The Photograph Collection of the Late Raymond Harrell, Sr.

My uncle Raymond Harrell, Sr. was just like his older sister Isabell in preserving family photographs. After he passed away, his daughter Montreal Harrell inherited her father's collection. I met with her years ago to scan the images, and just recently she and I discussed donating his collection to Southeastern Center for Louisiana Studies in his name. Uncle Raymond had two children. One daughter and one son; Monteral is the oldest.  I don't know if her brother Raymond, Jr., paid attention as Monteral did.  I like to think of it as her family history lessons taught to her by her father.

Uncle Raymond was the kind of person that would visit with family members and take photographs. I remember one time he and I traveled to Chicago to see his first cousins; Bobbie and Audrey. He took me to meet the descendants of uncle Warner Harrell in Wisconsin. I met his first cousin Dan Harrell and his beautiful wife. My mother never met them so it was an honor for me to meet them. 

Monteral said that she went to Chicago with her dad too. "I helped him drive," said Monteral . I know that was a great experience for her. Spending quality time with her father. I know he would be proud to see the beautiful and caring woman she is. 

Ella Harrell Harrison
Courtesy of Monteral Harrell

After our discussion about the images, she decided that she would allow me to guide her through the process. In memory of her dad, she is giving the family and parish an educational gift. I took the collection to help organize it for the repository.

Too often family images can get lost or thrown away.  He kept all his photograph in a box and from time to time he would take them out and share stories about the people in the image. Looking through the box and I found my mother's wedding picture.

I wish my uncle were here to share the stories and name some of the people in the photograph. "Daddy used to pull the box out and talk about the people," said Montreal. Unless someone has lost all their family photographs in a natural catastrophic incident, you can imagine the pain that it causes. We traveled down memory lane looking at our Harrell ancestors. They were dressed so elegantly and classy to say they were the children and grandchildren of former slaves. 

We couldn't identify some of the people in some of the photographs. Nevertheless, we wanted to save them anyway. Perhaps someone else may be able to identify the people. Monteral is an educator in the Tangipahoa Parish School System. She understands the importance of the photographs and how important it is to our history. 

The photographs keep her feeling connected to her father. Looking at her beautiful smile, I can see the feeling of connection. She knew just how much the collection meant to her father.  Our great aunt Ella Harrell Harrison had the collection and when she died, our cousin named Gert inherit the

Image Unknown
Courtesy of Monteral Harrell

collection. After cousin Gert passed away my uncle Raymond inherit the collection. 

The collection couldn't have fallen in better hands. Now, Monteral has entrusted me with the collection. I can't wait until the collection is ready for view at Southeastern Center for Louisiana Studies.

Doing something in memory of my uncle means so much to me. When I was a little girl he would take me for a ride in his car and we always stop to get an ice cream cone. His love for family is the reason that these photographs meant so much to him. What a great way to honor his memory by honoring the legacy he left to all of us!

Monteral is to be commended for sharing that gift and legacy. The beautiful images speak volumes about African-American families who lived in the Louisiana Florida Parishes. 

The Slavery Detective of the South

Our History "Our Story"

What You May Not Know About Willie Temple!

Willie Temple
Photo Courtesty: Edwin Temple

Willie Temple was born in 1933 in Amite, Louisiana. There were six children born to the union of  Charlie Temple and Lena Vining Temple. His siblings were: Caretha, Doretha, Maude, Jacob, and Mary.  Willie grew on fifty-four aces farm on Bennett Road. His family raised livestock, and every kind of produce a farmer could grow. His father Charlie was married twice, first to Eliza Marshall. They had five children: Augustine, Elouise, Margie, Stanley, and Ellis.

Willie's mother and my great-grandmother Emma were sisters. Lena and Emma had the same father.  Their father Allen was married twice. His first marriage was to Emma's mother Rosa Hart. After Rosa passed away, he married Pheby Self. Pheby was Lena's mother.

This would make him and my maternal grandmother Josephine first cousins. He's one of the three first cousins my grandmother have living to this day. Everyone else had passed away that I'm aware of. If there are anymore living first cousin. I would really like to meet them.

No one knows what school he attended or if he went to school.  He could read somewhat said his son Edwin. He worked at the Amite Feed and & Co-op, as a delivery man. He delivered feed and other supplies to local farmers. He was employed at Louisiana Power and Light as a lineman. 

