Voila 2007 Fall (PDF) - Nicholls State University

Shalonda Johnson, graduating sociology senior from
Franklin, began contacting authors of past newspaper articles
about St. Luke’s, with little luck. Diaquire Johnson, sociology
senior from Bayou Dularge, set out to the Lafourche Parish
Clerk of Court’s office to collect the church’s property records.
Immediately, she also faced a challenge. No records could be
found for a St. Luke’s Baptist Church on La. 20 in Chackbay.
Through hours of Internet searching and perhaps a little
luck, the students discovered the church’s dual name of St.
Luke’s/Little Zion. That was news even to past members of its
congregation.
Johnson retrieved documents, under the name Little
Zion, dating back to 1802
at the initial subdivision
of the church’s property,
which she believes was part
of Cleona Plantation. It’s
hard to be sure, though,
since all transactions were
made in the name of private
individuals. The church
property still belongs to
remaining members of the
congregation. St. Luke’s was
probably built soon after the
deed was signed in 1883.
Probably. Some mysteries
still remain after a semester
of searching, documenting
and speculating.
Gaining momentum
Tina Granger, sociology
junior from Houma,
was connected to Shanklin
through the Lafourche
Historical Society. The
two quickly began a ritual.
Once a week, Granger and
Shanklin met at Galliano
Hall cafeteria to eat lunch
and travel back in time.
Shanklin brought family
photos, genealogy charts
and her memory. Granger
brought an attentive ear.
Both began filling in the blanks in the genealogy of
Shanklin’s father, the Rev. Andrew W. Robinson. A genealogical
chart Shanklin had from her great-grandfather Joseph Parks
contributed tremendously. Records don’t make piecing history
together easy, though. Names are often misspelled or change
with time.
In fact, Shanklin’s documents originally referenced her
great-grandfather as Joseph Parr (a.k.a. Parks), which she
simply brushes off as a spelling error. However, Granger isn’t so
sure. Her maternal aunt married a Parr from Houma. His genealogy
references the upper Lafourche area and causes Granger
to wonder if there is a connection … if her Caucasian family
may have African-American roots.
“This is a treasure to me,” Granger says, grasping both genealogies
in her hands. “With the knowledge that many slaves
took the name of their masters, there may be a connection between
my family and Mrs. Shanklin’s. During Reconstruction,
many African-Americans changed their names, some slightly,
some drastically, to dissociate from those times.”
Granger and Shanklin plan to speak with other descendants
at the Parks family reunion. Olinda Ricard, management
senior from Killeen, Texas, has helped create a survey to
gather more memories from those in attendance. St. Luke’s has
become a personal mission for Granger. Regardless of whether
a family connection exists
or not, she is immersed in
the project. More can and
must be done. If nothing
else is done, what will
protect the remains of the
church
Research alone won’t
cut it. On a trip to the
church property, Shanklin
and Granger find several
candles arranged in a
circle in the center of the
building’s floor, perhaps
from a ritual. When they
return weeks later, the
evidence is gone.
Granger snaps her
fingers. “The building
could have gone up in
flames just like that.
There is nothing to stop
trespassers. The front
entrance is rotted through
and through. Even I
wouldn’t dare step into
that building.”
Preserving the past
St. Luke’s has been
abandoned since the
1970s. Robinson retired,
and his son-in-law, the
Rev. Joe Woods, was asked to become pastor. However, Woods
already had a church under his wing and asked St. Luke’s congregation
to join him there. St. Luke’s entered what Granger
refers to as its “winter years.”
Yet on this April day, it is alive. Vehicles begin to fill the
property in an unorganized, rushed fashion. Car doors slam
and the chatter of the crowd grows louder. All visitors gather
around the church entrance, waiting for the service to begin.
The scene wasn’t so different 50 years ago – except for the
sounds of gospel songs, organ music and prayer shouts, now
replaced by the drone of a weed-eater, clicks of cameras and the
rustle of garbage bags.
More than 25 Nicholls sociology students split into groups
St. Luke’s Baptist Church in Chackbay
to begin the day’s work. Behind the church building lies the
biggest challenge – a once serene graveyard now overtaken
by wild woods. Beams of sunlight reveal the tops of crossshaped
grave markers hidden for decades behind ferns and tree
branches. Butler, clad in camouflaged pants, begins chopping
down small trees as students rake up the debris and drag
branches away from the 12 tombstones. Tomb etchings will
be archived. Two belong to Annie and Sarah Parks, Shanklin’s
grandmother and great-grandmother. Another resembles a
child’s grave, though Shanklin has no memory of a burial for
someone so young.
Dameyel Welsch, history senior from Paradis, takes a break
from cleaning the site: “You know, you don’t get an opportunity
every day to reflect on the history of the area and your ancestors.
It makes me think about my church. The First Baptist
Church of Paradis probably started as a small church similar to
this one. Many back then didn’t want black churches and believed
that blacks didn’t have souls, but the slaves did what God
told them to do. The legacy of the African-American slaves who
first started these churches lives on through these churches.”
Welsch wonders what will happen to St. Luke’s after the
day’s work is over. Granger already has plans for that. The
research manuscript required of the sociology students will
be only the beginning. Granger will continue to work with
Shanklin to produce a book, which will be sold to benefit the
property’s upkeep and conservation. A brochure on the site will
be created and distributed at local tourist commission offices.
Video footage of the group’s work will be used in future sociology
courses and in presentations at future research symposiums.
A brick from the church’s foundation as well as a piece
of siding will be archived. An application will also be presented
to the Louisiana Historical Commission to declare St. Luke’s a
historical landmark.
“This project may go several years until the book is complete,
but I will continue working privately with Mrs. Shanklin
to make sure the church is properly preserved,” Granger says.
Remembering the way things were
Shanklin can see straight through the empty church. It’s
not how it used to be. There were doors, of course. The area
now covered in rotten boards and twigs used to be an entrance
hall. The church bell has been stolen from the steeple. The
pews, which each held about five people, are also gone. She
remembers the coat and hat racks that hung on the walls, the
mahogany piano that sat on the right side of the building and
the pulpit at the church’s front.
Intuitively, Shanklin always knew something would
become of St. Luke’s. For years, she collected paperwork on the
church from her relatives, even though she had not attended
services there since her college days. The church often crept
into her thoughts and became part of her prayers, especially
during hurricane season. Shanklin, now a retired educator,
couldn’t figure out why St. Luke’s didn’t fade from her memory.
Now, she understands.
Tombstones mark the passing of some of the church’s congregation. Left without a pastor, the remaining
members drifted to other churches in the 1970s. Thus began the church’s “winter years.”
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