Calisthenics Time: Fresh Air and Fitness in North Bossier Parish

One of my favorite photos in the History Center collection is a panoramic photo, circa 1930, taken by the Grabills, two of Shreveport’s most significant and talented photographers, father and son Burch and William Grabill. The sepia-toned photograph shows a panoramic view of a hundred or more girls of varying ages among the tall timbers surrounding Plain Dealing High School. The school at that time encompassed all grades, from first through high school. The photo shows groups of girls in their regular school clothes of skirts, blouses, tights and lace-up shoes, each posed in a different stretch. In the center of this scene are a group of tall, older girls playing basketball, sporting the classic women’s athletic gear of the early 20th century, bloomers and middy blouses.

Some groups of girls have both arms straight out on either side, and some have their arms at angles above and below their heads. One group is possibly doing push-ups. The exercises are being led by teachers, who are also in their regular workwear of cardigans, blouses, skirts, stockings and high-heeled but sturdy shoes. One can guess these young scholars and their educators are participating in the exercises known as “calisthenics,” loosening their limbs in order to stretch their young minds.

Calisthenics are free body exercises (exercises that use the body’s own weight) that include such motions as bending, stretching, twisting, swinging, kicking, and jumping, as well as such specialized movements as push-ups, sit-ups, and chin-ups. The exercises are designed to promote strength, endurance, flexibility, coordination, and improve wellbeing by putting the cardiovascular system to work in a controlled and steady way. Calisthenics arose in the early 19th century from the work of Germans who popularized gymnastics for the “everyday” person. Some physiologists stressed calisthenics’ importance in the development of education for women. In the United States, an early advocate for education for girls, Catherine Beecher (whose family of high-achievers included Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin), was also an early adopter of calisthenics. Beecher wrote Physiology and Calisthenics for Schools and Families (1857), and was among those who promoted calisthenics solely for women.

Despite Beecher’s and others’ emphasis on calisthenics for girls and women, the exercises became an activity for both sexes. In advertisements for private schools in Bossier Parish newspapers in the 1880’s, when public school offerings were still extremely limited in northwest Louisiana, calisthenics were touted in the curricula of schools of both sexes. The “Bossier Banner-Progress” in 1881 ran an advertisement for the Minden Male Academy that emphasized, “In order to promote the health of the students, and to cultivate a graceful movement and carriage, there will be regular exercises in calisthenics.” The Minden Female College Boarding and Day School for Young Ladies and Children ran a longer ad that laid out all their varied academic and musical offerings, while emphasizing that no matter what course (and tuition tier) one chose for their daughter, “Calisthenics, [are] a part of the daily exercises and free of charge.”

At Plain Dealing High School, calisthenics seemed to seamlessly fit among the other activities of the school day. An article from the “Plain Dealing Progress” dated April 9th, 1937, entitled “Art Exhibit Was a Huge Success Here During Last Week” stated that, “A very interesting literary and physical education program was conducted in connection with the art display and Mr. Phillips said the pupils especially enjoyed the exercise outdoors last Thursday afternoon.”

The Bossier Parish Libraries History Center can provide an abundance of interesting facts and photographs about Bossier Parish. We would also love to hear your stories and see your photos. With your permission we could scan them to add to our collection. Currently, the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center section of the Bossier Central Library complex remains closed while our new exhibits are completed. Watch our Facebook page or library website homepage for updates at www.bossierlibrary.org. You can also go the Resources/History and Genealogy page of the website to use our online resources. You may call us at (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org. For other intriguing facts, photos, and videos of Bossier Parish history, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/

Images: 

• Panoramic photo (scanned in two parts) of female students exercising and playing basketball on the grounds of Plain Dealing High School, 1931. Photo by Grabill, from the Mayme Rae and Hunter Willett collection at the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center
• Advertisement for the Minden Male Academy from the Bossier Banner-Progress, September 15, 1881.

Article by: Pam Carlisle 

A Snapshot Of History: The Remarkable Career of J. Frank McAneny

Photography is a relatively recent invention, only present for around 200 years of approximately 6,000 years (or a little over 3%) of recorded history. However, in those 200 years, photographs and films have proven to be an invaluable contribution to the historical record. Written documents can tell us what people in the past were up to and how they viewed the world around them; photographs and films can show us those people and their world. They are an amazing resource for researchers, for historical re-enactors, for anyone who wants a glimpse into another person’s life, past or present.