Everyone that knew him called him "Pap," some said they remember him smoking cigars. It takes my mother to talk about the role he played in registering African-Americans people as register voters. "He drove people to the voting polls," said Isabel Harrell-Cook. He was a very smart person she said. Willie farmed, he took some of his produce to J.D. Atkins packing shed. The next morning J.D., took the produce to the French Market in New Orleans to be sold. Some of Willie produce was sold around the town of Amite.  He used his horse "Jim" to plow the field until he purchased his mule called red. His favorite past time was playing cards with some of his neighbors in the community. 

Old Red

Sometime he would visit his sisters in Los Angeles, California. His mother Lena moved to Los Angles with her daughters until her death.  He lived his entire life in Amite, Louisiana.  Willie met and married Helen Johnson Temple and to their union, five children were born. Three of his sons served in the Military. Two sons in the Air Force and one in the Army.One son drove trucks for a living. His only daughter work at the St. Helena Headstart. One of his sons made Alaska his home. 

Many people in the community may not know that Willie put his life on the line to help register African-American people in Tangipahoa Parish to become register voters. Mother said that he was beaten up by some white men for taking the role he did. "He wasn't the same after the beat him," she said.  I want to say before we make a judgment about a person, we should take the time out to learn about that person. This month during Black History, Nurturing Our Roots would like to remember people like Willie who put their life on the line for equality. He knew that he had to do something to change the conditions for African-American people of Tangipahoa Parish, even if it meant him dying for the cause. Now in his 80s, he doesn't talk much about those days. He spends his time sitting on his front porch getting a cool breeze are enjoying the beautiful sunlight. 

Dr. Kingsley B. Garrison Donating His Rich Collection to the Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies

Dr. Kingsley B. Garrison
Photo Credit:  Dr. Antoinette Harrell

For the past several months I have had the honorable pleasure to interview Dr. Garrison about his family history.  During the interview, I learned that he is an archivist. Dr. Garrison was a former teacher in the Tangipahoa Parish School System. 

I asked him if he had any pictures I could look at? After I looked at his rich African- American images, at that point, I realized that I needed to talk with him about preserving his collection.  "I know that my daughter will probably throw a lot of it away when I pass, " he said.  "I think about that quite often!" said Dr. Garrison. I had to tell him that he didn't have to wait and that he can do something now.  He is the kind of person that listens to sound advice and guidance. I took this opportunity to educate him on the process. Losing his collection would be losing a big part of African-American history of the Louisiana Florida Parishes.

That was one of the decisions I had to make about my collection. "What would happen to my collection when I passed away?" It was time for me to make a decision about the collection. Most of the collection consists of images, documents, and other research materials of African-American people in the Louisiana Florida Parishes.  I decided that the Center for Southeast Louisiana  Studies was the best place for the collection. 

Dr. Samuel Hyde looking at the collection
Photo Credit: Dr. Antoinette Harrell

I explained to Dr. Garrison the importance of making that decision while he could. After our discussion, we talked about him visiting the center with me. Having him to look at the process of preserving his collection would help him to make that decision. Dr. Garrison made that decision today.

Dr. Samuel Hyde, Director of the Center Southeast Louisiana Studies,  said that the Louisiana  Florida Parishes is lacking the history of African-American people. 

We're proud to announce that the Dr. Kingsley B. Garrison Collection is coming to the Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies. The collection will consist of images from the Ponchatoula Color School, Baptismal, and images of people in the community. Whenever I'm talking with him,  I feel like I'm sitting with a talking library,  I learn so much.  I must mention that he is putting me in contact with others who had rich collections in the Ponchatoula, Louisiana. 

Proclamation Proclaim Genealogy Awareness Week

 Genealogy Proclamation

February 5, 2004, the African American Genealogy Connection, Inc., requested that the City of New Orleans Proclaim February 8th - `4th as Genealogy Awareness Week. In honor of Black History Month, Antoinette Harrell and Karran Harper Royal host of Nurturing Our Roots Genealogy Educational Talk Show would like to encourage African American families to study their own family through self-discovery. 

Genealogy can help a person who is researching their family history look at the local history, the community their ancestors and family lived in.  What kind of occupations did they have? Did they attend school? Where did they attend church? Certainly not omitting the local politics and business matters of the community your family lived in. 

