Black History...Visions of Hope

Betty Ward-Cooper is the daughter of the late Dennis, Sr. and Gertrude (Brown) Ward. Betty was born in Wisner, Louisiana, of Franklin Parish. She attended Wisner Elementary School; then, Wisner-Gilbert High School and graduated Valedictorian in 1969. At the same time of being honored as the top graduate, she received the top award of excellence in the category of oratory at the annual state competition sponsored by the Louisiana High School Rally Association. She earned a scholarship to Northeast Louisiana University at Monroe, Louisiana, later renamed the University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM), and the City of Monroe became her home in 1971. She is an educator and retired faculty member from ULM's College of Business & Social Sciences; specifically, the Accounting, Finance & Information Systems Department. Before completing 35 consecutive years of teaching at ULM, she also taught eight (8) years in the Ouachita Parish School System; yielding 43 years of continued service. Her career as an educator, imparting knowledge to so many students, concluded after 43 years of teaching but her journey began as a little girl surrounded by her loving parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and the community who helped shape her desire to become a teacher. Along with farming, Betty's father was a business owner providing a water-well service and a small engine repair business. Betty's mother was a stay-at-home mom that also found time to serve the entire community of Wisner, Louisiana with her God-given talents of designing and sewing hats, suits, dresses, and other specialty items. Betty grew up learning about the plight of African-Americans from her family and her own personal experiences. She recalls as a teenager going to the movie theater and a diner, only to realize that there was separate seating for Blacks and Whites, and the diner did not permit Blacks to sit inside the diner at all but had to go to the rear outside window for service. She felt deep in her heart that this was not the way things should be. One day she and a classmate amassed the courage to go into the front door of that same diner and asked to be served but as expected they were told they had to go to the outside rear window if they wanted service. Betty knew that the white proprietor was not going to allow them to enter the diner and be seated, but she and her classmate meant to challenge the unfairness at the diner. She also remembered the words of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who once said "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." She remembered that experience at the diner and committed herself to change her community.