SHREVEPORT – When Dr. Laura McLemore and the Northwest Louisiana Archives staff were going through their digitization process, an idea sprang up.
They were seeing the same kind of headlines in the past that are plastered on the current news today.
So to celebrate Northwest Louisiana Archives’ 50th anniversary, McLemore and Co. will be hosting a series of presentations titled “Shreveport Deja News – The Presence of the Past.”
The first presentation is Wednesday at 11 a.m. on the second floor of the Noel Memorial Library.
This presentation compares the current-day busing of asylum seekers and other immigrants from the border to cities like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles to the “Reverse Freedom Rides” of the early 1960s.
In response to the Freedom Riders of 1961 who boarded Greyhound buses and traveled around the South with the aim of integrating buses and bus terminals, segregationists from Southern cities hatched a plot to bus African-Americans up North with the promise of a good-paying job and affordable housing.
On arrival to their supposed Northern paradise, African-Americans learned that the plan was a ruse.
“We noticed going through the archives that today’s headlines hadn’t really changed that much from the past,” said McLemore, head archivist at the Northwest Louisiana Archives. “We’re comparing what (Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis) are doing with immigrants today with what was done with The Reverse Freedom Rides in the 1960s.”
The presentation will be offered both in person and in an online format (Zoom). The series will also be recorded for consumption at a later time.
Registration is encouraged for the 20 in-person slots and 59 online seats available.
There are two more planned presentations this spring on various topics with more potentially in the works throughout the rest of the calendar year.
“There aren’t many available resources to learn about our regional history, and we want to show the campus and the community what Northwest Louisiana Archives has to offer,” McLemore said. “We’re available to be used for research by faculty and students, but I also think the vision of our long-time supporters is that we’re a repository for the community.”
The Archives played a large role in LSUS history professor Dr. Gary Joiner’s construction of a virtual Civil Rights Heritage Trail, which details important people and places in Caddo Parish during the Civil Rights Movement.
But perhaps the most visible example to the Shreveport-Bossier community has been the Archives’ exposure through Twin Blends Photography.
Local twin photographers take pictures of present-day locations in Shreveport-Bossier and post their pictures with historical pictures of the same location found in the Northwest Louisiana Archives.
The Twin Blends Photography Facebook group has more than 8,000 members.
“One of the things that’s important to me is helping people understand that LSUS is an essential part of this community, and I think it’s safe to say that our community sees that,” McLemore said.
