Worth a thousand words
Library digitizes nearly 200 photos to preserve photos that captured life in Scotlandville, Southern University, and Baton Rouge
If a picture is worth a thousand words, the East Baton Rouge Parish Digital Library is now home to more than 200,000 “words” thanks to a donation from local photojournalist James Terry III.
The digital library is now home to 200 photos that captured the lives of Black Baton Rouge residents from during the ‘50s through ‘70s. The photos are part Terry’s Willie Harris Collection.
Willie Harris, a former Southern University campus police chief, was a commercial photographer when he wasn't investigating campus crime or directing traffic. Harris photographed schools, churches, social clubs and organizations, events and individuals in the neighborhoods surrounding Southern University in Baton Rouge, including Southern Heights Subdivision.
A year after Harris’s death, Terry rescued more than 30,000 photographs inside Kodak boxes in a garbage pile left outside of a residency in Southern Heights, in 1995. He solicited the help of local photographers Naville John Oubre, Eddie Harris, and Christopher Rogers Sr. They sorted through thousands of film negatives and prints that captured scenes from the Scotlandville, Southern University, and Baton Rouge communities.
Since then, Terry has published historical, photographic timelines including his photos and Harris’ in the seven-book Willie Harris Collection.
A portion of the Willie Harris photograph collection along with printed copies of the book collection are housed in the Black Heritage Room of the Scotlandville Branch Library, located at Scenic Highway in Baton Rouge.
The collection includes Our Story, Our Glory; More Glory, Spirit of the People, Tribute, Freedom’s People; Image of Gloryland; Jena 6; Old South Baton Rouge; History of Louisiana NAACP; and The History of Blacks in Law Enforcement in Louisiana. Terry has also published a three-volume collection called Images of Courage that displays Black leadership and celebrations across the state.
For more than 30 years, Terry has hosted a traveling exhibit to identify thousands of the people and events captured by Harris.