FOURTH OF JULY – Then and Now

Happy Fourth of July, 2026, and the semi-quincentennial (250th!) anniversary of our nation’s founding, when the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The thirteen newly-proclaimed states (not colonies), broke their allegiance to the British monarchy by attesting, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” In 2026, across the country, communities will observe this milestone anniversary and reflect on America’s history in various ways.

Here in the History Center, we can find details of how the holiday was celebrated as far back as the 1850’s, in the earliest issues of the Bossier Banner newspaper. In July 1859, when the country was only 83 years old, The Bossier Banner reflected upon the meaning of the day, and also announced a celebration worthy of a momentous occasion in north Louisiana fashion, a fish fry. The July 1, 1959, Banner announced the Parish’s free July 4th fish-fry would be held at Inabnett bluff, near Bellevue, which was then the Parish seat. The editor wrote, “Now everyone is expected to be in attendance who desire to enjoy the ‘fisherman’s luck,’ to their heart’s content on the ‘[glorious] fourth.’ For remember dear readers, this is our national day of jubilee—when the eagle, that proud bird of liberty, flew aloft [and] devoured the English lion.”

The 1859 Fourth of July fish fry jubilee’s attendance and activities were described in the July 8th issue of the Bossier Banner: “The Fourth of July Fish-Fry which came off on that renown day of ‘American integrity,’ at the Inabnett Bluff, near this place (the Bossier Banner’s Bellevue office), passed off very pleasantly—only a too sudden visitation of the watery element somewhat checked the fun and frolic of the participants.”

The embellished article, typical for the time, continued on to say that, despite the rain, “Bossier’s beauties, a portion of them, gathered there with smiles and sunshine, sending for miles around the warmth of their affections for the love of –the Fourth!…We would have given a sight draft (a written demand for imminent payment) of twenty-five cents, on the Police Jury, to have been present on the occasion.” The editor noted that there were “squads” of young gentlemen present as well. They were apparently forced to keep their distance from the ladies…due to the size of their hoop skirts.

Bear in mind that at that time, stories of Independence Day celebrations only included about half the parish’s population; by the 1860 Census, the population of the parish was about 8,000, over 4,000 of whom were enslaved. The Declaration of Independence’s assertion of the self-evident truth that “all men are created equal” came closer to fulfillment on January 1, 1863, when the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect, freeing people enslaved in the South. The celebration for that proclamation, and the day that it was announced and enforced in Texas, became Juneteenth, or Emancipation Day. Like the 19th century July fourth celebration described above, Juneteenth also became known as “Jubilee day.” Check out our June 17, 2026 local history article to learn about the history of Juneteenth “jubilees” in Bossier Parish.

This year on July 4th, among other events, Bossier welcomes the whole community to the South Bossier Park off Caplis Sligo Rd. for an Independence Day festival as part of the KTBS 3 Freedom Fest Finale and the nationwide America250 birthday celebration. Gates open to the public at 5 p.m.

Bossier Parish Libraries History Center in the Bossier Central Library complex remains closed while our new exhibits are installed. Don’t forget you can explore many of our collections, including stories and photos of Fourth of July and Juneteenth celebrations on our website, www.bossierlibrary.org. Look for the History and Genealogy page under Resources and then choose Collections Database. Feel free to contact History Center staff by phone or email for assistance. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org. All Bossier Parish Libraries will be closed Friday, July 3rd for the Fourth of July holiday.

Images: 

• Stone Engraving of the Declaration of Independence, National Archives
• Fourth of July fish fry article, Bossier Banner Progress, July 8, 1859, p. 2
• Logo of America 250, the United States Semiquincentennial Commission

Article by: Pam Carlsile

Service Across the Sea – N. B. Carstarphen and the A.E.F.

The First World War, The Great War, or the War to End All Wars was one of the most devastating conflicts ever conducted in human history. Beginning in 1914, the world would be ravaged by the new destructive forces devised for this new conflict. No longer were armies content to form orderly columns, as the Western Front especially devolved into a mess of tangled and conflicting trench lines, trading lives and war materiel for marginal changes in the positioning of armies. There were three motivating incidents that led the United States’ intervention into the Great War: German resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare, the sinking of the RMS Lusitania (a British ship carrying American passengers) at the hands of said submarines, and finally the infamous Zimmerman telegram, the German attempt to lure Mexico into joining the Central Powers in exchange for portions of American land. These incidents resulted in the United States to officially join the Entente, commonly known as the Allies. To lead the American Expeditionary Force (A.E.F.), the United States’ contribution to the international coalition, General John J. “Blackjack” Pershing was selected. There, among his famously well-trained and talented staff at the General Headquarters, was a Plain Dealing native by the name of Newton Blanchard (N. B.) Carstarphen

