Saving St. Francisville History, One Frame At A Time

By Anne Butler

“If you want to understand today, you have to search yesterday,” said Nobel Prize-winning novelist Pearl Buck. West Feliciana Historic Society museum director Helen Williams has had to keep reminding herself of that every time another patron has arrived loaded down with dusty boxes full of fragments of local history---vintage sepia-toned photographs, dog-eared journals, ledgers, diaries, yellowed clippings from ancient newspapers, maps, and assorted other family treasures. A frustrated groan must surely have escaped from Williams at the prospect of preserving all these valued donations in the face of limited space, limited staff, limited funding. And yet she recognized the vital contribution of even the smallest shred of evidence of our yesterdays to our understanding of today. But there was just so much stuff!  Every old house had its trove of treasures, every family its fading ancestral photos. Mississippi’s beloved author Eudora Welty, herself an avid photographer, wrote movingly about the importance of images: “Among all living creatures, only human beings seem to have the knowledge that the moment is passing, and the acute wish to hold that moment.” While past generations took pride in stern portraits glowering from the walls, each with its lesson to teach (“You don’t change the course of history by turning the faces of portraits to the wall,” as Nehru understood), contemporary generations often shift their focus to the future with a desire to “clear out the clutter.” Consequently, a safe repository for all of these precious recorded moments of history is often required beyond the private home. That local repository has been the West Feliciana Historical Society museum, and within its exhibit spaces, its attic and barn, its warren of storerooms, there have been boxes piled upon boxes, papers and photos overflowing from file cabinets, and prized possessions stuffed into every nook and cranny. Williams and the historical society were not about to turn down any donations in this area that is so rich in history and with such a remarkable sense of place, but researchers were only able to access the collections in person, and in many cases there was no record at all to accurately identify exactly who was who and what was what. That’s all about to change, and just in the nick of time. The West Feliciana Historical Society board of directors has approved a proposal (“Copy Cats”) by Norman C. Ferachi and Anne Butler to create a permanent photographic history of West Feliciana’s past and present by collecting, cataloging, organizing and preserving old photographs, and, once that is accomplished, expanding the scope of the project to permit archiving more contemporary images as well. Beginning with the Historical Society’s valuable vintage images and then branching out to include private collections, the photographs will be duplicated and entered into a searchable electronic database, indexed by subject matter. Potential categories include religion, culture, commerce, communities, festivals and fairs, architecture and landscaping, labor and leisure time, people and organizations, schools and sports, transportation and waterways. Funding for equipment was provided by the society board and a suitable scanner has been obtained for the project’s museum office. The project will serve several purposes. Fragile and fading images will be permanently preserved, and it will be possible to view them online without further damaging the originals. It will also be possible for researchers and writers to access the digitally archived collections from a distance, encouraging the use of these historic images in various projects and publications. Every effort will be made to ensure proper identification of places, people and dates, for which the memories of elderly community members will be invaluable resources. An enthusiastic committee of volunteers will spearhead the project, each bringing specialized talents. Norman Ferachi has semi-retired from a publications career that included publishing Baton Rouge Magazine as well as a number of books of vintage Louisiana images. As the author of 20 books and hundreds of articles on Louisiana culture and landscapes, Anne Butler has had a great deal of experience in accessing historic images from archives around the state. Dr. Olivia Pass, retired university English professor, has edited scholarly journals and continues to teach under the auspices of the National Endowment for the Humanities and LSU continuing education programs (OLLI). Helen Williams, as director of the West Feliciana Historical Society museum, deals daily with its growing collections of historical artifacts, and two other volunteers, Arlene Folmar and photographer Kathleen Harris, bring to the project the discipline and detail orientation gained from demanding careers in nursing administration. The historic images in the museum collection span the mid- to late-19th century and most of the 20th. Photographs record in vivid detail Mississippi River floodwaters inundating low-lying Bayou Sara just below the St. Francisville bluffs, and there are other images of residents in quaint period dress, vintage steamboats, historic plantation homes (some long gone, burned to the ground or washed away in floods)---all lessons in history. Once the museum photographs have been preserved, the public will be encouraged to share private collections of old images as well as contemporary ones, which will be scanned into the database so that the owners can retain possession of the originals. This is a vast but important undertaking, and it will not be accomplished overnight. In the meantime, visitors to St. Francisville can view many of the original historic images on display in the West Feliciana Historical Society’s museum/tourist information center on Ferdinand St. Located on US Highway 61 on the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge, LA, and Natchez, MS, the St. Francisville area is a year-round tourist destination.  A number of splendidly restored plantation homes are open for tours daily: the Cottage Plantation, Butler Greenwood Plantation, the Myrtles Plantation, Greenwood Plantation, plus Catalpa Plantation by reservation; Afton Villa Gardens and Imahara’s Botanical Garden are spectacular. Particularly important to tourism in the area are its two significant state historic sites, Rosedown Plantation and Oakley Plantation in the Audubon state site, which offer fascinating living-history demonstrations most weekends to allow visitors to experience 19th-century plantation life and customs. The nearby Tunica Hills region offers unmatched recreational activities in its unspoiled wilderness areas—hiking, biking, birding, photography, hunting. There are unique art galleries plus specialty and antiques shops, many in restored historic structures, and some nice restaurants throughout the St. Francisville area serving everything from ethnic cuisine to seafood and classic Louisiana favorites. For overnight stays, the area offers some of the state’s most popular Bed & Breakfasts, including historic plantations, lakeside clubhouses and beautiful townhouses right in the middle of St. Francisville’s extensive National Register-listed historic district, and there are also modern motel accommodations for large bus groups. For visitor information, call St. Francisville Main Street at 225-635-3873 or West Feliciana Tourist Commission at 225-6330 or 225-635-4224; online visit www.stfrancisvillefestivals.com, www.stfrancisville.net or www.stfrancisville.us (the events calendar gives dates and information on special activities, including the Farmers Markets on Thursday mornings).

