THE IBERIA AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
A Louisiana Nonprofit Corporation
CHARTER
BOARD MEMBERS
The
following individuals have each agreed to serve as a charter member of the
IAAHS Board of Directors for a three-year period:
Phebe
Hayes, Ph.D.
Founder
Dr. Phebe
Hayes, a life-long resident of Iberia Parish, retired from the University of
Louisiana at Lafayette after 26 years of service (Professor of Communication Sciences
& Disorders, 1986-2013; and Dean of the College of General Studies,
1998-2013). Dr. Hayes is the descendant of West African ancestors who were
enslaved on local plantations. Four of her ancestral grandfathers fought for
their freedom as members of the United States Colored Infantry (USCI) formerly,
the Corps d’Afrique, and one fought
as a member of the Union Navy. Following retirement, Dr. Hayes began
researching the history of African Americans of Iberia Parish from the
pre-colonial Louisiana period to the end of the Jim Crow era of segregation.
What she found was exciting and demanded to be shared with the Iberia Parish
community.
Ian
Beamish, Ph.D.
Dr.
Beamish is an assistant professor of History at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
He received his Ph.D. in U.S. history from Johns Hopkins University. His
research focuses on slavery in the South and specifically in the Lower Mississippi
Valley. He is currently interested in the public history of slavery in Louisiana.
Before coming to Louisiana, he taught at universities in Maryland, Pennsylvania,
and Canada. Dr. Beamish resides in Lafayette.
Michael
Bell
Mr.
Bell is a community activist and humanitarian. He is the founder and president of the Felicité Humanitarian Historical Society of Iberia
Parish. Following retirement, Mr. Bell opened the first farmers' market at 520 Hopkins Street (location of the current Envision Da Berry Market) and recruited young people in the neighborhood as employees. Mr. Bell established the Felicité Society to honor Felicité, a free woman of color credited with selflessly nursing many Iberians during the 1839 yellow fever epidemic. He is also a long-time historian of the Benjamin family of Cypress Island (St. Martin Parish) and the Bell family of Clover Hill (St. Martin Parish). Most of his education was completed in the segregated public schools of Iberia Parish, including Jonas Henderson High School.
Shane
K. Bernard, Ph.D.
Dr.
Bernard holds degrees in English and History from the University of Louisiana
at Lafayette (where he serves as a Fellow of the Center for Louisiana Studies)
and a doctorate in History from Texas A&M University. For over a quarter century
he has served as historian and curator to McIlhenny Company — maker of TABASCO®
brand products — and Avery Island Inc. Bernard is the author of several books
about south Louisiana history and culture and has been interviewed by numerous
media outlets, including the BBC, CNN, NPR, The History Channel, the New York
Times, Smithsonian.com, and National Geographic. His latest publication is Teche: A History of Louisiana’s Most Famous Bayou.
Dr. Bernard resides in New Iberia.
Jayd
Buteaux
Ms. Buteaux is the Marketing & Programs Manager at The Shadows-on-the-Teche. She is a New Iberia native and completed her undergraduate degree in History and Secondary Education at LSU-BR. Ms. Buteaux did graduate work at UNC-Wilmington in Public History. While in Wilmington, she interned in the education departments at both the Bellamy Mansion Museum and the Cape Fear Museum of History and Science. She returned to New Iberia after spending the last few years in Durham, North Carolina, at Historic Stagville, the site of the largest enslaved population in North Carolina. At Stagville, she was responsible for reinvigorating a dormant genealogy program focused on descendants of the enslaved community and expanding the site’s interpretation into the present day.
Ms. Buteaux is the Marketing & Programs Manager at The Shadows-on-the-Teche. She is a New Iberia native and completed her undergraduate degree in History and Secondary Education at LSU-BR. Ms. Buteaux did graduate work at UNC-Wilmington in Public History. While in Wilmington, she interned in the education departments at both the Bellamy Mansion Museum and the Cape Fear Museum of History and Science. She returned to New Iberia after spending the last few years in Durham, North Carolina, at Historic Stagville, the site of the largest enslaved population in North Carolina. At Stagville, she was responsible for reinvigorating a dormant genealogy program focused on descendants of the enslaved community and expanding the site’s interpretation into the present day.
Carl
Cooper, Jr.
Mr.
Carl Cooper Jr. is an entrepreneur, an active community leader, and a spiritual
teacher. After graduating high school he worked in the oil field as an industrial
painter and attended Southwest Louisiana Community College (SLCC) of Lafayette.
