Chicken Coop Made from Pallets

Growing up on the old family homestead in Tangipahoa Parish where we grew our own food and raised livestock. My grandmother had a chicken coop for her laying hens. My brothers and I would help her gather the fresh yard eggs. For two years I have been talking about building a chicken coop and now I'm finally getting a chicken coop built thanks to Wallace.

I went online and saw the chicken coops built out of pallets. So Wallace and I decided to build one out of pallets. For the past few weeks Wallace and I have been busy gathering the pallets, removing all the nails and pulling the wood apart. 

I called the local hardware store and asked them if I could have them. They told me to take all I wanted. We spent several weeks preparing the wood. Our plan was to use as much recycle material that we could fine. We did purchase the wire, screws, nails, latches, hinges and wood life cooper coat to treat the wood. 

We spent a lot of time on the internet looking at difference models. After we figured out the model we wanted to used and what would be the best way to build it we got started. Wallace wanted to build six nesting boxes for the laying hens. 

He measured the run for the hens, he thought the old girls sure have some room to run around and to hang out. He wanted to really make it easy for me to move about to clean the coop, he's making it where I can walk into the chicken coop and hose it off rather easy. The manure from the chicken will be used to fertilized the orange trees and garden. 

Wallace is very creative and I can see him building me a greenhouse out of pallets. There only problem, "he didn't want me to take photographs." But of course I had to document from start to finish. Beside it nice to see how it begin and the finish product. 

This summer my grandchildren will get to gather the fresh yard eggs right out the yard. I hope that we can the hens that lay the blue and green eggs. 

 We'll keep you posted as we move along.

Press Conference Held to Commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the M.C. Moore Deseg Case

Press Conference at the African American Heritage Museum
Photo Credit: Antoinette Harrell

On April 29, 2015 a press conference was organized by Antoinette Harrell and Charles Terry to announce the upcoming events that will commemorate the 50th Anniversary of M.C. Moore's desegregation lawsuit against the Tangipahoa Parish School System.

The press conference was held at the African American Heritage Museum in Hammond, La., Several of the late M.C. Moore and Willie Mae Moore daughters was in attendance; Joyce, Katherine, Betty and Jeanette. Two son-in-laws, Charles Terry and Henry Jackson talked about the legacy their father-in-law left.

Joyce couldn't hold back her emotions as she talked about how hard it was for her. "When people asked me if I was the same Joyce associated with the case, I told them no it wasn't me," said Joyce.

Henry Jackson recalled standing guard with other African American men all night with guns to protect the Moore family after the Moore home was shot at in 1965.

Osa Bett Williams candidate for State Representative District #72 of Hammond recalled marching when A.Z. Young came through Hammond, LA.

Pat Morris of the president of the Tangipahoa Parish spoke about the opposition she faced from both blacks and whites in Tangipahoa Parish. The case was reopened in 2007 at the urging of the Greater Tangipahoa Parish Branch NAACP because of numerous complaints of the school system's wronging of African-American children and African American employees.

Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of M.C. Moore Desegregation Lawsuit in Tangipahoa Parish

The late M.C. Moore

Hammond, LA - May 3, 2015, will commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Mr. M.C. Moore's desegregation lawsuit against the Tangipahoa Parish School System. The lawsuit was initially filed on behalf of his daughter, Fannie Moore, who was disenfranchised and not given an opportunity to receive an equitable and fair education, which is guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

Fifty years later, the question remains whether or not education in the lives of Black Children matter; the answer is emphatically, yes it does, because the fight continues for equity in this school system. Unfortunately, there is very little resolve towards settling this decades-old desegregation lawsuit.

Moreover, many are keen to talk about or write pieces about what happens or does not happen in the public school system in Tangipahoa Parish. Consequently, I process and attempt to find balance with personal ties to the conflicts in Tangipahoa Parish race relations and injustices found in our school system that have had my attention for decades now.

As we begin to reflect on the importance of this lawsuit, we think of the lawsuit being filed in 1965.  As a result of this filing, Mr. Moore was ostracized. For instance, he and his family were threatened, and his livelihood and means of providing for his family were taken away through his logging business being sabotaged, which resulted in his having to bake cakes to sell to provide for his family. Men guarded his home at night after his home was shot into early one morning. His wife heroically crawled through grass and weeds to a neighbor’s home to call the police because their telephone lines were cut on the outside of their home. Those bullet holes remain in Mr. Moore’s home to this very day. Despite having his life threatened and his livelihood compromised, Mr. Moore pressed on. Thank you, Mr. Moore, for your courage and tenacity in ensuring equality for African-American children, and ultimately all children. 

After this case was filed and opened in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, with the late Honorable Alvin Benjamin Rubin as the presiding judge, the Tangipahoa Parish School System was forced to integrate its public schools in 1969. Judge Rubin ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, stating, in pertinent part, that the Tangipahoa Parish School System was segregated and did not provide equitable educational access to African-American students. As a result, the school board was ordered to reinstate the jobs of all terminated African-American employees as one of the wrongs the Tangipahoa Parish School System committed following forced integration in 1969.

The plaintiffs’ case was led by Attorney Nelson Dan Taylor, Sr., who is now the Lead Attorney in the Moore Case.  This case was Attorney Taylor’s first case as an attorney for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Legal Defense Fund.  Unfortunately, the school system did not comply with Judge Rubin’s order, and the case became dormant following Honorable Alvin Benjamin Rubin's untimely death. 

