Julia Sparke Rule: Nineteenth Century Media Maven and Mother

 March is Women’s history month and it’s always a delight to find women from local history who challenged conventions, achieved something out-of-the-ordinary, or used whatever gifts and opportunities they had for the good of their community. It never ceases to amaze me the women like this that you can find when you look. One such woman is Mrs. Julia Rule, who became nationally famous for driving the golden spike in Bossier City, La. to mark the completion of the Shreveport and Arkansas Railroad on April 6, 1888 (later known as the Cotton Belt), and was well-known locally for her role working in the male domain of journalism, especially as the society columnist known as “Pansy.”.

On the surface, Julia Rule’s life may have looked rather glamourous. Perhaps it was, but she was also fulfilling the never-ending demands on a working mother of very young children, and soon, as a widowed and bereaved mother of young children. She was doing so in the days before Social Security, life or disability insurance. Much of this behind-the-scenes story didn’t get widely told. Julia, of course, wrote mostly about other people’s lives.

Julia Sparke was born in Kentucky around 1852. The 1870 census shows her living in Shreveport at the age of 18 with her 27-year-old husband Charlie Rule, listed as a bookkeeper. Living right next door are her parents and younger siblings, ranging in age from 8 months to 15. She had just gotten married in 1869 in Louisville.

According the Census 10 years later, much in Julia’s life had changed. She is listed with the occupation of “Boarding,” apparently helping to run a boarding house, and has three children ages 1, 5 and 6, Ida, Louise and Glenn. Her husband is no longer employed, and has not been employed for the entire census year.

Not shown in the census records is that between 1870 and 1880 there was an older child born, named Lucy Stewart Rule who passed away in Shreveport on Oct. 11, 1877 at the age of 6 years and 9 months. Lucy Stewart’s life is evidenced only by a very brief notice in the Shreveport Times and a stone with her name on it near her parents’ headstones in Shreveport’s Oakland Cemetery. Then Charlie Rule passed away in 1881. That same year, Julia began teaching calisthenics (physical education – and later also penmanship) for head Kate Nelson at the Shreveport Seminary for Girls and Children not long after Charlie passed.

Mrs. Rule began a newspaper career within a decade, writing for several local papers. Venturing even further into unfamiliar territory for women, she became Secretary of the Louisiana State Press Asociation, and was always in attendance at their state conferences, sometimes as a featured speaker. She even attended the National Press Association conference in July, 1891.

Mrs. Rule also took a job as the secretary for the mayor of Shreveport, a position which set her up to be the first woman to drive the golden spike, in the mayor’s absence, along with R. N. McKellar who was the president of the Cotton Exchange. She gained national media attention for this honor, since she was considered to be the first woman to drive a golden spike to mark the completion of a railroad. The New York Evening Post even had a little fun at her expense, dubbing her “the Golden Rule.”

Perhaps most remarkably, Mrs. Rule was also an entrepreneur. By 1890 local and regional newspapers show that she decided to put her connections and fashion observations made while covering society to
her financial benefit. She put a notice announcing her own “purchasing agency,” later called the Mrs. Julia Rule Millinery and Dressmaker supply:

“My extensive acquaintance with business houses in the city and experience gives me unrivaled facilities for filling orders that may be sent me…Parties residing out of the city who desire goods can save the expense of a trip and obtain better prices by ordering what they want through me than by purchasing themselves…In ordering, state specifically what is wanted and the limit of your investment and send money with the order. My charges are 2 and ½ percent for purchasing. She noted as references the Shreveport Times and “the merchants of Shreveport.”

In fact, Mrs. Rule put her column itself to use in advertising this business, interspersing her society notes in the “Shreveport Times” with entries such as, “For the Reunion. Just received at Mrs. Julia Rule’s millinery store on Market Street, a full line of black and white leghorn flats, with or without flowers, for the picnics.” Or “Read This. A large lot of beautiful hats, baby caps and bonnets are offered to the public at a reasonable price at Mrs. Julia Rule’s fashionable millinery store, No. 210 Milam Street.”

She was perhaps, just ahead of her time. By January 1895, her inventory was listed in a bankruptcy sale, then not advertised any further. However, imagine her today as a “personal shopper” or “influencer” with the help of e-commerce infrastructure and social media! In fact, she did end up going to work for the Louisiana State Fair in what was comparable to the more modern “public relations” position.

