Discover New People, Explore New Things: Come to Shreveport Common
Shreveport Common the oldest, newest, nine-block historic district of Shreveport, Louisiana has a rich heritage of uncommon women who have helped to shape the city through lasting civic contributions. If you like to discover new people and explore new things, then the Shreveport Common is the perfect place to be a visitor in your own hometown. The beauty of past and present experiences coalesces here gives us a chance to see things differently from the way they are today.
1. Uncommon Women of Wealth and Influence in Shreveport Common
Through wealth, prestige and influence, women like Amanda Clark, Cora M. Allen, and Annie McCune left an indelible mark on the places and spaces of Shreveport Common through their support of women’s rights, ventures in real estate, strides in positive race relations, and even their embrace of racy lifestyles.
In the 1800s a former slave by the name of Amanda Arnette Clark was a prominent female landowner in what is now known as Shreveport Common and other areas of the city. Born a slave in 1840 in St. Joseph, Missouri, she later moved to Caddo Parish in 1848 with her white owner Luther Dickerson Arnette—who was also her father. When he died in 1864, he stipulated in his will, written in 1857, that she would be freed and paid $1,000 minus legal fees for her manumission papers. After she obtain her freedom, her legal status was listed as FWC: free woman of color. She later gave birth to the son of Dr. Joseph B. Smith, a white man who was executor of her owner’s estate. As a slave she was not allowed to read or write, and even she signed her name with an X on her first land purchase. However, by 1866, she was not only signing her name but also buying and selling property to both blacks and whites. She bought different lots and developed land including the stretch of Austen Place where the Logan Mansion is located. Her strong business sense and close relationship with Dr. Smith helped to establish her as a leading figure in the African American community. Amanda Clark was very close to her son, Dr. Dickerson Alphonse Smith, who was a history maker in his own right. He was selected to run the colored section of the charity hospital and was later the first African American member of the Shreveport Medical Society. Amanda Clark died February 27, 1902, but her legacy lives through the Amanda Clark Headstart Center located in the Cedar Grove neighborhood of Shreveport and through the Amanda Clark Scholarship at LSUS. Her grave in Oakland Cemetery looks out towards Austen Place over the land that she once developed.
From Austen Place to Texas Avenue, another phenomenal woman who made an impact in Shreveport Common is Mrs. Cora Murdock Allen. (Picture) Mrs. Allen was wife to Rev. Luke Allen, prominent pastor of Avenue Baptist Church. She was actively involved in many civic organizations, including founding the Mary Church Terrell Club and the Louisiana Association of Colored Women Clubs. Allen’s strong leadership abilities as a skilled negotiator and peace maker helped to make her a prominent leader on the local, state, national, and international level. She was selected as one of nine delegates of the National Association of Colored Women to attend the International Congress of Women in Vienna, Austria, in 1930. Her most notable contribution was serving as lead visionary for the formation of the local chapter of the Grand Court Order of Calanthe, the women’s fraternal organization that built the Calanthean Temple on historic Texas Avenue. The edifice represented the engine of commerce, culture, and community in the Shreveport Common. In fact, Mrs. Allen believed in business ownership so much that she invested $100 of her own money towards the building of the headquarters of the National Association of Colored Women. The Calanthean Temple, the first women’s temple of its kind built in the United States, was completed and dedicated on March 7, 1923, where it still stands to this very day. In 1926, she was recognized by Mary McLeod Bethune, then president of the National Association for Colored Women. Bethune recognized Allen for her guiding leadership in building the Calanthean Temple.
The roles of women in Shreveport came in many different varieties—both wholesome and a little on the wild side. One of the most infamous women known for her racy lifestyle was none other than Madam Annie McCune.
Annie McCune, Shreveport’s most famous madam was born in 1848 in Ireland, but her parents immigrated to New Orleans. After a short stay in Little Rock, she moved to Shreveport and planted roots. As early as 1873, she ran a women’s boarding house. Up until 1917, prostitution was legal in Louisiana, and Shreveport had the largest “Red Light” district of any city of its size in the United States of America.
So, the next time you’re in the Shreveport Common, remember there are many remarkable women who left their mark and helped make a dramatic difference through uncommon contributions during very different times.
2. On the Avenue
Shhh, do you hear that? It’s the rhythm of the deep roots of the sights and sounds of the African American arts influence in Shreveport Common. From past and present buildings such as the Star Theatre, the Calanthean Temple, and the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium, there are memories of performers and musical acts who graced the stage in Shreveport and made waves across the United States.
The Star Theatre was located at 1050 Texas Avenue and was once one of the most popular venues for African Americans in Shreveport during the early 1900s. A once segregated theater, The Star Theatre featured national acts such as The Whitman Sisters. The premier vaudeville show featured the talented and beautiful Whitman Sisters, who looked white and were sharp businesswomen, actresses, and singers. From the 1890s to the 1940s, the Whitman Sisters (pic/video reel) had worked and employed over 120 artists. They were known as the best in the business, having launched the success of artists such as Count Basie, Ma Rainey, and Ethel Waters (pictures). In March 1924, The Whitman Sisters’ Company came to Shreveport and featured a variety of talent. Fast singing and dancing were performed to a jam-packed audience with not an empty seat on the first level, and even the seldom used balcony was half-filled. This performance was such a huge success that it was extended for an extra week.