Whether they are looking into the past or the present, one subject that people seem especially drawn to is disasters. Disasters, both natural and manmade, tend to draw a great deal of attention, and so those whose living depends upon attention, such as news stations, are naturally inclined to document and speak on disasters with far more effort than they give to reporting safe, wholesome, but “boring” events. In modern times, where anyone with a cellphone is carrying at least one camera on them at all times and it is virtually impossible to venture out in public without encountering at least a dozen security cameras, even a completely untrained amateur can document a disaster with the simple press of a button. While this can be helpful in many ways, it also means that we are more likely to take for granted the professional photojournalists who quite literally risk life and limb to bring incredible footage to the public. One such professional, who had a particularly dangerous yet fascinating career, was a man named Joseph Franklin “J. Frank” McAneny.

J. Frank McAneny was born in 1922 to Joseph “Mac” McAneny and Ben Ava Melat McAneny. His interest in photography began in adolescence, when he started taking pictures around his high school and college campuses with his mother’s folding camera and developing the film in a bathroom. After graduating from Centenary College, he decided to go into news photography, which he began by “shooting spot news pictures” as a freelancer. He would listen to a police scanner to learn about crimes and emergencies, so that he could drive to them and capture pictures and film of them, sometimes as situations were still unfolding. He was often the first photographer on the scene, and police and firemen joked that someday he might beat them to a situation. Because McAneny was, as he put it in a 1999 interview, “the firstest with the mostest,” he met with great success when he submitted his footage to newspapers and news stations. He freelanced for the Shreveport Times for eight years, then for the Shreveport Journal for forty years, and became Chief Photographer for KSLA TV for 35 years.

Though a lifelong Shreveport resident, McAneny traveled all over the Ark-La-Tex and beyond in search of footage. He captured photographs and films of many events in Bossier Parish, including disasters both natural and manmade, such as the shootout in rural Bossier Parish that killed Shreveport police chief E.G. Huckabay, a tornado that swept through Plain Dealing, and a 1959 crash of a transport plane that had attempted to leave Barksdale Air Force Base with three hydrogen bombs. Elsewhere, he shot footage of everything from murders to wildfires to explosions. Throughout his career, he risked being shot, burned alive, gassed, swept away in floodwaters, and a dozen other unpleasant fates. Despite many close calls, McAneny continued his work for nearly half a century, ultimately retiring in 1999. He passed away in 2002, at the age of 79.

During McAneny’s 1999 interview, he noted that there were many occasions where he submitted photos or videos to news stations, and received little to no credit when the footage was released to the public. As he observed, “You risk your life, and you get no credit…the photographer always seems to be the unknown spectator.” Fortunately, McAneny was able to hold onto a substantial collection of his own work. In 2000, he formed the J. Frank McAneny Museum, Inc., which showcased both his work from his years as a news photographer, and the documents, artifacts, and memorabilia he had collected as a part of his interest in history. Though the museum’s contract with the city of Shreveport has since expired, the Northwest Louisiana Archives was able to obtain many of his “photographic negatives…prints, exhibit posters, slides and movie film.” The Bossier Parish Library Historical Center, meanwhile, has a copy of the 1999 interview, titled “Lifetime of Miracles,” where J. Frank McAneny himself talks about his incredible career and the many harrowing experiences he had during it; the video also includes some of his footage of these experiences.

Though we are fortunate enough to know the man behind the pictures in J. Frank McAneny’s case, there are iconic photographs and films whose creators will forever remain unknown. As it becomes easier to capture, or even falsify, footage, it will also become even easier to take photographers for granted, which is sure to exacerbate this problem. However, whether we know their names or not, people who risk everything to document pivotal moments are providing a vital service not just to the public, but also to historians.

If you have information about other local photographers who captured important moments in Bossier Parish history, we would love to hear about them. “Lifetime of Miracles” is in the Bossier Parish History Center’s collection, along with other videos showcasing fascinating characters that played a role in Bossier Parish’s history. However, the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center, located in the Bossier Central Library complex, remains closed while our new exhibits are completed. Watch our Facebook page or library website homepage for updates at www.bossierlibrary.org. You can also visit the website to use our online resources. You may call us at (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org.

For other local history facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.

