Visiting Two Florida Parishes In Louisiana
Each of the countless communities in the United States has its own story, and stories of many of these communities are told in the Images of America series of photographic histories published by Arcadia Press. The series has helped me learn about many different people and places in our beloved country.
This book "African Americans in Tangipahoa and St. Helena Parishes" (2019) is about a community I knew a little about. I have a friend who lives in Hammond, Louisiana, the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish and visited him some years ago. But Dr. Antoinette Harrell's book taught me where I was and made me want ot see Hammond and the two Parishes she discusses again. Harrell is a local historian and genealogist who works towards the preservation of African American history in Tangipahoa and St Helena Parishes. As Harrell writes in explaining the purpose of her book:
"This book is designed to educate readers about their rich local history and the men and women whose names are not written in the history books. Their works and actions have impacted many lives for generations to come." (p. 89)
Tangipahoa and St. Helena Parishes are two of the eight parishes in Southeast Louisiana that once were part of West Florida. African Americans have a long, continuous history in both parishes, and many current residents are the descendants of slaves. Harrell offers a particularized local history. She concentrates on individuals and on individual families more than on historical events with the goal that these individuals and their activities who otherwise would be unknown received some recognition and remembrance.
The book consists of photographs drawn from many different families in the communities. Harrell gathered the photographs and worked with the providers to identify the people in the images, their families and their lives. The annotations accompanying the photos identify the subjects and provide information about their families and their occupations. Taken together, the images offer a moving portrait over time of a local community that many Americans will find unfamiliar.
The book consists of eight short chapters, two of which offer views of families and of individual men and women in the two parishes , most of which date from the mid-20th Century and thereafter. The remaining six chapters focus more on particular activities. The book takes the reader on a tour of African American schools in the two parishes followed by a look at those involved in their many churches. A chapter is devoted to portraits and discussions of residents of the parishes who served in the military, beginning as early as the Revolutionary War. Harrell looks briefly at the Civil Rights Movement and offers a chapter showing African American activists together with individuals who rose to positions of responsibility within the local governments. The book shows farmers, once the predominant activity in the parishes, business people, musicians, and, in a final chapter, persons in law enforcement.
The book is primarily intended for those who live or have family in Tangipahoa or St. Helena Parishes to promote love and pride for the local community. But readers with an interest in the diversity of the United States and the uniqueness of its many places will also enjoy the book. I was glad to share some time with the African American community in these two Florida parishes and to think again about my friend in Hammond.
