The Planter

The Planter Gallery

Flood of 1927

In 1927, some of the parishes along the Mississippi River were overwhelmed by massive flooding. The Great Flood of 1927 killed approximately 247 people and displaced over 600,000 residents along the Mississippi river.

1927 Mississippi River flood Hamburg, Louisiana 

Department of Special Collections, University of Chicago Library 

1927

New Africa Farm

According to the 1927 Proceedings of the Executive Session of the General Grand Independent Order of Brothers and Sisters of Love and Charity of North and South America, Liberia and Adjacent Islands 

“the death rates for the year have run high but with strong firm position in this department we have been able to take proper care of all of our Burial Claims as they fall due; with a strong balance still on hand.”

The prosperity of the organization was due to the diligence of Dr. Lowery and the growth of New Africa Farm, in Modeste, LA.

New Africa Farm

In 1933, four years after the Great Depression, Dr. Lowery purchased New Africa Farm from the General Grand Independent Order of Brothers and Sisters of Love and Charity of North and South America, Liberia, and Adjacent Islands for the amount of $17,500. This 450-acre farm gave jobs to more than 200 African Americans in the rural community.

New Africa Farm was also the place where Leonard Julien invented the sugarcane planting machine. Mr. Julien lived on and managed New Africa Farm from 1933 to 1973. The farm was disassembled in 2009 due to a lack of funding for the restoration and the moving of the building.

Leonard Julien and his sugarcane planting machine