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Golden Anniversary Celebration of Civil Rights Activities in North Louisiana
Golden Anniversary Celebration of Civil Rights Activities in North Louisiana
BesCa Land Services, LLC Harry Patterson Tower 6007 Financial Plaza, Suite 4-B Shreveport, Louisiana 71129 318-687-3787 Bessie T. Casey-CEO Ree J. Casey-Jones, Esquire Jermaine T. Casey
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The Executive Committee of the North Louisiana Civil Rights Coalition Dr. Clifford McLain, Chairman Dr. Harry Blake, Honorary Chairman
First Row: L to RMrs. Barbara Pendleton, Dr. Mary Louise Wilson, Mrs. Maxine Sarpy, Mrs. Eursla Hardy, Ms. Debbie Allen Second Row: L to RRev. Asriel McLain, Mrs. Verma Henderson, Mrs. Ruther Washington, Mrs. Betty Wynn, Mrs. Barnadine Anderson, Attorney Margaret Ford, Mr. Michael Hicks Third Row: L to RMr. Art Anderson, Mr. William Bradford, Rev. Aaron Franklin, Rev. Harry Blake, Rev. C. E. McLain, Rev. Calvin Austin, Rev. R. Timothy Jones.
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Memorial Service
Wednesday, September 18, 2013 10:00 A.M.
Little Union Baptist Church 1846 Milam Street Shreveport, Louisiana
Dr. Clifford E. McLain, Pastor Mrs. Maxine Sarpy, Mistress of Ceremony Mr. Michael Harris-Musician Musical Prelude The Call to Worship Opening Song Negro National Anthem Lift Every Voice and Sing by J. Rosamond Johnson and James Weldon Johnson The Reading of the Scriptures Reverend Robert Walton Pastor, Saint Rest Baptist Church Shreveport, Louisiana The Prayer Reverend Aaron Franklin Interim Pastor, Baptist Temple Baptist Church Shreveport, Louisiana Music The Welcome and The Occassion Mrs. Verma Lee Henderson The Memorial Period Mrs. Ruther Washington
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Music Remarks The Honorable Cedric Bradford Glover Mayor, City of Shreveport, Louisiana Mr. Henry Walker, Esq. Civil Rights Attorney The Reverend John Russell Pastor, New Antioch Baptist Church Monroe, Louisiana Rabbi Joel Pearce, Esq. Congregation Messiah Now Shreveport, Louisiana Dr. Ray Belton Chancellor, Southern UniversityShreveport Campus Father Andre McGrath Priest, Our Lady of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church Shreveport, Louisiana Mr. Lloyd Thompson President, Shreveport Chapter, NAACP I Have A Dream Master. Cobalyn Jenkins Student, Arthur Circle Elementary School Shreveport, Louisiana Introduction of the Speaker Reverend Asriel G. McLain Speaker Dr. Aaron Dobynes Pastor, Evergreen Baptist Church Shreveport, Louisiana
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Music Expressions Dr. Clifford E. McLain Pastor, Little Union Baptist Church Shreveport, Louisiana Chairman, North Louisiana Civil Rights Coalition Dr. E. Edward Jones President, Baptist Ministers Fellowship of Shreveport and Vicinity Pastor, Galilee Baptist Church Shreveport, Louisiana Dr. Harry Blake Vice-President, National Baptist Convention, USA, Incorporated Pastor, Mount Canaan Baptist Church Shreveport, Louisiana Honorary Chairman, North Louisiana Civil Rights Coalition The Benediction Reverend Calvin Austin Pastor, Mount Pleasant Baptist Church Shreveport, Louisiana Press Conference Tour of the Little Union Achieves Room Second Floor of the C.C. McLain Educational Building
Visit of Civil Rights Sites in Shreveport, Louisiana
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Mr. Rosie Banks, Sr. Mrs. Ann Brewster Mr. Charles Brown Brother Baruti Mr. Melvin Collins, Jr. Mr. Joe Davis
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Dr. Leonard C. Barnes Mrs. Willie Boyd Mrs. Helen Brown Mr. Jean Brierre Mrs. Clara Carr Mr. Melvin Crockett Mrs. Peola Davis
Rev. Durham (Coushatta) * Ms. Louise Demery Dr. Charles E. Galloway Rev. Herman Farr Mrs. Virginia Harris Mr. Ben Johnson Rev. B. J. Mason * * * Mr. McHenry Hardy, Jr. Bishop Joseph Johnson * * * * Mrs. Marie Gifford Mr,.Pete Harris Mr. J.K. Haynes Ms. Ophelia Kennon * Rev. William Norris Dr. Louis Pendleton * Rev. J. R. Rethledge * Dr. Joseph Sarpy, M.D. * Rev. L. P. Sims * Rev. John B. Simmons * Dr. James T. Stewart
Mrs. Mildred Oliver McLain Dr. Camp Payne Rev. C. F. Robinson Mr. Lawrence Roque Rev. A.L. Scott Mrs. Bernice Smith
Rev. Jiles Stills * Attorney Jesse Stone * Mrs. Frances Sullivan * Mr. Claude Underwood Mr. Calvin Wilkerson * Mr. R. L. Williams
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Film Day
Thursday, September 19, 2013 9: 30 A.M.