The case was later reopened in 2007 at the urging of the Greater Tangipahoa Parish Branch NAACP because of numerous complaints of the school system’s wronging of African-American children and African American employees. Evidence was provided to prove that the same segregated conditions still exist in Tangipahoa Parish School System. The test case used to reopen the M.C. Moore desegregation case was the case of Coach Alden Foster, who became the first African-American head high school football coach hired in Tangipahoa Parish. Coach John Williams was reportedly the first African-American head high school football coach in Tangipahoa Parish. However, after speaking to several others, including Coach Williams, we discovered that he was not given the position of head football coach at Hammond High School in Hammond, Louisiana, despite being appointed by Judge Rubin. Instead, Coach Carmen Moore, a white coach, was named as the head football coach at Hammond High.  

The discourse of this article is too long to write all of what has happened over the past fifty years in the Moore Case, however, a Master Thesis done by Dr. Wayne Brumfield is found in the Southeastern Louisiana University public library. 

As we commemorate the lawsuit’s 50th anniversary, let us remember to thank God for the stamina of Mr. Moore, his trials endured, and triumphs he and others made for every child attending school in the Tangipahoa Parish School System.  Let us be mindful, as well as thankful for all of the accomplishments seen and unseen in this case having been reopened, because without such, sitting conservative judges would have dismissed this case due to its inactivity. 

While there are some thirty-six unopened desegregation cases, let us be mindful that the M.C. Moore lawsuit has set a precedent for subsequent desegregation cases. As President of the GTPB NAACP, and as I walk in the shoes of the late Mr. M.C. Moore, I feel his pain many times, and my heart breaks as I continue to witness the disenfranchisement of African-American children in the Tangipahoa Parish School System. Despite the many wrongs of this school system, I am reminded by Ecclesiastes 9:11 that “the race is not given to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor the bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill, but time and chance happened to them all.” With these words in mind, the fight for equality will not end, and it cannot until “justice rolls down like a mighty stream” for every student and employee in this school system. There can be no other way, and no person will be left behind. 

The Moore family and Antoinette Harrell has organized several events to commemorate the legacy of M.C. Moore. They began by getting the Parish Council to issue a Proclamation  proclaiming May 3, 2015 as M.C. Moore Educational Awareness Day. On Wednesday, April 29, a press conference will be held at 10:00 am at the African American Heritage Museum in Hammond, LA., at 1:45 p.m. that Wednesday afternoon Joyce Marie Moore, Henry Jackson, Charles Terry and Pat Morris, President of the Tangipahoa Parish NAACP will speak at Southeastern Louisiana University Department of Sociology, Professor Rebecca Hensley. A wreath laying ceremony at Holly Garden cemetery will take place on Sunday, May 3rd at 4:00 pm, and on Sunday evening at 6:00 pm, a worship service will be at the First Church of God In Christ, Attorney Nelson Taylor will be the keynote speakers. On Monday, May 4, at 6:00 pm a panel discussion will be held at the First Church of God in Christ. On Tuesday, May 5, the Moore Family will be featured on NOATV Cable Access television “ Nurturing Our Roots “ Educational Talk Show with producer and host Antoinette Harrell. The Moore Family are asking citizens of Tangipahoa Parish to join them as they honor the legacy of M.C. Moore a pioneer  who changed the educational system in Tangipahoa Parish to ensure that African American children get a quality education. 

Historic Civil Rights Works of Robert "Bob" Hicks of Washington Parish

Mr. Robert " Bob" Hicks is considered a " Lion in the Louisiana Civil Rights Movement whose legal victories helped fight against segregation in Bogalusa, La, and changed discriminatory employment practices throughout the south." Mr. Hicks began his civil rights work as member of the local NAACP, the Bogalusa Voter and Civic League and was also the founder of the Bogalusa Chapter of the Deacons for Defense and Justice. Mr. Hicks conducted daily marches to protest racial discrimination by merchants and local government. Among his many accomplishments in fighting for civil rights. Mr. Hicks filed several landmark lawsuit, on lawsuit obtained a federal court order requiring the police to protect protest marches. 

Photo Credit: Walter C. Black, Sr.

Another suit filed was against the US Department of Housing where prohibition of the construction of public housing in segregated neighborhoods in Bogalusa. During this time Mr. Hicks worked at Crown Zellerbach and was one of the few African American men employed there. After going to court for many years with Crown Zellarbach, he became the company's first African American supervisor. He also served as the president of the Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers. He was a true hero, a kind of grave man. His dedication to justice had an impact on not only Bogalusa and Washington Parish.

On February 1, 1965,  Mr. Hicks learned that the Ku Klux Klan plan to bomb his home, he and his family were told by police that they could not protect the. The Klan was furious that Hicks was housing two white civil rights workers and demanded they leave that night. Aware of the danger, Hicks, said " no" to the demand. Hicks and wife called friends to take their five children to a safe place and asked for protection. Armed black men stood guard during the night. On February 21, the Jonesboro Deacons of Defense and Justice visited Bogalusa to start a chapter citing the second Amendment and carrying funds with the mission of protection against white aggression. Mr. Hicks took the lead starting a Bogalusa chapter. Deacons confrontation with the Klan created history, started a Civil Rights Movement, empowering a people and propelled the U.S. Government to enforce the 1964 Civil Rights Act to neutralize the Klan. The Hick's home was the birth and meeting places for Deacons, foot soldiers, lawyers, civil and human rights advocates and a safe haven for all. Decisions made in this home significantly impacted the future of the community. Louisiana and the nation. Hicks showed courage in defense of justice and equality.

Over the years, the Hicks family opened their home to numerous national renowned individuals, such as entertainer Dick Gregory, and James Farmer, the head of Congress of Racial Equality. The Hicks home was placed on the National Register Listing of Historic Places. 

Photo Credit: Walter C. Black, Sr.

Barbara Hick Collins, Executive Director of the Hicks Foundation. The Foundations sole intention is to preserve the history of the people of the Bogalusa, LA., The Foundation continues to make great strides in their mission to inform, educate, inspire and motivate people for Bogalusa and Washington Parish. 

