Our Story

Tangipahoa Historical Society was born out of my desire to give something back to the incredible people of my adopted home. I was raised in New Orleans, but I lost my home in Katrina. I am one of the very fortunate ones to have found not only a new home, but one in an amazing community of people who have welcomed me with open arms and hearts since the hurricane.

I started out doing research on the US Highways for a book idea back in 2008 but I was disappointed to find that there was not very much information about the history of the Parish outside of Hammond and Ponchatoula, and to a lesser extent, Amite. So I started asking questions. My neighbors told me stories and the librarians answered what they could, and the more I learned, the more I fell in love with this place, its people, and its history. Combined with the unintentional decay of towns like Kentwood, who’s historic main street has literally crumbled to the ground, that love of my adopted home is what prompted me to return to school in 2015 and finish my last year of my degree. I wanted a program that would utilize as many of my previous credits as possible, and I was lucky that they fit into the history program at SLU. Every class I took was with the goal of forming a historical society in mind. When I graduated in August 2016, I felt like there were still gaps in my knowledge that needed to be filled in order for me to accomplish what I wanted. So, I returned for a second degree in General Studies focusing on Anthropology and taking some other classes that I thought would be useful, like Louisiana Geography and Library Science Cataloguing and Classification. When I graduated with that degree the following year, in May 2017, I then began looking for a Master’s program that would help me accomplish my goal. A chance comment by my professor at SLU, who also teaches online, led me to the Public History program offered online with American Public University, and I have been working on that degree since August 2017. I made sure to take some of my most needed classes first, like Historic Preservation and Oral History, so that I could get rolling with the Historical Society.

As rigorous as the Master’s program is, I finally had to take some time off in order to launch the Historical Society because I just could not get anything done while absorbed in school. For the past six months, I have been working solely on the Historical Society, on a volunteer basis, while working as a substitute teacher. I made the formal announcement of the formation in January. So far, it is a bit of slow going, since I am doing most of this by myself, but I keep doing what I can. I am hoping that the fundraising efforts will pick up soon so that I can get more accomplished.

I formed the Historical Society with the mission to serve the people of Tangipahoa Parish by working to preserve and promote the unique and diverse history and culture of this hidden gem. Now that you know the story, I hope you will all help THS fulfill this mission by doing what you can, whether it’s donating or volunteer or becoming a member, or even all of the above! The Historical Society can not succeed without the you, the community, supporting the mission.