Testimonials From Civil Rights Icons
Mrs. Ersula Hardy, Coordinator Booker T. Washington High School 2104 Milam Street Shreveport, Louisiana 71103 Dr. Stacey Russell Principal The Pledge of Allegiance The Greeting Mrs. Eursla D. Hardy Event Coordinator The Purpose Mr. Michael Hicks Coordinator, North Louisiana Civil Rights Coalition Introduction of the Panel Mrs. Eursla Hardy Screening of the Documentary Film BEYOND GALILEE Questions and Answers Remarks Reverend C. E. McLain Chairman, North Louisiana Civil Rights Coalition Pastor, Little Union Baptist Church
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Reverend Harry Blake Honorary Chairman, North Louisiana Civil Rights Coalition Pastor, Mount Canaan Baptist Church Shreveport, Louisiana Dr. C.O. Simpkins Father of the Civil Rights in Shreveport, Louisiana Panelists Larry Cooper Washington, D.C. Charles Crocklin Birmingham, Alabama Maxine Sarpy * Arthur Anderson * Rev. Calvin Austin Lavert Taylor * Frank Daniels, Jr. * Ronald Washington Donald Washington * Bessie Smith * John Lawrence Smith
BEYOND GALILEE
This Award Winning Documentary Film is directed by Tim Dewayne and produced by Ahead of the Curve Motion Picture Productions.
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NAACP Banquet
Friday, September 20, 2013 6: 00 P. M.
The Clarion Hotel 1419 East 70th Street Shreveport, Louisiana 71105 Mr. Lloyd Thompson, President, Shreveport Chapter, NAACP Guest Speaker: Dr. Ernest Johnson Louisiana State Conference President of the NAACP Member, NAACP National Board
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Memorial March On Milam Street Saturday, September 21, 2013 9:00 A.M.
The participants should assemble at Galilee Baptist Church 1500 Pierre Avenue Shreveport, Louisiana Dr. E. Edward Jones, Pastor At the Church Parking Lot At 8:00 A. M. The route of the march is north on Pierre Avenue, then turn left on Milam Street going west to the Little Union Baptist Church, 1846 Milam Street, Shreveport, Louisiana, Dr. C.E. McLain, Pastor. After an informal gathering at Little Union, the march will proceed west on Milam Street to Booker T. Washington High School, 2104 Milam Street in Shreveport, Louisiana. This event is sponsored by The Booker T. Washington Alumni Foundation Ms. Tahira Abdul-Rahaman, President Mr. Robert Jackson, Vice-President
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Guest Speaker
The Reverend C. S. Gordon, Jr.
Pastor Gordon is the son and brother of Baptist ministers in New Orleans, Louisiana. He holds degrees from Southern University-New Orleans Campus as well as Union Theological Seminary of New Orleans. The proud pastor of the historic New Zion Baptist Church, where the Southern Christian Leadership Conference was organized under the leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as well as pastured by the beloved, Dr. Abraham Lincoln Davis, Jr. the first black to serve on the New Orleans City Council. As under shepherd he led that great congregation in the building of the A.L. Davis MultiPurpose Building as a Christian Education facility. He serves as the President of the Louisiana State Baptist Missionary Convention as well as a member of the Board of Director of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Incorporated.