Julia herself lived well into old age, living with her daughter and family in the end. She passed away in April, 1931. The local Typographical Union included a tribute to her in their Memorial Day exercises held on the printers’ lot in Greenwood Cemetery. The union president said, “I could not let this occasion pass without paying special tribute to the memory of a woman who, throughout her 40 or more years as a newspaper woman of this city, was one of the best friends the printers ever had. Her character was as spotless and her soul as clean and white as this lily, which I now place in the vase as a loving tribute to her memory.” A committee from the union then went to Oakland to lay a floral tribute on her grave.

If you have stories or photographs of some of the area’s strong and trail-blazing women, we’d love to see them, and perhaps make copies for our collection, with your permission. If you would like to have our “Women Who Made a Difference in Bossier Parish” program, which includes Julia Rule (in Part 2) or any of our other programs presented to your group, please contact us, as well. We are located at 2206 Beckett St, Bossier City, LA and are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org

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

Images: 

Portrait: The Times, 23 Jan 1966

Newspaper Clipping: Springfield News-Sun, Springfield, Ohio · Saturday, April 07, 1888

Article by: Pam Carlsile

Breaking Barriers

Each year, since 1987, March is designated as Women's History Month by Presidential proclamation to honor women's contributions to history, culture, and society. This year's theme is a continuation of 2020s, recognizing the battle for women's suffrage. For almost 100 years, women fought for the right to vote. But the right to vote is not the only thing women have had to fight for. While women continue to fight for the Equal Rights Amendment, they also continue to break barriers in many areas such as sports, politics, the military, and the workplace.

The women of Bossier Parish are no exception as we have a very long list of women who have and continue to break barriers set before them. There are so many that it is not possible to list them all here now. The following are a few of the Bossier Parish women that have broken barriers making their contributions to history, culture, and society.

Rebecca LaBorde holds the distinction of being the first female firefighter for Bossier City, joining the department in 1984. She was the fifth woman to attempt to join the department but the first to pass all of the tests, including the agility test. She passed the test because she trained hard, running and weight training to meet the requirements. The agility test had applicants set up a ladder, climb up and down it, then dismantle it, carry two different types of hoses, and finish by carrying 100 pounds up two flights of stairs, all within a time limit.

Marshall Esther P. Watkins

Esther Parker Watkins became the first Bossier City Marshall when Judge Louis Lyons appointed her in 1965. Her appointment came after her husband O.L. "Slim" Watkins' sudden death. She served as his deputy during his sixteen years as City Marshall, making her the perfect fit. He was the first Marshall elected when the Bossier City/Ward two court was established in 1950. When election time came in 1966, she was elected by the people running against T. R. Kay and Arthur C. Townsend.

Bossier Parish women have also made their mark in the armed forces. Haughton native Glenda Rhodes-Hood enlisted in the Navy in 1973. There she became a lithographer, and in 1984 she became the Navy's first female chief lithographer. A lithographer is one who prints from a flat stone or metal plate, parts of which are treated to repel ink. They were the Navy's version of a Print Designer, running print shops and producing printed material used by the Navy, such as magazines, newspapers, forms, and training materials. This job no longer exists in the Navy.

Brig. Gen. Fred W. Borum presents
the Air Medal to Lt. Elsie Ott

In 1943 army nurse 2nd Lt. Elsie S. Ott, formerly of Barksdale Field, was the first woman to be awarded the Air Medal, awarded to members of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard for meritorious achievement while participating in an aerial flight. Ott nursed five seriously ill officers and men on the first intercontinental air evacuation flight. A 10,000-mile, six-day flight from India to Walter Reed Hospital. During that flight, she had only one corpsman to assist her. She prepared food for the entire crew, sleeping only a few moments between caring for the men and preparing the meals. Ott had never flown in an airplane before and received air evacuation training after her achievement.

In 1979, Airman Patricia K. Langham earned the distinct honor of being the first boom operator with the 913th Air Refueling Squadron at Barksdale Air Force Base. Not only was she the first boom operator at Barksdale, but she was among the first within the Strategic Air Command and the Air Force. It was not long before she was promoted to Senior Airman, and in 1981, she made the honor roll as a distinguished graduate of the non-commissioned officer course.

Here at the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center, we have many ongoing projects, including a list of first Bossier Parish females to ___. To learn more about these firsts, visit the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center, 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City. Can't come in, call 318-746-7717 or email history-center@bossierlibrary.org with your inquiry.