Carl has a passion for entrepreneurship, history and African studies. He is a
member of the community-based nonprofit, Envision Da Berry, and serves as its
board president. He is manager of Envision Da Berry’s Hopkins Street Market and
is actively engaged in the George Washington Carver Community Garden.
Joyce
Deyon-Sallier, CPA
Mrs.
Deyon-Sallier is a Certified Public Accountant from New Iberia, and current
resident of Houston. She is a descendant of former enslaved Africans on New
Iberia-area plantations. Mrs. Deyon-Sallier is a graduate of Rice University
(B.A., Managerial Studies; B.A., Sociology). She currently operates her own CPA
firm. Previous experience includes Chief Financial Officer of a multinational
entertainment company, Director of Internal Auditing for a major university,
and business manager to several music artists and entertainers. She has extensive
experience in accounting and auditing, including solving complex and non-routine
issues for non-profit organizations.
Rose
Susan E. Dorsey, Esq.
Ms.
Rose Susan E. Dorsey is an attorney and, by adoption, a descendant of Dr. Eddie Lorenzo Dorsey,
one of the black physicians forcibly expelled from Iberia Parish in 1944. She is also a blood descendant of Freetown Massacre victims. Ms. Dorsey is a reader, memoirist, poet, tourist/traveler, and collector. She currently lives and practices in Franklin.
Sandra
Egland
Ms.
Egland, a native of New Iberia, is the first historian to document the history of
blacks in Iberia Parish, in Glenn R. Conrad’s New Iberia: Essays on the Town and its People. She was educated in
segregated Iberia Parish public schools and attended private universities
around the country. Ms. Egland was instrumental in the erection of a state
historic marker in the New Iberia Civic Center commemorating the legacy of
Felicité, a former Santo Domingo slave who nursed the citizens of New Iberia
during the 1839 yellow fever epidemic. Ms. Egland was a member of New Iberia’s
Historic Preservation Commission for several years. She is a descendant or
relative of early black educators, artists, and business leaders.
Rosalind
M. Garrett
Ms.
Rosalind M. Garrett is a native and resident of New Iberia. She has been an educator
in Iberia Parish public and private schools for 23 years. Currently, she serves
as the master teacher for grades 3-6 at Park Elementary. She has been a member
of the New Iberia Historic District Commission since 2003 and currently serves
as Vice Chairperson. Ms. Markle is a descendant of African American brick
masons whose work is evident in many New Iberia homes, including those in the
historic district.
Mr. Joseph Lockwood, a native of Iberia Parish, is a graduate of
the historic Black high
school, Jonas Henderson High School. He completed his undergraduate education at Southern University in Baton Rouge. After retiring from Johnson & Johnson, he returned to Iberia and became
involved in community restoration projects. He is a strong supporter of
continuing education and healthy life styles for all. Mr. Lockwood
is passionate about the history of African Americans of Iberia Parish. He
enjoys jazz and the visual and performing arts.
Marcia
Burns Patout
Mrs.
Patout is the Director of the Bayou Teche Museum in New Iberia. She works
closely with Dr. Hayes, founder of the IAAHS, in developing with local residents
an inclusive, accurate, and complete narrative of the history of Iberia Parish.
Mrs. Patout also works closely with IAAHS to expand the Bayou Teche Museum’s
offering of exhibits and educational experiences about the history of the local
African American community. Mrs. Patout married into the Patout family of east
Iberia Parish who during the antebellum period owned one of the largest
antebellum sugar plantations in the area. The family owns the present-day M. A.
Patout Sugar Mill of Patoutville.
John
Reedom
Mr. Reedom, a local historian and musician, was a founding member of the Bunk Johnson Jazz, Arts & Heritage Festival, Inc., of New Iberia. He retired as a sociology instructor from the South Louisiana Community College. Mr. Reedom serves as the historian and music director of St. Edward Roman Catholic Church, located in a historically African American Catholic parish. He recently oversaw the documentation of the church's rich history for its 100th anniversary celebration. A member of a jazz ensemble, Mr. Reedom enjoys researching the history of local African American musicians. His interest also includes the local history of the Maroons, African slaves who created independent settlements in the Americas and sometimes mixed with indigenous people after escaping their plight.
