"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : DR. JOSEPH CLABERT ROY SR. CO-FOUNDER of THE HISTORIC MILLER-ROY BUILDING

While I was researching online, I came across 2 egregious acts that happened here in Monroe, Louisiana at the meeting hall of a local Colored Organization that was known as, "The Naomi Colored Knights of Pythias." Come to find out, the organization was a Branch of the Colored Knights of Pythias that was founded in Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1880, due to Negroes were not being allowed to join the White Chapters of The Knights of Pythias Organization. By the way, the first incident happened in 1909, a few days after a Colored man by the name of W. Stephen Wade came to town and shot the White Monroe Mayor, Andrew A. Forsythe, along with several other White People, in retaliation for a White police officer killing a Colored man by the name of Henry Staples. Later that week, a leading Negro citizen by the name of Madison J. Foster ended up making a statement to the media denouncing Wade's act of violence. As for the story about the fire, someone had set the organization's meeting hall on fire, and two White police officers came along and put the fire out. Next, there was the lynching of a Colored man by the name of Warren Eaton that occured on the morning of October 23, 1913, in front of the meeting hall of "The Naomi Colored Knights of Pythias at 1101Desiard Street, near the Historic Miller-Roy Building." According to the Monroe Bulletin, a local newspaper that shut down in 1913, not too long after breaking the story about the lynching, Eaton was lynched for insulting a local White Girl. Well, there you have it, evidence of two separate despicable incidents that happened in Monroe, and was printed in local newspapers. Of course, I knew that things like this happened in Monroe back then, but it's kind of different when you learn about the actual locations, names of the victims, and other people involved. With that said, I would like to inform everyone about this week's Black Pioneer! Dr. Joseph C. Roy was a graduate of Straight College and Howard University College of Dentistry. Sometime around 1914, he began practicing medicine in Monroe. In 1940, Dr. J.C. Roy was reportedly the oldest practicing Negro dentist in the City of Monroe. Also, he was married to Erma L. Olive Roy, and they had 4 children together. Also, their son, J.C. Roy Jr., died of a heart attack in September of 1957 in Monroe, at his home on Milhaven Road, at the young age of 37. Additionally, I found out that their oldest daughter, Sophie Lee Roy, went on to marry one of Motown's Top Recording Artists and founder of Pacific Records, Ivory Joe Hunter ; there was another daughter by the name of Olive Zerita ; and they had a third daughter by the name of Alex, who died near the age of five. Lastly, some of Dr. J.C.Roy's friends included Dr. John Tildon Miller ; Maryland "The Colored Cattle King" Brooks ; a Negro Building Contractor by the name of William Medlock Sr., who along with his Negro workers, built many of the homes in the area of Flynn, North 21st, and Adams Streets, off of Desiard Street in Monroe ; Rev. T. C. Warden ; and Dr. Raymond O. Pierce, the Grandfather of Dr. Ollibeth Reddix of Monroe.