By: Amy Robertson

Dogwood Queen Presents Painting to First Lady

Felix “Dan” Broussard, an insurance salesman from Lafayette, La, attended the first Louisiana State Society Mardi Gras ball in Washington D.C. in 1944. He believed that the ball was “a great chance to bring the culture of Louisiana to Washington.” This statement led to him being placed in charge of the future balls, which he remained involved in for the next thirty years.

It was in 1947 that Broussard suggested that they invite Louisiana festival queens to the ball. Other members of the society agreed, and the next year six Louisiana festival queens were presented to the royal court. “Today over 25 Louisiana festivals proudly send their queens to Washington.” The reigning Plain Dealing Dogwood Festival Queen of 1953, Julia Ann Burford, attended the Louisiana Society’s Mardi Gras festival in 1954.

The following appeared in the Bossier Banner-Progress on Mar. 18, 1954, and gives an account of Burford’s Mardi Gras experience in Washington D.C.

“Congressman Overton Brooks, who extended so many courtesies to Miss Julia Ann Burford, the Plain Dealing Dogwood queen on her recent visit to the Mardi Gras festival at Washington recently, sent the following letter to the editors of the Banner-Progress:

‘“I am writing to inform you of the splendid manner in which Miss Julia Ann Burford represented the Dogwood festival at the Louisiana Mardi Gras here in Washington, and at other functions in which she participated while here. She has created an immeasurable amount of good will for the festival and for Plain Dealing.

“Soon after her arrival here Mrs. Brooks and I accompanied her to a special luncheon in the Capitol building, honoring her and other queens following a brief visit in the gallery of the House of Representatives. We enjoyed talking with her about our friends in Plain Dealing and were honored to present her to others at the luncheon as our own queen. Shortly after the luncheon Mrs. Brooks and my secretary rushed her away to one of Washington’s most popular television programs where she performed a dance, and told the listening and viewing audience about the Dogwood festival and Plain Dealing. Many people here saw this program and have commented very favorably about her performance and her discussion of the festival.

(L to R) Homer Gruenther, president Eisenhower's assistant;
Mary Jane McCaffree, Mamie Eisenhowers Secretary;
Julia Ann Burford, Plain Dealing Dogwood Festival Queen 1953
presenting Oena Martin's painting for Mrs. Eisenhower
and Congressman Overton Brooks. (1954)

“The following morning I took her to the White House where she presented the picture painted for Mrs. Eisenhower by Mrs. W. H. Martin of Plain Dealing. As you know Mrs. Eisenhower has been ill since returning from California, and Mr. Homer Greunther, assistant to the president, and Mrs. Mary Jane McCaffree, secretary to Mrs. Eisenhower, met us. We then showed Miss Burford portions of the White House and its grounds which are not open to visitors under ordinary circumstance.

“We were especially proud of her at the Mardi Gras Ball, held in the Grand Ballroom of the Mayflower hotel. There she was escorted to the place in the “Royal Court” reserved for her and received the ovation of more than a thousand persons gathered there. She carried a sceptor [sic] and wore her crown as befits a queen. This was a great and well-deserved tribute to the Dogwood Trail and its queen.

“I want you to know that it has been a real pleasure to work with the patrons and sponsors of the Dogwood festival in making her visit to Washington a full and enriching experience, and this bring additional honor and notice to our area.

Sincerely yours,

Overton Brooks, M. C.’”

The painting that Burford gave to First Lady Mamie Eisenhower was the art of Oena Martin. She was a local artist from Plain Dealing, well known for her Plain Dealing area paintings. “The dogwood trail was one of her favorite haunts where she often went to put on canvas the beauty she loved so much.” A couple of years after her death, the companion piece the painting given to Eisenhower was displayed in a local art exhibit at the Plain Dealing library.

By: Amy Robertson

Beauticians and the Civil Rights Movement

(L to R) Mamie Stewart Love Wallace, Annie Townsend Brewster, and Bernice Smith.

In the 1920s, Mamie Stewart, Annie Townsend, and Bernice Smith were born in Benton, La, where they grew up learning that not all citizens in America were given equal rights. Little did they know that a century later, they would still be remembered and talked about for their never-ending pursuit for equal rights and reconciliation between races.

These three girls grew up to become successful business owners, civic leaders, and civil rights activists. Stewart, better known today as Mamie Love Wallace, founded the Modern Beauty Shop on Milam Street in the business district of the old Allendale neighborhood in Shreveport. Townsend, better known as Ann Brewster, was the co-owner. Later, Smith went to cosmetology school and went to work at Modern Beauty Shop.