Tangipahoa Parish 50th Anniversary Desegregation Commemoration

Tangipahoa Parish Residents Attend Selma 50th Anniversary

Doris Lloyd, Selma, Alabama
Photo Credit: Antoinette Harrell

Residents of Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana., traveled to Selma, Alabama to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of " Bloody Sunday," the Selma to Montgomery March, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. President Obama marked the 50th Anniversary Marches from Selma to Montgomery where thousands gathered. 

African American people of Tangipahoa Parish realize that the struggle for equality and human rights are still challenges that we face today. People carrying signs that said 50 years later and we're still fighting for equality. The Edmund Pettus bridge is a reminder of the blood that were shed and lives that were loss for our right to vote. The African American churches in the parishes sured set a goal to hold an annual voter registration drive as well as protect the right to vote.

Jimmie Lee Jackson was a civil rights activist in Marion, Alabama, and a deacon in the Baptist church. On February 18, 1965, while participating in a peaceful voting rights march in his city, he was beaten by troopers and shot by Alabama State Trooper James Bonard Fowler. Jackson was unarmed and died eight days later in the hospital. 

As residents of Tangipahoa Parish embark upon the 50th Anniversary of the M.C. Moore case. A § 1651 (a), seeking injunctions against the further implementation of certain provisions of ("Acts 1 and 2") based on their alleged interference with a court-ordered consent decree. The underlying consent decree arose from a 1965 federal desegregation suit, Moore V. Tangipahoa Parish School Board, in which the district court issued an order establishing certain student assignment and facilities requirement aimed at assisting the Board is achieving unitary school system status. longstanding pending desegregation case in Tangipahoa Parish. The desegregation plaintiffs and the Tangipahoa Parish School Board filed motions for the issuance of writs pursuant to the All Writs Act, 28 U.S.C.

Unknown Vintage Photographs of African American People from Livingston Parish

Photograph: Unknown

Bernice Alexander Bennett, host and producer of "Research at the National Archives and Beyond Blog Talk Radio Show" called me this past week to informed about a collection of African American photographs that Jeff Boyd, co-editor of the Livingston Parish Historical Society purchased at a antique shop in Walker, Louisiana.

Bernice emailed me the beautiful collection of photographs and asked me if I want to post them to my blog site. I told her by all means I would like to post them to Nurturing Our Roots Blog site.

These unknown vintage photographs are a vital part of our history. Photographs hold memories of the people, the time and era in which the photograph was taken. Nurturing Our Roots would like to help reunite the vintage photographs with their families.

Many people who are researching their family history would like to to find a photograph of their family members. There are many unknown old African American photographs to be identified by family members and family historian.  We hope that someone can identify the people in the photographs. Often times when someone pass away and a family member is left to clean out their deceased love one home; photographs like these can end up in the trash or in antique shops. If you recognize anyone in these photographs, please email me their names so we can place a name to the image.

 Photograph: Unknown

Photograph: Unknown

 Photograph: Unknown

Photograph: Unknown

Lena Mae Wood Deamer of Roseland, Louisiana

Lena Mae at the age of two

Lena Mae was the second child born to Alma Irving Wood and Walter Wood, Sr., She was born  in Roseland, Louisiana  on September 26, 1926 in Roseland, Louisiana on the homestead of Lemuel (Lem) Irving, Sr.  and Susie McKnight Irving. Lena was delivered by her Aunt Lucy Irving Collier, a midwife.  Alma and Walter, Sr. had lived in Chicago, but separated before she was born. Lena never saw her father until she was around 50 years old.

Alma later married leaving Lena Mae and her brother Walter to be raised at the homestead by Lem, Susie, and Aunt Ethel Irving. Lem grew lots of vegetables on the farm and raised livestock. Lena helped in the fields and with product sales by figuring out his bills and receipts. Lem could not read or write and signed deeds with an "X" for the many acres of land he purchased. Although he was not formally educated, he would always say, "There's nothing like common sense."

Lena Mae Wood Deamer

At an early age, Lena became a member of Big Zion A.M.E. Zion Church in Roseland where family members attended. She was an active member in the church and sang in the choir. She graduated from O. W. Dillon High School in Kentwood, Louisiana and later attended one semester at Southern University.

Lena Mae married Leroy Deamer, an auto mechanic. To their union was born two children, Ethel Lorraine and Alvin Gilbert Deamer. She enjoyed being a homemaker, attended the children's church and school functions, and assisted with their homework. Lena and Leroy moved from the homestead around 1961 and built their family an all-brick house in Arcola and was among the first African-American families in the area to accomplish that achievement.

Leroy was killed in 1987 at his auto mechanic shop in Amite, Louisiana. Lena never remarried. She enjoyed helping with the grandchildren and loved watching sports. Her favorites was watching Tiger Woods play golf and Michael Jordan play basketball. And of course her favorite football team was the New Orleans Saints. When she moved to the Belle Maison Nursing Home, her favorite pass time was playing bingo and attending religious services as well as the many parties and social hours at the facility.

During her lifetime, Lena was able to witness transportation going from horse and buggy to automobiles, and to man landing on the moon. Most importantly she was able to see the election of the first African American President, Barack Obama, which she said she thought she would never see in her lifetime.

Lena Mae Wood Deamer

Lena Mae's daughter Lorraine is the author of "Authentic Southern Cooking with Chuck and Miss Lorraine," Her presentation of Southern style cooking is based on the New Orleans flavors of Cajun, Creole and African American cuisine. Lorraine included some of the recipes her mother had sent her over a 40 year period. Some were on the back of envelopes, while others were on tattered paper. Lena was famous for her potato salad, and the recipe is included in the cookbook. 

