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Summer 2026—February 2027
2026 SFA Film Residency, with multi-city in-person experiences and monthly virtual workshops ⟶
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Renew
Summer 2026—February 2027
2026 SFA Film Residency, with multi-city in-person experiences and monthly virtual workshops ⟶

Oral Histories

The SFA oral history program documents life stories from the American South. Collecting these stories, we honor the people whose labor defines the region. If you would like to contribute to SFA’s oral history collections, please send your ideas for oral history along with your CV or Resume and a portfolio of prior oral history work to info@southernfoodways.org.

< Back to Oral History project: Southern Maid Donuts

ORAL HISTORY

Shavana James

Southern Maid Donuts

Shavana James, born in 1980, was raised in Bossier City, Louisiana. In 1999, while driving down Barksdale Boulevard in Bossier City, just before her nineteenth birthday, she saw a new Southern Maid Donuts location under construction. She walked in, applied for a job, and was hired on the spot.

At this location, employees prepare donut glaze, white icing, pink icing, chocolate icing, and maple icing all in-house. The large, crunchy and flat apple fritters are a favorite for many local patrons. Shavana builds relationships with her customers, believing that “God has her here for a reason.” Twenty-three years and multiple store owners later, she says her regular customers continue to bring her joy.

Date of interview:
2022-02-23

Interviewer:
Dr. Jaime Cantrell

Photographer:
Shannon Palmer

Download Transcript

“

“When I first started, we had a machine where you would put the donuts on the machine, but you would kick this foot pedal and the donuts dropped down into the machine and then you went over the top, so the top and the bottom were glazed. But this newer stuff, they only glaze the top of it. But I like the old machine better where everything was glazed.” - Shavanna James

Other Project Interviews

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Larry Ryan

Larry Ryan is a radio broadcaster in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Interview

Sunny Dear

Sunny Dear is the granddaughter of JB and Rosalee Hargrove, founders of Southern Maid Donut and Flour Company in Garland, Texas.

Interview

Mike Jones

Mike Jones is the owner of Southern Maid Donuts shop on Hearne Avenue in Shreveport, LA.

Interview

Lon Hargrove

Lon Hargrove is the son of JB and Rosalee Hargrove, founders of Southern Maid Donut and Flour Company in Garland, Texas.

Interview

Bill Hoffoss

Bill Hoffoss owns Hamburger Happiness in Minden, LA.

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