These women were more than just beauticians. They were entrepreneurs, leaders, activists, and freedom fighters. Being self-employed, the women could be more active in fighting for civil rights than if they had been in the employ of another. They did not have to fear losing their jobs if they were found to be involved in any activities to advance equal rights.

In an interview, Wallace explained that her mother was a civil rights worker whose involvement in the movement got her interested. Her mother was a teacher, and many of her siblings also became teachers, but Wallace saw how the fear of losing your job hindered the work that needed to be done, which is why she became a beautician.

As an officer of the Louisiana state beauticians Wallace attended the National Beauticians' Convention in New Orleans in 1958. It was at this convention where Wallace met Martin Luther King Jr. for the first time. King spoke to the beauticians about the advantages they had as self-employed people and how they could support the civil rights movement.

A few months later, King made his first visit to Shreveport, where he spoke at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference at Galilee Baptist Church. The fear of violent repercussions made most churches afraid to open their doors to King, but Wallace's brother, the Rev. Jessie Taylor Stewart, was the pastor of Galilee Baptist Church, and he was not afraid.

The newspapers would not print the announcement of his scheduled visit, so flyers were made and distributed at barbershops and beauty salons like the Modern Beauty Shop. The majority of people in attendance besides the usual congregants were barbers, beauticians, and ministers. Again, those not self-employed were afraid to lose their jobs, and they often avoided taking any chances.

The Modern Beauty Shop, like so many, became a place for strategy meetings and education about the movement. It also served to provide a safe place for community members to communicate about issues and events. These women talked to their clients about the importance of being an informed participant in the voting process. If they were not registered to vote, they would be educated on the literacy test and provided with voter registration forms.

All three beauticians were known for their participation in countless voter registration drives, marches, sit-ins, and other non-violent protests. Smith was among the plaintiffs in the civil rights lawsuit that helped to desegregate Caddo Parish Schools, and her daughter, Brenda, was the first black student to integrate at Byrd High School. Wallace was a plaintiff in a lawsuit to integrate restaurants and was one of the first black people to eat at Woolworth's diner after integration.

Brewster was especially outspoken about the need for justice and was known for being arrested for protests that she was not in attendance. When students demonstrated at Booker T. Washington High School, police officers showed up at the salon to arrest her, and when she explained that she was not there, the police said, "her name was mentioned." Brewster opened her home for NAACP meetings and local gatherings of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. King shared his vision with a group of like-minded people in her Allendale home. She also provided food and shelter for freedom riders that came through town.

These women cared about people, and they were passionate about fixing the injustices they faced. They fought and risked their lives to make a better world for themselves and future generations. They were instrumental in changing the course of black Americans' civil rights in the local community.

To learn more about black history in Bossier Parish, visit the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center, 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City. Whether you want to know about local history or research your family history, we are here to help. Can't come in, call 318-746-7717 or email history-center@bossierlibrary.org with your request.

By: Amy Robertson

Bossier Girls and Women in Sports

Today marks the 35th Annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day, which was first declared by President Ronald Reagan on Feb. 4, 1987, to recognize the history of women's athletics. It also recognizes the progress made by the Title IX Educational Amendment passed in 1972, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or other education program that receives federal funding.

This annual day of observance acknowledges female athletes' accomplishments and honors the progress and continuing struggle for equality for women in sports. Every year the celebration inspires girls and women across the nation to play and be active and realize their full power.

Bossier Parish has seen its fair share of outstanding female athletes. Most recently is Sarah Robertson, who made history by becoming the first female football player at Haughton High School in 2018. She was the Junior Varsity football kicker for the Buccaneers and kicked her first game field goal on Sep. 17th scoring the extra point for the Buccaneers after their touchdown against Byrd High.

Crystal Smith

Another Haughton High School alumnus known for her skills on the basketball court is Crystal Smith. For four straight years, she was chosen for the Shreveport-Bossier All-City teams. In 2002 she was selected as the Scholar Athlete of the Year. She played 119 games during her high school basketball career, scoring an average of 26.2 points per game.