Her brother Walter Wood, Jr., married a woman named Leah Mae. Leah had a half brother by the name of Thomas Alvin Perry. Grandchildren -Lisa and Charles Lizana, Jr.; Alvin Roderick, Brian Christopher, and Brandi Nicole Deamer. Great grandchildren - Skylar and Mya Deamer; Daelyn and Alexander Short. Lena's sunset was July 15, 2012 at the age of 85. 

The History of Vernon School in Mt. Hermon, Louisiana

Vernon School in Mt. Hermon
African American School

While driving down the road in Washington Parish, Louisiana, I saw a sign that read, “Vernon School Road.” As usual, I decided to turn down the road to see if the old school building was still standing. I noticed an abandoned school building to my left. Across the road, two elderly men were sitting on a front porch talking. I pulled into the driveway and asked them if it was the Vernon School. They both answered yes and directed me to Elder Albert J. Brumfield for more information about the school.

Vernon School for African American Students
Closed its doors in 1969

Vernon School for African American students closed its doors in 1969. An formerly enslaved woman named Jenny came into the area after gaining her freedom. Louis Vernon, a direct descendant of Jenny, started a school in a building on his property in 1885 twenty years after the Emancipation Proclamation. During slavery, it had been against the law to teach enslaved people to read or write. The denial of that opportunity was apparently the motivation needed to inspire the Vernon family to establish a school in Mt. Hermon, Louisiana.

As interest in education grew, it became necessary to acquire additional land for the school. On August 25, 1925—forty years later—three acres of land were purchased from the Vernon family to erect a school building on the present site. According to courthouse records, the deeds were signed by Ed Vernon, D.M. Brumfield, and Dave Wrought, who was one of the early bus drivers. Fraser Vernon served as the school’s first principal.

Later, the Rosenwald Fund contributed money toward a building at the present site. The Rosenwald Fund helped finance the construction of more than 5,000 schools for African American children in the rural South. In June 1949, a high school building was added. In November 1951, an elementary building was constructed. A gymnasium was added in March 1954, and a lunchroom followed in May 1958. In 1960, a new classroom wing was built. In 1961, funds from the PTA were used to construct a covered walkway, and the PTA also built an agriculture/shop building.

Vernon High School was a place were many careers were launched as many young black men and young black women came into this community as teacher to help develop the minds and lives of young black boys and girls. Many devoted their entire lives to this task. Students from Vernon now serve this community, this state and nation as engineers, teachers, farmers, housewives, dentists, medical doctors, veterinary medicine, counselors, doctors of education, postal workers, businessmen, insurance brokers, and in virtually all areas of work. Other have served in the military as officers and enlisted men, other have won the purple heart and still other gave the ultimate sacrifice--their lives. Others became attorneys, ministers, nurses, law enforcement personnel, interior designers and their numerous contributions are immeasurable. Students regularly competed at local, regional and state events in music, sports, public speaking and academics. Some romances started here and developed into life-long companionship.

In addition to the Fraser Vernon others have served the school as principal. Mr. R.J. Lawrence served

in the late 20s. He was followed by Mr. Almore B. Dyson who served as principal from 1930 until the 1954-55 school year. Mr. Ruben H. Cornist served as principal of the school from that time until the school closed in 1969.

In 1960, the School Board purchased an additional 4.7 acres from Isadore Vernon, who was the first bus driver for Vernon School. Another portion of land was purchased in 1961 from Marcel Dyson, Crimal Dyson Williamson, and Arthur Williamson.

Vernon High School was a place where many careers were launched. Numerous young Black men and women came into this community as teachers, dedicating themselves to developing the minds and shaping the lives of young boys and girls. Many devoted their entire lives to this calling. Former students of Vernon have gone on to serve their community, state, and nation as engineers, teachers, farmers, homemakers, dentists, medical doctors, veterinarians, counselors, doctors of education, postal workers, business owners, insurance brokers, and in virtually every area of professional life. Others served in the military as officers and enlisted personnel; some received the Purple Heart, and others gave the ultimate sacrifice—their lives. Graduates also became attorneys, ministers, nurses, law enforcement officers, and interior designers. Their contributions are immeasurable.

Students regularly competed in local, regional, and state events in music, athletics, public speaking, and academics. Some romances began at Vernon and blossomed into lifelong marriages. In addition to Fraser Vernon, others served as principal of the school. Mr. R.J. Lawrence served in the late 1920s. He was followed by Mr. Almore B. Dyson, who served as principal from 1930 until the 1954–1955 school year. Mr. Ruben H. Cornist then served as principal until the school closed in 1969.

Today, Vernon School needs the help of good Samaritans and caring individuals to restore the building as a community resource center—one that will continue producing productive members of society in the East Florida Parishes, the state of Louisiana, and the nation. The vision is to create a center that offers after-school programs, creative arts, computer classes, job readiness training, life skills programs, senior citizen programs, and other enrichment opportunities designed to enhance the quality of life for residents of the Mt. Hermon community.

A nonprofit organization has been established to support this effort: Neighborhood Christian Center of Louisiana, under the leadership and direction of Elder Albert J. Brumfield, Pastor of Plainview Cochusa Church of Christ Holiness.

The organization will graciously accept in kind donations such as; paint, building materials, roofing materials, drywall materials, nails, lumber and flooring materials and financial donations. Also individuals, organizations, social organizations, churches, brotherhood or sisterhood organizations who would like to volunteer their time can contact the following people. All checks and donations can be mailed directly to NCC of LA:

C/O James Brumfield

NCC of LA

24392 Vernon School Rd

Mt. Hermon, LA 70450

For more please contact Elder Albert J. Brumfield at (985) 515-1231 or Barbara Brumfield at (985) 839-2190, you can also email Elder Albert at elderalbert@aol.com.

