April 2007 Meeting

The April dinner meeting is scheduled for Monday night, April 23, 2007, at the Piccadilly Restaurant on Ryan Street. The meeting will begin at 7:00, but come earlier to dine and visit with friends before the meeting.

Our speaker for the evening is Dr. Charles B. Woodard, a local physician who specializes in cardiovascular diseases and is currently serving as Director of Medical Consultation for Psychiatric Services at Lake Charles Memorial Hospital. Dr. Woodard is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, a graduate of the LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans, and the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Dr. Woodard is a great, great, grandson of Daniel Goos, one of the earliest and most remarkable of the Lake Charles settlers, and, as such, has a unique interest and perspective on the topic. He will discuss the Goos family’s lumber business interests which extended to Galveston and, through J. A. Bel and the Moeling family, to Chicago. He will also discuss the Goos family genealogy, including the genealogy of the Moelings and each of the children of Daniel Goos and what happened to their families.

In addition, the Association will present the awards for the Millet historical writing contest and the Taylor Louisiana history essay contest.

January 2007 Meeting Report

Dr. Linda Langley, professor of anthropology and sociology, and her husband, Bertney Langley, were speakers at the January meeting of the Historical Association. Dr. Langley spoke about her research to document the Koasati language and her efforts to establish a Coushatta Tribe museum, library, and archives.

Dr. Langley first thanked Dr. Tom Watson for his help in documenting the Coushatta. She also mentioned that Dr. Janet Allured asked her about documenting Coushatta women’s history. Langley and Allured will present their findings at the Louisiana Historical Association meeting in March. Dr. Langley found some information about Coushatta women in explorers’ diaries and in land records. The Coushatta Tribe is a matrilineal society, which made documentation easier.

Dr. Langley talked about her research during her tenure at LSU-Eunice. She amassed several boxes of materials and began to see the need for an archives, library, and heritage center to present the information to the public. Dr. Langley recently left LSUE and began working at McNeese.

To begin the heritage center, Dr. Langley visited many prestigious institutions across the country to learn more about documenting indigenous languages, collecting oral histories, etc. Dr. Langley said that there was a nationwide movement to document endangered languages and explained how a language came to be considered endangered and then extinct.

Bertney Langley talked about how his generation was the last to speak Koasati regularly. As a child he spoke only Koasati at home. When he began going to school, he learned English, but was at a disadvantage compared to the children who spoke English at home. As part of the Tribal Council, Bertney created a program to teach preschoolers English so that they would have less of a disadvantage. The elders criticized him for this and asked him to also teach Koasati. Together, Bertney and Linda created games and incentives to encourage children to learn Koasati.

Throughout the presentation, the Langleys showed slides of Coushatta people and examples of the written Koasati language. One slide showed the earliest image of a Coushatta man, identified as “Stimafutchki,” in 1790. Through their research, the Langleys deduced that the name means “someone who makes others laugh.”

The Langleys discussed their future plans for the heritage center to include a living museum, interactive activities, children’s programming, a summer immersion camp, and a talking dictionary to supplement Kimball’s written dictionary. During the question period, one Association member noted the parallels between the endangerment of the Cajun French language and the Koasati language. Also, Dr. Watson clarified that the earliest written documentation of the Coushattas was by DeSoto in 1540. At that time, the Coushatta lived in the Creek area of Georgia and Alabama. Watson noted that “Creek” was an umbrella term used to describe many smaller tribes. The earliest documentation of the Coushatta in Louisiana is around 1800.

Southwest Louisiana Historical Markers

The Grabow Riot

An historical marker about the Grabow Riot was erected South of the Beauregard Parish Airport adjacent to Grabow Rd., off Hwy. 190 West and Hwy. 3099. The marker is sponsored by the Galloway Family and PACE Local 4-0725.

During the early 1900's, the lot of sawmill employees was no better or worse than that of employees in southern cotton mill towns, coal towns, or in meat packing enterprises. Men worked 11 hour days. It was through organizational efforts that 10-hour days were granted to workers in other areas.

In 1911 the Timber Workers' Union succeeded in closing down (through strikes) these mills: Long Leaf in Longville, Hudson River at DeRidder, and King Ryder at Bon Ami. The mill owners vowed to destroy the unions among their employees. By shutting down mills, workers would starve or move elsewhere.

marker

Grabow was a typical sawmill town where everything was running peacefully. A. L. Emerson, President of the Brotherhood of Timber Workers planned to unionize three sawmill communities - Grabow, Bon Ami, and Carson.