She played for the Iowa Hawkeyes in college, increasing her per-game average by 12 points between her sophomore and junior seasons, ranked as the second-best improvement among the nation's collegiate players. As a junior, she scored in double figures in 30 of 33 games and was named to the Women's National Invitation Tournament all-tournament team. As a senior, she was named the Hawkeyes' most valuable player and a consensus All-Big 10 selection after leading in her team with an average of 17.2 points per game. Scoring double figures in 27 of 29 games in her last season, she ended her career No. 14 on the school's career scoring list.

Scoring was not Smith’s only strength; she was recognized for her defensive play as well. She was a consensus selection to the league's all-defense team and was the only Iowa player to earn the team's defensive award for three straight seasons. While attending the University of Iowa, she held or shared six school records, including most points in a single game earning 46 points against Louisiana Tech. In 2006, after college, she was drafted to play for the Women's National Basketball Association team, the Phoenix Mercury. That year her team became the highest-scoring WNBA team ever.

Jackie Conner

Jackie Conner of Bossier City became a national Gold Medal winner at the age of 65 in the 1999 Northwest Louisiana Senior Olympic Games, playing shuffleboard and again in 2001. Since joining the Senior Olympics movement, she has been named Northwest Louisiana's Athlete of the Year and served on the local games' steering committee and the board of directors for the Louisiana Senior Olympic Games. For her contributions to the Senior Olympics movement, she was awarded the Hazel Gay Memorial Torch Award in 2002. She is also quite the marksman and served as chairperson of the shooting competition for the district games.

Over the years, Conner has earned numerous medals in the Northwest Louisiana Senior Olympic Games. In 2019, she took home a silver medal in table games; a bronze medal in the women's pistol marksmanship; a gold medal in the women's 85+ age category in washer pitching; a gold medal in the women's 85+ age category in shuffleboard, and a gold medal in the shuffleboard doubles with partner Shelly Quarles in the 55-59 age group. She's not only a competitor, but she is also an instructor conducting workshops and classes to teach the skills used in shuffleboard and other games to newcomers in the competitions for those age 50 and over.

When it comes to the Olympic games, we must not forget about Dolores "Dee" Beckmann. A member of the first U.S. women's track and field team to participate in the Olympics—chosen as the all-around sportswoman in 1936 by New York sports columnist for being the first female coach of the United States track and field team in Berlin. After her girls won both the 100-meter, breaking the world record, and the 400-meter relays, she was hailed by sports columnist as one of the best coaches, male or female.

Source: The Shreveport Journal, 28 March 1975

In 1940, she was the U.S. chairman of the 1940 Olympic women's track and field committee and was involved in the Olympics in some form or fashion for the rest of her life. Her contributions to girls and women in sports and her accomplishments are too numerous to include in this writing. Though Beckmann was not a native of Bossier City, she was from St. Louis, Missouri, but she did move here in 1973 to be close to family and lived here until 1978. During that time, she was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1976. In 1978 she was inducted into the Missouri Hall of Fame and the Missouri Track and Cross-Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

By: Amy Robertson

Remembering Sunshine Dement

Sunshine Norris Dement was born to Steve Norris and Avis Wasson Norris in 1924 when Bossier City was still a village with a little over 1,000 people living in it. She attended Bossier Elementary and Bossier High Schools, graduating in 1942. Her senior year, she was crowned homecoming queen and watched the Bearkat football team win their first State Championship.  

Sunshine went straight to college to earn a teaching degree. She first attended Louisiana Tech in Ruston for a year, but being away from home was hard, and she was in love with George Dement, so she convinced her father to let her attend Centenary College.  

While earning her teaching degree, she worked as a student-teacher at Bossier High School. Her teaching career began at Parkview Junior High, teaching physical education, and it ended at Green Acres Middle School. She taught for about 20 years while raising five children and running businesses with her husband George.  

The couple owned about eight restaurants before George accepted an offer to run the new Holiday Inn in Bossier, built when I-20 was constructed through Bossier City in the 1960s. After taking the offer, they sold their restaurants and focused on running the hotel, which they ran for 22-years.  

Sunshine loved Bossier City, calling it “a little slice of Heaven.” She had a passion for people and loved, more than anything getting to know and working with others. She was always looking for ways to make a difference in the lives of her students, her neighbors, and everyone she met along her life’s journey.   

When George decided that he wanted to run for Mayor of Bossier City, she told him, “If you do, I’ll divorce you,” because they were set to retire, and she was looking forward to retirement. But she loved George so much that she decided that if he wanted to run for Mayor, then she would support him and help in any way that she could. After he won the election, Sunshine stated that she “wants it to be the very best it can be,” speaking of Bossier City, and she recognized the people of Bossier City as its greatest asset.   

