West Baton Rouge Genealogical Society

04/09/2026

Please join us for our second quarterly meeting this year Saturday, April 11, 2026 at the West Baton Rouge Museum. The meeting begins at 10:00 a.m. followed by an "Explorations in Genealogy" presentation beginning at 10:30 a.m.

Our presenter at this meeting will be family historian and genealogist Marlon Bourque, a Louisiana native born into a French-Acadian community in rural Lafayette Parish. Mr. Bourque has traced his family genealogy back to 1590s France, and has traveled to his Acadian homeland in Nova Scotia, Canada in order to further his research and to attend several Congrès Modial
Acadien (Acadian World Congress) events. He has completed a nearly 15 generation Bourg/Bourque family tree, and will speak about what motivated him, how he gott started, where he researched, and his research methods.

Explorations in Genealogy is hosted by the West Baton Rouge Genealogical Society and is sponsored by the West Baton Rouge Museum. This program is FREE, open to the public, and no registration is required. The West Baton Rouge Museum is located at 845 North Jefferson Avenue in Port Allen. For more information, please visit www.facebook.com/TheWBRM or www.WestBatonRougeMuseum.org

01/10/2026

Please come out and support me. If you were part of our Acadian Heritage tour, you got to see a glimpse of the endangered cemeteries. This exhibit displays all of those and more! Beautiful artwork and photography help to tell the story.

01/07/2026

Please join us for our first quarterly meeting Saturday, January 10, 2026. The meeting begins at 9:45 a.m., followed by an exciting presentation by Ja'el Gordon, which begins at 10:30 a.m. (see below).

The meeting and presentation are FREE and open to the public!

The West Baton Rouge Museum is located at 845 N. Jefferson Avenue
Port Allen, LA 70767.

Using detailed archival research, plantation records, and art analysis, Gordon will demonstrate how these methods uncover the real lives behind figures who were deliberately erased or left unidentified. This work shows how combining genealogy with material culture allows museums to restore identity, agency, and historical truth to the enslaved people represented in these images.

Ja’el Gordon is a historian and genealogist specializing in Deep South antebellum history, genetic genealogy, cultural exhibit installations, and descendant outreach. As a researcher, Ja’el works for and on current and “lost” plantation sites, where she conducts investigative research and provides corrective narrative education programming. Her expertise also includes repository research, collection curation, exhibition installations, cemetery preservation, and event/programming planning. Ja’el holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from Southern University and A&M College at Baton Rouge, a Master of Arts in Museum Studies from Southern University New Orleans, and is a Ph.D. Candidate in Higher Education at Jackson State University.

This presentation coincides with the opening date of the current exhibit on display through March 8, 2026, Gone But Not Forgotten: Black Cemeteries of West Baton Rouge. Guest curated by fellow genealogist, cemetery mapper, and founder of the nonprofit, Westside Cemetery Preservation, Debbie Martin, this exhibit examines the historic lost burial grounds of enslaved Black people across the parish as well as those cemeteries that are in danger of becoming lost to Mother Nature or land development.

Explorations in Genealogy is hosted by the West Baton Rouge Genealogical Society and is sponsored by the West Baton Rouge Museum. This program is FREE, open to the public, and no registration is required.

Hope to see you there!

12/31/2025

Hope to see you there! If you cant make the reception, the exhibit will be available from Jan. 10, 2026 - Mar. 6, 2026.

Artwork by Ellen Ogden
Photography by Jazz Bishop
Music by Leroy Bishop Toussaint

In addition to the exhibit, there will
3 great presentations in the month of January!
Featuring YaYa YaYa, Jazz Bishop, and Dr. Brendan Harmon

12/26/2025

I am excited to announce the upcoming exhibit, "In Memory of". It will run from Jan. 10, 2026 - March 16, 2026.

https://www.wafb.com/video/2025/12/20/west-baton-rouge-museum-previews-upcoming-january-exhibits-events/

The West Baton Rouge Museum previewed upcoming January events and exhibits.

09/12/2025

09/08/2025

Welcome Bryan Wann. Bryan's wife is a descendant of Jean Baptiste Hebert. They are looking for information on this line. Billy Hebert

08/09/2025

We'd like to extend sincere thanks to those who attended the Morley presentation this morning! It was a great turnout!

Several folks have asked if today's event was recorded -- the answer is yes! However, the link to the presentation won't be available until next week. The downloading and editing process takes awhile and Museum personnel were not available to do all that today.

Once the link is provided by the Museum I will make sure it's posted on the West Baton Rouge Genealogical Society's page, as well as the Museum's and Billy Hebert's personal page.

07/08/2025

I have the following genealogy/history books for sale:

Requiem: Jackson County, MS Cemetery Records Volumes 1 & 2. Compiled by: Thelma C. Estabrook- Published 1969 by: Lewis Secretarial & Printing Service
$15 each

Dm Patricia Perrault

07/04/2025

Please join us Saturday, July 12, 2025 for our quarterly meeting held at the West Baton Rouge Museum, located at 845 N Jefferson Ave, Port Allen, LA 70767.

The business portion of the meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. An informative presentation by Daniel Blanchard follows. Mr. Blanchard will discuss the pitfalls and hazards when doing genealogical research using historical records, and ways to avoid obtaining inaccurate information.

THE MEETING AND PRESENTATION ARE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!

Please visit our website at:
https://wbrgenealogicalsociety.weebly.com/

06/16/2025

🏛️ BREAKING: Historic St. Francis Hall in Brusly faces an uncertain future as descendant families fight to preserve the last remnant of a lost Louisiana river community.

This 93-year-old building is the sole surviving structure from Sardine Point - a thriving Mississippi River settlement that housed hundreds of families until federal flood control forced its abandonment in 1932.

Now church renovation plans threaten the building where generations learned their faith, held weddings, and kept their heritage alive.

The families who moved this chapel "with horses pulling... logs and cables" in 1932 are asking for community support once again.

Read the full story - link in comments 👇