“Reminders of Childhood”: Sights, Sounds, and Smells.

Searches: “sights, sounds and smells”, “smells" + Louisiana, “sights, sounds and smells” + Monroe, Charles Blow, “Tallulah”, “Homer”

During my time as a student ambassador for the HistoryMakers, I have across some of the most inspiring and daring stories amongst all of the HistoryMakers I have encountered through the HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Quickly, the category of “sights, sounds, and smells” became one of my favorites. One of the things about the Digital Archive that I admired, was the ability to not only display the stories of the HistoryMaker of choice but to also ask questions that not only made them think about also reminisce and relay stories of their childhood that didn’t always concern the confrontational experience of feelings of demise but also of the simplicities of childhood, which is where the interview segment of “sights, sounds and smells” comes in. This assignment caused me to look within the Digital Archive with a relative eye, looking for myself within the Digital Archive.

“ESCAPING THE MADNESS”

The initial findings of searching “sights, sounds, and smells” within the Digital Archive, were just about finding stories on the surface that I may have related to and saw myself in. This itself led me to the story of Elinor Tatum (1971-), a Newspaper publishing chief executive native to New York City. Though my initial thoughts of her story, knowing she was from New York City, were that I wouldn’t have anything in common with her, her mentions of her childhood and the theme of escapism concerning the polarizing differences between the interiors of her home and the streets of NYC, related to me deeply.

“Urine, booze, and, and police cars (laughter). Those were the smells that were outside. But inside--even though I'm a vegetarian, my father [Wilbert Tatum] loved to cook, and he loved to cook things like ham hocks, and beans, and chicken, and--so I remember those smells inside the house. Those were good smells; outside not so much.”

This reminded me of my own feelings concerning my childhood. Whenever I would come home or to my Grandmother’s house, there was a feeling of escaping the world and all the inconveniences that came with it. Both my home and my grandmother’s home became sacred places for me, where I felt as if all the ways and woes of the world, melted off when I stepped through that door.

“ THAT DANG PAPERMILL!”

As I delved deeper into the stories of “sights, sounds, and smells” I started to intentionally search for more stories that were closer to home. Though I didn’t find any defining stories of my hometown of Homer, Louisiana, I found many stories that mentioned the surrounding areas (towns and cities) that I related to heavily including Monroe, Bogalusa, Shreveport, and Bastrop. All of these North Louisiana cities/towns know of/hear about the infamous paper mills, and the smell thereof.

Searching within the Digital Archive, I once again came upon the story of Joseph Dyers (1934 - 2011 ), a Broadcast executive and television reporter who was also a Grambling College alum and Bogalusa native. When asked about the sights, sounds, and smells of his childhood, he vividly remembers the Bogalusa paper mill.

"On the outskirts of Bogalusie, you know you're getting home because you roll the windows down and you get a whiff, you're looking for that familiar smell that had become legendary and that's the Bogalusa paper mill [Gaylord Container Corporation] smell" and I think I, in the book I said it's--some people joke and say it's just like, I think I said, five fat men breaking wind in a crowded windowless room and that's how it smelled because on any given day, when that wind condition, when those wind conditions changed, that paper mill could be pretty cotton-picking repulsive, but you know the funny thing about it, nobody ever complained.

The paper mill I recall from my childhood was the paper mill of West Monroe, Louisiana. Its smell was just as pungent as Dyers described it as I traveled to Monroe, which was one of the bigger cities in the surrounding area that many traveled to go shopping or go to the movies but would be amiss without the off-putting smell that greeted you as you drove into Monroe.

Bob Love (1942-), former basketball player for the Chicago Bulls from Bastrop Louisiana, also recalled the paper mill in Bastrop within recalling of his childhood.

