St. Tammany Historical Society

The St. Tammany Historical Society for many years was a fun and productive group, engaging in meetings, banquets, exhibits, and coffees, with speakers all focused on the history of St. Tammany Parish and southeast Louisiana (a rather unusual place when it comes to the past 300 years.) 

Click on the images and articles below to see a larger version. 
 

The historical group was formed in 1972 and kept busy publishing gazettes, encouraging research, and planning for a museum of some type. It usually met at the Mandeville City Hall. Here are some pictures. Click on the images to make them appear larger. 

A Historical Society Luncheon

Viewing Exhibits with Bill Bruggman and Louis Wagner

Ron Barthet and Dr. S.H. Colvin putting together an exhibit at Mandeville City Hall

 

1976

Guest Speaker Pie Dufour is greeted by Ella Paine

Bertha Neff talking with Steve Ellis

The officers and board of directors in the mid-1970's: Seated from left are Germaine Cousin Smith and Miss Ella Paine. Standing from left, Ron Barthet, Mrs. F. W. Grant, Dr. S. Harvey Colvin, Bill Koonce, Mrs. Bertha Neff, and Carl Fredericks. 
 

Historical Society leaders, from left, Bertha Neff, Ron Barthet, Dr. Harvey Colvin, Steve Ellis, Ella Paine, Carl Fredericks, Carolyn and Bill Brugmann. 

Passing the Gavel: from left, Louis Ross Jr., Maurice LeGardeur, Fritzi Martin and Eric Bissel

 

Ron Barthet and John Hunley

Iris Kelso, Meda Koepp and Fritzi Martin

Meetings

In The News

 

Newsletters

To read more about the historical society's publications, click on the article below from the 1985 edition of the Greater Covington Chamber of Commerce magazine. 

To read more about the Mandeville Architectural Survey, CLICK HERE

 

 

Melba Colvin and Bertha Neff

In January of 1989, members of the Historical Society posed with the group's publications at the Covington Branch of the St. Tammany Parish Library. 

Warren Salles spoke to the historical society in 1997 about the movie industry. 

CLICK HERE to hear what he said. 

In 1996, the historical society visited Bay St. Louis and heard its historian tell of similarities between Hancock County and St. Tammany Parish. CLICK HERE.

C. Howard Nichols talks about parish history. CLICK HERE 

Powell Casey talks about the history of Military Road. CLICK HERE.

CLICK HERE for a brief chronology of St. Tammany History, 

courtesy of the Historical Society

Historical society members took part in the "8 Flags Over St. Tammany" Exhibit

CLICK HERE to see some of the exhibits

Speech details the life of John Wharton Collins

 

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One of the first efforts to start a historical society in this area took place in 1954. Here's a letter that went out to residents interested in organizing a history research group for both Washington and St. Tammany Parishes. Click on the image below to enlarge the text. 

 

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New efforts to revive the society's activities were made in August of 2018. Here are some photos from a meeting held at the Madisonville Museum hosted by Iris Lulu-Simoneaux Vacante and attended by many members and officers of the society from across the group's 46 year history. 

 

Iris Lulu-Simoneaux Vacante

Donald Sharp, holding just one of the several volumes of historical research he has gathered involving the "Tchefuncte River Corridor" and the towns along the waterway.