It was on July 7, 1912, that 800 hundred people gathered at DeRidder to accompany Emerson to Carson. People walked, rode on horseback, or traveled in wagons to Carson and at least 40 of them were openly armed. Waiting for them at Carson was a frigid welcome, cat-calling, and tin-canning. The next stop was Bon Ami where they also met with a cool reception. Most of the group returned to DeRidder but a small group with Emerson moved through the woods to the small milling town of Grabow.

The shootout between the Brotherhood of Timber Workers and the men from the Galloway Lumber Company occurred when A. L. Emerson was giving a speech in favor of organization of workers. Three men died instantly and one later from a head wound. Three were union men and one was a company guard. There were an estimated 60 wounded. Emerson spoke of it as a massacre, a deliberate attempt to "shoot us down and murder me."

"Not Guilty" was the verdict after an hour of deliberation by the jurors. Although the union won its case, the expensive legal fees strained the union’s finances. Following an unsuccessful strike at Merryville against the American Lumber Company, in which company guards sacked the union headquarters and attacked President Emerson, the disintegration of the BTW in the South proceeded rapidly. The union was never so vigorous again and was dead within three years of its beginning. The Brotherhood effectively was destroyed by the spring of 1914.

Grabow, so named by the railroad company is located in the vicinity of the Santa Fe Railroad track and the airport. The old mill pond is still situated on the site. Former Governor Sam Jones was prosecuting Attorney. Judge Hunter established that union men were on Santa Fe Railroad property when the riot began and therefore, not trespassing on Galloway property. He also established that the first shot was fired from the Galloway Lumber Company office.

The historical marker was dedicated during the DeRidder Centennial Celebration, April 5, 2003.

Ref: Robert Benoit, Pres. SW LA Historical Assn.

Thesis by Connie E. Berry, The Brotherhood of Timber Workers and the Grabow Incident in Southwest Louisiana and Velmer Lenora Smith, DeRidder Historian

The McNeese State University Archives Department has prepared a bibliography on the Grabow incident. The bibliography is available online at: http://library.mcneese.edu/depts/archive/grabow.htm. A print copy is available by calling Kathie or Pati at the McNeese Archives at 475-5734 or 5731.

Millet and Taylor Contest Winners

The Donald J. Millet Historical Writing Contest brought nine entries, some through submissions from the writers and some through nominations. This year’s entries included five books, two essays, one song, and one DVD. The judges were Paul Drake, Interlibrary Loan Librarian from McNeese State University, Reva Chesson, retired librarian from the Calcasieu Parish School System, and Gerald Mills, Clinical Coordinator of Social Services for Behavioral Health at Christus St. Patrick Hospital. The award for the Millet contest is presented annually for the best historical writing about a historical subject or person. The contest is named in honor of Dr. Donald J. Millet, former history professor at McNeese State University. The winner of the 2006 award will be announced at the April meeting.

The Dr. Joe Gray Taylor Louisiana History Essay Contest was judged on March 27, 2007, at the Calcasieu Parish Social Studies Fair. This contest is judged annually from among the entries in the Region V Fair that deal with some aspect of Louisiana history. The winners this year are:

1^st place: Haunted Louisiana

Robert Lewis, Oak Park Middle School

2^nd place: Cajun French Music Association

Daulton Huber, Moss Bluff Middle School

Historical Association members Diane McCarthy, C.A. and Ellie Lemoine, and Mike Jones served as judges for this contest.

Gingham Ladies News

The Gingham Ladies have been very active this spring. Their chair, Nancy Hurlbut, requests all the ladies in the Historical Association to consider joining this group. The Ladies need new members to keep up with all the activities. The Gingham Ladies was formed in 1976 as an auxiliary unit to the Historical Association. Since then the group has worked with local civic organizations to spread cheer throughout Southwest Louisiana. The Ladies distinctive gingham pinafores have been seen this spring at the Lake Charles Little Theatre production of Death of a Salesman and in the Tea Room during the Calcasieu Historical Preservation Society’s Palm Sunday Tour of Homes. They are scheduled to assist with the LCLT’s May production of Little Miss Firecracker.

The Annual Spring Picnic is scheduled for Saturday, May 19^th, at the Power Squadron Building on LaFleur Beach. Each lady is to bring a salad or vegetable – additional food will be provided. The time is 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Nancy asks that all Gingham Ladies remember to keep their dues to the Historical Association paid up!

Newly-designed

Historical Association Brochures are here!

Get yours at the April meeting and pass them around. Remember to check out our website at:

swlahistory.org.

Notecards and Postcards

featuring historic photographs

are now on sale.

These packets of notecards and postcards make unique "thank you" gifts or a little lagniappe for any occasion. Keep history alive by writing a real, pen-and-ink, paper letter!

5 Notecards ………… $5.00

8 Postcards …………. $3.50

Webmaster: pthreatt@mcneese.edu