Images: 

• J. Frank McAneny with mother’s folding camera, the very first camera he used. C. 1999. Screenshot from 1999 KTBS interview, “Lifetime of Miracles.”
• A 1959 crash of a plane carrying nuclear weapons, Bossier Parish, LA. C. 1959. Photo found in January 4, 1987 edition of Shreveport Times.
• McAneny and police in standoff that ended in Shreveport Police Chief Huckabay’s death, Bossier Parish, LA. C. 1954. Photo found in January 4, 1987 edition of Shreveport Times.
• J. Frank McAneny with flash bulb camera he used for news photography in 1940s. C. 1999. Screenshot from 1999 KTBS interview, “Lifetime of Miracles.”

 Article by: Jaylie Rester

The Lifelines of the Nation

It’s nearly that time of year again, as travel season here in the United States begins in less than two months. Therefore, let’s take a look at one of the country’s most important pieces of infrastructure: The United States Interstate Highway System. Often shortened to just the Interstate or “I,” this system of crisscrossing road ways are the arteries of United States inter- and intrastate travel. With the interstates, what would otherwise be heavy traffic and constant stoplights is replaced with steady movement and high speeds. This and more are all thanks to the work put in nearly a century prior, in the wake of the Second World War.

The purpose of the U.S. Interstate Highways is to help bring about quick and easy interstate commerce, with the added benefit of allowing for the rapid transportation of men and material for National Defense purposes. The idea was initially championed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and indeed the Roosevelt government would pass the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1944, but the idea was never given real funding until the Eisenhower Presidency. Eisenhower’s reasoning behind his support for an interstate system dates to 1919, when he accompanied a military convoy across the country. Couple this with his developed appreciation for the German highway system known as the Autobahn, and the President was poised to create something similar here in the United States. From this would come about the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 (more popularly known as the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act of 1956), which would see the construction of the first of the ubiquitous interstate highways here in America.

The interstates themselves are managed and maintained by the states they are in, though they were built with federal aid. Here in Bossier Parish, there are two such national lifelines: Interstates 20 and 220. The reasoning for the numbering of the interstates goes back to the 1956 act, which according to the Federal Highway Administration, declared that “routes with odd numbers run north and south, while even numbered run east and west. For north-south routes, the lowest numbers begin in the west, while the lowest numbered east-west routes are in the south.” There is a similar numbering system for the auxiliary interstates, most of which have a prefix before referencing the original interstate. So, I-220 is named in reference due to its connection to I-20, with the two referencing its status with I-20 as its only spur within Louisiana.

Interstate 20 is the main throughfare, passing from Webster parish, through Bossier, and into Caddo, taking a similar route to the older Overland Dixie Highway (Highway 80). I-20 begins in eastern South Carolina, just west of the city of Florence, and ends in southwestern Texas after joining with I-10. Interstate 220 was built as a bypass for the Shreveport-Bossier metro area, allowing drivers to avoid the busy congestion inside the city limits.

For Interstate 20, construction began locally in the early 1960s, crossing through the parish quickly. By 1962, the construction of Red River Bridge had begun. The substructure would be finished by October of that same year, according to the October 31, 1962, issue of the Bossier Press. In 1966, the first part of I-20 in Bossier would be opened to the public with a ribbon cutting ceremony.

However, construction didn’t just stop in ‘66. As can be seen today, and has been seen for the past year, continuous improvements and repairs are done to the entire system to keep up with the demand and use of these vital roadways. Since our last look at the Interstate’s revitalization project here in Bossier, the project itself has been finished, with a ribbon cutting ceremony in June of this year, mirroring the original ceremony sixty years prior. In total, there are three-and-a-half miles of repaired roadway, which serve an estimated 100,000 vehicles per day according to the LaDOTD.

Looking to the future of the interstate system in Bossier Parish, a segment of the Interstate 69 is to be built in north Louisiana. I-69 begins near the border with Canada in Port Huron, Michigan and ends in Brownsville, Texas, at the Mexican border. Here in Bossier Parish, the local segment will begin after the interstate crosses into Bossier Parish from Webster north of Haughton, heading south to intersect with I-20, before exiting the Parish across the Red River near Elm Grove.

The U.S. interstates are as important as can be, both nationally and locally. These connective links pull together the various parts of the nation, and without them, the face of America would be radically different. From sea to shining sea, these highways are the lifelines of America.

