ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I began researching local history as a high school student in the 1970s, and it has become both a vocation and an avocation for me. I would have not been able to pursue that passion and produce research and publications without the help of so many people. I want to acknowledge a few of them here. The first would be my maternal grandmother, Louannie Longino Murphy, and her daughter, my mother, Juanita Murphy Agan, who inspired me with a love of history as a small child and were my partners in this work so long as they were both alive. I thank my teachers, from the earliest years through my college training, who taught me so much about the value of history and how to preserve and protect our heritage. My gratitude goes to my employers, both at the Webster Parish Library and Bossier Parish Community College, who have allowed me the freedom to research and produce such projects as this book.

This work would not have been possible without the aid of the Dorcheat Historical Association Museum, its executive director, Schelley Francis, and its president, Thad Andress. Schelley and Thad have been my friends for years, but their support went a long way toward making this book a reality. Over the years, I have been given images by so many citizens of Minden that I hesitate to list names, fearing omission, but I want to thank the following folks who have been so helpful: Frank Griffith, Craig Farley, Clair Moore, the families of Grace Turner Watson and George Turner, the family of Lillian Life Willis, Joan Wiley Luck, and Meg McCowen. The collections of the Webster Parish Library and the Archives and Special Collections of Noel Memorial Library of Louisiana State University in Shreveport (LSUS) were vital to completing this work. Particularly, thanks go to library director Beverly Hammett at the Webster Parish Library and Shawn Bohannon at LSUS. I also was assisted by staff at the National Archives at Fort Worth, Texas, in obtaining some of the images used in this book. Finally, I am so very grateful to Julia Simpson, my acquisitions editor at Arcadia Publishing on this project, who tolerated my lack of technical skill and blurred deadlines to bring this book to fruition.