"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : NELLIE A.R. LESLIE

In a recent conversation,it was again brought to my attention as to how "more and more" of our "Black Youth" in Monroe, Louisiana are getting caught up in the city & ouachita parish court system. Also, I have personally seen hundreds of incarcerated Black Youth appear before Monroe City Court Judges who had little to "no idea" as to how the criminal court system is setup to work. Furthermore, I feel that we As Black Adults need to do a much better job of informing our Black Youth about the city & ouachita parish court systems, juvenile laws,traffic laws, civil laws, and all other aspects of the law as it pertains to juveniles & juvenile crimes within the city of Monroe & Ouachita Parish. Now, back to this week's Black Pioneer! Nellie A.R. Leslie was born in Virginia, around the early 1840s. After being emancipated, Nellie was educated in Ohio, but moved to Louisiana to teach for the Freedmen's Bureau. Additionally, she was able to attend Straight University in New Orleans, and gained additional training as a music teacher. Nellie became a wonderful music teacher, plus she could also compose and perform music too! In 1874, Nellie married Rev. R.A. Leslie, a Creek Indian & Presbyterian minister. The couple ended up moving to Mississippi, and taught at a school in Osyka, Mississippi. Around 1880, the couple decided to move again. This time they moved to Indian Territory in Muskogee, which is now the state of Oklahoma. In Muskogee, they setup many schools for Creek Freedmen. After teaching & living in Indian Territory for several years, the couple moved back to Mississippi. In 1884, her husband died, and Nellie decided to resume her studies in music. She enrolled at the Boston Conservatory of Music. Once she completed her training at the Boston Conservatory, Nellie moved to Paris, Texas. Some her many accomplishments included, founding a music school in Texas, founding a girls academy school in Muskogee, founding the Afro-American International Institute and School of Arts, and her achievements as principal of the Tullahasse Mission School for Creek Freedmen. It was reported that Nellie A.R. Leslie died sometime in the early 1920s, in Muskogee, which is now the state of Oklahoma.