                       

Mister Carstarphen was born January 28, 1894, in Plain Dealing Louisiana to Mr. Edward M. and Mrs. Sallie Wilson. N. B. attended Georgetown University in Washington, D. C., in the 1910s to study law before graduating in 1917. While in D. C., he served as the private secretary to Louisiana Senator Joseph E. Ransdell as well as a messenger for the Committee on Public Health and National Quarantine. After his graduation, Newton volunteered for the upcoming European war effort on July 13, 1917. Newton Carstarphen’s law degree landed him a position as an Army Field Clerk, assigned to the United States General Headquarters (G.H.Q.) as an adjunct. For a period of twenty-six months he served in the A.E.F., throughout both the American involvement in the Western Front offenses, as well as the drawdown of American soldiers in Europe post-armistice. For his service to General Headquarters, Mr. Carstarphen received commendation for exceptional and meritorious service. At least one source claims that Newton served as aide-de-camp and personal courier for General Pershing himself, trusted with carrying secret military movements to the intended recipients.

The A.E.F., at the insistence of General Pershing, maintained a mostly independent command structure from the French and British armies, under his insistence that the A.E.F. would fight more effectively beneath their own flag. On May 28, 1918, the United States saw its first major action in the closing months of the Great War, at the battle of Cantigny. It is important to note, however, that this battle did not occur in a vacuum. The German armies assigned to the Western Front had spent the past two months expending the very last of the Empire’s strength in the German Spring Offensive, partly to end the war before the fresh and invigorated American

Army could arrive upon the shores of France and Belgium. The British Expeditionary Forces, as well as the French Army, were both exhausted from the past four years of brutal conflict. Whilst the A.E.F. would serve with distinction, and come to be a major contributing factor in bringing an end to the Great War, it was only through the immense suffering of the Allies that gave the United States this opportunity.

The remainder of 1918 saw vicious fighting, with the German military being forced to come to terms with their eventual defeat as became increasingly clear when the Spring Offensive failed to materialize the promised victory. On the Eleventh Hour, of the Eleventh Day, of the Eleventh Month, the guns of the Western Front would fall silent, with the signing of the armistice that gave way to the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. For his efforts in leading the United States to victory in the Great War, General Pershing was elevated to a position of which he has only two equals: General of the Armies of the United States. As for Mr. Carstarphen, Newton returned to the United States and attended Loyola University for his Masters in Law, before joining the Louisiana Bar Association in 1921. His career was one as high-powered lawyer and high-ranking politico in Louisiana politics, before his death on June 10, 1983. The Great War was viewed as the War to End All War, and while this adage would ultimately prove false, it was not through a lack of effort or bravery on the part of the Allies, and the American Expeditionary Forces served their parts valiantly in that titanic struggle.

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. The History Center is currently closed until July 2026, though staff remains available. 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: 

• Newton Blanchard Carstarphen - Lilla McLure and J. Ed Howe, History of Shreveport and Shreveport Builders Vol. 1, Page 433.
• General John J. "Blackjack" Pershing - United States Library of Congress (LOC Control #: 2004672051)
• Plain Dealing High School, where N.B. Attended - BPL History Center (1997.031.040)

Article by: Jonah Daigle

A History of Juneteenth/Emancipation Day Celebrations in Bossier Parish

This Friday, June 19th, marks the United States’ newest federal holiday, commemorating Juneteenth National Independence Day. Juneteenth, however, has a long history of being celebrated in Bossier Parish, even if the occasion may have carried a different name. In the 19th century to mid-20th century, these celebrations were typically referred to as Emancipation Day, or occasionally as Jubilee Day, Freedom Day or Liberation Day.

Juneteenth recognizes the day in 1865 when the enslaved men & women in Galveston, Texas learned that they were free two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation, and federal troops were sent to enforce the proclamation. Thus, historically Juneteenth has often been considered a “Texas holiday,” but newspaper articles going back to the late 19th century show how African American residents of Bossier Parish celebrated both within the parish or took advantage of special Juneteenth holiday railroad tickets to join celebrations in places such as Boyce, LA or Stamps, AR.