The Dements thought Bossier City needed “curb appeal,” and Sunshine played an essential role in the beautification of Bossier City. She also took a particular interest in the city’s parks and served as the first Director of Parks for Bossier City. Sixteen years later, when they finally got to retire, she had no regrets and was especially glad for the opportunity to connect with and serve the people of Bossier City in a way that was only possible as the First Lady.  

Naturally, she was a member of many civic clubs and organizations. She was a charter member and president of the Bossier City Junior Mothers Club. Following in her mother’s footsteps, a charter member of the Bossier City Mothers Club founded in 1937. The Bossier City Mother’s Clubs were known for their service to the community through fundraisers and volunteering their time to things like the Joy Fund, which helped families in need at the holidays.  

Sunshine also served as chairman of the Bossier chapter of the annual Heart Fund and March of Dimes. She was chairman of the Miles for Meals walk-a-thon fundraiser, which raised funds to feed homebound Bossier senior citizens for a year. She was a director of the local Altrusa Club; a non-profit organization focused on community service. 

Sunshine Dement made a difference in Bossier. To learn more about her and other women who have made a difference, visit the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center, 2206 Beckett Street.  

By: Amy Robertson

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.

This Month In Bossier Parish History

 October: Through the Years

October 2020: High School Homecoming season begins! 

 Please enjoy the high school Homecoming photos from our parish. 

1990-91: Airline High School
Homecoming Court

1953: Haughton High School 
Homecoming Court

1980: Parkway High School 
Homecoming Queen and King

1945: Bossier High School 
Homecoming Court

Oct. 6, 1920: Since the passing of the 19th Amendment, 161 women for Bossier Parish had register to vote. Mary Bixler from Plain Dealing was the first woman to register in this parish.  Do you have an ancestor that was on the list of the 161 women to register? Contact us via message, email, or phone and we can look on the list for you. 

Bossier Banner: Oct.6, 1920

1900: Vashti Applewhite
0000.003.043 Pattillo Collection

1880's: Lillian Stinson Carter
2000.045.004 Shaver Collection

c.1900's:  "The Lawrence Sisters"
Hattie, Emma, Katie and Eva

Oct. 16. 1920: Weekly news from 100 years ago.

· Allendale store and resident  was destroyed by fire

Bossier Banner

  

Harvey Arnold 
1999.127.047B Jennings Collection

· Miss Athlene Cornish left to take charge of the Alden Bridge school

Bossier Banner

1936-1937 Bossier School Faculty: 
Athlene Cornish is on the 2nd row, 
6th from the right
2001.052.097 Saucier Collection

· Jim Giles been working on the roads

Bossier Banner

c.1900's: Road Crew Camp
0000.004.076 Scanland Collection

· J.A., Kate and Lucille Edwards returned home from Shreveport.

Bossier Banner

James A. Edwards Sr.,
Kate Carter Edwards,
and James A. Edwards Jr.
2009.044.006 Beekman Collection

Oct. 31, 2020: Happy Halloween! 

Please enjoy the photos relating to Halloween. 

Bossier Press: Oct.27, 1977

The Shreveport Journal: Oct.26, 1944

Bossier City Mothers Club.
Women dressed in costunes
1999.044.038-2 Pace Collection

1983: Preschool Halloween Party at
the Bossier Parish Libraries 
Central Branch
2020.001.0181

 

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

Grace H. Larkin: A Woman's Rise

On this day in 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was certified, granting women the right to vote. The culmination of a massive, peaceful civil rights movement by women formal beginnings dating back to 1848 at the world’s first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York. The observance of Women’s Equality Day commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment and calls attention to women’s continuing efforts toward full equality.

The roles and rights of women in American society have changed over the centuries. The following article titled ‘Woman’s Rise,’ appeared in The Bossier Banner on Apr. 2, 1931, and it elaborates on some of the changes being seen right here in Bossier Parish with having just elected their first woman to the office of Clerk of Court.

“Probably a great many women in Bossier Parish are elated over woman’s rise to the position in national affairs she has attained in a very few years. For a long period of time women did not wield any influence in this nation, that is as voters or office-holders. Now, however, women are serving the nation in many places of responsibility, and are exercising their right to vote with telling effect.

