Princeton High School and Its Only Principal

Principal Walter H. Martin

In the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center, we have oral histories of Bossier Parish residents who share their memories of how things were back in the olden days. Among those in the collection is the oral history of Walter H. Martin and his wife Johnnye Scott Martin, life-long educators in Bossier Parish. They were students during segregation and educators during integration.

Martin was born in Benton, Louisiana, in 1912 and grew up during the days of segregation. In reminiscing about his school days, we learn that his elementary school was Benton Colored School. A two-room schoolhouse that taught grades one through seven. He recalls having Charlotte Mitchell as his teacher there.

Mitchell championed quality education for the black community throughout the first half of the 20th century. She spent 30 years as a teacher and 13 as a superintendent of the Bossier Parish black school system. In 1954 the Bossier City Colored School was renamed Charlotte Mitchell High School in her honor.

The Bossier Parish Training School opened in Benton in 1928 offering black students a post-elementary education through the eleventh grade, which was as far as they went back then. Before then, black students in high school had to take a train to Central Colored High School in Shreveport. Martin was in the Training School’s first graduating class in 1932. Martin had Oliver Mitchell, Charlotte’s husband, as his teacher in high school.

Martin graduated high school with a one-year teaching certificate allowing him to teach elementary school. With a one-year teaching certificate, you could teach for one year, and during the summer, they could go to college and recertify and teach another year. Martin knew he wanted to teach and enrolled full-time at Southern University. Upon receiving his degree in 1940, he began his teaching career at Princeton Elementary School.

Principal Walter H. Martin with
Princeton High School's 1st graduating class 1954

In 1951, Principal Martin circulated petitions to prove that the people would support a bond issue for Princeton to have a black high school. All but one person signed the petitions. Princeton High School became the third black high school in the parish and celebrated its first graduating class in 1954. The other two were the Bossier Parish Training School and Bossier City Colored High.

From 1940 through 1970, under Principal Martin's leadership, the school grew from a four-teacher elementary school to a thirty-teacher school plant comprising two modern brick classroom buildings for grades one through twelfth, a vocational agriculture building, a canning center, a music center, a visual aid room, two teachers' cottages, a one-thousand seating capacity gymnasium-auditorium, a well-lighted athletic field, and a 5,000-gallon water supply tower.

In 1968 and 1969, students at Princeton High School were offered the Freedom of Choice System. Students who wanted to integrate could. Approximately 50 students during this time volunteered to attend Haughton High School. On February 2, 1970, Princeton High School was closed because of court-ordered integration.

Princeton students in grades one through six went to Platt School. Students in grades seven through twelve went to Haughton High School. The Princeton teachers also moved along with their students. However, students at Haughton maintained separate classrooms until later that fall. The senior class held their graduation ceremony at Princeton High School in May 1970. They were the last graduating class of Princeton High School.

When Princeton High School was closed, it was repainted and fixed up. They replaced the gymnasium floor, added dressing rooms, and demolished the old band building. The office area was located facing the area that is the teachers' parking lot today. Princeton School reopened in September of 1970 to grades four through seven.

Mr. Martin later became an administrator in the Bossier Parish School Board Central Office. During his years with Bossier Parish Schools, he received the Outstanding Educator of the Year Award, was cited for his contribution to education as Supervisor of Social Studies for Junior and Senior Schools, and served as Coordinator of the Drug Abuse Education Program. Mr. Martin was also a Coordinator of the Close-Up Program and accompanied a group of teachers and students to Washington, D.C. in March of 1979. Later that year, he retired from the Bossier Parish School system.

There are three exhibits of the Bossier Parish black high schools known as the ‘Big Five’ on display. The exhibits are at the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center, Benton, and East 80 branches. Please stop by anytime Monday-Thursday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visit our Facebook page, @BPLHistory, for a video about Princeton High history and to hear the stories of alumni that were in the last graduating class.

By: Amy Robertson

BPCC's Early Days

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

By: Amy Robertson

Bossier Gets First Smith-Hughes Teacher

Many believe that teaching agriculture in public schools began with the passing of the Smith-Hughes Act in 1917. However, this act's passage was the culmination of work started in 1893 by Alfred C. True, Director of the Office of Experimental Stations. The OES was established in 1888 as a special branch of the Department of Agriculture.

When True became the OES Director, his first report concluded that "the farm boy or girl in the rural high school should be taught...the theory and practices of agriculture." He believed that doing so would result in "more contented and prosperous rural communities." He continued to advocate the need for, development of, or progress in agricultural education in public schools.