The “Shreveport Times” on Tuesday, June 29, 1917, announced,

“While the negro population of Shreveport is celebrating Emancipation Day, they will not have anything on the ‘country,’ for the farm hands and negro farmers of the parish are, in their own way, to have as big a celebration as their neighbors in the city. Picnics, dances barbecues, speech-making and other means of observing the day have been arranged for on an elaborate scale.”

The biggest of all of these “country” celebrations, the Times noted, was to be in Bossier Parish on the Liberia Plantation. Mrs. Olive Foster, the owner of the planation, had “taken charge of arrangements” for the celebration on the large Bossier plantation (1400 acres in Ward 2 of Bossier Parish. Numerous present-day subdivisions have been carved out of it in Bossier City and the Red Chute area of Haughton) and the Times guaranteed it to be “the biggest party yet” for the attendees.

The festivities were to start at 4:00 PM with a baseball game between the Liberia team and a team from adjoining plantations. Mrs. Foster supplied uniforms and equipment for both teams. Following the game, several of the Liberia workers were to present a vaudeville-style program. Two-thirds of the money taken for tickets to both the game and the show would be donated to the local Red Cross. There would be a dance following the show and refreshments would be served all day to “keep down summer temperatures.” The grove on the plantation was expected to also lend lots of cool shade. The Times reported that in addition to the African Americans “for miles around” who were expected to attend, it was anticipated that many local white residents would visit Liberia Plantation on Juneteenth, especially the ball game, as spectators.

The “Bossier Banner-Progress” newspaper wrote that about five or six hundred celebrants gathered at Princeton, near Haughton, for a big barbecue and baseball games. In 1924, the “Bossier Banner” wrote of a large Emancipation Day party held in the Seven Pines community, which is several miles northeast of Benton, that featured barbecued meats, music, and dancing. In 1934, the “Plain Dealing Progress” reported that no less than five hundred people attended an Emancipation Day gathering to participate in ball games, dances and other celebrations.

In an oral history interview, Rev. Carl Hawkins, who grew up in Bossier Parish in the 1930s & 40s, notes that, "We would have picnics and barbecue; most of the churches would have some type of activities going on." Bessie Rhodes, in her oral history, remembers baseball games on Juneteenth in the 1930s. "The 19th of June was our celebration and I loved the ball games. We’d have a big old thing!" John Williams considered the meal served on June 19th, when he was growing up in Koran, as his family’s equivalent of a Thanksgiving feast.

Waylin Nattin, who lived in the Alden Bridge logging and sawmill community in north Bossier Parish, pointed out a less-celebratory aspect of the holiday in the first half of the 20th century, when all facets of local life, including “independence days,” were segregated by race. Alden Bridge, a logging company town between Benton and Plain Dealing, was known in the region for its Fourth of July dances, barbeques and other festivities to celebrate American independence. These festivities were for Alden Bridge’s white residents and workers only. Black workers got their independence holiday on Juneteenth, when the lumber company made the ballfields and barbecue pits available to black workers and community members.

The Bossier Parish Libraries History Center in the Bossier Central Library complex is still closed while our new exhibits are installed. Don’t forget you can explore many of our collections, including listen to the digitized oral history interviews such as the oral histories with the Juneteenth stories referred in this article, on our website, www.bossierlibrary.org. Look for the History and Genealogy page under Resources and then choose Collections Database. Feel free to contact History Center staff by phone or email for assistance. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org. Don’t forget, all Bossier Parish Libraries will be closed Friday, June 19 for the holiday.

Images: 

• Juneteenth special train ticket rates, The Shreveport Journal Mon, Jun 18, 1917 
• T. Olive Foster from The Tennessean, Feb. 5th, 1899
• Unidentified baseball player in Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La. C. 1930. Photo courtesy of Mrs. Leona Raymond
• Whited & Wheless, Ltd. (Lumber Company)  Alden Bridge, La.

Thousands Gathered to Witness Beach Landing in Bossier

The east bank of the Red River in Bossier City, a draw now for leisurely entertainment and shopping, attracted crowds for a very different reason 81 years ago today. On Sunday afternoon, June 10, 1945, the shoreline near the Texas Street Bridge came alive with the clatter of machine-gun fire and the roar of fighter planes, as a battle unfolded. But Bossier City hadn’t become the latest hotzone of World War II. The fighting was simulated, meant to give spectators a glimpse of America’s military in action and highlight the importance of financially supporting those who were facing enemies abroad. Although victory in Europe had been declared a month earlier, the war in the Pacific continued.

