Genetic testing is used by enslaved descendants on Richardson plantation to determine their family relationships

Carl Richardson Descendants

My maternal grandmother's surname name is Richardson. Throughout my childhood, I was acquainted with my grandmother's siblings. My mother frequently shared stories about her mother's relatives and their history. Josephine Richardson, along with her siblings, was born and raised in Montpelier, Louisiana, which is an unincorporated community located in St. Helena Parish. My research delved into the ancestry of my Richardson family, with a focus on my great-grandparents Thomas and Emma Vining Richardson. Through the United States Census, I uncovered valuable information about their lives. Specifically, I discovered that Thomas and his siblings resided in a household with their parents, Thomas and Amanda Breland Richardson.

As I was going through the inventory of the Benjamin and Celia Bankston Richardson Plantation, I found out that my ancestor Carrie and her son Thomas were among the twenty-three enslaved individuals listed. It got me thinking if any of the other enslaved people were related to Carrie. Could one of the women have been her mother, or perhaps her brother or sister? I know of another Richardson family in Tangipahoa Parish, and their ancestral origins are in St. Helena Parish. According to some, we may be related based on oral history, while others dispute this claim. The only sure way to settle this is to undergo a DNA test. Supt. Jimmy Richardson took the Ancestry DNA to get answers.

  Carl Richardson and Joseph Richardson
Descendants

Thomas, son of Carrie, is my maternal 3rd great-grandfather. It was discovered during the inventory
following Benjamin's death in 1855 that Carrie was only twenty years old at the time. The plantation inventory also listed a young man named Nathan, who was fifteen years old then. Nathan later fathered a son named Andrew Richardson. Supt. Jimmy Richardson descends from Nathan Richardson. Recently, my friend Lorraine Lizana informed me that her lineage connects to Thomas and Rebecca Richardson. Through Lorraine, I discovered that her ancestors Thomas and Rebecca are buried in the same cemetery as my 2nd great-grandparents Thomas and Amanda. All of them have been laid to rest in Rocky Hill A.M.E. Church Cemetery. Lorraine descends from Alfred Richardson lineage. Alfred was on the same plantation with Carrie, and Nathan.

Last year, we had individuals whose ancestors were Richardson from Tangipahoa Parish travel to Louisiana to establish a Richardson connection. Their ancestors Carl Richardson's ancestors descends from Louisiana. Their ancestors had to leave the south and they never returned to call Louisiana home again.  

Continuing with the genealogy investigation of Thomas Richardson's lineage, we have discovered another Thomas Richardson, Melbourne McNealty's father Joseph often shared stories about his Richardson relatives. After conducting additional genealogical research, it was discovered that Melbourne's ancestor Thomas arrived in New Orleans aboard a vessel called the State. He was sold to a plantation in St. Francisville, Louisiana.  

I had a conversation with a young named Fagan Davis who shared with me that his family linage traces back to a Richardson family in St. Helena Parish. I asked him about the possibility of taking the Ancestry DNA test to establish and familial connection between us. He suggested that I test his mother who is the daughter of Willie Richardson instead of him. His mother agreed and took the test and now we are presently waiting for the results to come back. After receiving the DNA results, it is important to thoroughly compare and analyze them. To facilitate this process, I plan to schedule a Zoom meeting for everyone to share their DNA matches. This is especially necessary due to the historical separation of families caused by slavery, which often leads to roadblocks in our search for answers.

Earl Richardson, Sr., Dr. Antoinete Harrell, and Supt. Jimmy Richardson, Sr. 
Taking the Ancestry DNA test

African American Collections at the Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies

The Drum Newspaper established a collection at the Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies

Eddie Ponds
Preparing to donate his 
newspaper collection
Photo Credit: Antoinette Harrell

The Drum Newspaper has donated 235 papers to the Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies through the Nurturing Our Roots and Untold History Foundation, LLC. Dedicated to Eddie and Carrie Well Ponds and their families, the collection is named after them. This is the fifth African American collection to be established under the direction of Dr. Antoinette Harrell, a local historian, and genealogist committed to African American history preservation in the Florida Parishes. 

These papers date back to 1992.  The Ponds family began publishing their own newspaper in 1986. Eddie and his wife Carol attended a lecture by Julian Bonds at Southeastern University. Eddie noticed that there were no news media covering the event. That was the day and event that helped the Ponds family establish The Drum Newspaper.The collection was well received by Keith Finley, assistant director of Southeastern Louisiana University's Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies. Historically, there has been a piece of history missing from the collections. 

You can take pride in knowing that Dr. Harrell is changing the narrative and working tirelessly to ensure that the history of African Americans in Florida Parishes is included in these collections at the center. There were several Louisiana Florida Parishes covered in the paper. Sharon, his daughter, joined us and talked about how she photographed for the newspaper. The newspaper was a family business that she witnessed her parents working hard to maintain for decades. 

Dr. Harrell was happy to see that he finally took the step to preserve the events, history, and stories of the people who wrote about for decades. His paper will help to fill in the missing pieces of history for African American people in the Florida Parishes. Dr. Harrell was pleased to see he took the step to preserve the events, history, and stories of the people he had written about for decades. In the Florida Parishes, his paper will help to fill in the missing pieces of history related to African Americans. 