In 1901, True hired Dick Crosby as his special assistant to carry out work related to agricultural education. "With the addition of Crosby to the staff and the awakening demands for a more relevant education from progressives, agricultural education in public schools started to become a reality." The OES established a division of agricultural education in 1906 to promote and support agricultural education through consultations, research, curriculum guides, and instructional materials.

At that time, states began establishing agricultural education programs, and by 1916 agriculture was being taught in over 4,000 high schools. The passage of the Smith-Hughes act in 1917 provided federal funds to states to support the teaching of vocational agriculture, home economics, and trade and industrial education. With access to funding, more schools could afford to hire vocational teachers, often referred to at that time as Smith-Hughes teachers. Ten years after the act passed, approximately 90,000 public schools were teaching agriculture.

James Turner Manry in front
of his home garden.
Mary Wheeler Corley Collection:
2003.026.010h

You may be wondering what this has to do with local history. In 1926, James T. Manry of Plain Dealing took a trip to Georgia to see family and friends. He wrote about his journey for the Bossier Banner-Progress. His story included a visit to a Smith-Hughes school where he saw the community benefits of having an agricultural program in public schools. In the article, he asserts, "By all means Bossier Parish is entitled to at least two of these schools." Manry was sure that he would win his friends in Plain Dealing over to his way of thinking.

One month later, the remainder of his story about his trip to Georgia appeared in the newspaper. He mentions that a friend requested him to contact the State Agricultural Department for further information along that line, which he did. He also said, "The wonder is that every parish does not take advantage of the Government's offer and thus learn the young people to love the farm. The only reason that these schools might not be a success in every instance is in the selection of a teacher. In passing through sections where these schools are maintained one can't but help notice the improved appearance of the crops grown. With the right selection of teachers Bossier Parish can't afford to do without this aid is my humble opinion."

The first Smith-Hughes teacher in Bossier Parish was Shelby M. Jackson. He taught agriculture at Plain Dealing and Benton High Schools while also serving as the Smith-Hughes director of Bossier Parish. He got right to work and made it possible for local students to participate in the Smith-Hughes schools' district agricultural fair that first year. Winners were selected to attend the first national congress of vocational agricultural students for a national livestock judging contest at the American Royal Livestock and Horse Show in Kansas City.

Manry must have been satisfied with the Parish's selection of Jackson because the program was a success. Jackson not only instructed the school children, but he also taught the community through weekly articles that appeared in the Bossier Banner-Progress. In 1930, Jackson earned the distinction as the master vocational instructor for the State of Louisiana. He later became the State Supervisor of Vocational Agriculture and then State Superintendent of Education after that.

According to the Future Farmers of America website, "The advancement in agricultural education since the Smith-Hughes Act has bettered the quality of life not just for America's rural and farm families but for everyone across the globe who is fed and clothed by the American Farmer."

By: Amy Robertson

This Month In Bossier Parish History

 December: Through The Years

Dec. 1, 1972: Bossier School Supt. John McConathy announced the new program for an Adult Education Learning Center. 

Bossier Banner: Dec.1, 1972

1974: Bossier Learning Center

2016.037.291

Dec.9, 1920: Weekly news from 100 years ago

* Miss Lois Swindle, now teaching at Linton

c.1920-1930's: Lois Swindle

2018.010.097 Corley Collection

* There are 529 automobiles in the parish

c.1920's: Unidentified group of adults and children in a Model T style car. 

2020.019.019   Shirley Collection

Dec.15, 1950: Bossier City business men Arthur Ray Teague, B.E. McCraine, R.V. Kerr and several others formed a sports promotion club called the Quarterback club. 

Bossier Banner: Dec.16, 1950

1952: Patricia Ann Mullarkey, Hop Fuller (Mayor) and Arthur Ray Teague

1998.047.184 Bossier Chamber of Commerce collection

May 5, 1956: Mayor Burgess McCraine, and Shreveport mayor James Gardner presenting Roy Rogers with a key to the city. 

2016.019.030

Dec.25: Merry Christmas! Wishing everyone a happy and safe holiday. 