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sure, Pastor McLain was fearless and displayed courage even though it meant standing alone. He was the only black Baptist minister to greet the Freedom Riders when the arrived at the Trailways Bus Station in downtown Shreveport. It was also about this time in summer of 1962, that Pastor McLain and the Little Union family hosted Dr. King, in what was to be his last visit to Shreveport as other pastors and churches were afraid or apathetic to the struggle for equality. Rev. McLain and Rev. J.R. Rutledge were the only two Baptist pastors who had the courage to meet Dr. King at the airport. The compassion and concern for others is seen in Dr. Martin King, when offered the invitation to stay at the home of Pastor McLain, declined, stating that he did not want others at risk of bodily harm and ,that, when and if they get me, he wanted it to h appen alone. Rev. Blake was beaten and several times requested to come to the police station. Rev. Amos Terrell, pastor of the Lakeside Baptist Church, which was meeting in a converted movie theater, east of Little Union on Milam Street was also beaten. Police rode horses on the very front of the church and even rode them inside the sanctuary of Little Union. The reason given for the black churchs in the civil rights movement is that, 'the church is the only 'free' institution" and the minister is the "only 'free' individual because they are not controlled by outside forces. People look to the church for leadership."1 By the black church being uncontrolled by the establishment, their treasuries, meeting and office facilities could be used for the gathering of funds to employ attorneys for the defense of those arrested, meetings to plan strategy for actions such as boycotts and demonstrations. The National Association for the Advanced of Colored People, even though outlawed in the State of Louisiana, played an important part as a complimenting agency to the church. They would often give to others involved in the movement and would arrange meetings between black and white leadership or those agencies which benefit the black cause. An example of this was when Field Secretary Clarence Laws arranged a meeting with Mr. Rhinehart of the Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (otherwise known as "A & P) to settle matter of hiring blacks at the supermarket, (then located where the last Pete Harris Restaurant was, east of Pete Harris Drive). To avoid, however, any unnecessary confrontation with the white establishment, a new organization was formed consisting of a few ministers, members of the NAACP, and interested persons known as the United Christian Movement. It was headed by a local black dentist, Dr. C.O. Simpkins. Prior to 1959, Dr. Simpkins acted alone to make things better. His reward was only terror, finding cats shot through the head with notes around the neck saying he was next, or a cross burned in front of his house. This violent reaction to his struggle for freedom was climaxed when his new home in a rural portion of Caddo Parish was bombed, an event which later contributed to his decision to move to New York City. The strategy of the black community consisted of three thrusts--selective buying campaigns( boycotting of stores), demonstrations (marches, picketing of stores), and court action (filing of lawsuits against stores and local public agencies). Selective buying campaigns worked to get more blacks employed in decent and respectful positions or to open up segregated facilities. The first successful boycott was in 1959 when blacks confronted the supermarket on Milam Street (presently the abandoned Pete Harris Restaurant) owned by the Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (A & P) concerning the employment of black as cashiers. Since ninety-eight per cent of the trade done at the store was by black customers, Negroes contended that a percentage of the cashiers should be black. Because black encountered problems in meeting with the management, Mr. Clarence Laws, Southwestern Field Secretary of the NAACP arranged a meeting with black leaders and Mr. Rhinehart, Southwest Regional head of A&P stores. The heads of the Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company agreed to hire blacks but this agreement was never carried out. Two weeks prior to Christmas, blacks gave A&P an ultimatum saying if blacks were not hired within ten days, the store would be boycotted. Blacks were immediately hired. Blacks also planned to boycott the Louisiana State Fair which was held in Shreveport annually in October because whites seemed to be allowing whites to unfairly win all of the prizes at amusements. About late 1963, blacks also proclaimed a boycott of downtown in an effort to force desegregation of public accommodations. These later economic boycotts may or may not have had an affect since the passage of the Civil Rights Act was virtually assured by late 1963 or early 1964, in the eyes of some southern politicians. Demonstrations, however, did not play that much of a part in the struggle. There were only major demonstrations during this period which served somewhat to unite the black community. The Shreveport Sun on Saturday September 28, 1963 tells that Booker T. Washington High School became....... "a fort for hundreds of screaming, yelling and apparently resentful students Monday as Shreveport police and Caddo deputies using riot guns, rifles, bully clubs and tear gas, quelled a demonstration which extended one block beyond the school campus.".. The paper also tells of similar incidents happening at a nearby junior high school, J.S. Clark...... "The peaceful demonstration began during the lunch time at the school, which had alternate lunch periods. At the time of the arrival of police officers, only about two hundred students were participating....When officers arrived and stationed themselves on a divider on Hearne Avenue and the sidewalk on Ford Street, which borders the school, the student became resentful and began to throw rocks at passing cars. Traffic was halted past the school. The students began to chant 'We want freedom right now' and clapping their hands while others in their class began to yell 'Freedom' and jeering the police officers." Another recorded demonstration was on Sunday, September 22, 1963, which blacks walked down Lewis Place to Ashton Street then to Norma Street at Milam Street to the Little Union Baptist Church where services were held in memory of the four young girls killed at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. This route was taken "since Public Safety Commissioner George D'Artois had denied them a permit to march from Kenneth Avenue to the Little Union Baptist Church" These demonstrations, though publicly expressing black demands for equality, caused a white reaction which only unified blacks of Shreveport as the Shreveport Sun says in an editorial.....
