Latest news with #CivilRightsHeritageTrail
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Civil rights icon Dave Dennis to discuss 1964 Freedom Summer at LSU Shreveport
SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – A Shreveport native and civil rights icon will speak at LSUS on Friday to discuss his role in the 1964 Summer of Freedom in Mississippi. Dave Dennis was one of the architects and participants in the Summer of Freedom when young people from across the country sacrificed summer fun to end segregation in the South. Dennis was exposed to the fight for equal rights for Black Americans, as people like Reverend C.O. Simpkins and others started to lay the foundation of activism in Shreveport; however, like many young people, he did not plan to join the civil rights movement, the movement called him to it. Learn more about Shreveport's relationship to the Civil Rights Movement 'Dave was a fly on the wall of perhaps the most pivotal time in the Shreveport Civil Rights Movement. When you talk about younger people in the movement, Dave Dennis is way up there in terms of importance.' As a student at Dillard University in New Orleans, Dennis participated in a sit-in at a Woolworth's Department Store, the first organized demonstration in the state's largest city. The sit-in ignited something in Dennis, and he joined the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and worked with student groups and overarching civil rights groups related to the movement. Dennis played a key role in integrating the Louisiana State Fair in 1961. He and others would spread rumors throughout the community that caused the fair to lose money, forcing integration to recoup losses. 'Dave Dennis was the lone CORE field secretary in the area in 1961, and the Fair doesn't get integrated without him,' said LSUS graduate student Mikal Barnes, a researcher on Joiner's Civil Rights Heritage Trail project in Caddo Parish. 'Simpkins would organize a fake protest because he knew there were informants in his meetings. Dennis and others spread the rumor throughout the community, and the entire police force shows up expecting a riot. Businesses don't want to get tarnished during a Fair riot, so they don't show up either, and the Fair loses a lot of money. They lose so much money that they integrated the Fair.' Widow of Rev. C.O. Simpkins on famous photo of her late husband and Dr. King For all of his involvement and organizing, the moment Dennis is most widely-known for is the Summer of 1964, a mass push for voter registration. This is when he and others deployed citizens from across the country to pressure the state of Mississippi to recognize the voting rights of African-Americans. The events of that summer would become the 1988 film Mississippi Burning starring the late Gene Hackman. His efforts to push for a better America landed him in jail 30 times and unlike many participants in the movement, he has lived to speak about it and share those experiences with an audience in his hometown. To learn about the Freedom Summer, and how an HBCU student with no interest in protests, marches or creating movements became an icon for American civil rights, don't miss his lecture on Friday, March 15, 2025, at 6 p.m. in the LSUS Science Lecture Auditorium. 'Opportunities like these are golden, irreplaceable,' Joiner said. 'One of our big emphases is to talk to these heroes and get their impressions, learn from them. You can't help but admire his intelligence, honesty and demeanor. We're so damn lucky that he wants to come here.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Yahoo
Graduate student who went to public schools in NWLA can't read cursive
SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – LSU Shreveport graduate student Mik Barnes has a problem that many young college students in the United States are experiencing, too: he can't read cursive. 'I'm a history major,' said Barnes. 'One of the times it really got to me was when I was looking through an old arrest report book. We were trying to find when Wyatt Walker and Harry Blake were arrested in Shreveport during the civil rights movement, and the process of trying to read the cursive was really frustrating.' Barnes is a member of the Caddo Parish Civil Rights Heritage Trail team with KTAL, LSU Shreveport, and Red River Radio. He has researched and written peer-reviewed papers and articles for the project that include: Shreveport's David Dennis was architect of Freedom Summer of 1964 LSUS researcher finds links to the Confederacy while tracking family lineage Hidden history: Clarence A. Laws and civil rights in the Deep South Some Christians in Shreveport became non-violent during the Civil Rights Movement Man survives Shreveport lynching attempt in 1915 and becomes international icon Barnes graduated from high school in Northwest Louisiana, where he learned enough cursive in the public school system to write his name. American public schools were deeply influenced in 2011 when the U.S. Department of Education's Common Core State Standards for English initiative did not include cursive in the curriculum. And many public school students who were initially impacted by the lack of cursive in the curriculum are now in college. Mik said he knew something was wrong when he was around 12 or 13 years old. 