Sharing photographs, memories, and family stories can strengthen and bring the family closer. This week in Honor of Black History, I would like to honor my own family and extended community in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana by blogging, sharing photographs, conducting new interviews and lastly placing new information in the archival collections. Some families still have the original photographs from the early 1900s in their collection.  Almost everyone that I have interviewed has a funeral program collection. Several people family member passed away and they inherited all the photographs and other records.  Let me just say that I'm glad they are sharing them with me. 

This year is the fourteen year anniversary since this Proclamation was proclaimed Genealogy Awareness Week. How quickly the time went by! My youngest son was twelve-years-old at the time.  The Florida Parishes was home to my ancestors and family on my paternal and maternal side of the family. Because I lived in the Florida Parishes it makes my search very easy for me when I need to travel to the genealogy library and courthouse to research records. I want to also point out that helping others in the community understand the importance of preserving their family history is vital to the history of the Florida Parishes from an African-American perspective. 

New Orleans City Council Proclaimed
Feb 8th-14th as Genealogy Awareness Week

The history of African-Americans in the Florida Parishes is at large an undocumented history. We can't have the history of the Florida Parishes without the history of African-American people who history is interwoven in the history of Florida Parishes. 

Hard working men and women who faced the many challenges of oppression to triumphs during slavery and Jim Crow. Many who knew the faces of segregation and its effects on them and their families.  Some left the Bayou State of Louisiana, leaving the agricultural fields in search of a better life up north in the 1920s. Many returned after retirement and some never returned. When it was time to come home to visit, they looked forward to coming back south to visit their family members.  One thing I learned during this journey of self-discovery is that it never ends. I spend countless hours in my home office researching and preparing photographs and other records for electronic archiving and the university. 

What Could the Tombstones Tell Us?

Thomas Richardson
Photo Credit: Bobby

If you look at Thomas Richardson, Sr., headstone and the headstone of Andrew Richardson, you will find some similarities. One being the shapes of the headstones and if you look at the top of the headstones, you will find little circles on the top. It looks like the same lettering was used. These two men are one year apart. Thomas was born in 1853 and Andrew was born in 1852. 

Thomas is buried in Rocky Hill AME Church Cemetery. Andrew is buried in Black Creek AME Church Cemetery. Andrew's parents were N. Richardson and Dicy Richardson. What does the "N" stand for?  We only have Thomas mother's name. Her name was Carrie.  I couldn't find any of Carrie's sibling or her parents.  

Thomas Richardson died on February 28, 1923, and Andrew Richardson died on September 10, 1908.  The fact that both men were AME members and the headstones reveal some similarities clues. I think my next step would be to visit the Louisiana State Archives to look at death records. Although we know Andrew's parents' name, I want to find out more on N. Richardson, could this be the Nathan Richardson, whose name in on the inventory list of Benjamin and Celia Bankston Richardson 1853 inventory. 

Andrew Richardson
Photo Credit: Jane Holiday

It's time for me to make a genealogy field trip to Black Creek Church and cemetery in Greensburg, Louisiana. I know there are other Richardson's buried there.  Andrew and Sarah Ann Foster Richardson had nine children. It appears that the family used Black Creek Church Cemetery and Darlington Church of God in Christ for their family church and to bury their loved ones.

I think we're long overdue to find out the kinship of the two Richardson families. Supt. Alexander Richardson has two sons living out of ten children: Supt Emmitt N. Richardson, Sr., and Darnell Richardson, Sr. I don't know much about the family lineage Pastor Alonzo Richardson. He had a son named Pastor Jimmy Richardson who resides in Roseland, Louisiana. Hopefully, the remaining offsprings can help us shed some light and make the genealogy connections.

Supt. Alexander Richardson is the son of Thomas Richardson, Sr. and Amanda Breland Richardson.

Study questions to think about

1. Why are the headstones so similar?

2. Did Carrie Richardson have other siblings and children?

3. Could Andrew be one of her siblings' children?

4. What funeral home did the family use?

5. Did someone make the headstones for the family?
6. Could any of the other people on the plantation be Carrie's siblings?

The Unknown Children in the Photograph

Photo Courtesy
Audrey Harrell Dumones

Robert Harrell was born a slave in 1821 in Amite County, Mississippi. He also lived in East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. I would like to know who the young people are in this picture. Robert passed away  died in 1921. His son Alexander was born in 1859 and died in 1914. 