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"If Sunday, September 22, marked the beginning of Negroes march toward freedom in Shreveport, local leader must credit Public Safety Commissioner George D'Artois with extending a helping hand.... Backing his decision not to permit the parade with nearly 200 city and parish law enforcement officers, he succeeded. In doing so, he also convinced hundreds who witnessed this Stalin display of power, that long cherished hopes, that negotiation and across-the-table could not solve Shreveport's problems" Court actions sought to enforce civil rights laws already passed on the local level or to test local statutes which fostered segregation. Such an example occurred in April, 1965 as suits were filed in Federal District Court, seeking to totally integrate facilities, faculties, and student bodies of the school systems of Caddo, Natchitoches, and Evangeline Parishes. The suits were filed in behalf of the children of Rev. E. Edward Jones, Rev. C.C. McLain, Mrs. Bernice Smith, and Mrs. Dorothy Saxton, residents of Caddo Parish; Mrs. Eleanor Robertson, Mr. James Gay, and Mr. Leo Antee of Natchitoches Parish, and Mr. James Graham and Mr. James Williams, Sr. of Evangeline Parish. Later, however, federal court invalidated the suit of Rev. McLain saying he paid taxes and was registered to vote in Lincoln Parish. The suit resulted in parishes in 1966 gradually desegregating their school systems as did other suits result in the desegregating of facilities whose owners had denied the use of by blacks. The year 1963, was to the Civil Rights Movement what the year, 1863 was to the Civil War a turning point. Shreveport was shaken also the same year but like the majority of seven cities, blacks showed some signs of unity in their cause for equality. On Sunday, September 22, 1963 Shreveport was rocked by violent reaction from city officials especially Public Safety Commissioner George W. D'Artois and those working under him. The confrontation stemmed from a request by black leaders to have a memorial march for the four girls killed the previous week in Birmingham, Alabama. The proposed route was to be from the corner of Kenneth Avenue and Milam Street east to the Little Union Baptist Church where memorial services were to be held, featuring Deacon H. D. Coke, a trustee of the 16th Street Baptist Church of Birmingham, Alabama, who is said, to have discovered the bodies of the girls, as the principal speaker. However, when approximately two hundred law enforcement officers sought to stop the demonstration, youth wearing t-shirts, with the words CORE, FREEDOM NOW and NAACP, underneath jackets walked down Lewis Place to Ashton Street to Norma Street to the church. When they crossed the streets to the church, they immediately removed their jackets to the surprise of the policemen. To stay informed of what was said in the church sanctuary, a red and white convertible was bugged and parked next door to the church to monitor the services to the police headquarters. Following the services, the Shreveport Sun reports..... "At the Little Union Baptist Church where memorial services were held, police bottled off the area while mounted officers paraded up and down. Following the meeting, Rev. Harry Blake, president of the Shreveport branch of the NAACP was beaten. Seven stitches were required to close a gnash in his head. Four youth were picked up and held overnight on suspicion of throwing rocks at the officers. They were released by 11:00 A.M. Monday." Milam Street that night was a place of horror. Police ran residents off the front porches of their homes so as not to have any witnesses to their deeds. They rode horses on the church steps and in the church sanctuary as well as brutally beat another ministers, Rev. Amos Terrell, pastor of the Lakeside Baptist Church as the church was about to begin their broadcast of night worship services on the radio. Mr. Clarence Laws, however, was in town for the services and busied himself in Rev. McLain's study calling federal investigators as well as the office of the Attorney General of the United States, Robert Francis Kennedy. At the same on a couch in the pastor's study, Dr. Joseph Sarpy and his wife, Maxine, who was his nurse, treated Blake's wounds. Dr. Sarpy and his wife, Maxine, were the first African-American professional medical team in the city of Shreveport. For his own safety lest harm befall him in Shreveport hospitals, upon the advice of Rev. C.C. McLain, Pastor Blake was taken for treatment at a hospital in Dallas, Texas. The next day, blacks demonstrated at Booker T. Washington High School and J.S. Clark Junior Hi School. Police again displayed tactics of the previous day, causing injuries to twenty or more students, even clubbing, according to the Shreveport Sun, the principal, Mr. R.H. Brown to the pavement. The school was a fort according to the paper..... "Mrs. N.L. Leech, business education teacher was carried bodily to a paddy wagon after she appealed to the policemen to leave the campus and let teachers take of the situation. She suffered bruises over her arms and shoulders. She was later released....One teacher reported seeing three policemen kick and drag fifteen year-old Joan Welch across the campus. The teacher said one of the officers threatened and made her move back from the window. The girl required extensive medical treatment. Another witness reported seeing a policeman hold a rifle in the back of another girl while beating her on the shoulder with a billy club. The physical education department was a receiving hospital. Many students were issued towels to help clear burning eyes and noses which resulted from tear gas bombs tossed in a crowd in the 1900 block of Milam and into the school itself." It is said that after the incident, the gym resembled an emergency room at a hospital as at least three hundred students and staffers were treated for tear gas. In reaction to these acts of the police, the high school faculty met on the following Wednesday to issue a resolution which listed six specific acts they believed should be brought to the attention of the citizens of Shreveport. These included the clubbing of the principal and the assistant principal, ill treatment of Mrs. N. L. Leech and a sixteen year old girl and the use of tear gas on the campus.