'One of my great aunts had just passed,' Barnes said. 'We were looking through some of her old writings in a book, and I didn't know what it said.' Barnes took three foreign language classes to satisfy his undergraduate degree, and he says cursive is like a foreign language to him. 'I can usually tell that it's English by the uppercase letters,' said Barnes, who also said it's embarrassing. 'It makes research harder and take longer, because sometimes I have to go and look up the cursive alphabet, lowercase and uppercase, and try to figure out what I'm looking at. If you just handed me something in cursive and asked me to read it, I'd need a second.' Barnes is Dr. Gary Joiner's research assistant at LSU Shreveport, and Joiner said that learning to read cursive is similar to deciphering ancient Roman texts. 'When I was taking Roman history, and looking at documents and buildings, I was deciphering what the Romans were talking about on their monuments,' admitted Joiner. 'It is frustrating as it can be, because you're asking yourself, 'Why can I not do this?'' Joiner said that reading historic documents that are written in cursive can be tricky for people who do know how to read and write modern cursive. During the mid-1800s, English was getting away from an s that looked like an f. And reading artistic styles of handwriting can complicate a researcher's experience with historic documents just as much as poor penmanship. 'It's practicing, practicing, practicing, and getting it into your mind as sort of another reality,' said Joiner of reading historical documents written in cursive. Joiner said he's astonished by the number of his students that can't read cursive by the time they reach college. 'It's as if people have some sort of cognitive impairment. But it's not–it's a form of illiteracy.' Joiner said that cursive matters. 'Think of someone at the clerk-of-court, researching a handwritten will from a family member. Or somebody on the police force who is looking at old handwritten notes that could be used as evidence.' 5 key moments in Northwest Louisiana's civil rights history Joiner believes that a generation's inability to read cursive will affect a fairly large segment of the population. 'It's anti-societal,' said Joiner. 'Young students not being taught cursive erases history and culture. You're creating voids in someone's education.' 'Teach your kids cursive while they're reading,' said Barnes. 'Please. Some of the letters do look the same. An i sometimes looks like an e, depending on who writes it.' 'Teach them cursive and teach them how to form letters properly,' Dr. Joiner recommends. 'When we were looking at the Citizens Workbook, we read that a man was happy because he learned how to write his name and didn't have to use the x anymore.' This workbook changed the Civil Rights Movement 'The only thing I could write in cursive was my name,' said Barnes. 'I think it's for times' sake to prepare students to take standardized tests,' said Barnes. Joiner added that it all comes down to teaching to the test. 'We're leaving people in the dust,' said Joiner. 'You're not taught to think critically. You're taught to get past this test to the next one. We're creating a society of parrots–I'm gonna tell you some stuff, and you'll tell it back to me in the exact form I want you to do. But that's not learning. That's not critical thinking. That's just remembering.' In 2017, Louisiana passed a new law requiring cursive to be part of public school curriculums. Pro-cursive laws are also in place in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Redlining in Stoner Hill
