[African Americana]: [Louisiana]:

[Three Programs from the Segregated J.S. Clark Junior High School in Louisiana].

[Shreveport, La. 1959, 1967, and 1969]. Three programs: [48]; [32]; 30,[6]pp., each bound in yellow wrappers, stapled. Mostly minor wear, some dust-soiling, a few stray ink marks, one ownership signature. Overall a nice group. Very good. Item #4640

A trio of souvenir programs memorializing various events at Shreveport's J.S. Clark Junior High School beginning in the Jim Crow years and ending at the close of the 1960s. The earliest program was issued at the dedication ceremony for the new school in 1959. It features the speakers for the day, including J.S. Clark himself, group photographs of the faculty and various staff departments, a list of patrons, and more. The preponderance of the work is comprised of advertisements for local businesses and congratulatory messages from community members. Laid into this program is a printed letter from the day of the dedication with further information about the school. The second and third programs present here were issued to celebrate the school's annual homecoming, both in October, in 1967 and 1969, respectively. Each program is illustrated on the front cover with a photograph of football players. Each program contains information (and sometimes images) of the school, its faculty, the football team, the Homecoming court, and more, with team rosters. As with the earlier dedication ceremony program, these works contain numerous advertisements and well wishes from the larger community. The abundance of advertisements within these three programs provides a valuable source for studying the population of commercial and private supporters of the Black community in midcentury Shreveport. Also, the programs are important as representations of the slow process of school desegregation in Louisiana, specifically Shreveport. The school system in Shreveport did not fully integrate until after the Alexander v. Holmes County case in 1969, in which integration was ordered by the Supreme Court immediately, no longer with "all deliberate speed."

Price: $850