Could this be my grandfather Jasper's brothers and sister? My mother Isabel said that her father Jasper was only two years old when his father passed away. This photograph looks so much like Alexander Harrell, although cousin Olga Mae Johnson who is deceased said that it looks like grandpa Robert.  Could that be the grandchildren? The little girl looks a lot like Aunt Bertha. I thought I would share it anyway. At least I can say that the photograph was taken at the old homestead in Amite, Louisiana. 

Whatever little piece of history we can hold on to learn from is essential. If you have any photographs and stories you would like to share with the Harrell family please share it.  Last week I visit several people in the community who had a rich collection of their family photographs and most importantly they are sharing with me so that their history will never be forgotten. People from all over the world is reading about our history in the Florida Parishes, Louisiana. 

Are There Any Relations Between Thomas and Alonzo Richardson?

Andrew Richardson
Photo Credit: Jane Holiday

My maternal grandmother's father was named Thomas Richardson born abt 1884 in Ward 3 in St. Helena Parish, Louisiana.  Alonzo was born abt 1895 in Ward 2, in St. Helena Parish, Louisiana.   I wanted to conduct genealogy research to find out if there is genealogy connection between Thomas and Alonzo. Although after looking at the United States Census today, I'm strongly convinced that there is a bloodline connection. At this point, I'm compelled now to look at every census starting at 1940 and working my way back to 1870. 

According to the 1900 United States Federal Census. I think this is a mis-spelling because it lists Alonzo's fathers' name as (Anna Richardson) and his mother name was Sarah. Growing up I always heard that there were two different sets of Richardson families. Most of the older people have long passed that could tell you anything. 

I'm analyzing the 1880 United States Federal Census and found that a man named Andrew Richardson born around 1852 in Ward 2 in St. Helena Parish. Andrew said that his father  N. Richardson's birthplace was Virginia and his mother Dicy Richardson birthplace was Georgia. Could this be Andrew spelled as Anna?  N. Richardson was born around 1820.

Anna! "I'm  presuming this could be Andrew." Andrew married Sarah J. Foster and they gave birth to  seven children according to 1900 United States Census; Girtie, Clacie, John, Marget, Leonard, Alonzo and Monore Richardson. On the Social Security Application and Claims Index, 1936-2007, they had a child named John Wesley Richardson. John  W. Richardson name is on my grandmother Josephine Richardson and Jasper Harrell, Sr. married license as a witness.

Benjamin and Celia Bankston 1853
Inventory

Both Richardson men were from St. Helena Parish during the same time.  Like I said earlier in the blog, I don't know if Carrie had other children. In 1853 when she and her son Thomas, Sr., was appraised for sale the document didn't say that she had other children. Carrie was twenty-years old when she was appraised for sale. 

Andrew died in 1908 and he is buried in Black Creek AME Church Cemetery in Greensburg, Louisiana.  I looked at the photograph of the headstone Jane Holiday posted on findagrave.com., It is almost the same inscription that is inscribed on Thomas and Amanda Breland Richardson headstones. Some of the Richardson family is also buried in Darlington, St. Helena Parish, Louisiana.  

When I found my maternal grandparents' marriage licenses in the Amite Clerk of Court records I wanted to find out who was this John W. Richardson who witnesses my grandmother Josephine Richardson Harrell wedding. What relations was he to her and he had to be close to her to stand as a witness in her wedding. 

John Wesley Richardson was born in August of 1885 in St. Helena Parish. In 1920 he was married to a woman named Emma Richardson, in the 1930  United States Census, they list him as being married to Minnie  Ada Wright Richardson. They had seven children at the time the census was taken; Emmett, Flora, Inez, Mennard, Gladys, John, and Huey Richardson.

John's U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 described him as being short with black hair and black eyes and medium build and his birthplace was St. Helena Parishes, Louisiana. 

Something else I would like to point out,  Thomas son Alexander Richardson and his wife Melisa
have a son the named Emmitt N. Richardson.  John Wesley and Minnie Ada Richardson also had a son named Emmett Nathaniel Richardson. It appeared that Emmett Nathaniel moved to Oakland, California. In 1940 he was living the home of John and Starnes. The 1940 United States Census said that he and 3 years of college. 