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At J.S. Clark, virtually the same situation occurred with confrontation of the police with students. However, tear gas was not issued and no injuries were reported. D'Artois is reported to have said,"I am sick and tired of having to move my whole outfit out here and receiving no cooperation from the Negro school people," and "going to use tear gas or whatever is necessary to break them."8 Tuesday night, September 24, 1963, the executive session of the NAACP passed a resolution asking school children of Shreveport to cease demonstrations immediately to prevent injury to the children. Also a request made by the organization to all black residents and the students to refrain from violence. These incidents only unified the black community of the Shreveport by the fact the white establishment had defiled the black church and the black minister who were deeply respected among Negroes. Another factor which contributed to a closeness among blacks was that when police harassed citizens and students who were not that involved in the movement, white racists showed no respect of any black persons or their property and that they intended by any means needed to keep the niggers in their places. By the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the filing of a suit to desegregate Caddo schools, blacks began to explore their new social and political gains. Passage of the Voting Rights Act increased the number of blacks on the registration rolls, thus in 1966, some blacks considered running for public office. Since the black church and the black preacher had led the struggle for freedom, it was surprising that the black preacher should be among the first to seek office. Rev. E. Edward Jones, Mrs. Simpkins, Mrs.Lathan ran for seats on the Caddo Parish School Board with Mr. Rosie Banks running for a seat on the Caddo Parish Police Jury(which is now the Caddo Parish Commission), the governing body of the parish. Later Rev. Amos Terrell sought election as state representative. None of these candidates made it to a run-off, except Mr. Banks, who was later defeated by a white opponent due to a light turn-out in black precincts. Reasons for the failures of these ventures lie in the fact that Caddo Parish,as well as most of Louisiana, was under the at-large system where voters had to vote for so many of the candidates running for the same offices in a given area. Combining this with white block voting for white candidates and light turn-out in precincts in black areas were assured defeat. Because blacks still not exercise the vote or the franchise these candidates could not count on any solid backing. Blacks were still at the mercy of the at-large system, the only way to be heard by civil authorities was to negotiate with white candidates for promised concessions if they received the black vote and won. This resulted in southern politicians wooing the black vote thus politics became less racist oriented and candidates could deal with other issues facing all the citizens. 1968 witnessed the murders of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.(who incidentally made his public appearance in Shreveport at the Little Union Baptist Church in 1962) and that the of United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy, who was seeking the Democratic Party Presidential Nomination. In this setting, blacks then ventured out to seek fairer employment practices. Where the NAACP was presided over by Billy Joe Mason. In the spring of 1968 the NAACP reported that in spite over 50% of his trade being done with blacks, Mr. Stanley Lewis owner of Stan's Record Shop on Texas Avenue had hired only three blacks in menial positions. In early June as a result of this, the NAACP voted to launch a selective buying campaign against all record shops owned by Mr. Lewis. From June to late August, the boycott wore on with picketing by black citizens from all walks of life. These picketers were harassed by police officers and even by a black woman who hurled threats and uttered profanity at the pickters. However, when blacks appealed for protection, Public Safety Commissioner D'Artois denied it. By late August, Mr. Lewis finally conceded and gave black citizens better jobs. As a result of the successful boycott, other prominent stores, such as United Wholesale(which later became Service Merchandise), Rubenstein's and Goldrings hired blacks as clerics by December,1968. This showed that blacks had achieved some economic strength which if shifted at the right time could somewhat paralyzed the economy of Shreveport. We can by observing these events note that the black church was divinely preserved to be a type of a socially redeeming agency and that nonviolent action was only means to fight for equality. The black church served as a base for struggle for she was not controlled by any outside forces, economic or political but was sovereign within herself. The church was also highly respected which enabled her to be a guiding light amidst the shadows of racist reaction to social change. Non-violence was the only means for achieving equality for armed defiance would be fruitless because whites controlled all the arms and the economy. If blacks had shown armed defiance, white authorities in order to have excuses to smash directly the movement could have either destroyed blacks with force by provoking black violent reaction, frightening white citizens to take up arms thus silencing any white sympathy or moved in to stop what they termed a communist agitated conspiracy. In conclusion, we can observe that with faith in God, blacks were able to use meager resources of spirit, mind, economics and body and literally turn their world upside down.