The Caddo Parish Civil Rights Heritage Trail project is expanding its scope with a new series designed to help historic villages, towns, neighborhoods, and/or cities in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, investigate three different versions of their communities: the past, the present, and the future. Team members include Dr. Gary Joiner, Mik Barnes, Jaclyn Tripp, Dr. Laura Meiki, Dr. Jolivette Anderson-Douong, Dr. Amy Rosner, Dr. Rolonda Teal, and Brenton Metzler. This month's focus is the Stoner Hill neighborhood. In Stoner Hill's origin story may surprise you, Dr. Gary Joiner (Professor of History at LSU Shreveport) taught us that Stoner Hill is older than the city of Shreveport. In part II of our series on Stoner Hill, Was Stoner Hill in Shreveport named after cannabis lovers, we learned where Stoner Hill got its name and how it connected to America's Civil War. Part III of the Stoner Hill series showed what Stoner Hill was like in 1935 vs. what Stoner Hill is like today. Part IV examined how a tornado destroyed much of the Stoner Hill community in 1912. In Part V, Dr. Gary Joiner answered a question from Cookie Coleman, who asked the team if rumors about a mass grave located in Stoner Hill were true. Part VI discussed how Stoner Hill became one of the first testing grounds for road machines in Louisiana. Now Part VII examines how the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) redlined portions of Stoner Hill beginning in 1940. Dr. Gary Joiner took the lead on this article. SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – The US Government created the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) as part of the New Deal programs in the 1930s. They surveyed 239 cities nationwide to determine the viability of granting or continuing mortgages. The HOLC came to Shreveport in 1940 and left chaos in its wake. The surveyors, called valuators, artificially ranked neighborhoods by letter grade, A-D. Class A was the best, and Class D was 'hazardous' and uninsurable. Stoner Hill was divided into two areas. Below East Columbia Street was ranked 'C' and labeled C-3. From Ford Street down to Columbia Street was ranked 'D' and labeled D-4. Holk determined the following about Stoner hill in 1940: In 1940, HOLC determined the following about the area of Stoner Hill below Columbia Street: The population was 50% white and 50% black The black population lived in the area East of Kings Highway and Southeast of Bayou Pierre, between the levee and the river The white population lived in the West end of the area The black population consisted of mostly domestic workers who were employed in adjacent white areas of Shreveport The white population consisted of 'good class of salaried workers.' On the South side of the Western end, fronting Kings Highway, were many filling stations and lunch stands. Stoner Hill was approximately 40% built up Properties in the white section were described as 'well maintained' Properties in the black section were described as having 'only fair maintenance' Holk also published the following about Stoner Hill: '(The black) area is influenced by river levee. Future development may cause the destruction of the levee and in this event the property now occupied by (the black population) may be replaced with white development.' In 1940, HOLC determined the following about the area of Stoner Hill from Ford Street down to Columbia Street: The population was 95% back, 5% foreign-born white Population composed of laborers, tradesmen, mechanics, and domestic workers Single family residences were the predominant type of building The area was about 20% built up Age of properties was between 1 and 30 years Properties were described as 'poorly maintained on the average.' The population was not shifting. Another HOLC finding about this area of Stoner Hill was that 'Quite a few of the (black population) in this section own their homes and they are fairly well maintained, others poorly maintained. Stoner Hill has been an integrated, working/middle-class neighborhood since its inception. The harm done by the HOLC in 1940 still rings true throughout the decades. Residents were harmed by their inability to obtain mortgages or, if so, at much higher rates. Thankfully, the 2020 Decennial Census shows that Stoner Hill's population is still healthy. TOTAL POPULATION 2174 White 282 Black 1646 Asian 92 Hispanic 164 18 years or older 1671 # of housing units 1202 occupied homes 994 unoccupied homes 208 Using digital versions of the 1935 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Company maps and current digital data, a direct comparison of remaining buildings and new construction reveals a wealth of information. The following figures portray the data in east-west block format, stacked in the following order: Fort Street to Vine Street (Dr. S. W. Jackson Avenue) Vine Street to East Stoner Avenue East Stoner Avenue to East Herndon Avenue East Herndon Avenue to East Wichita Street East Wichita Street to East Olive Street East Olive Street to East College Street East College Street to East Dalzell Street East Dalzell Street to East Robinson Place East Robinson Place to East Columbia Street East Columbia Street to East Kings Highway The 'Little Texas' section When split by Youree Drive, the rows are divided into West and East maps. Modern buildings are displayed in semi-transparent gray, allowing the older buildings to be seen behind them. A black dot adjoining the modern building, labeled 'single,' indicates a contemporary single-family residence. Red lines indicate neighborhood boundaries. Light gray indicates streets and paved parking lots. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-01-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Stoner Hill was devastated by 1912 tornado
