• Henry L. Aulds Jr.
• The original Henry L. Aulds Jr. Branch library building, which opened Fall of 1971.
• Photo of the Shady Ladies Homemaking Club making bean bags and bibs in the Aulds branch library, 1982.

Article by: Pam Carlisle 

Pioneer Pilot Makes Military Aviation History

Did you know that at the end of the 19th century, there was a race for flight? While there were many worthy contenders, for the sake of this article, the focus will be on Professor Samuel Pierpont Langley and The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur. Both had been working on their flying machine concepts, but they were opposites in terms of credentials and funding.

Langley's flying machine was unpiloted and called an aerodrome. He was known for his work as an astronomer and was the secretary of the Smithsonian. The Wright's lacked college degrees and only had income from their bike shop to fund their experiments in building a man-controlled flying machine. In contrast, Langley received $50,000 from the U.S. War Department and $20,000 from the Smithsonian to fund his experiments after he had success with his models. The funding came with the expectation of having a piloted flying machine for military purposes.

Samuel Pierpont Langley's aerodrome experiment over the Potomac River, 1903.

In 1903 Langley made two attempts at manned flight. The first attempt was on Oct. 7 and the second on Dec. 8. Both attempts crashed into the Potomac River on takeoff. Had the aerodrome made it into the air, the 'pilot,' if you can call him that, had zero control over the flight, and there was no landing gear. Nine days later, on Dec. 17, 1903, the Wright brothers made and documented the first successful piloted flight in history.

Wright Type A Airplane. Orville Wright at Ft. Myer, VA
Sept. 09, 1908.

Langley's failure to produce a flying machine put a damper on government interest. More than four years passed before the U.S. Army Signal Corps awarded a contract for the first plane to the Wright brothers in the early part of 1908. By that summer, they conducted their first flight trials at Fort Meyer, VA, where they were more than successful and met the Army's requirements. The plane had to carry two people, attain an average speed of 42 MPH and remain in the air for at least one hour.

Eight years later, William Benjamin Wright, Jr., enlisted in the Army Air Force, then known as the Aviation Corps, a branch of the Signal Corps. Though he's not related to the Wright brothers, he shared their dreams of aviation. As a pioneer pilot, he made aviation history while in France during World War I. He is credited as the first American to perform aerial reconnaissance to adjust artillery
fire on the battlefront. This technique has proved vastly useful in both world wars and is still being used. He performed these missions from both an airplane and a balloon.

Capt. Wright, Jr. on his motorcycle in front of his lucky
No. 5 airplane "Krazy Kat Escadrille," France 1918.

Col. William B. Wright, Jr., 1945.
Barksdale AFB 7th Commander 1942-1945.

From 1942-1945, Col. Wright served as the 7th Base Commander at Barksdale Air Force Base. During that time, "under his leadership, Barksdale dispatched more medium bombardment crews overseas than any other base in the history of the air force."

In an article appearing in "The Barksdale Bark," announcing his reassignment, the writer points out, "It is significant that the pioneer aviator, who rode the tail of a Caudron J-4 down in a crash near Tours, France, in 1918, without injury, was to later inaugurate the training of combat crews at Barksdale in the mighty Superforts, which, as he says, 'roar clear across Louisiana in a takeoff.' He has helped develop air power from its infancy to the tremendous striking power it now possesses."

While at Barksdale, he was noted for his "gigantic" expansion program. He expanded the recreational facilities by installing boxing rings, an EM golf course, picnic grounds on Flagg Lake, bowling alleys, ball diamonds, and the Non-Commissioned Officers Club.

To learn more about the history of Barksdale AFB or aviation history in Bossier Parish, visit the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center. Your leading source for Bossier Parish History. We are at 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City. Can't come in, call 318-746-7717 or email history-center@bossierlibrary.org with your request. Follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on Tiktok, and check out our blog, http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.