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Pictorial History of the Events of September 22, 1963 at Little Union Baptist Church
Mrs. Ann Brewster and Rev. Harry Blake board a plane for Washington, D.C. for the Historic March on Washington
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Pictorial History of September 23, 1963: Demonstration at Booker T. Washington High School
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Stop 1: (Old A & P Grocery Store) Former Pete Harris Caf) Corner of Milam Street and Western Avenue )
I In the late 1950s and 1960s A and P (Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company) was the place to shop in Allendale Lakeside. A national chain of supermarkets across America, it existed until the late 1970s in some parts of the country. While over 70 percent of the customers who shopped there were persons of color, the employees as well as management was white which drew concern of ministers as well as other organizations such as the United Christian Movement ( a front of the NAACP since it had been outlawed in the State of Louisiana.) Selective buying campaigns sought to get more blacks employed in decent and respected positions or to open up segregated facilities. The first successful boycott was in 1959 when blacks confronted the supermarket on Milam Street (presently the abandoned Pete Harris Restaurant) owned by the Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (A & P) concerning the employment of black as cashiers. Since ninety-eight per cent of the trade done at the store was by black customers, Negroes contended that a percentage of the cashiers should be black. Because black encountered problems in meeting with the management, Mr. Clarence Laws, Southwestern Field Secretary of the NAACP arranged a meeting with black leaders and Mr. Rhinehart, Southwest Regional head of A&P stores. The heads of the Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company agreed to hire blacks but this agreement was never realized. Two weeks prior to Christmas, blacks gave A&P an ultimatum saying if blacks were not hired within ten days, the store would be boycotted. Blacks were immediately hired. Blacks also sought to boycott the Louisiana State Fair which was held in Shreveport annually in October. It was obvious that whites seemed to be allowing whites to unfairly win prizes at amusements. Late 1963, blacks also proclaimed a boycott of downtown in an effort to force desegregation of public accommodations. These later economic boycotts may or may not have had a great affect since the passage of the Civil Rights Act was virtually assured by late 1963 or early 1964. In the eyes of some southern politicians believed that the late boycotts were needed. This structure while abandoned is a monument to the power of black dollars to make a difference as well as black entrepreneurship that kept us during the dark days of Jim Crow, as Milam Street west was saturated with black businesses of all types to fill the needs of African-American customers From night clubs, grocery stores, gas stations, dry cleaners, and restaurants, to name a few, though the black church was and still the bulwark of our community. 39
The most popular place to eat in Shreveport was Freeman and Harris. The original caf was a venture between Jack Harris and Van Freeman. The original location was in the 1000 block of Texas Street which was opened in 1923. Later, the two located the their business to 317 Western Avenue. In 1938 no one would have believed that a classy eating place would develop into the type of place that Freeman and Harris developed into. The two welcomed their young and personable nephew Pete Harris to the workforce in 1938. Pete was soon joined by two cousins, Tody Wallette and Arthur Chapman( Scrap). More cousins, nephews, and finally grandchildren became active workers in what became a family business. African-Americans and whites gathered at this restaurant daily to enjoy the food served at Freeman and Harris. This was the most integrated place in Shreveport during lunch time. Politicians, business leaders, religious leaders and ministers, teachers and people from all walks of life enjoyed the food and atmosphere created by all who chose this eating place. Clientele included people from out of town also. During the civil rights movement, freedom riders, civil rights workers, and all of the major leaders of the struggle ate at Freeman and Harris. Dr. Martin Luther King and Rev. Ralph Abernathy ate at Freeman and Harris each time they visited Shreveport. They enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere of the caf. When other fighters for human rights came to Shreveport, it was common knowledge to the African-American community that more helpers had come to the city and they had stopped to eat at Freeman and Harris.