War bond drives, or loan drives as they were also called, were a critical aspect of U.S. policy during the Second World War. They helped raise funds that the government used to buy equipment and supplies for the war effort, and they helped foster a sense of patriotism among citizenry by providing a means to contribute to that effort. There were eight such drives between November 1942 and December 1945. The mock invasion held in Bossier City was part of number seven.

In the days leading up to the event, local newspaper stories heightened interest by telling of the military machinery and maneuvers that would be on display and the guests who would attend, including Louisiana Governor Jimmie Davis and movie star of that era, Robert Young. Personnel would also be present to sell bonds. In an article on June 9, Barksdale’s Bark, the newspaper of Barksdale Field – as the base was then called – set the scene: “One hundred Barksdale GIs, armed with rifles and machine guns, will be disgorged from nine Higgins boats tomorrow, and behind a smoke screen, will plunge into an inferno of explosions, … belching flame throwers, roaring dive bombers and wheezing bazooka shells to secure a beachhead,” the paper stated. According to the article, Barksdale not only supplied the troops, but also much of the equipment, including jeeps, walkie-talkies and blank ammunition. The Higgins boats, named for Andrew Higgins, founder of the New Orleans company that built them, were brought by truck from Texas.

The “Red River Bond Invasion Show,” as the event was referred to in some local newspapers, got underway before a crowd estimated to number between 25,000 and 30,000 attendees, gathered along both sides of the river and on the Texas Street Bridge. Prior to the start of the invasion, Young addressed those assembled and “placed decided emphasis on the need to buy war bonds,” according to an article the following day in The Shreveport Journal. Navy Lieutenant Joe McMeel, survivor of a bombing attack on the aircraft carrier USS Franklin just four months prior, spoke as well.

After the guest speakers, the invasion commenced. The Shreveport Journal article of June 11 described what took place: “As the men advanced to establish their beachhead, smoke bombs … were set off, providing continuous protection to the men landing on the shore and to those moving upward on the beach. Even as the men advanced, the … P51s (fighter aircraft) continued to come over, providing a cover for them and blasting an opening … to aid the men in their move forward.” This must have been quite a sight to see on Red River! Soldiers stormed ashore and scrambled up the east bank with the objective of planting a flag at a predetermined point in “enemy” territory. Once this was achieved, victory was declared.

Persons who purchased bonds at the event and in the days just before the event were allowed rides on the Higgins boats. Young, who years later would achieve fame on tv in shows like “Father Knows Best” and “Marcus Welby M.D.,” signed autographs for those who bought bonds of $1000 or more. The June 11 article in The Shreveport Journal states that approximately $21,000 in bonds were sold during the afternoon’s show. That amount combined with money from bond sales across the country during the seven weeks of the Seventh War Loan Drive helped achieve a final total of more than $26 billion. Yes, billion.

For one Sunday afternoon in June 1945, Bossier’s east bank became a stage, offering a more forgiving glimpse into the brutal beach landings at places such as Normandy and Iwo Jima. For a moment, the crowd had a visual reminder that freedom isn’t free.

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 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: 

• 7th War Loan poster/Wikimedia Commons
• Beach landing on Red River's east bank/Barksdale's Bark, June 16, 1945

Articlel by: Kevin Flowers

Ben Kuroki: All-American War Hero, Part II

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and a perfect time to remember Sergeant Ben Kuroki, a US Army Air Corps gunner from the “Mighty Eighth” Air Force during World War II. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Ben Kuroki couldn’t wait to fight for his country. As a “Nisei,” born in America to parents who immigrated from Japan, he had to “fight like hell” for the chance. In last week’s history column, American-born Kuroki, raised on a farm in Hershey, Nebraska, was ultimately able to get a spot in the US Army Air Corps. Sent first to clerical school and then to Barksdale Army Air Field in Louisiana for the activation of the 93rd Bombardment Group, he continued to fight to stay with his squadron once they were deployed overseas.

With much persistence, Kuroki made it to England with the 93rd Bomb Group. This time Kuroki fought to fight from the air in the 93rd’s B-24 heavy bombers, also known as Liberators, in some of the most critical and dangerous air missions of the European front. Kuroki assiduously prepared and proved himself for a spot in the air. He volunteered to be a much-needed aerial gunner and attended gunner school in England. When a young turret gunner in Kuroki’s squadron was grounded for medical reasons, he was allowed to choose his own replacement. He picked the eager Kuroki for the spot.

