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SULPHUR, La. (KPLC) - Vinetta Celestine Briscoe and Veronica Allision were recently honored by the City of Sulphur for their service. Briscoe was the city’s first black female officer and Allision was Sulphur’s first black city council member. Briscoe started as a radio dispatcher and worked up to be a member of the detective squad before retiring to the sheriff’s department.

“Yes, it was hard, very hard,” recalled Briscoe. “Not only was it hard with the guys I worked with sometimes, but it was hard in the streets. Especially some parts of Sulphur. There are certain parts of Sulphur where you would still go and see like the little racial signs and stuff like that. But you had to not let that make that decision for you.”

Allision was council member for district 3.

“I wanted to serve the city as a whole, but also represent my community at the same time,” said Allison. “So I did not focus on being the first black, I focused on being a good leader of our community and a strong councilperson for my district.”

Current Council member Melinda Hardy says these two ladies are at the heart of Black History Month.

“I’m reminded of Dr. King’s dream,” said Hardy. “You know, the part where he said that one day, his four little children would not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. That’s a metaphor for these ladies.”

Briscoe now works with the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Department in courthouse security. Allison still stays active with the city zoning and land use boards.