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Stop 3: The Evergreen Baptist Church * 804 Allen Avenue * Shreveport, Louisiana
White Supremacists even had children involved in picketing the church during a mass meeting
The Evergreen Baptist Church is considered one of the old historic black congregations in Shreveport, Louisiana organized in 1878. Originally location on Taylor Street, the church moved to its present site when Interstate 20 was constructed. During the visit of Dr. Marin L. King, Jr. white supremacists as well as members of the Ku Klux Klan marched in front of the church. Deacon Napoleon Barrett stated attendees at the meeting had to park a block away and walked to sanctuary. Obviously those inside the church to the point that many were unwilling to sit by the windows for fear of bigots on the outside might break out or even shoot through the windows. However time passed, several members were involved in the moved for justice and equality by persistently seeking to register and vote, Mrs. Ruth Bryant and her sister, Mrs. Eula Wright. The pastor at the time was Reverend J.R. Rethledge. A graduate of Bishop College, then in Marshall, Texas, he encouraged members to seek to exercise their right to vote as well as support the movement. He also displayed courage by hosting a ministerial luncheon for Dr. King, in 1962, Charles Evers, at a memorial service for his brother, Medgar and a rally at which one of the Freedom Riders spoke. The present pastor, Dr. Aaron Dobynes, during his tenure has sought to raise the conscious level of Evergreen members and the community at large to be sensitive to the call of the gospel of our Christ, especially in matters of economic and social justice.
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1627 Templeman Street is the home of Ann Brewster, a dedicated civil rights worker who constantly fought to help all black people of the southern states become first class citizens of the United States of America. It was in her modest home that locals and giants of the civil rights movement met, planned and instituted strategies for peacefully overcoming the injustices of the times. Some of the giants of the struggle who met at 1627 Templeman Street were Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Reverend Ralph Abernathy, Charles and Medgar Evers, and Wyatt Tee Walker, his executive assistant. The home seemed a safe haven for Dr. King and Reverend Abernathy. Both slept there also when working in Shreveport, Louisiana. It was from 1627 Templeman Street that Ann went from six days a week to the Modern Beauty Salon at 1544 Milam Street. There she and her co-workers Mamie Love, Bernice Smith, Mercedes Rogers, Helen Adams, and Louise Jones worked and took time, when needed to give information to people who needed help in effectively working for the elimination of human suffering in the south. Ann also was the adult advisor to youth who sat in at downtown lunch counters. It was from her modest home that she attended worship at the Little Union Baptist Church. There she sang in the senior or adult choir. It was from this she traveled to Washington, D.C. and joined thousands in the 1963 March on Washington. It was in this house on February 25, 1964 that the pioneer Ann Brewster was found dead. A mystery that many find baffling. The Civil Rights martyr had gone from this world. She nor her work will not be forgotten. A permanent monument to her memory stands on the Milam Street side of the church. Also, annually the NAACP gives a plaque to one who demonstrates the fortitude of Ann Brewster.
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The Friendship House was located at 1525 Milam Street. Dr. J.C. Brierre, a black physician and Dr. Joe Haloubeck, a white physician joined in the late fifties and early sixties to provide a place where the members of both races could meet and discuss race relations in a place solely provided for the purpose of coming together and sharing pertinent information meaningful to working together as friends. The Catholic Diocese, of which both doctors were members, provided this community service. This venture was received greatly by people of both races. Many wanted the place to become a permanent part of the community services. However, a lasting friendship developed between Dr. Brierre and Dr. Haloubeck.
(Note: Since picture of the house is known to exist, pictured is an address card.)
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Stop 7: Former Ritz Theater Site / Lakeside Baptist Church of Shreveport, Louisiana 1713 Milam Street * Shreveport, Louisiana
Prior to the elimination of Jim Crow laws which legalized segregation of the races, the black community turned within for moral, spiritual, educational and economic support. At the time, black businesses included restaurants, gas stations, dry cleaners, clubs and in urban areas, movie theaters. One such facilities was the Ritz Theater, which later on closing was home to the Lakeside Baptist Church. And after the congregation to its new home on Grand Avenue on Elvis Priestly Boulevard of the Municipal Auditorium, it was used as a mosque. However, during the evening of Sunday, September 22, 1963, the Lakeside family witnessed the brute force of the police department as its Pastor, Reverend Amos Terrell was beaten just before the beginning of the live broadcast of night worship during that reign of terror. Pastor Terrell owned a restaurant and later ran for the Louisiana House of Representatives in 1967 but it was unsuccessful. However his candidacy as well as that of Rosie Banks for Caddo Parish Police Jury, and Dr. C.O Simpkins run for Caddo Parish School Board signaled the coming of a new day, when it would be conceivable and possible that blacks would hold high office on all levels of the government.
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Stop 8 : Little Union Baptist Church * 1846 Milam Street * Shreveport, La.
