Edge Rewrite
everything Source code View original
// HTMLRewriter · presentation

This page was redesigned at the edge.

Cloudflare fetched the original article and streamed it through HTMLRewriter to apply an entirely new visual system without rebuilding the source page.

// request.cf · coarse context

A page that knows where it met you.

Only coarse request metadata is shown. This demo does not display or persist visitor IP addresses.

Country
US
Cloudflare location
CMH
Connection
HTTP/2
Language
Not provided

Ray ID: a294c4c82cbb98f1

Jump to content

// Workers AI · dad joke modeIs Antoinette Harrell an ant expert? No, that's a small part of her name.

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Harrell in 2026

Antoinette Harrell (born c. 1960)[1] is an American historian, genealogist, and civil rights activist. She is known for her research on the post-slavery peonage of African-American sharecroppers in the southern United States.[2][3]

Career

[edit]

Much of Harrell's work involves tracing the lineage of African-American families in the southern United States, where they were often subject to local and state laws, known as Black Codes, that made it possible for whites to retain control over them, often in conditions that were reminiscent of those during the existence of chattel slavery.[4] Harrell had been active in local genealogical research in Louisiana since around 1994, when she began researching her own family's history as slaves. She began giving lectures on the subject, and was approached by Mae Miller who stated that she had been enslaved up until recently in Mississippi.[2][5][1] Mae Miller's life story came to light when she spoke to Harrell about it;[6][7] Harrell highlighted it in the short documentary The Untold Story: Slavery in the 20th Century (2009), which Harrell executive produced.[8] According to testimony gathered by Harrell, conditions like this persisted through the 20th century, with some people remaining trapped in debt bondage and sharecropping through the 1970s,[4][9] a notable instance being a family held on a modern-day plantation in Killona, Louisiana.[1] As a family historian, Harrell conducts this research by interviewing living descendants and families of people who were subjected to these 20th-century debt bondage systems, as well as by reviewing deeds, census information, and records from local archives and libraries[2] and even those from the National Archives in Washington, D.C.[10]

Harrell has been involved in lawsuits pertaining to the history of slavery and forced debt bondage of African Americans, including a class action suit brought by Deadria Farmer-Paellmann and the Restitution Study Group against corporations that were known to have historically financed or otherwise benefited from slavery, including Aetna Insurance, CSX Railroad, and Lloyd's of London.[11][12] Most of the defendant corporations were involved in the insurance or transportation industries, and were alleged to be liable for having insured, transported, or owned slaves.[13]

Her extensive research on African-American leaders and churches in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana has led to four National Historical Markers being erected in the parish: at Greater St. James AME Church in Hammond, La. founded by the Rev. Charles Daggs;[14] at the gravesite of Ponchatoula's first Black Mayor Arthur Tasker; [15][16] at Grant Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church[17] in Amite, and at Mt. Canaan Missionary Baptist Church of Arcola organized[14] by the Reverend M. Allen.

Materials collected by Harrell, including photographs and recorded oral histories, are kept in seven African-American collections at the Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies at Southeastern Louisiana University.[18][19] These collections document the history, genealogy, and cultural heritage of the Harrell Family, Richardson Funeral Home Collection in Amite, La.[20], the Reverend Arthur Tasker[21], Robert "Free Bob" Louis Vernon Jr.[22], Bernice Alexander Bennett,[23] Mt. Canaan Missionary Baptist Church of Arcola,[22] and Eddie and Carrie Ponds.[24] Her research is also archived at the Amistad Research Center at Tulane University in New Orleans.[3][25] She has publicized her research through numerous books and feature articles in Louisiana media including The Drum, Jozef Syndicate La, and 64 Parishes magazine[26] as well as a local access television show called Knowing Your Family History, a weekly video discussion called Nurturing Our Roots, and has hosted Youth Genealogy Camps, where students are able to trace family histories through the same methods that she uses in her research.[25]

In 2017, she earned honorary doctor of divinity from The People's Bible Training Institute in Florida for her national and international activism and community services.