Docking at Bayou Sara and Miss. River Burton Hotel - Bayou Sara Greenwood Plantation - Pilgrimage Vinci's Store on Commerce St. 3V Cafe on Commerce St. Stores on Commerce St. Left to right: “Copy Cats” digital archiving committee members Kathleen Harris, Arlene Folmar, Olivia Pass, Norman Ferachi, Anne Butler, Helen Williams. 1940 Students of Julius Freyhan School Car Ferry near St. Francisville, La.

SOUND OF MUSIC IN THE HILLS AROUND ST. FRANCISVILLE
By Anne Butler

n the 19th century, according to Louisiana author Stanley C. Arthur, “with the coming of summer, planters with their wives and children flocked into the city from the countryside, all looking for culture.” Everyone knows the story of how plantation mistress Lucy Pirrie of Oakley found gifted artist/naturalist John James Audubon down on his luck in New Orleans, engaged him to instruct her artistic fifteen-year-old daughter Eliza in drawing at $2 a lesson in the city, then persuaded him to continue the art lessons for the summer and fall in residence in West Feliciana Parish, where he would find the inspiration to paint dozens of his famous bird studies and also found the courage to continue his quest to paint all of the birds of this fledgling country.             That’s all true, but there’s more to the story than that, for what Mme. Pirrie was seeking for young Eliza was just as Arthur noted: culture, and Audubon was ideally suited to introduce his pupil to more than just drawing. Indeed, as Audubon wrote in a letter to his wife about Eliza, “Yesterday I begged to hear her Sing and play on the Piano. I played with her on a flute and made the mother stare. She was much surprised to hear me sing the notes.” And so, in June 1821, the destitute artist accompanied the Pirries upriver to the Bayou Sara landing aboard the steamboat Columbus, taking along his portfolios, art supplies and guns, violins, flutes and flageolets. He would spend some four months at Oakley, with half the day devoted to studying and recording the birds of the surrounding woodlands, and the other half instructing the beauteous Eliza in drawing, dancing, mathematics, French, complicated multi-strand hair plaiting (the artist called it “some trifling acquirement”), and music. Audubon’s sojourn in the St. Francisville area would last a scant four months, cut short by a bitter disagreement over money. After he left, his beloved Feliciana birdsong would be accompanied throughout the 19th century by mostly indigenous music---soulful gospel songs wafting from little country churches, sturdy field chants of slaves or prisoners, sprightly piano or harp playing in plantation parlors. Lately, there has been mostly just the live music every Friday night drawing folks to the little local casual cafe familiarly called The Mag. Though there are a handful of wonderful resident musicians, some homegrown and some transplants, this is, after all,  English Louisiana, lacking the French joie de vivre that elsewhere erupts so joyfully in song and dance, and so recently the Feliciana hills have not exactly been alive with the sound of music. That’s all about to change, thanks to two festivals coming to St. Francisville the second weekend in November. The LA Vets Fest, an annual event held on Veterans Day weekend at the spacious West Feliciana Parish Sports Park, is sponsored by the Louisiana Veterans Foundation, a non-profit organization whose goals include providing support for veterans or active military personnel and their families whose needs are not being met by community or private resources. Along with fun activities for the whole family, employment assistance is provided for veterans, along with recognition and appreciation for their service. The Louisiana National Guard provides military equipment---tank, helicopter, personnel carrier---plus soldiers to explain the performances of these vital big machines. There will be fund-raising auctions, children’s activities, hotly contested cook-offs (Friday gumbo, Saturday BBQ and jambalaya), classic cars and motorcycles. The LA Vets Fest takes place at the Sports Park on Friday afternoon, Nov. 8, and all day Saturday, Nov. 9; on Sunday a guided bus tour to the National World War II Museum in New Orleans will depart from St. Francisville (tour tickets of $74, aged 65 or older $70, include museum admission and supper at Boutin’s in Baton Rouge on the return trip). Headliner performance is by Tennessee singer-songwriter Craig Morgan on Friday, Nov. 8, at 7 p.m.; tickets, $20 plus handling, can be purchased in advance (www.lavetsfest.org).  