“And, and in northern Louisiana they would always, they would chop down a lot of, pine trees and stuff, and then load them on these big ole, big ole trucks and they would roar through the town, all the time. I remember, and later in the afternoon, later in the afternoon they would let all, all of the residue fall from the pine trees and stuff. The made paper, they made milk cartons, the made pretzels, they made, they made everything at this big paper mill. And they had to let the residue, out of, out of the mill, there, every afternoon at four o'clock, and this big ole ditch, ran all the way from the paper mill, all the way to the black neighborhood and it ran down to I guess, you know a big lake, Bayou. And you talk about, the, the smell, it smell like rotton eggs, every day, [laughs], every day, every afternoon, every afternoon boy that water would come through that big ole ditch, they be callin it the the pup ditch (ph). You know, because, because of the residue from the wood, man, and it would stink, it would stink for about, four hours, and then the smell would finally, finally go away. But, we kind of got used to it, we kind of got used to it_”

“HONEYSUCKLES, PONDS, AND RED CLAY DIRT.”

Stories I related to, brought me back to life in town and in the rural areas of my childhood, since I had family that lived in both areas, I had both experiences of Louisiana life in the “country”, as many would call it, and in town. I feel that growing up, these experiences molded me into a well-rounded woman who knew her way around the garden and in the city.

Charles Blow (1970-), a journalist and Grambling alum, talked about his childhood growing up in Gibsland, Louisiana, about 20 minutes away from my hometown, and the details he shared vividly reminded me of my times in the “country”.
”Big sweet gum trees, and the smell of honeysuckles, and ponds, and the bugs that skip across the surface of ponds, and gravel, and red clay dirt, and farmed trees, that feels like Gibsland [Louisiana]”

“THE SMELL OF SOUTHERN MAGNOLIAS.”

When reminiscing on my childhood, I know of many sights, sounds, and smells, but one of many always stuck with me, the smell of the magnolia trees. Within southern communities, especially within the town square, magnolia trees proudly decorated almost each and every corner and was a sight I of course got acquainted with but didn’t know until later it was also a staple in many other Southern communities across the United States. The smell and sight of magnolia trees are not only pleasant on the eyes but unforgettable for many who grew up in the South.

Janette Hoston Harris (1939 - 2018), a City historian from Monroe, Louisiana, spoke of the sights, sounds and smells of her childhood, including the famous magnolia tree smell.

“Smells, food cookin', food cookin' that's the sound--smell I remember so much, always a feast, always food. But I also remember the good smell of the flowers, the flowers had aroma, especially the magnolia trees, you know, and the smell of a flower. That's the only smells I can associate with growing up.”

She also mentioned the sound of the trains not too far from her house, which I relate to also. The sounds of the train, growing up in the town where I did, was an inconvenience and source of annoyance for all who lived in that particular area.

“There was a train, maybe the sound of the train, which was only two blocks away. We'd catch crawfish over by the railroad tracks. So the sound of the train, those are the two vivid sounds I can remember. –”

“DEATH IN THE BIG EASY.”

Though most of my immediate family is from North Louisiana, the rest of my family lives in Southern Louisiana Baton Rouge, Kenner, Lafayette, and as many would call New Orleans: “The Big Easy”. Because the remaining half of our family lived in the New Orleans area, the times we would travel there would be out of two reasons: family reunions and funerals. Of those times, funerals, though many children would be hesitant to attend, were very intriguing for me, when you think of New Orleans funeral culture. New Orleans natives, after the funeral, have something called the “second line”, which is a parade for the celebration of the life of the person that has passed. The sights, sounds, and smells are what many would deem inappropriate for death, but the culture within the Big Easy concerning death is out of respect and just a difference in culture.

Nightclub owner and singer Lois Fisher (1927-), a native of New Orleans spoke on the culture of funerals in the Big Easy and her childhood experiences concerning them.

“Well, the funeral is when you are going to the graveyard. Well, first you have the wakes, in which they have the wakes at night. And they always have fish fries and they sold beer and that type of thing. And everybody would go to the wakes. And they'd sing and pray, they have a good time. Then when you go to the funeral--for the funeral going to the graveyard, you go with the band playing and they play things like 'Nearer, My God, to Thee' or different hymns. And after they bury you, the band comes and then they play 'I'm Glad You're Gone You Rascal You' [sic. 'I'll Be Glad When You're Dead, You Rascal You']. (Laughter) And everybody's dancing when they come from the graveyard. “

“NEVER FORGET WHERE YOU CAME FROM".”