Grace H. Larkin C. 1931.
Source: The Bossier Banner

“Here in Bossier Parish we have one of our first major office-holders, from the ranks of the women voters. She is Miss Grace H. Larkin, Clerk of Court. The voters showed no hesitancy in elevating her to this position of trust, although it was not many years ago that scores of people, in this very section, were bitterly opposed to the idea of giving women the right to vote.

“For those Bossier Parish people who now take women’s rights for granted, we might say that for nearly one hundred years after the Declaration of Independence no women were employed by the Government. This is shown in a recent statement by the president of the Civil Service Commission.

“The first law permitting the employment of women as clerks in Federal Government offices was passed during 1870. Today more than 28,000 women are employed in such offices, in Washington alone, and nearly 60,000 more are employed outside of the capital city.

“Women are being appointed to such government positions as bacteriologist, biologist, botanist, chemist, economist, educationist, patent examiner, pharmacologist, physicist, statistician, zoologist and technologists of various kinds. As is well known, many women hold postmasterships.

“The employment of women in private business has shown a steady increase also, the number of women wage-earners at present being nearly ten million.

“Whether this increasing activity of women in industry, business and the professions is an indication of an improved civilization depends upon one’s viewpoint. However that may be, women have shown their ability to engage successfully in nearly every vocation under the sun, and that they will continue to do so cannot be doubted.”

Larkin’s long career with the Bossier Parish Clerks office began in 1903 when Beverly A. Kelly, Clerk of Court, employed her as his assistant. Then in 1914, James M. Henderson became the Clerk of Court, and he kept her on. She was appointed Chief Deputy with the approval of Judge John N. Sandlin in 1920.

On Jan. 17, 1931, Judge J. F. McInnis appointed Larkin as ad interim Clerk of Court pending a special election to name the successor to the late James M. Henderson, who served as the clerk for the past 16 years before his death. In a special election held on Feb. 24th, Larkin defeated State Senator V.V. Whittington with 1326 votes to his 870.

Then, in the general election of 1932, she was re-elected without opposition after her opponent Mr. J. M. Emmons, withdrew his candidacy. After being defeated in the 1936 general election and thirty-three years serving the Bossier Parish Clerk office, Larkin retired.

Larkin joined the ranks of “first” in women’s equality, through her hard work and devotion in her career and to the community she served. Not only was she the first woman Clerk of Court in Bossier Parish, but she was also the first in Louisiana. And as one of the first women in Bossier Parish that registered to vote in 1920 when the 19th Amendment was certified, Larkin never took her right to vote for granted. 

To learn more about the women of Bossier Parish, visit the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center at 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City. Or, contact us by email at history-center@bossierlibrary.org or by phone (318) 746-7717.

By: Amy Robertson

Bossier Commercial Airport and Flying School

In 1940, Bossier Parish opened its first commercial airport and flying school. The Bossier Commercial Airport spanned eighty acres, located about three miles north of Bossier City, just west of the highway to Benton, and approximately one mile across Red River from the Shreveport Municipal Airport.

The dedication was on a warm Sunday afternoon in the summer of 1940. For the dedication services, it put on a big airshow, including a parachute jump with Minor “Mile High” Vinck, who carried a movie camera on his jump and filmed as he descended. Many public officials and prominent figures in the aviation world were in attendance, including Mayor Hoffman L. Fuller of Bossier City and Dwane Wallace, President of the Cessna Aircraft Corporation, and aeronautical engineer and designer.

Hosting the dedication were the owner and operator, Ted R. Young and his wife Annie, both licensed pilots. Ted received his pilot’s license in 1933, and he made the second airmail pick-up during the 1938 Air Mail Week observance in Shreveport. The first observance of National Air Mail Week was May 15-21, 1938. Postmaster General James A. Farley and President Franklin Roosevelt created and proclaimed the week-long event to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the US airmail service’s inauguration.

Annie received her pilot’s license in 1935 and is credited with being the first Shreveport woman ever to make a solo flight. She assisted her husband in operating the airport and in conducting the flight school. Annie was a member of the Ninety-Nines, an international organization of women pilots, founded on Nov. 2, 1929, in which Amelia Earhart was a charter member and elected the first President.

The flying school was fully accredited by the Civil Aeronautics Authority, offered ground courses, andprivate and commercial pilot flying courses, taught by government-approved teachers. The private pilot course was the same as those offered at colleges, but without the educational prerequisite courses. Many young men attended this course as army pilot prospects.

