"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" HENDERSON H. DUNN

While I was laying down, it was brought to my remembrance that there was a book "Published in 1930" by the Douglas Loan Company Inc. of Baton Rouge, Louisiana titled, "Who's Who in Colored Louisiana." By the way, I would like to mention that this book is the only place that I have been able to find a picture of "Dr. John Tildon Miller," one of the founders of the Miller-Roy Building in Monroe, Louisiana. The book was edited by A. E. Perkins, and several of the Colored People that were recognized from Monroe, Louisiana included the Honorable R.H.Burns, A.A. Lacey, and John R. Patterson, the owner of "Patterson’s Million Article Mercantile Store," which was the largest Colored Owned Store in Monroe at the time. Additionally, the book included pertinent information about The Colored Louisiana in Education, The Colored Louisiana in War, and facts about most of the Race Riots, Insurrections, and Massacres that took place in Louisiana before 1930.There was even a write-up about the president of Southern University, Joseph S Clark. Although this book is readily available online, I regret to inform you that it's still not in any of the libraries at the schools in our Black Communities! Oh Well, on to this week's Black Pioneer. Henderson H. Dunn was born in Thibodaux, Louisiana, on December 12, 1872. It was reported that Henderson received his early education at a school in Lafourche Parish, in Louisiana. The school was the first school for Colored People in Lafourche Parish, and was organized by his father, Enoch Dunn. After high school, Henderson enrolled at Straight University, which is now Dillard University, in New Orleans Louisiana, where he went on to receive 2 degrees. He received his B.A. in Education in 1900 and his Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1904. In addition to teaching, Henderson was once the pastor of Morris Brown C.C. in New Orleans and the pastor of the Central Congregational Church in New Orleans. He also held other interesting positions such as director and teacher at the Milne Boys Home in New Orleans, where he supervised competitive examinations that determined the appointment of qualified persons to teaching position in New Orleans Public School System, and his position as secretary of the Congregational Churches in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas. While he was the secretary for the Congregation Churches Organization, he founded an organization known as the Colored Education Alliance, an organization dedicated to obtaining a expanded number of schools for Colored Communities. Finally, he was a tenured news writer for the Times-Picayune newspaper. He mainly wrote about the religious and educational news within Colored Communities. Some say that he was the first Colored person to write for the Times-Picayune newspaper! From 1911 up until his death in 1955, the Colored Citizens in New Orleans looked forward to hearing Henderson make his yearly address at the "Annual Thanksgiving meeting of the Louisiana Educational Alliance," where he would document the progress of the Colored People in the United States along religious, educational and economic lines. Please note that approximately 3 years after his death, the New Orleans Public School System dedicated & named an elementary school after Henderson H. Dunn.