MR. WILLIE JAMES BOWIE |
Mrs. Dorothy Bell Gundy Washington |
mrs. Lizzie Sanders Smith |
Willie James Bowie, 71 of Kansas City, Missouri, passed away Friday, December 22, 2017 at Research Medical Center. He was born November 19, 1946 in Oak Grove, Louisiana to the union of George Bowie, Jr. and Evelyn Henderson. He was their eldest of four children. Both parents and two sisters, Anna Bell Watson and Evelyn Joyce Smith, preceded him in death.
“James”, as he preferred to be called, graduated from Morehouse High School in Bastrop, Louisiana in 1964 where he competed in football, basketball and track. He attended AM&N College/UAPB in Pine Bluff, Arkansas where he graduated in 1968 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education. While a student at AM&N he was also a member of the men’s basketball team. James also obtained his Master’s degree in School Leadership from then Central Missouri State University, now referred to as UCM in 1976. Read more |
"A Special Lady" The incredible journey of this elegant lady, Mrs. Dorothy Bell Gundy Washington life began May 20, 1928, in Rayville, LA. She was baptized and received early spiritual guidance at Macedonia Baptist Church in Rayville, LA and attended school in Rayville, LA, graduating from Rayville Colored High School. After high school she obtained her BS Degree from Fisk University in Nashville, TN 1949-50 and obtained her M.Ed. from Northeast Louisiana University in Monroe, LA in 1967. She was among the first Black student to graduate from NLU. She pursued others studies at Tuskegee Institute, Grambling State College, and Southern University. Read more |
Funeral services for Mrs. Lizzie Sanders Smith, retired educator and business woman will be held on Saturday, June 10, 2017 at 1:00 p.m. at the New Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church on Oliver Street. Rev. Eddie J. Douzart III will be the officiating minister. The Interment will follow the services in H. V. Adams Cemetery. Visitation for Mrs. Smith will be held on Friday evening from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the chapel of Loche’s Mortuary, Inc.
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“It is no disgrace to be poor; it is sometimes a disgrace to be rich. It is always a disgrace to be ignorant, for ignorance implies not only a lack of opportunity but also a lack of ability. If you have the ability and if you
have the opportunity, then there is no need for disgrace.” McKinley High School, 1948 Read more |
 Nurse Harriet G. Foster
Mrs. Harriet G. Foster was the first Black nurse in the public health field in North Louisiana. She died April 13, 1984. Her nursing career spanned some 33 years. Born Harriet Gordon, in Hemingway, S.C., Mrs. Foster came from a line of people, the Daniels, who were descendant from free Blacks - a family whose pride and independence she inherited.
Mrs. Foster attended the University of Colorado and the University of Michigan, where she studied about polio. She was the first Black to work as a nurse in public health in Morehouse Parish at the Bastrop Health Unit. Read more |
 Dr. John L. Smith
Dr. John L. Smith grew up in Bastrop, Louisiana. He earned a bachelor’s degree in music education from Lincoln University in Missouri, and went on to Indiana University where he obtained his master’s degree in music education as well as a performance certificate in tuba. From there, he worked as a teacher until he received “an invitation from Uncle Sam to work with him for a while.” After spending four years in the United States Navy, he got his first professional job playing the tuba with the Oklahoma City Symphony.
Read more ______________________________________________ John Smith Oral History Interview June 15, 2004 John L. Smith, former Dean of the College of Fine Arts at the University of South Florida, speaks about the formation of the College of Fine Arts. Dr. Smith also discusses the origins and development of USF's Black Faculty and Student Congress and Project Thrust. Source: South Flordia Libraries Oral History Program |