In 1941, the Bossier Commercial Airport started the year by staging an airshow on Jan. 11th and 12th. The airshow featured nationally known stunt pilots, parachuters, and included military aircraft. Also, a 1910 Curtis-Wright pusher plane, one of the first planes built by the Wright brothers, was flown by Clem Honkamp. Ted and his students planned an exhibition of flying as it was taught in class.

During the first day of the airshow, Ted decided to give an unscheduled exhibition of “how not to fly an airplane.” His demonstration ended in tragedy. According to the Shreveport Times, “Young apparently deliberately threw his plane, an Aeronca, into a spin from about 2,500 feet, spun the plane three times and crashed almost vertically into a field 50 yards from the north boundary of the airport.

“The cockpit of the plane was crumpled, the wings and back of the plane broken. Young was rushed to North Louisiana sanitarium in a Wellman ambulance and died at 7:50 p.m. He suffered a fractured skull, internal injuries, and both legs were broken. One leg was amputated in an effort to save his life.”

Just two months later, the airport and flying school were reopened as the Joy Airport, by Joy N. Houck, a well-known theater operator in the south.

By: Amy Robertson

Bossier Biographies: Carrie Martin

Watch our newest Bossier Biographies video on Youtube.

Carrie Martin was a school teacher and supervisor in Bossier Parish schools from 1913-1925, but these job titles only hint at the effect she had on black education in Bossier Parish. After teaching for a number of years in the Plain Dealing area, she was appointed the “Jeanes Supervisor” of black schools in the parish. She held this supervisory position for 14 years. She was the third Jeanes supervisor appointed in the state of Louisiana and the first in Bossier Parish. She was also a leader in community health, home life, and beautification.

Click to view the video: Carrie Martin

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

Bossier Parish's First Woman Mayor

Elizabeth O. Sherwin was not born in Bossier Parish, but that did not stop her from faithfully serving the Haughton community from the time she moved there and until she departed from this earth. Sherwin and her husband moved to Haughton after World War II, in 1945 from Marshall, Texas. They purchased land and built a house where they could raise kids away from the city, calling Haughton home from then on.

When Sherwin first arrived in Haughton, it was just a small town with unnamed dirt roads. As she watched her kids grow, she also attended the town grow. She got involved in the community by joining committees, clubs, and programs. She organized the Haughton P.T.A. in 1947, and she organized the candy striper program at Bossier General Hospital in 1965.

She began serving Haughton politically as the first woman to serve on the town council for Haughton in 1970. In 1972, she was the first alderwoman elected to the Haughton Town Council. After six years as an alderwoman, Sherwin ran for mayor. In an interview with Shanda Thomas, for The Shreveport Journal, Sherwin stated, “She was urged to seek the top position by her husband because she ‘put in as many hours as an alderman as she would as mayor.”

In 1976 Sherwin became the first female mayor of Haughton, the first female mayor in Bossier Parish, and the first female Republican mayor elected in Louisiana. Taking her first oath of office on July 1, 1976, after beating her opponent Sylvester E. Carson. Eager to continue the many projects she had begun and happy to continue serving the community, she ran for re-election; this time, she was unopposed. After her first term as mayor, she ran unopposed for re-election and joyfully continued serving the great town of Haughton.

During her stay in office as the Mayor of Haughton, Sherwin helped Haughton to become recognized
as an official Bicentennial Community, making the town eligible for a variety of grants. Including grant funds for the construction of a new water treatment plant; to connect all houses within Haughton town limits to the sewerage system; to add fluoridation to the water system to prevent dental disease, and to implement an ongoing drainage program for flood-prone areas. She also obtained funding to build a new firehouse, a new library, and to expand the city hall.

Sherwin took her responsibility to keep the citizens of Haughton safe during an emergency and organized a mock evacuation drill to access the town’s ability to respond effectively to a public emergency in coordination with the various agencies. She evaluated the railroad tracks for disrepair and saw to it that the railway company made necessary repairs. Also, she was successful in imposing a 10-mph speed limit on trains passing through the town.

She always looked for ways to help others and could rally people together to help make a difference in the lives of others. In 1983, after the tragic loss of Haughton’s very own Joe Delaney, she established a memorial scholarship in his name to serve the athletically inclined graduates of Haughton High School.

While the BPL History Center is closed during the pandemic, our staff members are still available to answer any research questions you may have. What do you want to know about Bossier Parish History? Email history-center@bossierlibrary.org or call us at 318-746-7717.

By: Amy Robertson