Black History Month in Northeast Louisiana: Check out some historic firsts
This article can be updated. If you are aware of any Black history firsts locally you'd like to add, please email reporter Ian Robinson at irobinson@gannett.com.
Black History Month honors the achievements of African-Americans and their contributions in U.S. history.
While we oftentimes acknowledge the contributions of those who have made it in the history books, it is as equally important to highlight those who haven't always been given their dues locally.
Here are a few Black firsts in Ouachita Parish.
George Byron Hamlet: First Black mayor of Monroe before Reconstruction in 1874.
Gertrude Ammons: First Black supervisor of instruction in the Ouachita Parish School System in 1931, oversaw Black schools within the parish.
Arnetta Pierce: First Black pharmacist in Monroe, her pharmacy was located on the first floor of the Miller-Roy Building.
B.D. Robinson, Alex Burns, E.W. Sims and H.H. Marbles: First Blacks to register to vote as Democrats in Ouachita Parish.
Odalie Richardson McDonald: First Black to serve as an Ouachita Parish librarian in 1950.
Morris Henry Carroll: First Black candidate to run for Streets Commissioner in 1976, lost in a runoff.
Clem Toston: First Black elected to the Ouachita Parish School Board in 1971, served 15 years from 1971 to 1986.
Abe Edward Pierce III: First Black elected to serve on the Ouachita Parish Police Jury in 1971, also first Black to be appointed OPPJ president in 1988; first Black to serve as supervisor and assistant superintendent for Ouachita Parish Schools in 1972 and was the first Black to be elected as Mayor of Monroe since Reconstruction in 1996.
Odalie Richardson McDonald: First Black to serve as an Ouachita Parish librarian in 1950.
Ada Blakes: First Black student to attend Ouachita Elementary.
Sarah Louise McCoy and Bobby Saucer: First Black students to be admitted to Northeast Louisiana University (now University of Louisiana at Monroe) in 1964.
Jimmy Andrews and Tommy Ray Robertson: First Black students to attend Neville High School in 1965.
Donald Wayne Smith: First Black student to graduate from NLU (now ULM) in 1967.
Henrietta George: First Black woman elected to the Monroe City School Board from 1971, also served as the first Black female president of the board.
Ollie H. Burns: First Black to serve on the Ouachita Parish Library Board of Control, also served two-term as president.
Charles Jones: First African American male to serve as the Assistant District Attorney of Ouachita Parish.
Charles H. Johnson: First Black elected to the Monroe City Council in 1980, served as chairman in 1994.
William E. Armstrong: First Black attorney to serve as Monroe City Prosecutor.
Larry Jefferson: First Black elected as a Monroe City judge in 1990.
Tammy Lee: First Black female attorney to serve as Monroe City Prosecutor, first Black law clerk for the Fourth Judicial District Court in 1993 and first Black woman elected as a Monroe City judge in 2000.
Claude Minor: First Black doctor to be appointed as Chief of Staff at North Monroe Hospital in 1997.
Kenneth Green: First Black man appointed as Monroe Fire Chief in 1998.
Evelyn Robinson: First Black woman to serve as Monroe Police Chief in 2003.
Pat Moore: First Black woman elected to the Ouachita Parish Police Jury in 2008.
Mary Tellis: First Black woman to serve as Assistant Monroe Police Chief in 2021.
Rodney Welch: First Black elected to the West Monroe Board of Aldermen in 2022.
Follow Ian Robinson on Twitter @_irobinsonand on Facebook athttps://bit.ly/3vln0w1.
Support local journalism by subscribing at https://cm.thenewsstar.com/specialoffer.
This article originally appeared on Monroe News-Star: Here are some Black firsts in Ouachita Parish