Morgan is a country music star, competitive dirt-bike racer and award-winning host of an outdoor adventures television show. Inducted into the Grand Ole Opry, Morgan has had a number of hits, including “Almost Home,” “Redneck Yacht Club,” “This Ole Boy,” “That’s What I Love About Sunday,” and “Wake Up Lovin’ You” from his new CD “The Journey.” He also spent ten years on active duty in the Army’s 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions and nine years in the Reserves, and remains an avid supporter of America’s military. In 2006 he received the USO Merit Award. Other musical performers at the LA Vets Fest include talented young Julia DeJean singing the National Anthem to open the festival both days, the Alaina Richard Band Friday, and on Saturday the Richard Family, West Feliciana High School Band, Angola Prison Band, A. Scott Clement, and blues singer-guitarist Josh Garrett, plus the US Marine Corps Band. Another exciting musical extravaganza scheduled for this same weekend in St. Francisville is the Modern South Music Fest, set for Sunday, November 10, at Hemingbough, just off US 61 south of St. Francisville. Sponsor Anchorline Events, Nashville-based professional festival promoter,  promises a mix of music, food, fashion and culture in a series of tents and stages, with hopes the event will attract some 7,000 attendees from early afternoon to 9:30 p.m. Tickets may be purchased online (www.modernsouthmusicfest.com ); general admission is $39.50, reserved seating $49.50,  and varying levels of sponsorship are available. Featured musicians are the Avett Brothers, Texas country-Red Dirt singer Wade Bowen and Mississippi native Charlie Worsham, a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and Nashville session player whose debut album, “Rubberband,” was released this year by Warner Bros. Records. Formed in 2001 by North Carolina brothers Scott (banjo) and Seth (guitar), the Avett Brothers have released a number of albums, so popular they landed high on the Billboard Top 200 and received outstanding reviews from music critics across the country. Touring tirelessly, they have also performed on TV shows including “Austin City Limits,” “Late Show with David Letterman” and “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.” San Francisco Chronicle critic Dirk Richardson describes the band’s combination of bluegrass, country, punk, pop, folk, rock and roll, honkytonk and ragtime as producing a sound having “the heavy sadness of Townes Van Zandt, the light pop concision of Buddy Holly, the tuneful jangle of the Beatles, and the raw energy of the Ramones.” That’s a lot to live up to! Located on US Highway 61 on the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge, LA, and Natchez, MS, the St. Francisville area is a year-round tourist destination.  A number of splendidly restored plantation homes are open for tours daily: the Cottage Plantation, Butler Greenwood Plantation, the Myrtles Plantation, Greenwood Plantation, plus Catalpa Plantation by reservation; Afton Villa Gardens and Imahara’s Botanical Garden are spectacular. Particularly important to tourism in the area are its two significant state historic sites, Rosedown Plantation and Oakley Plantation in the Audubon state site, which offer fascinating living-history demonstrations most weekends to allow visitors to experience 19th-century plantation life and customs. The nearby Tunica Hills region offers unmatched recreational activities in its unspoiled wilderness areas—hiking, biking, birding, photography, hunting. There are unique art galleries plus specialty and antiques shops, many in restored historic structures, and some nice restaurants throughout the St. Francisville area serving everything from ethnic cuisine to seafood and classic Louisiana favorites. For overnight stays, the area offers some of the state’s most popular Bed & Breakfasts, including historic plantations, lakeside clubhouses and beautiful townhouses right in the middle of St. Francisville’s extensive National Register-listed historic district, and there are also modern motel accommodations for large bus groups. For visitor information, call St. Francisville Main Street at 225-635-3873 or West Feliciana Tourist Commission at 225-6330 or 225-635-4224; online visit www.stfrancisvillefestivals.com, www.stfrancisville.net or www.stfrancisville.us (the events calendar gives dates and information on special activities, including the Farmers Markets on Thursday mornings).

Craig Morgan Avett Brothers Wade Bowen Charlie Worsham Josh Garrett