1938: Christmas card sent to Mariece Gleason of Plain dealing

Inside card: Merry Christmas to you. AA day that brings warmth and welcome. A time that keeps each door ajar. Merry Christmas and gay festive greetings. To you wherever you are.   From Loise and Walter

2019.005.099  

1943: V-mail letter from World War II.  From Private Archie D. Gladney to Mrs. Viola Gladney of Cotton Valley

1998.040.001 Hardiman Collection

1974: Princeton High School

2016.037.298

Dec. 20, 1951: Bossier Banner

Dec.22, 1961: The Times

The Honoree of Mayfield Street

In 1916, Zella Mayfield was born Zella Ruby Cullen, the ninth child of William B. and Hannah Cullen. Her mother was known as “Momma Cullen” due to her popularity as a midwife in Benton, La. Raised by an Italian family, her father received a good education. He graduated in 1882 and then went to college, becoming an educator in Bossier Parish.

The Cullen’s saw to it that their children, all eleven of them, were educated. Mayfield attended school at Linwood, a Rosenwald school in Benton that had three rooms, one for grades 1-3, one for grades 4-7, and the third room served as a kitchen for preparing meals for the students. Starting in fourth grade, she attended the Bossier Training School, where she finished high school. Many children would stay in the dormitory during the school year, but she remembers walking three-miles to school instead.

Following in her father’s footsteps, Mayfield was an educator in Bossier Parish for 31-years. She started teaching before going to college, which was she said was allowed if a person completed 12th grade. Like most educators, Mayfield attended college during summer breaks. The colleges she attended include Northeastern, Louisiana State University, Wiley College, and Stephen F. Austin.

Her teaching career began at Oak Ridge, a small one-room schoolhouse. She also taught at Linwood, the Rosenwald school that she attended as a child. Eventually, she started teaching at Carrie Martin when it was only an elementary school—reassigned, later, when integrating public schools began in Bossier Parish, to Plantation Park Elementary School in Bossier City.

After her teaching career, Mayfield had plans to travel and see the world. As a Benton native and life-long resident, Zella Mayfield loved her community. Friends and neighbors urged her to seek public office, so she did, cutting short her plans to travel and see the world. In an interview, Mayfield said, “she couldn’t walk away from a public life – she was committed to helping her fellow man.”

Her political career began in 1986 when she became an alderman for District 2 of Benton. When she ran for re-election in 1992, she said that “she wants to see the town improve over the next four years, including improved care for the elderly and securing a new, enlarged town hall.” She held that seat for twelve years. During those twelve years, Mayor George Forrest resigned, and she served as pro-tem Mayor of Benton after his resignation and while waiting for Joe Stickell to take office.

Mayfield led efforts to improve the Bossier Parish Health Unit, for which she received honors in 1994. She was an active member of the Bossier Parish Concerned Citizens group, focused on improving education, voting rights, and community-related issues.

In 1997, former Mayor Stickell led the effort to name a town street in Benton in Mayfield’s honor. He asserted, “Zella Mayfield is a people person. She makes decisions to benefit the whole town of Benton. She’s a very influential person for blacks and whites here.” …

“Mayfield Street was so named in honor of Mayfield’s long-standing dedication to her neighbors.”

To learn more about Zella Mayfield and other women who made a difference in Bossier Parish, visit the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center, 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City. While you are here, you can view an exhibit honoring some of these women.

Remembering a 'Woman of the Century'

In celebration of the Women's vote centennial, each month, a woman who made a difference in Bossier Parish has been spotlighted in this column. This month, Marguerite White Hudson is in the spotlight. Hudson was born in Pitkin, Louisiana, in 1929. After high school, she went to Northwestern University, where she earned her BS in Physical Education and met the love of her life, Plain Dealing native Billy Brooks Hudson, who was also a teacher.

In 1961 their careers brought them to Bossier City, where they both began teaching at Bossier High School. As many teachers do, Hudson continued her education and obtained a Master's degree in Education and a Master's degree in English. Hudson taught at Bossier High School until 1970 when she became one of the charter teachers for Bossier Parish Community College as an English teacher.

Even after "retiring" in 1979, Hudson continued to teach English at the Noncommissioned Officers Academy, Louisiana Tech, and Centenary for the next ten years. After forty years of teaching, she decided to focus on how she could better serve Bossier Parish schools outside of the classroom. She ran for a seat on the Bossier Parish School Board, which she was elected to in 1991.

In an interview with Shreveport Times reporter Fred Powell, Hudson asserted, "I intend to see that the quality of the classroom's environment is foremost." She served two terms on the BPSB and was elected as vice president and then president. Though she decided not to run for re-election in 1998, she kept on doing things to better the parish where education is concerned, which is why she started campaigning for the expansion of the Bossier Parish Library system.