As I continued to research the Digital Archive, I wanted to intentionally highlight not only my underrated hometown of Homer, Louisiana but also my grandmother’s hometown of Tallulah, Louisiana, which she partially grew up in, along with growing up in Natchez, Mississippi. At this point, this became personal, I felt a duty to highlight the intimate simplicities of Homer and Tallulah, so I searched.

I began with Patricia Andrews- Keenan (1954-) a Media executive and public relations executive, who grew up in Tallulah, Louisiana, only 4 years younger than my grandmother. She spoke on the welcoming culture of Tallulah and the intimacy of the community.

“Wow. Okay. Wow. For me I found it to be very, you know, kind of a nurturing place, because everybody knew everybody. I know people say, you know, these days, you know, you may live next to someone and you don't see them, but we, you know, you just saw everybody all the time.”

“Then, I searched my hometown of Homer, Louisiana and I found the story of Blues musician Emmett “Bobby Rush” Ellis, Jr (1933 - ). He hailed from Haynesville, Louisiana, which was only a town over from Homer, and spoke on his father who was pastor at a church on the outskirts of Homer.

”Did he--you say he was a pastor. Do you remember the name of his church?

Yeah, Antioch and (simultaneous)--

(Simultaneous) Antioch Baptist [Antioch Baptist Church, Homer, Louisiana]--

--he had a couple, couple of churches, Baptist churches, Freewill Baptist Church [Colquitt Freewill Baptist Church, Haynesville, Louisiana]--”

I felt compelled to use his story, even though the mentioning of Homer is concise, because one of those churches, Antioch Baptist Church of Homer, is my late grandfather’s home church.

“I think, I think--oh, god, it was a small church.
Um-hm.
I mean if--you were lucky to have forty members.”

Knowing that, of those forty members, my grandfather was one of them, definitely uncovered a new level of respect that I have for the HistoryMakers Digital Archives and all of its findings.

The sights, sounds, and smells of my childhood were represented fully within the HistoryMakers Digital Archive and pondering on the purpose of the HistoryMakers and its efforts to highlight the unknown stories and experiences of African Americans, I say well done.

Sources:

Emmett "Bobby Rush" Ellis, Jr. (The HistoryMakers A2017.220), interviewed by Randall Pinkston, December 12, 2017, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 1, story 6, Emmett "Bobby Rush" Ellis, Jr. talks about his father's education and occupation

Elinor Tatum (The HistoryMakers A2013.282), interviewed by Julieanna L. Richardson, November 11, 2013, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 1, story 10, Elinor Tatum describes the sights, sounds, and smells of her childhood
Joseph Dyer (The HistoryMakers A2004.047), interviewed by Julieanna L. Richardson, April 23, 2004, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 2, Joseph Dyer describes the sights, sounds and smells of Bogalusa, Louisiana

Janette Hoston Harris (The HistoryMakers A2004.122), interviewed by Racine Tucker Hamilton, August 10, 2004, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 1, story 16, Janette Hoston Harris recalls the sights, sounds and smells of growing up in Monroe, Louisiana

Lois Fisher (The HistoryMakers A2007.083), interviewed by Larry Crowe, March 10, 2007, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 1, Lois Fisher describes the sights, sounds and smells of her childhood

Patricia Andrews-Keenan (The HistoryMakers A2014.030), interviewed by Larry Crowe, January 24, 2014, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 2, Patricia Andrews-Keenan describes the sights, sounds and smells of her childhood

Charles M. Blow (The HistoryMakers A2014.208), interviewed by Julieanna L. Richardson, September 11, 2014, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 1, story 8, Charles M. Blow describes the sights, sounds and smells of his childhood

Bob Love (The HistoryMakers A2002.155), interviewed by Adele Hodge, August 15, 2002, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 1, story 9, Bob Love describes the sights, smells, and sounds of his childhood