Source:  Vernon High School History Booklet, submitted by Barbara Brumfield

African American Women Who Fought in the Struggle for Freedom

Prince Estella Melson Lee

Queen Mother Prince Estella Melson Lee (1917-2015) was born on April 5, 1917, in Greensburg, Louisiana to the late David and Lillian Melson. She was one of thirteen children. She attended St. Helena School. She met and married Herbert Lee, who was murdered by E.H. Hurst on September 25, 1961, at the cotton gin in Liberty. Herbert Lee became a member of the NAACP in the early 1950's. He was determined to register to vote. Lee was a close friend of the Amite County NAACP branch chairman E.W. Steptoe.

Queen Mother Prince was also a member of the NAACP of Amite County. She was honored on August 28, 1963. The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom Tribute to Negro Women Fighters for Freedom. Along with Queen Mother Prince, five other women were honored; Daisy Bates, Diane Nash Bevel, Mrs. Medgar Evers,  Rosa Parks, and Gloria Richardson.

Daisy Lee Gatson Bates

Daisy Lee Gatson Bates was born on November 11, 1914. She grew up in southern Arkansas in the small sawmill town of Huttig. Bates was raised by her foster parents, Orle and Susie Smith, who she believed were her birth parents for many years. She learned that her mother had been raped and murdered by three local white men. In 1952, Daisy Bates was elected president of the Arkansas Conference of NAACP branches. She remained active and was on the National Board of the NAACP till 1970.

She and her husband was the owner of a newspaper called the " Arkansas State Press," a weekly statewide newspaper. The eight-page paper was published on Thursdays, carrying a Friday dateline. The first issue appeared on May 9, 1941. The paper became an avid voice for civil rights even before a nationally recognized movement had emerged. Daisy Bates was later recognized as co-publisher of the paper. Wikipedia

Diane Nash Bevel

Diane Nash was born May 15, 1938, in Chicago, the daughter of Leon Nash and Dorothy Bolton Nash. After experiencing discriminatory events. Nash decided to search for a way to challenge segregation. Nash began attending non-violent civil disobedience workshops led by Rev. James Lawson. Nash's campaigns were among the most successful of the era. He efforts included civil rights campaign to integrate lunch counters in Nashville. In April 1960, Nash helped found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and quit school to lead its direct action wing. "We will not stop. There is only one outcome," stated Diane Nash, referring to the 1961 Freedom Rides which had been called off by their organizers after violence occurred.  Shocked by a church bombing in Birmingham which killed four young girls in September 1963, Nash and James Bevel committed themselves to raising a nonviolent army in Alabama. Wikipedia

Myrlie Evers-Williams

Myrlie Evers-Williams is a civil rights activist and journalist who worked for over three decades to seek justice for the murder of her civil rights activist husband Medgar Evers 1963. She was also chairwoman of the NAACP, and published several books on topics related to civil rights and her husband's legacy. On January 21, 2013, she delivered the invocation at the second inauguration of Barack Obama. When Medgar Evers became the Mississippi field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1954, Myrlie worked alongside him. After leaving her post as chairwoman of the NAACP, Evers-Williams established the Medgar Evers Institute in Jackson, Mississippi. She wrote her autobiography, titled Watch Me Fly: What I Learned on the Way to Becoming the Woman I Was Meant to Be (1999). She also served as editor on the Autobiography of Medgar Evers: A Hero's Life and Legacy Revealed Through His Writing, Letters, and Speeches (2005). Wikipedia




Rosa Parks

Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (1913-2005) was African-American Civil Rights activist, whom the

United States Congress called the first lady of civil rights" and the mother of the freedom movement".  On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Park refused to obey bus driver James F. Blake's order to give up her seat in the colored section to a white passenger, after the white section was filled.  Parks was not the first person to resist segregation.  Park's act of defiance and the Montgomery Bus Boycott became important symbols of the modern Civil Rights Movement. She became an international icon of resistance to racial segregation. She organized and collaborated with civil rights leaders, including Edgar Nixon, president of the local chapter of the NAACP; and Martin Luther King, Jr., a new minister in town who gained national prominence in the civil right movement.

Wikipedia

Gloria Richardson Dandrige

Is best known as the leader of the Cambridge Movement, a civil rights struggle in Cambridge, Maryland is the early 1960s. She was recognized as major figure in the African American civil rights movement at the movement at the time and was honored on the stage at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.  Gloria Richardson was originally born into the affluent St. Clair family, which owned a successful hardware store and had also produced one of Cambridge's only black city council members. Blacks could vote in Cambridge but, with only a third of the population, had never been able to completely overturn Jim Crow laws. According to Richardson, her uncle died in his early twenties when he contracted a major illness but the segregated local hospital would not treat him. In 1961, a freedom ride came of Cambridge. The black city council member at the time attempted to discourage the campaign by insisting that the city was already desegregated. Wikipedia

March on Washington

August 28, 1963

Lincoln Memorial Program 

Civil Rights Organizer Herbert Lee Murdered By A Mississippi Elected Official

Herbert Lee

Herbert Lee, the son of Albert Lee and Elvia Lee was born in Amite County, Mississippi. He was married to Prince Melson Lee, to their union nine children were born: Wilma, Irma, Bessie, Ruby, Shirley, Roy, Ray, Frank and Herbert Lee, Jr. He was a faithful member of Mt. Pilgrim Baptist Church and a successful dairy farmer. He became a member of the NAACP in the early 1950's. When SNCC voting rights activist started working in Amite and Pike counties in the fall of 1961, Lee,  close friend of the Amite County NAACP brand chairman E.W. Steptoe became involved, helping transport the workers and acquaint them to the area.

Assistant United States Attorney John Doar and others from the Justice Department interviewed several persons in Amite County about the infringements of the voting laws. They learned that threats had been made to harm NAACP members and Voting Rights Activist in Amite and other counties.