She believed that the history of Bossier Parish needed to be preserved and accessible to the people. She organized a history presentation with Dr. James Hudson and Dr. Tom Carleton, including the archeological history of Bossier Parish, emphasizing the need for a history center and an archives repository. Along with her husband and three other couples, the Bossier Parish Historical Foundation was re-activated. She was instrumental in the school board's decision to lease the old courthouse site in Benton to the Historical Foundation and having the Hughes House moved and restored.

Hudson has served the community in many other ways, such as serving as chairwoman of the Bossier Parish Citizens' Advising Committee on Corrections. This 12-member committee sought answers to corrections problems, including persistent overcrowding at the parish Jail in Benton. She was a volunteer for Project R.E.A.D. sponsored by BPCC, which matched non-reading adults with volunteer tutors.

In 2000, she was recognized by the Women's Business Council, an affiliate of the Shreveport Chamber of Commerce, selecting her as a Woman of the Century. Her lifetime of devotion to education and public service found her inducted in the Bossier High School Hall of Fame in 2012.

Hudson co-authored a cookbook Crème de la Crème with Geri Cope and Pat Maxwell, and she was the author of two other books. Her first book was Emmet Cope: A Tribute of Remembrance, a tribute to Emmett E. Cope, former principal of Bossier High and Superintendent of Schools of Bossier Parish. The second book is Whiskey Chitto Woman: A Civil War Novel, which is a historical fiction novel based on the lives of her great grandparents, Aaron and Ellen Johnson, during the civil war.

To learn more about Hudson and other women who made a difference in Bossier Parish, visit the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center, 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City. While you are here, you can view an exhibit on some of these women or suppose you are interested in reading books by Hudson. In that case, both books are available at the Bossier Parish Library History Center on the reference shelves, or they can be checked out from any location. (Crème de la Crème is not available.)

By: Amy Robertson

Miss Rita Made a Difference

Rita Sanders Keoun

Bossier Parish Police Juror, Jimmy Walker, motioned on May 7, 1987, for the Bossier Parish Police Jury to declare Jun. 14, 1987 as “Rita Keoun Appreciation Day.” The resolution was passed, and a Special Committee of the Bossier Parish Library Board was assembled to organize the dedication ceremony activities for the newly expanded Plain Dealing branch, including recognizing Rita Keoun for her many years of service.

Miss Rita, as she was most affectionately known, was born in Plain Dealing on Dec. 8, 1901. After graduating high school in 1918, she went to Louisiana Polytechnic Institute in Ruston, La, 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 they needed her to teach. First, in Lisbon and then in Hosston, until R.V. Kerr offered her a teaching position in Plain Dealing, bringing her back home to the community she loved.

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 during summer breaks, eventually receiving a master’s degree in primary education.

In Nov. 1949, 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. She served without pay or expense reimbursement because she felt she could be of service, and because of her love for education. Public libraries are, after all, a vital part of the educational system in America.

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,” Governor Edwin Edwards proclaimed Jun. 14, 1987, as “Rita Keoun Day” as well. When asked how she felt about her special day, Miss Rita responded by saying, “I was embarrassed to death.” In another interview, she asked the writer not to make her “look special.” It’s clear she was not in it for the recognition; her only concern was making a difference.

Rita Sanders Keoun, honored at the dedication ceremony of the Plain Dealing Library.
On Rita Sanders Keoun Appreciation Day, June 14, 1987. Ada Myreck Collection: 1997.005.002.

Outside of teaching and serving on the library board, Miss Rita was also involved in numerous civic organizations. She served on the committee that created and presented a memorial plaque honoring the two hundred WWII veterans that were graduates and teachers from Plain Dealing High School, a gift of the 1944 graduating class. When the Bossier Parish Teachers’ Association was founded, May 1946, Miss Rita served as its first treasurer. She was a founding member of the Plain Dealing Kadelphian Club and a member of the Plain Dealing Dogwood Drive Association.

 

Miss Rita was on the Bossier Restoration Foundation, in which she was elected president in 1974. Anytime there were any national fundraisers, she often served as the chairman of the local chapter, including the American Red Cross Roll Call campaign, Infantile Paralysis Foundation, March of Dimes, and the Cancer Fund. For sixty-seven years, she was a devoted member of the Plain Dealing First United Methodist Church, teaching Sunday school for at least fifty of those years.

Miss Rita made a difference in Bossier Parish with her lifelong passion for educating and serving others. In a final recognition of her dedication and service to the parish, the Plain Dealing branch of the Bossier Parish Library was renamed the “Rita Sanders Keoun Memorial Plain Dealing Branch” shortly after her death in 1991.

By: Amy Robertson