Mayor of Ponchatoula signs application for Historical Marker for Rev. Arthur Tasker

Left to right
Eddie Ponds, Councilwoman Batiste, James M. Perrin
Antoinette Harrell, Mayor Robert F. Zambia

I am pleased to announce that today was a memorable day for the committee whose mission is to place a historical marker in honor of Rev. Arthur Tasker, Ponchatoula's first black mayor, local civic leader, educator, and religious leader. Tasker was born into slavery between the years of 1831 and 1835 in Maryland or Virginia. In Ponchatoula, he established the first Black school and church. At the request of Ponchatoula City Councilwoman Roslind McKay Batiste, representatives of Untold History Foundation, LLC, Dr. Antoinette Harrell, and Eddie Ponds of The Drum Newspaper appeared before the council asking the mayor and council for their support in February of 2023. A few years ago, Harrell suggested to Ponds that they put a historical marker in honor of this notable man who refused to let slavery hinder his accomplishments to build a better life for Black people in Ponchatoula. 

James M. Perrin, author of Ponchatoula, "A Community History, 2020," joins the committee. The application was accompanied by copies of the minutes and newspaper articles provided by Perrin. . Mayor Robert F. Zabbia signed off on the Louisiana Historical Marker application today after the committee worked for several weeks on it. Tasker is buried in Kiwanis Park in Ponchatoula, Louisiana

Rev. Arthur Tasker

The Hands That Picked the Strawberries

Melbourne McNealty recalls integration in Amite, Louisiana

Image: Peter Pettus/Library of Congress,
Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-ppmsca-08102)

There was a time when Melbourne McNealty recalls going shopping with her sister to some local stores in Amite,  Louisiana. Black children was banned from entering the store. She entered the store and man kept telling the lady that I could stay at the grocery store in town if I wanted to. There were some blacks who were treated with respect, while there were others who were not. As she recalled, there was a drug store with a "Nigger" window that she remember seeing.  Having been told by the lady to go around to the window,  Mel was told to go inside by her grandfather. In my grandfather's words, he told her to step into the store.  She was going to listen to my grandfather.

When she was in fourth grade, Tangipahoa Parish integrated its school. It was quite a challenges for me to transition from an all black school to Amite Elementary. Some teachers treated us horribly. For example, when they asked us for school supplies that we couldn't afford. There response were, you will never amount to anything anyway so don't worry about the supplies. Without a doubt, we knew they were wrong about us. Once, she heard one of my white teachers call my daddy a porch monkey because he was black. As soon as Melbourne got home from school, Melbourne ran straight to my mother and told her what happened. Her mother went to school the following day to address the matter. Black students in Amite has a hard time adjusting to the new situation said Mel.

Before integration, I rode Mr. Dudley's bus, and after integration, I rode Martin's bus. He was a mean man with an amputated leg. It was not uncommon for him to leave us at the bus stop on some mornings. When my brother told him not to hit him on the bus, he kicked him off the bus.  When Martin took off his leg, he swung it around like he wanted to strike someone with it. In spite of the fact that he never struck anyone with it. Tangipahoa Parish School Board did not take any action after my mother reported him. After reporting the issue without receiving any results, my mother decided to deal with it herself.

Melbourne McNealty

I asked Mel if she ever talked about her experience with anyone. She told me no because she was told by a white teacher that no one would believe her. All these years, she kept it a secret. Mel told me she had never discussed her experience with anyone.  Her secret remained a secret for all these years.  One of my teachers called me a nigger, Mel said.  My auntie immediately told me she would handle it once I told he.  I didn't tell my mother about it.

The school received complaints from black parents regarding their children's mistreatment.  The treatment we received was like being treated like poor dirt.  In 1969-1970, I was also a part of the integration system during the same time period as Melbourne. I asked her why she wanted to talk about it now. In some ways, it is releasing Melbourne. We were never asked about our experiences during that time. The opportunity to share my experience right now has been on my mind for a long time.

What was the names of the Ruby Bridges who lived in Amite, Louisiana? Do you think there is a reason why these stories and experiences are not being recorded? Black students who participated in the integration process have remained imprinted with memories of integration for decades. Can anyone identify the Ruby Bridges of the schools in Amite, Louisiana? Recording these experiences and stories would be highly beneficial.  Former black students who participated in integration often kept their memories buried for decades.  

The foundation of our pain is never considered during integration as children. Scars and memories remain. Things can't be changed, we can only learn to cope with them. Like many black students during that era and time, I wish to heal the scars caused by integration. There was no written or oral documentation of our experiences here. Tangipahoa Parish was no different from any other parish or county in the deep south.

Benin Bronzes at Ly Benson's Gallery & Studio

Benin Bronzes
Ly Benson's Gallery, Beaufort, SC

Museums and galleries are essential for me when visiting any state. I was on my way to St. Helena Island, South Carolina, to visit the historic Penn Center.  The gallery of Ly Benson caught my attention. My breath was taken away once I entered the gallery and saw all the beautiful masterpieces of artwork and antiques. I met the owner Rev. Kenneth Hodges who shared so much history with me in such a short time. This collection of brass sculptures depicts the capture and suffering of being enslaved and is one of his oldest pieces in his collection. The artwork, sculptures, and antiques all tell a story.  You should visit the gallery if you ever get the chance to visit St. Helena Island, South Carolina. It is well worth the drive and time. The Benin Bronzes are a group of several thousand metal plaques and sculptures that decorated the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin, in what is now Ebo State, Nigeria.

A New York Nonprofit Restitution Study Group (RSG)  filed a lawsuit to block the Smithsonian from repatriating it's Benin Bronzes to Nigeria. The suit argues that the heirs of American enslaved descendants have as mis to the Benin Bronzes as the Nigerian government. 

A statement made Deadria Farmer-Paellmann, founder and  executive director said that "We study the bronzes as scholars, students, and descendants of the people who made them." We need access to them to study them she explained. "We suffer a concrete and imminent injury as a result of this transfer,"

Dr. Antoinette Harrell
Ly Benson's Art Gallery
Beaufort, SC