On the morning of September 25, 1961, Hebert Lee took a truckload of cotton to the cotton gin in Liberty, Mississippi.  Hurst followed Lee according to the witnesses, Lee was sitting in his truck when Hurst angrily walks up and begins arguing, and pulls out a pistol. "I'm not fooling around this time, I really mean business," shout Hurst.  " Put the gun down," responds Lee, " I won't talk to you unless you put the gun down." Lee slides out of his truck on the other side and  E. H. Hurst a dairy farmer and politician in Mississippi, elected as a Democrat to the Mississippi House of Representatives shot Lee in the head, killing him instantly.  It happened in front of about a dozen witnesses, including several Negroes. On the day of the killing, the corner's jury concluded that E. Hurst, claimed self-defense by a all white jury at the inquest.

Amite County Grand Jury Docket
Photo Credit: Walter C. Black, Sr.

Herbert Lee was only trying to register African-American people in the small rural town to become voters. After eleven years of trying to register African-American people of Amite County.

The Cotton Gin where Herbert Lee was murdered

On July 20, 1965, E. W. Steptoe and other African Americans became registered voters.

Louis Allen, a black witness to Lee's being shot, discussed the case with SNCC civil rights activist including Julian Bond. In January 1965, the night before he was planning to move away from Liberty, Allen was murdered in his driveway by two shot-gun blasts. Allen learned that a federal jury was considering charges against Hurst, Allen met with representatives of the FBI and Civil Rights Commissions to see if he could get federal protection if he were to testify. The Justice Department  told him that they couldn't offer him protection, Allen refused to change it story and stood up for the truth and what he felt was right to do. In 1994 investigation said suggested that Allen was murdered by Daniel Jones, the Amite County Sheriff, but no one has been prosecuted for his murder. The corner's jury ruled the homicide was justifiable and no further legal actions was taken against the Mississippi State Legislator.

Marion Barry was among the SNCC activists organizing in Pike County, Mississippi with Bob Parris Moses, and other SNCC members led a march of 100 black high school students through the streets of McComb, Mississippi. The marchers was arrested as they knelt down to pray on the steps of city hall, the students was expelled from school.

Herbert Lee's wife Prince Melson Lee was from St. Helena, Louisiana. My cousin Tito Lee came into the Art Gallery three years ago and informed me about what happen to his grandfather. We must never forget Herbert Lee, he died for our right to vote and yet many African American people will not get out and vote.



References

1.  Cold case: "The murder of Louis Allen", 60 Minutes (CBS), 10 April 2011
2. The Struggle for Voting Rights in Mississippi-Civil Rights.
3.  Historical Marker Dedication Ceremony for Herbert Lee

The Legacy of Prince Estella Melson Lee of St. Helena Parish, Louisiana

Queen Mother Prince Estella Melson Lee 

Prince Estella Melson Lee was born Thursday, April 5, 1917 in Greenburg, Louisiana to the late David and Lillian Melson, and went from earth to glory at East Jefferson General Hospital on Friday, January 16, 2015, 5:10 p.m.

Prince was the sixth of thirteen children: twelve born to David and Lillian, and one born to David and "Pinky". Prince received what their father called a " fingernail of learnin" from St. Helena School where she attended until third grade learning to read and write. She even said she would walk and cry," ...just to get that lil' learning'. At St. Helena Baptist Church. Prince gave her life to Christ at the age of twelve and was baptized by the late Reverend M.P. Knox. She then began her work in Christ's kingdom, spending many decades available for the Lord's use.

At the age of thirteen, after the death of her mother, Prince and her brother, Vernell, became responsible for their youngest brother. David, and reared the youngest child, Pearl Marie. During this time, Prince developed a very close and loving relationship with step-mother, "Pinky." On February 26, 1939, Prince married Herbert Lee-they were the parents of eleven children, two deceased infancy. After marrying, Prince relocated to Mississippi and united with Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church under pastorship of the late Reverends Walter Martin and James R. Lewis. She often expressed sentiments about leaving her home church, St. Helena; nevertheless, she served faithfully at Mount Pilgrim, and in her home as devoted Christian wife and mother ensuring that her children  were loved, cared for, and raised in the fear and admonition of the Lord. Prince, with her husband Herbert, lived a life with Jesus Christ as the center. This was reflected through reciting a scripture verse after saying grace, her being " Jesus wept"; attending Sunday School and Pastoral Sunday Worship service; studying Sunday school lessons around the fireplace and listening to the Gospel Hours on the radio; and doing no work on Sundays. 

Letter from Southern Poverty Law Center

Prince lived the scripture, " Remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy". She aided in laying the same Christian foundation for her children as was laid for her by her parents. Her children can attest that she could praise the Lord all by herself; she worshipped the Lord as much in her home as she did in the sanctuary. In her home, Prince was often heard saying part of scriptures such as, "Jesus wept" and "The Lord is my shepherd", as well as singing hymns, a favorite being " Jesus, Hold My Hand While I Run This Race".

In 1961, Prince became a widow after the assassination of her husband, Herbert. Even in the midst of the this sudden tragedy,  a farm to maintain, and six children at home to raise. Prince's faith never wavered; she continued to spiritually guide and teach her children. She became a member of the Eastern Star, and continued her life and service in Mississippi until 1972 when she relocated to Kenner, Louisiana.

Prince became a member of St. Michael Missionary Baptist Church under the pastorship of Reverend Leroy Sander, Sr. She dutifully served on the Deaconess Board, and in 1982, she was appointed President, and office she served with joy and great commitment until 2004. In the late 1990s, Reverend Sanders appointed her Mother of the Church and she felt it was a great honor when asked.