Sent to Africa for temporary deployment, Ben Kuroki was on his first mission, a raid on the docks and supply depot of Bizerte, Tunisia, when his bomber was hit by flak. One of his crew members was gravely wounded by shrapnel. It was largely Sergeant Kuroki’s clear-headed thinking that kept the man alive, and cemented the bond between Ben Kuroki and the crew.

It was also clear that Kuroki performed extremely admirably as a gunner, moving from waist and tail to turret gunner. His fellow squadron members gave him the nickname “Honorable Son” with affectionate intent, and his reputation as a valued crew member continued to grow. As two examples of his many exploits, he spent three months interned in Spain after being shot down over Spanish Morocco, and was a part of the daring and dangerous low-altitude air raid of the Ploesti oil refineries of Romania.

When Kuroki’s squad member 1st Lt. E.E. Weir returned home to Kilgore, Texas in the northeast part of the state, he visited the Kilgore News Herald’s office. The young navigator proudly wanted everyone to know how he was in the same squadron as the “popular” Ben Kuroki. He also enthusiastically announced that in addition to Kuroki, his diverse fellow crew members included an Italian-American soldier. (With Italy as part of the Axis powers, Americans of Italian descent, like Americans of Japanese descent, faced suspicion and discrimination when the United States entered WWII.) Since Kilgore is just over an hour from Shreveport and Barksdale Army Air Field, the Shreveport Times also ran the News Herald’s feel-good war story on February 26, 1944.

Following 30 combat missions in Europe on the B-24, and earning two flying crosses, Kuroki rotated back to the United States, where he could have stayed. Instead, he hoped to return for another full tour of duty as a B-29 gunner in the Pacific. Once again, Kuroki had to fight to fight, this time even harder. Americans of Japanese descent were expressly prohibited from entering active air combat against Japan.

By that time, Kuroki and his achievements had garnered him media attention and speaking engagements while he was back in the States. These engagements included speaking to Japanese Americans incarcerated in detention camps in the US West, encouraging young men to join the military and fight for America, while also appealing to the larger American society to end the discrimination and civil rights violations against Americans of Japanese descent.

Kuroki delivered one of the most powerful speeches at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, which received national media coverage and caught the attention of such influential Californians as the chancellor of Stanford University, the former editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, and the provost of the University of California Berkeley. He also had the support of his Nebraska Representative, Carl T. Curtis. These men successfully pleaded Kuroki’s case to the highest ranks of the Army.

Sergeant Ben Kuroki became the only Japanese American to serve in air combat in the Pacific Theater of Operations, and was one of the very few soldiers of any background to have fought in both the European and Pacific theaters. Following his tour in the Pacific, where he participated in the bombing of Tokyo, Kuroki was awarded a third flying cross. In total, he completed 58 combat missions during his service.

                                     

Ben Kuroki continued his mission to end discrimination against Japanese Americans, which he referred to as his 59th mission, and became a journalist and publisher. In 2009, when the 93rd Bomb Group planned a reunion at Barksdale, a reporter from The Shreveport Times contacted Kuroki. Kuroki, he recalled, was cordial and polite and said he would not be taking part in the reunion due to health reasons, compounded by memories of local prejudice. “My traveling days are pretty much over,” he told The Times. He died Sept. 1, 2015 at his home in California at the age of 98.

Kuroki has been the subject of a handful of biographies and documentaries. The most recent and complete biography is titled, Most Honorable Son: A Forgotten Hero’s Fight Against Fascism and Hate During World War II by Gregg Jones, 2024. The book is available online as an e-book and e-audiobook from Bossier Parish Libraries. You can download it from home with your library card number via Hoopla at bossierlibrary.org.

While our History Center is still closed due to installation of our new exhibits, you can explore our resources online, including our online catalog, where most of our photographs and many of our archival materials, such as oral histories, have been digitized. Go to the bossierlibrary.org website and choose History and Genealogy under Resources. You can contact us with questions 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: 

• Sgt. Ben Kuroki responding to a speech of welcome given by Project Director Guy Robertson and representatives of the Community Council upon his arrival at Heart Mountain, 24 April 1944. From the War Relocation Authority Photographs of Japanese-American Evacuation and Resettlement housed at UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library, available via Calisphere.org
• Sgt. Ben Kuroki holds the damaged turret from his 30th mission in Europe. Photo by Ken LaRock, Courtesy of National Museum of the USAF

Article by: Pam Carlisle