Daphne
Thomas
Mrs. Daphne Thomas, a native of Franklin and
long-time resident of New Iberia, is
a businesswoman, children’s book author & illustrator, storyteller, performing artist and amateur family
historian. She is founder of the New Iberia-based
summer enrichment program for
young girls, Building Beauty Inside and Out (BBIAO). In summer 2017, as part of the Purchased Lives slavery exhibit at New Iberia's Bayou Teche Museum,
Mrs. Thomas performed several Iberia Parish
slave narratives in conjunction with a presentation by UL history professor Dr. Ian Beamish. She also served on a focus group organized by New Iberia's Shadows-on-the-Teche plantation home as part of a 2018 National Trust for Historic Preservation assessment.
Warren
White
Mr.
Warren White is a member and fundraising chair of the New Iberia West End Community
Neighborhood Association, a successful New Iberia nonprofit organization
established to revitalize the West End neighborhoods of New Iberia. West End was
the location of several antebellum plantations and the center of black commerce
from the early to mid-20th century. Many historically significant buildings
still exist in this area. Most early back professionals (physicians,
pharmacists, educators, among others) and business owners (stores, funeral homes,
dance halls, restaurants) lived and worked on the West End. Mr. White has also
been a member of the Masons (Rising Star Lodge #84) for twenty years.
Caryn
L. Winters, Ph.D.
Dr. Caryn L. Winters is a native of Iberia Parish and an assistant professor of Communication Studies at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She has collaborated with Dr. Hayes, founder of the IAAHS, in presenting public talks about the history of African Americans in Iberia Parish. Recently, she co-presented a paper at the 2018 annual conference of the American Public Health Association in Atlanta about a 1944 racial incident in New Iberia that resulted in the violent expulsion of all the town’s black doctors and the impact that event had on the black and poor of the parish. Dr. Winters was educated in the public schools of Iberia Parish. She completed her undergraduate education at Loyola University in New Orleans and received her master’s degree from the Department of Communications at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Dr. Winters earned her Ph.D. in Communication Studies at Penn State University. She is a native of Iberia Parish and a descendant of former West Africans enslaved on local plantations. Dr. Winters resides in Lafayette.
Dr. Caryn L. Winters is a native of Iberia Parish and an assistant professor of Communication Studies at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She has collaborated with Dr. Hayes, founder of the IAAHS, in presenting public talks about the history of African Americans in Iberia Parish. Recently, she co-presented a paper at the 2018 annual conference of the American Public Health Association in Atlanta about a 1944 racial incident in New Iberia that resulted in the violent expulsion of all the town’s black doctors and the impact that event had on the black and poor of the parish. Dr. Winters was educated in the public schools of Iberia Parish. She completed her undergraduate education at Loyola University in New Orleans and received her master’s degree from the Department of Communications at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Dr. Winters earned her Ph.D. in Communication Studies at Penn State University. She is a native of Iberia Parish and a descendant of former West Africans enslaved on local plantations. Dr. Winters resides in Lafayette.
Cheylon Woods, MLIS, MA
Mrs. Cheylon Woods is the Director and Archivist of the Ernest J. Gaines Center in the Agnes Dupre´Library at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She graduated with the MLIS from LSU-BR. Mrs. Woods is a certified Library of Congress trained in Digital Preservation, Outreach, and education. She holds dual undergraduate degrees in History and Political Science from Louisiana Tech University. She is a member of the Association of the Study of African American Life and History. Mrs. Woods has an MA in Heritage Resources from Northwestern State University. After graduating, she was awarded an IMLS (Institute of Museum and Library Studies) fellowship through HistoryMakers (oral history archive based out of Chicago) where she was assigned to work as an archivist at the Alabama State Department of Archives and History. She actively worked with communities and prominent figures in the region to fill in information gaps related to African-American history in the state of Alabama.
Mrs. Cheylon Woods is the Director and Archivist of the Ernest J. Gaines Center in the Agnes Dupre´Library at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She graduated with the MLIS from LSU-BR. Mrs. Woods is a certified Library of Congress trained in Digital Preservation, Outreach, and education. She holds dual undergraduate degrees in History and Political Science from Louisiana Tech University. She is a member of the Association of the Study of African American Life and History. Mrs. Woods has an MA in Heritage Resources from Northwestern State University. After graduating, she was awarded an IMLS (Institute of Museum and Library Studies) fellowship through HistoryMakers (oral history archive based out of Chicago) where she was assigned to work as an archivist at the Alabama State Department of Archives and History. She actively worked with communities and prominent figures in the region to fill in information gaps related to African-American history in the state of Alabama.