Letter from SNCC

Prince throughly enjoyed being an active member of the East Jefferson Prayer and Bible Band. She took much joy out of using her well-known and well-worn black and white composition books to call the Prayer Band members as a reminder of an upcoming meeting. Prince took every opportunity to return to St. Helena's Revival in August and to Mount Pilgrim's May Rally, and Revival in September. She loved returning to her childhood home in Louisiana, as well ago Mississippi to the homestead established with her husband and children. When Prince visited the Mississippi homestead, she could often be found deep in thought while walking the land. If asked about what she was thinking. Prince would smile and simply say, " Oh...nothing, just thinking" or " just thinking about a lot...how hard we worked and how the Lord blessed us." Telling stories of her childhood and courtship with Herbert were some of Prince's much loved memories to share.

Some other favorites that she enjoyed were quilting and making tams (caps) for the Deaconess Board,as well as sitting in her favorite chair and reading her Bible. Prince was a 'people person" who never met a stranger; and, whether on the phone or in person, she truly enjoyed good conversation. She as a great sense of humor and would laugh at herself while retelling and acting out the stories of the ' by gone-days". Some of her favorite dishes to cook were and chicken and dumplings and chicken pies. And, Prince will always be well-known for her tea cakes, which she frequently backed for her family and friends.

Prince was preceded in death by her parents, David and Lilian; siblings, A.V., Felbert, Ralph, Willie, Mitchell, Vernell, Callie-Mae, David, and Elizabeth; her husband, Herbert, children, Christine, David, Bessie Mae, and Ray Curtis, and grandchildren, Erhen T. Lee, Lynn Marie Lee-Vinnett, and Aaliyah A. Riley.

Thank you Queen Mother Prince for the legacy that you left for all humanity. I will continue to teach our youth about the importance of becoming a register voter and why they should get out and vote. 

Big Zion Cemetery Headstones

While walking in Big Zion cemetery in Roseland, Louisiana., I took notice of the headstones. My friend Ilona Lyttle, my son Bernard, and I recorded the names and inscriptions of all the deceased in nine African-American cemeteries throughout St. Helena and Tangipahoa Parishes, Louisiana., well over ten years ago. I didn't pay very much attention to small details at that time. I was too busy recording the information on the headstone.

Its so important to place a headstone on the grave of your deceased loved one. Every genealogist and family historian at some point in their family research will travel to the cemeteries were their ancestors are buried. The headstones can provide information that's vital to your research.

The headstone of Alice McCoy tell me that she was born in 1855 and died in 1937. According to the 1930 United States Census, Alice was a widow living in Amite, Louisiana. Both of her parents was born in Louisiana.

She was living in the household with her daughter Alma Freeman and Alma's children; Gladys,

Headstone:
Ella McCoy Gordon, Martha McCoy Piedra
and Roberto Valdez Piedra

Alicie, Mary and Vera Freeman. In the 1920 United States Census, Alice was living in the household with her three children; Alina, Tom and Manila McCoy. In 1920 she was also a widow.

My maternal uncle Palmer Harrell married Manila McCoy. I know very little about the  McCoy family, I do know that they're a very large family. When I was growing up in Amite, Louisiana., I use to hear people talking about a man named Will McCoy. Will owned a black night club and a baseball park. On Sunday's when the different baseball teams played and crowds of people who come out to watch the game and eat Will's special barbecue. There are still a lot of people who carry the surname McCoy living in Amite and Roseland, Louisiana.

Big Zion A.M.E. Church Cornerstones

Big Zion A.M.E. Church in Roseland, LA 

In 1903, George Watson and his wife Winnie Smith Watson grant, Bargain and Sell, Assign, Convey, Set over and delivered unto Lemuel Irving, Rubin Brown, Jr., Jake Leonard, Sr., Lard and J.S. Callahan, Trustees of Big Zion School in Roseland, Louisiana.

A parcel of land comprising of six acres more or less and being all of Lot number sixty-three in plat of Roseland, Col only. Township three saith, Range from (7) east in Parish of Tangipahoa, State of Louisiana, except four (4) acres owned by Big Zion Church, the same having been acquired by this vendor from Mary E. Scott by act passed before me August 18, 1902 and recorded in the Records of Tangipahoa in Conveyance Book No 8 at the clerk's office in Amite, Louisiana.

Big Zion School was and all African American school. My mother and some of her siblings attended Big Zion. On the land sits the church, cemetery and school. I took a picture of the cornerstone and found the following;

"Big Zion A.M.E. Zion Church," Mother Zion Church in the LA. conference established 1860. The new church dedicated on March 16, 1980. Rev. C.O. Newton, M.Th, Pastor., Rev. Hollis Calahan, Pres. Elder., The Rev. Arthur Marshall, Jr.,  Bishop.

Trustees

Leona Morris, Charlie Morris, Rosetta Garrett, Alvin Deamer, Fannie Johnson, Idella Dorsby, J.C. Pikens, Robert Solomon, Rev. C. O. Newton, Wilelmina Leonard, Secretary and Willie Andrews, Chairman., Laid August 10, 1980 by M.W. Prince Hall Grand Lodge.

Please click on the clinks below

http://www.amitetoday.com/honoring-living-legend-leona-morris

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-y2HgMCUSck

The History of the Irving Family of Roseland, Louisiana

Dora Curry Irving

When I was a child growing up in Amite, my mother used to take my three brothers and I to Big Zion cemetery in Roseland, Louisiana, to clean the graves of my grandparents. The two wooden building across the road from the cemetery caught my eye. All my life I wanted to know more about those two buildings.

So I decided to knock on somebody door to get some information about the two building. The door that I knocked on was a lady by the name of Sandra Watson Turner. I asked her could she tell me something about those two building. She said I grew up in the two story building and the little house next door was a packing house for produce. I felt like a kid in a toy store! I can't explain how excited I was to talk with someone who had first hand information.