Music Royalty from local popular bands to world-renowned performers came to Shreveport and performed on the Rooftop Garden of the Calanthean Temple. The Calanthean Temple, the first women’s temple of its kind built in the United States, was completed and dedicated on March 7, 1923, where it still stands to this very day. The roof of the Calanthean Temple, which was covered by a tent, was called the Rooftop Garden. Notable musical figures like the legendary Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Louis Armstrong played on the Rooftop which was home to a variety of social functions. The Rooftop Garden was also home to popular artists who may have been lesser known on the national level. One of the major musicians of American ragtime and an early jazz pianist, band leader, and composer was Jelly Roll Morton. A native of New Orleans, Morton paid tribute to Shreveport with a song called “The Shreveport Stomp.” Although he considered himself to be the inventor of Jazz, one thing’s for sure: he was a key influencer of the modern jazz form.
In the heart of Shreveport Common lies the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium. With only about fifty noteworthy Modernistic buildings in Louisiana, the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium is only one of six buildings that is an actual landmark of this design style. This modern majestic building was best known for the Louisiana Hayride, where Elvis Presley performed. In fact, according to musical lore, the phrase, “Elvis has left the building” was started in Shreveport. In addition, many African American artists performed over the years at the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium including James Brown and Aretha Franklin.
One of the first international performers at the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium was an African American tenor singer and composer, Roland Hayes, born to former slaves in 1887 in Curryville, Georgia. From the early 1920s, Hayes performed across the United States, particularly in the South, and over time even before integrated audience. He performed overseas including locations in London, the then Soviet Union, and throughout Europe. In latter years, Hayes would perform at an annual recital at Carnegie Hall. As stated in an advertisement of the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium, Hayes went “from the planation to palaces performing before kings and queens, with the finest International and American orchestras.”
However, in 1963, following his performance at the Louisiana Hayride held in the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium, popular R&B singer Sam Cooke was arrested for standing up for his rights, after his band tried to register at a "whites-only" Holiday Inn in Shreveport. Public facilities in Louisiana were still segregated. In reaction to the experience, Cooke recorded his most famous song, the Civil Rights-era song, "A Change Is Gonna Come." In 1964 Congress passed the Civil Rights Act to end segregation of public facilities. On the Avenue, you could always find a great place for entertainment, along with strong sense of artistry that would always hit the right key! Throughout the history of Shreveport, in many significant ways, a change has come. Shreveport has most recently born witness to the election of Mayor Cedric B. Glover, the city’s first black mayor and the newly elected Mayor Ollie S. Tyler, the first black woman mayor.
3. Common Threads at the Calanthean Temple
The history of African American commerce, culture, and community in the glory days of Shreveport Common could be represented by one building that could have been known as part of the Black Wall Street of Shreveport—none other than the Calanthean Temple. The Calanthean Temple, located at 1007 ½ Texas Ave was founded by nine women and one man who were under the leadership of Cora M. Allen. Cora Murdock Allen was the wife to Rev. Luke Allen, Jr., a leading religious leader in the 1920s and pastor of Avenue Baptist Church, one of the largest Black churches of the day. Mrs. Allen was actively involved in many civic organizations, including being the founder of the Mary Church Terrell Club and the Louisiana Association of Colored Women Clubs. The Court of Calanthe, the female auxiliary to the African American Knights of Pythias, one of the three largest non-Greek fraternal orders among African Americans, were the first known groups of black women in the country to undertake such a large-scale commercial enterprise. The Calanthean Temple opened at the end of 1923 which featured four stories of commercial, social, and civic entities. When you entered the lobby of the Calanthean in 1924, you would find Walker and Holland Cigar Company in the lobby, the dental office of Dr. W.M. Howard, and the real estate offices of Green & Gross. On the second floor, along with JV Smith Lumber, Liberty Insurance Company, you could visit the office of Dr. D.A. Smith, a physician and the lone male member of the Calanthean Temple Commission. On the third floor, Drs. S.E. Powell and G.M. Johnson had medical offices and you could also find the office of Standard Life Insurance Company. On the 4th floor which housed a grand ballroom, you could find the meeting space for the Order of Calanthe. Each of these businesses were owned and operated by African Americans.
Along with the success of many thriving African American individuals and businesses, Shreveport was still a hotspot of racial unrest and division. In fact, in 1924 the Klu Klux Klan established its headquarters in Shreveport, less than one year after the Calanthean Temple was built. As Dr. Brittney Cooper stated, “The Calanthean Temple demonstrates that Shreveport has had a vibrant and long-standing class of professional African American citizens since the early twentieth century. The presence of the Calanthean in the Deep South disrupts the current view that most significant African American cultural achievement during the 1920s happened in Chicago or Harlem (the site of the Harlem Renaissance.) Instead, we are reminded that the “New Negro Renaissance” took place in cities all over the country, including in the Deep South.” The Calanthean Temple is also a critical part of Shreveport’s musical and cultural history, having been the site of major musical performances by some of the musical giants of the 1920s such as Count Basie and Cab Calloway. Finally, the Calanthean Temple provides another example of the long history of significant African American cultural and social achievements in the United States.