Bibliography

[edit]
  • Harrell, Antionette (2000). You are My Shadow: The Harrell's Genealogy and Historical Identity. Sunrise Press. ISBN 978-0967727905.
  • Harrell, Antionette (2010). Nurturing My Family Tree: Genealogy for Children. AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1468580600.
  • Harrell, Antionette (2014). Department of Justice: Slavery, Peonage, and Involuntary Servitude. Antoinette Harrell. ISBN 978-0967727998.
  • Harrell, Antoinette; Smith, Leonard (2019). Images of America: African Americans in Tangipahoa and St. Helena Parishes. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1467102643.

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 Thibodeaux, Anna (June 11, 2018). "Research shows slaves remained on Killona plantation until 1970s". St. Charles Herald Guide. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  2. 1 2 3 Harrell, Antoinette; Fornal, Justin (February 27, 2018). "Black People in the US Were Enslaved Well into the 1960s". Vice Media. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  3. 1 2 Render, Felicia D. (July 8, 2021). "In the Shadows of History: Documenting the Activism of Antoinette Harrell". Amistad Research Center. Tulane University. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  4. 1 2 "Black children were fed to hogs". The Miami Times. July 24, 2019. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  5. ↑ Letzter, Rafi (February 28, 2018). "Black People Were Enslaved in the US Until as Recently as 1963". Live Science. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  6. ↑ "Sisters: We Were Modern-Day Slaves". ABC News.
  7. ↑ Livingston, Kojo (February 27, 2012). "The Hard Truth - Black history: Stolen stories". The Louisiana Weekly. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  8. ↑ Josh Johnston (director); Antoinette Harrell (executive producer) (2009). The Untold Story: Slavery in the 20th Century (Motion picture). Untold Legacy Productions. OCLC 864271202. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  9. ↑ "Sisters: We Were Modern-Day Slaves". ABC News. January 6, 2006. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  10. ↑ "About Us". peonagedetective.com. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  11. ↑ "More lawsuits seeking slave reparations". Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. September 4, 2002. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  12. ↑ Walsh, Conal (March 27, 2004). "Slave descendants sue Lloyd's for billions". The Guardian. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  13. ↑ Inniss, Lolita Buckner (Summer 2010). "A Critical Legal Rhetoric Approach to In Re African-American Slave Descendants Litigation Slave Descendants Litigation". Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development. 24 (4) – via Journals at St. John's Law Scholarship Repository.
  14. 1 2 Reed, Zenobia (June 25, 2026). "Churches to receive historical markers in Tangipahoa". The Drum. Retrieved July 11, 2026.
  15. ↑ Lester, Cora (May 17, 2024). "Ponchatoula immortalizes first Black mayor, Rev. Arthur Tasker". The Drum. p. 1. Retrieved July 9, 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. ↑ Meek, Richard (May 17, 2024). "Marker honors Rev. Tasker's legacy". The Hammond Star. Retrieved July 9, 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. ↑ Mirando, Lil (July 21, 2025). "Grant Chapel preserves its history with marker". The Hammond Star. Retrieved July 10, 2026.
  18. ↑ "Antoinette Harrell Collection". Southeastern Louisiana University. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  19. ↑ "Antoinette Harrell - Biography". Louisiana Book Festival. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  20. ↑ "Richardson Funeral Home Collection". Southeastern Louisiana University. Retrieved July 1, 2026.
  21. ↑ "Reverend Arthur Tasker Collection". Southeastern Louisiana University. June 26, 2025. Retrieved July 1, 2026.
  22. 1 2 "Mount Canaan Missionary Baptist Church; Robert 'Free Bob'; Louis Vernon, Jr. Archival Collection". Southeastern Louisiana University. May 19, 2026. Retrieved June 26, 2026.
  23. ↑ "Bernice Alexander Bennett Collection". Southeastern Louisiana University. Retrieved July 9, 2026.
  24. ↑ "Eddie & Carrie Wells-Ponds Collection". Southeastern Louisiana University. May 30, 2024. Retrieved July 2, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  25. 1 2 "Young Black Students at U.S. Genealogy Camp Trace Their Roots - Higher Education". Diverse: Issues In Higher Education. August 10, 2005. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  26. ↑ Harrell, Antoinette (December 1, 2025). "The Womack Family: Preserving the tradition of cane syrup making in St. Helena Parish". 64 Parishes. Retrieved July 11, 2026.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Antoinette_Harrell&oldid=1363977366"