If you have any photos or other information relating to the history of Bossier City or 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/

Images: 

Bridge 605 & Foster Road Intersection, April 20, 1967 (Source: Louisiana Department of Highways (LaDOTD) - BPL History Center)

Barksdale Interchange at West End, looking east. April 20, 1967 (Source: Louisiana Department of Highways (LaDOTD) - BPL History

 Aerial view of Project Looking North, September 9, 1965 (Source: Louisiana Department of Highways (LaDOTD) - BPL History Center)

Aerial-looking E. from Barksdale Blvd., January 11, 1964 (Source: Louisiana Department of Highways (LaDOTD) - BPL History Center)

Article by: Jonah Daigle

From Trail to Highway: US 80 (Part 2)

Two weeks ago, this column took readers on a “horseless carriage” ride on the Dixie Overland Highway through Louisiana and Bossier Parish points like Red Chute and East Texas Street in Bossier City, and over the Red River into Shreveport. Named, not numbered, “auto trails” were the grass-roots answer to the public clamor for good roads that arose once mass-produced, more-affordable automobiles (such as the 1908 Ford Model-T) motored off the assembly line. By 1917, one of the most important, if now-forgotten, of these trails was the Dixie-Overland Highway. In this column, the ride continues later into the twentieth century on a more recognizable road for today’s drivers. By the middle of 1920’s, the United States government was waking up to both the national benefits and requirements of motorized travel, for pleasure (tourism), commerce, and defense, and with the creation of a national, numbered highway system in 1926, the Dixie Overland became US Highway 80.

                               

The Dixie Overland Highway had been only the second coast to coast auto route across the United States, coming after the Lincoln Highway, established in 1913, that connected New York City to San Francisco. The Dixie Overland, which connected Savannah, Georgia (and later, Tybee Island) to San Diego, CA, was the shorter of the two routes, and the only one that was considered year-round, given that it was not prone to the snowstorms that could make northern routes perilous or impassable. With the demand for good roads that arose almost overnight from new automobile owners, auto enthusiasts formed their own private auto clubs, formed the clubs into associations, and designed, surfaced, and maintained roads on a county by county, parish by parish, or town by town basis, over thousands of miles.

By 1920, the country was realizing if these automobiles could take us from one state to another, or even a handful of states, in only a day’s time, roads that were consistently maintained and easily navigated, were necessary. The U.S. was not long out of WWI, and wary of Bolshevism and a German invasion. WWI Army General Jack Pershing had extolled the efficient wonder that was the German Autobahn. Thus, the Federal Government was calling for a connected, well-maintained, physically resilient, as in able to withstand the weight of a convoy of tanks, national highway system. On February 20, 1925, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Howard M. Gore approved appointment of the Joint Board on Interstate Highways to design a uniform system of interstate numbering and marking to replace the national “hodgepodge” of named trails. On November 11, 1926, the US numbered Highway System was approved by American Association of State Highway Officials.

In addition to a federal highway system and administration, local roads departments also began to answer to or work with state and other more centralized highway departments. Louisiana had already formed its state highway department in 1922. The cause for good roads was eagerly taken up by Louisiana Governor Huey Long, who entered office in 1928. With less than 300 miles of paved roads in the state, Governor Long blamed his 1924 losing bid for governor on heavy rains that kept his rural supporters from the polls on account of deep mud. Long embraced the creation and paving of highways and the building of free bridges (as opposed to toll bridges, or ferries) to connect Louisianians that were far apart both in physical location and location on the political spectrum. He also saw paved roads as a way to put Louisiana on the national map, so to speak, with a goal of paving more roads, faster, than as many other states as possible.

                               

A photograph in the History Center collection shows Gov. Long, accompanied by his wife Rose, in 1929, cutting a ribbon at Fillmore (near Princeton and Haughton) in Bossier Parish to mark the opening of US Highway 80 from Shreveport to Minden. The Fillmore area was the last section to be paved on the Minden-Shreveport highway segment of Highway 80. In addition to paving, parts of the road were straightened, bridges widened, and hills made lower in order to make the highway less dangerous. This was especially so around Red Chute, which was considered one of the most dangerous points on Highway 80, according to the April 9, 1930, Minden Signal Tribune. The photo shows the first ribbon-cutting for a concrete road in the state, a visible reminder of the governor's theme to "get Louisiana out of the mud." A man identified in the Oct. 11, 1963, Shreveport Journal as Bossier banker and state senator V. V. Whittington, holds a sign that reads, “Gov. Long's Plan, 1932 Louisiana Will Lead the World in Good Roads”.