The Caddo Parish Civil Rights Heritage Trail project is expanding its scope with a new series designed to help historic villages, towns, neighborhoods, and/or cities in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, investigate three different versions of their communities: the past, the present, and the future. Team members include Dr. Gary Joiner, Mik Barnes, Jaclyn Tripp, Dr. Laura Meiki, Dr. Jolivette Anderson-Douong, Dr. Amy Rosner, Dr. Rolonda Teal, and Brenton Metzler. This month's focus is the Stoner Hill neighborhood. In Stoner Hill's origin story may surprise you, Dr. Gary Joiner (Professor of History at LSU Shreveport) taught us that Stoner Hill is older than the city of Shreveport. In part II of our series on Stoner Hill, Was Stoner Hill in Shreveport named after cannabis lovers, we learned where Stoner Hill got its name and how it connected to America's Civil War. Part III of the Stoner Hill series showed what Stoner Hill was like in 1935 vs. what Stoner Hill is like today. Part IV of our series examines the history of a tornado that destroyed much of Stoner Hill in 1912. Jaclyn Tripp took the lead on this article. SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – A tornado that swept through Shreveport in 1912 killed ten people, injured more than fifty, and destroyed most of the homes in several communities–including Freewater Hill, which is now known as the Stoner Hill neighborhood. After the tornado struck on Feb. 20, 1912, no homes were left standing in the Adner community on the Louisiana and Arkansas Road. Bowman Lane in Forest Hill and the Fairfield subdivision were hit particularly hard by the tornado, as was Freewater Hill's Bremmer Lane. The tornado appeared out of the Southwest around 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 20, 1912. The Caucasian later called the tornado 'the most destructive in the history of storm disasters in Shreveport.' After the tornado passed through the Centenary neighborhood, it hit Freewater Hill. Between 75 and 100 homes were completely demolished, and the devastation was so severe it was almost impossible to search through the debris and find where the homes had originally been located. After destroying Freewater Hill, the tornado crossed the Red River into Bossier City. 'It seemed that the greatest damage was in the (African American community of Freewater Hill.) Shacks were taken up and hurled into the air and those who saw the storm say that flying timbers could be seen on all sides,' The (Shreveport) Times reported on Feb. 22, 1912. Reports from within the community stated that people at Freewater Hill had to throw themselves into trenches and gutters to escape the tornado. The Ambulance Corps of the Louisiana State National Guard erected dozens of tents, including three regulation hospital tents, for the homeless and the injured. The tents were set up on the east end of Olive Street at Freewater Hill. Four stores and the Hopewell Church in the Freewater / Stoner Hill community were utterly destroyed. The stores were owned by African American business owners Mack and Ama Miles, Louis Parker, and Arthur Hawkins. Police, firemen, and physicians entered the area as soon as possible after the storm, and a search for the dead and injured began. One of the first things the Mayor of Shreveport did after the tornado was to arrange for a wagon of groceries to be taken to Freewater Hill. Donations poured in from across the city. The Captain of the No. 5 fire station began collecting clothes and taking them to city hall, which served as the hub for distributing goods to storm victims. Eight houses were destroyed on Linwood and Fairfield Avenues, and two houses and a dairy barn on Herndon Place. The tornado also struck the Corbett place. In Freewater, Mr. and Mrs. James Cook and Mrs. R. L. Stephens, who was holding a baby, narrowly escaped the tornado. Their homes were not as lucky. 'In the years gone there have been experiences storms which were more or less severe, when great trees were rooted bodily, when fences were leveled and houses of slim structure were otherthrown,' wrote a reporter for The Caucasian on Feb. 22. '…but, excepting the disaster experienced at Gilliam, the aggregate in the loss of life, of the number injured and of property destroyed on Tuesday afternoon is without a parallel in this section of the State.' Sources: The Caucasian, Feb. 22, 1912 The Shreveport Journal, Feb. 21, 1912, pp. 2 Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
