By Garry Blanson
Part One of a Two-Part Series
If you’re over the age of 50, you may remember the old saying: “If you want to hide something from a Negro, put it in a book.” When I was in school, it seemed that those selecting the history content for schools on the Southside of Monroe, Louisiana, thought it was just as easy to leave information out altogether.
To illustrate, several prominent Black people once lived in Monroe, yet none of their names appeared in school history books. These pioneers helped pave the way for generations living here today.
Richard Barrington, a former slave of Louisiana Senator Solomon W. Downs, later bought the headstone for his former master’s grave and helped establish the Wisner School, which became Carroll High School. Anthony Overton Sr. helped organize one of the first schools in Ouachita Parish for colored children in 1867, and his son, Anthony Overton II, owned one of the largest Black-owned businesses in Chicago around 1925.
Doctors John T. Miller and Joseph C. Roy Jr. built the historic Miller-Roy Building in 1929. Gertrude Ammons became the first Black supervisor of instruction in the Ouachita Parish School System in 1931. Samuel B. Fuller was a successful businessman whose story appeared in “Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude.”
Other Monroe pioneers include Mary Ann Cook, who ran a private school for colored children; Solomon Lee Robinson, father of educators B.D. Robinson, Zettie Robinson Beckwith, Mary Frances Robinson Goins, and former Sickle Cell Director Vivian Robinson Hester; and Ibra “January the Tailor” January, a leading local tailor. William Medlock owned a funeral home and construction company, Maceio Dunn ran a funeral casket business, Abraham Bowie Sr. operated a restaurant, James “Son” Starks owned a motel, and Dr. Raymond O. Pierce owned Pierce’s Pharmacy, where his daughter Arnetta became the first Black female pharmacist in Monroe.
Now, on to this week’s featured pioneer: Madam M.E.D. Hockenhull.
It’s astonishing that a woman like Madam Hockenhull—an early developer of hair and beauty products for Black women and a contemporary of Madam C.J. Walker and Annie Turnbo Malone—was left out of history lessons and rarely mentioned even during Black History Month programs.
Madam Hockenhull was born Martha “Mattie” Ella Danner on May 13, 1873, in Como, Mississippi, to Civil War veteran Edward Danner Sr. and Louisa B. Danner. She attended schools for colored children in Panola County. Although she dropped out, Martha was talented and creative—especially in sewing—and once dreamed of becoming a fashion designer.
Encouraged by family and friends, she pursued teaching. After a few years, she married Reverend John Gray, and together they had a son, Isaac Gray. Later, she divorced and moved to Pine Bluff, Arkansas, with her son, eventually marrying businessman Robert Hockenhull, who adopted Isaac and made Martha his business partner.
To be continued—please stay tuned!
