30 Years of Research is Ready for Repository

Antoinette Harrell
Photo Credit: Walter C. Black, Sr. 

The investigation and documentation of the little-known antebellum history of African Americans in the two Louisiana Florida Parish was of vital importance to me. I have collected a lot of fascinating stories from people who have lived in the parishes for decades.  Every time a person that had lived for a long time passed away, these important stories died within them.  I asked myself, why wasn't their stories documented and filmed?

Historical Association and genealogy societies are prevalent in many parishes. The organizations mission is  to collect and preserve the history of the people who live in the parishes or counties. I have not yet found and organization or society that focuses on the study and preservation of African American history in the two Florida Parishes. 

The stories, images, and other documents I gathered during my genealogy research as well as local history documents have been invaluable to me and it will be helpful to others who are researching. At this point in my research, the material needs to be processed, cataloged, and donated for future studies and research so it can be used as useful sources. 

In fact, I will need a considerable amount of time to complete the project of preservation. Approximately thirty years of collecting and researching have gone into it and if I'm calculating right, it may take me three to four years to organize all the files.

The collection will consist of audio and video files, images and documents. Once a year, I donate local research sources to the Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies due to the fact that it should preserved and archival at a local institution.