List or Manifest of Aliens Employed on the
Vessel of Crew

Emmett N. Ricardson was married to Fidella V. Hilliness in 1959. He passed away in March of 1986 in Alameda, California. He was a California, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1959 list him on the ship named Elwood Haynes, Port of Arrival:  San Francisco, California and Port of Departure as Eniwetok.  When he passed away in 1986, they brought his remains back to St. Helena Parish, Louisiana to be buried at Black Creek AME Church. 

On the 1853 inventory list of Benjamin and Celia Bankston, I found the enslaved Africans they owned; a girl name Chole age 18 years old, girl Sally age 15, Carey 20 and her child Thomas 1 years old, boy Nathan age 15 yearly old, boy George 12, years old, boy Charles age 10, girl May age 7, girl Lucy age 14 years old, girl Harriet 32 and her four children; John age 9 years old, and girl Julia age  6 years old and Henry age about 2 years old, boy Jefferson age 12 years old. 

Questions to think about

1. Who were Carrie parents?

2. Did Carrie have other children besides Thomas, Sr., 

3. If so,  how many, who are they and, where are they?

4. Is there a genealogy connection between Thomas and Alonzo?

5. Why did John Wesley Richardson stand in Josephine Richardson Harrell's wedding?

6. Did Alexander Richardson name his son Emmett after a relative?

7. Did Alexander Richardson name his son Nathaniel after a relative?

8. Are we willing to take a DNA test to prove the theory of relations?

9. Are there any other people with the surname Richardson in the Florida Parishes,
     that we don't  know anything about?

Colors of Tangipahoa Project

American Jazz Legend Born in the Village of Tangipahoa

Willie Cook
Gugge Hedrenius Big Blues Band

I received a phone called from Howard E. Magee concerning prominent African Americans who were born or lived in the Village of Tangipahoa. The Village of Tangipahoa is located in the Northern end of the Parish of Tangipahoa. Howard's objective is to highlight prominent African Americans for Black History Month 2018. 

According to the 2000 census the populations was 747. The Village got its name for after the Tangipahoa Native American people. It also the home of the Camp Moore, a Confederate Museum that is known for their annual reenactments.

Not to forget Micheal Jackson Dyson who was a professional football player who played for the Cleveland Browns who home was also in Tangipahoa, Louisiana. 

Howard brought to attention that a Jazz Musician named Willie Cook was born in the Tangipahoa, Louisiana. Willie was born on November 11, 1923, and died on September 22, 2000. He was an American jazz trumpeter.  He migrated with his family to Chicago and learned to play the violin before the trumpet summoned him. Making the trumpet the instrument of choice.

He joined Perry King Perry's band in the 1930s, then joined Jay McShann's band early in the 1940s. He later credits include performing and recording with Johnny Hartman, Earl Hines, Jimmie Lunceford, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, B.B. King and, Count Basie. He joined Ellington's band in October 1951 as lead trumpeter and stayed for a decade. He moved to Sweden in 1982 after spending time in the country touring. He died of heart failure in Maria Regina Hospice in Stockholm on September 22, 2000.

MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHIC RESOURCES

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/oct/19/guardianobituaries

http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/21/arts/willie-cook-76-lead-trumpeter-with-gillespie-and-ellington.html

https://youtu.be/y7hm9M9eci4

Color of Tangipahoa Project " We Want to Hear Your Story"

Help Us Honor Black History Month!

Please help me to continue to document our history, legacy, triumphs, and your family history this month for Black History. For the past twenty years, I have been working to document the rich history of African-Ameican people of Tangipahoa & St. Helena Parishes, Louisiana. 

The genealogy department at the Amite Branch is a vital resource when someone is searching for their family history. When I first started researching my family history at the Amite Library, I couldn't find anything outside of the census. My heart dropped because I knew my family like so many families of African descent contributed so much to our parish and there wasn't any written history about them. I told myself I had to do something about it. I started by donating my own family history to the genealogy department. 

The Amite Branch and I are in a collaboration to collect family history through an oral history collection on Saturday: February 10th at 9:00AM to 2PM. Please help me to continue to document the history of the undocumented people who contributed has been a part of Tangipahoa & St. Helena Parishes since the forming of the Florida Parishes. 

Please contact me to add your name to this list to preserve your family history. I can be reached by phone at 504.858.4658 or by email at afrigenah@yahoo.com.