US 80 had the rare distinction that it very closely followed the original route of its “trail” or “trunk road” (main road) predecessor, the Dixie Overland Highway. Highway 80 as a coast-to-coast route has also been passed by, by the interstate highway system. I-20 was constructed here in the 1960s. Parts of US 80 have been decommissioned at a time, going eastward, so that currently the western terminus is in Dallas. The highway remains under an official historic designation in California.

Do you have any mementoes or stories of old US Highway 80 in Bossier? We would love to hear or see them. The Bossier Parish Libraries History Center, located in the Bossier Central Library complex, remains closed while our new exhibits are completed. Watch our Facebook page or library website homepage for updates at www.bossierlibrary.org. You can also visit the website to use our online resources. You may call us at (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org

For other local history facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.

Images: 

• US Dept. of Agriculture Bureau of Public Roads Map of United States Highways 80 and 90
• Ribbon Cutting, 1929, Highway 80 in Fillmore, LA, with Governor Huey Long.

Article by: Pam Carlisle

Bossier Parish Soldiers Gave All in Korean War

 On the evening of Sunday, July 26, 1953, President Dwight Eisenhower was nervous. The armistice ending the Korean War was due to be signed the following day, and according to White House Assistant Staff Secretary Arthur Minnich, Eisenhower feared “that there was the possibility that something would go wrong before the signing was complete.” Those fears proved unfounded, as the armistice was signed the following morning at 10 a.m., 73 years ago, ending the conflict which saw families across the nation burying loved ones killed in action, including three from Bossier Parish.

James E. Kelleher Jr. had been a resident of Benton since birth. Articles in The Bossier Banner and The Planters Press newspapers state that he was a graduate of Benton High School and entered the U.S. Army in 1948, training in California before being sent to Japan as part of the 5th Calvary Regiment, 1st Calvary Division. Rising through the ranks, he became a sergeant and, according to the American Battle Monuments Commission, was a recipient of the Purple Heart, Korean Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal, among others. After being wounded on August 2, 1950, he wrote a letter to his mother saying she shouldn’t worry about him. “I am not in too bad a condition,” he stated. “I did get shot though, and it didn’t feel very good.” A copy of the letter is in the History Center archives. Kelleher returned to duty in late August, but was wounded again during fighting on November 28, 1950. After recuperating, he rejoined his division in mid-January 1951. Approximately a month later, he was killed in action. He was 20 years old.

Lionel King of Plain Dealing also served in the Army, the 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. Born in 1922, this African American soldier earned several medals while achieving the rank of master sergeant. Among the service decorations listed for him by the ABMC are the Purple Heart, Republic of Korea War Service Medal and the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation. Although additional information about King’s time of service was difficult to find, online records of the National Archives show that he was killed in action February 14, 1951, during fighting in South Korea. According to The Planters Press, his family was notified approximately a month later. He was 28 years old. Charles J. Steelman hailed from Plain Dealing as well, and like King and Kelleher, served in the Army.

He was a private first class with the 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, and his awards included the Purple Heart, National Defense Service Medal and Republic of Korea War Service Medal, according to the ABMC. Information about Steelman was also difficult to find, but National Archive records show he was killed in action in the South on February 19, 1951, aged 19.

Today, the Wall of Remembrance at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. commemorates these three men and the more than 36,000 other Americans who lost their lives fighting to defend South Korea. The names Kelleher, King and Steelman are inscribed there. At least two of the names can also be found here at home. Sgt. Kelleher was buried at Lay Cemetery in Benton, while Pfc. Steelman was laid to rest at Stevens Cemetery in Caddo Parish. The final resting place of MSgt. King was unable to be verified. Their sacrifice is stated simply but eloquently by the phrase attributed to Korean War veteran Howard Osterkamp, “All gave some; some gave all.”

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 us to learn more. We are currently closed for renovations, but can still be reached by phone at (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/

Images: 

Sergeant James E. Kelleher Jr. / photo courtesy of A Footstep In Time & Donna Hinton Warke

Grave marker for Private First Class C J Steelman/ photo courtesy of Family Miner

Purple Heart Medal/ photo courtesy of Clipart-library.com

Article: by Kevin Flowers