The first thing she told me was about her "Papa Will." She said that her Papa Will and all his brothers were farmers. I searched for them on the census and found Wilbert, his wife and children in the 1940 United States census. Wilbert and Dora had six children; Ora Belle, Lois, Wilbert, Irene, Gloria, Leontine Irving.

Irene Irving Watson Turner

Wilbert parents Lemuel and Susie had eleven children; Wilbert, Alice, Ethel, Lucy, Alma, Ralph, Lemuel, Robert, Tom, Charles Edward & Roscoe Irving. Lemuel was born in 1854 and died on July 18, 1942 in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana. Lemuel donated the land for Big Zion A.M.E. Church in Roseland, Louisiana.

Lorriane Lizana provided information about the occupations of Lemuel and Susie McKnight Irving descendants. Alice Irving Vernon was a farmer seamstress, Wilbert Irving, Sr., a carpenter, Roscoe was a carpenter, Lucy Irving Collier was a midwife, Alma Irving Wood Perry was a farmer and school teacher.  Lemuel Irving, Jr., a farmer and  factory worker, Ralph Irving, Sr., farmer, was a school bus driver. 

Sandra went on to tell me about her Cherokee grandmother Dora. Dora was a midwife and a natural healer. I asked Sandra if she had a picture of her grandparents, she said yes. I was delighted and anticipated looking at the photograph of the woman who delivered so many baby in the area. She came back with a picture of her grandmother Dora. Sandra recalled how her grandmother Dora healed her and her sibling when they were ill. I wish that someone would have record the knowledge and information Dora knew about natural healing. Irene Irving Watson Turner is Sandra's mother.

When I got home I went straight to "Family Search" to look at the census records to search for Dora's parents. Her parents Peter and Delilia had twelve children; Franklin, Victorine, Katie, Oscar, Soloman, Joe, Samuel, Annie, Richard, Clara, Dora, and Laurence Curry.  Peter was born in Mississippi and Delilia was born in Louisiana. According to the 1900 United States census, Peter was fifty-two and Delilia was thirty-three. Dora was born in 1896 and died in August of 1981 in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana., she is buried in Big Zion Cemetery.

Mt. Gillion Baptist Church in Arcola, Louisiana

Original Bell

One of the oldest church in Arcola, Louisiana, is Mt. Gillion Baptist Church.  It was organized on June 1,1895 by Rev. Robert Vernon and Deacons; W.M. Smith, S.E. Longs and Clerk; C. Lampkin. Anthony said that he could remember two men by the name of Mr. Tate and Mr. Lott ringing the church bell with someone passed away in the community.

I'm going to call Rev. Johnny Milton to see if I could get the history of the church. The history of the church can tell you a lot, especially if your family members attended a church in community. Its alway good to look to the church for your family history as well.
I very familiar with the Vernon history and now I would like to know about the deacons of the church. Anthony said that the bell is the original bell. Although no one rings the bell anymore.

Church cornerstones are important as well. The names of the organizers and founders can be found on them. In this case it list the name of the deacons. I can imagine before they bricked the church it was a wood building with wood pews and hardwood floors. "Who knows!" I maybe able to find a picture of the church before they bricked it. The earlier churches was wooden. I remember the church I attend a child was a wooden white church.

Mt. Gillion Baptist Church Cornerstone

I didn't see a cemetery behind the church at all. "Where did they buried their members?" Anthony said that his mother is buried in Big Zion cemetery, Roseland, Louisiana.  Come to think of it, it was the only church that I saw back off in that community. One day I hope that I can document the history of all the churches in Roseland, Amite, Fluker and Kentwood, Louisiana. Some of these churches serve as a one room school for the African American children in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Some may even have records of the early years.

Its up to us to record and document our own history and heritage. Each one of these communities has such rich history that it would be terrible not to record and document it. I hope others will open up and share their family history, photographs and documents so that I can record and document it.

Old Milk Dairies in Arcola, Louisiana

Old Milk Dairy owned by Mook Tillman 

Today I decided to turn down a road off Hwy 51, in Arcola, Louisiana. My curiosity had got the best of me and I wanted to see if I could find any old buildings and talk with anyone who was sitting on their front porch on this beautiful sunny day.

As usual I just pull up and start talking to people as if I have been knowing them all my life. I saw this man walking to his house and I pulled into his driveway and introduce myself and then I asked him about the old building down the road from him. He thought I was talking about the old milk dairy. He said I'll get in my truck and follow you back there so you can show me which building you're talking about.

After he saw the building he decided to show me several old milk dairies in the area. One was owned by an old black man by the name of Moots Tillman. Mr. Tillman was married to Louise.  The Arcola community had many milk dairies, he could recall only one being owned by and African American man. As we drove around the area he pointed out some of the larger dairy farms and horse ranches. I found the land in Arcola to be beautiful and woody. It is somewhat hilly, with tall pine trees. Most of the people who live in the community is related and they're living on land that had been in the family for several generations.

Old Milk Dairy-Photo Credit: Antoinette Harrell

"Some dairy farmers wasn't milking with machine at that time, they were milking by hand," said Anthony. He said that he remember some of the people who owned the dairies. "A lot of the old folks have die off and their descendants was living on the properties, "he said.

Anthony used to milked cows for a man named Bob Kirby. He said that after the cows were milked the dairy owners would set the milk containers out and the truck would come by and pick them up.  Milking cows wasn't the occupation for Anthony, so that job was short lived. I'm so happy that he shared what history he could recall about old dairy farms in Arcola. Like the history of sawmills and timber companies, milk dairies provided jobs for the local people who lived in the surrounding area. I was just as happy to see some of the old building still standing. Some of them are falling apart, but for the most part many of them are still standing.