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1664 Garden Street, the address of St. Rest Baptist Church was a popular address for many freedom riders, CORE (Congress of Racial Equality), civil rights strategists and locals who were dedicated to win the fight in the southern part of the United States for freedom for all citizens. This was also true of many other churches of the area that stood as iconic pillars of sanctuaries off the cause of and for first class citizenship of all African-Americans. All of the congregations of those churches wanted everyone to be a full fledged citizen of this sweet land of liberty and the home of the brave. Reverend John B. Simmons was the dedicated pastor of St. Rest at that time. He was a strong leader in every aspect of the struggle. He led his members to work in every aspect of the civil rights struggle. He had led his members to work in every aspect of the civil rights struggle.. On October 9, 1961 CORE was having a Freedom Banquet at St. Rest Baptist Church. Attorney Jessie N.Stone had just completed an inspiring speech when suddenly there was a loud blast and debris falling. Two Molotov cocktail bombs had been thrown into the northwest wall of the church. No one left the building. After fireman and police had cleaned some of the debris up, the persons who had attended the banquet loudly sang freedom songs and ended with the civil rights alma mater, We Shall Overcome. All was not over. Five days following the bombing, the CORE members had planned a Freedom Rally at the Saint Mary Baptist Church at 1460 Kenneth Street. All of a sudden, police cars rushed to the church and arrested sixteen(16) CORE members for bombing Saint Rest Baptist Church. Eric Richardson, one of the CORE members arrested, recognized some of of the policemen who had talked with him across from St. Rest Baptist Church. When Richardson reminded the whole group of policemen of the conversation and that he had identified the black sedan and the white truck that entered the yard of Saint Rest, my! The cover up was exposed! The young men of CORE were released and, the Shreveport, Policemen quietly, very quietly drove away!
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Booker T. Washington High School now serves both middle school and high schoo students. well as those in ghgh
Built in the 1950s Booker T. Washington was cited in Life magazine as one of the best high schools in the nation for black children. In addition to the standard academic curriculum, BTW as it is affectionately called often a great vo-tech program in fields such photography and graphic arts, cosmetology and others. The next day, Monday, September 23, 1963 it too would enter the annals of black history in the struggle of justice for all everywhere. Black students demonstrated at Booker T. Washington High School and J.S. Clark Junior High School. Police again displayed tactics of the previous day, causing injuries to twenty or more students, even clubbing, according to the Shreveport Sun, the principal, Mr. R.H. Brown to the pavement. The school was a fort The next day, blacks demonstrated at Booker T. Washington High School and J.S. Clark Junior Hi School. Police again displayed tactics of the previous day, causing injuries to twenty or more students, even clubbing, according to the Shreveport Sun, the principal, Mr. R.H. Brown to the pavement. The school was a fort according to the Sun..... "Mrs. N.L. Leech, business education teacher was carried bodily to a paddy wagon after she appealed to the policemen to leave the campus and let teachers take of the situation. She suffered bruises over her arms and shoulders. She was later released....One teacher reported seeing three policemen kick and drag fifteen year-old Joan Welch across the campus. The teacher said one of the officers threatened and made her move back from the window. The girl required extensive medical treatment. Another witness reported seeing a policeman hold a rifle in the back of another girl while beating her on the shoulder with a billy club. The physical education department was a receiving hospital. Many students were issued towels to help clear burning eyes and noses which resulted from tear gas bombs tossed in a crowd in the 1900 block of Milam and into the school itself." About 400 persons in the gym were treated for tear gas exposure. It is said that went members of the white power structure saw the police brutally manhandling a mentally challenged student who was the daughter of the domestic worker of the president of one of the banks, he summoned Public Safety Commissioner, George DArtois to his office and demanded such tactics and misuse of force cease, or else he would suffer dire consequences to the point of losing his job. Today Booker Washington, boasts of many outstanding alumni who went on to college after graduation, and are now serving the community as well as the nation and world in various fields such as law, medicine, ministry, education, as well in the field of athletics. Its football rivalry with Green Oaks High School in the Martin Luther King area of Shreveport, also known as the Cooper Road is the stuff legends are made of.
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Stop 11: 1900 Block of Milam Street( looking west toward Booker T. Washington High School)
The scene in the 1900 block of Milam Street between Elder and Norma Streets is very quiet today. However, one can notice by the black and white photos that September 23, 1963 the area was anything but that. Students from Booker T. Washington High School attempted to march in protest of the police actions taken the previous Sunday night at Little Union as well as the beating of Rev. Harry Blake. They were also demanded the demise of Jim Crow. The march got as far the next block east of the school where students were met with brute force seen in police beating and use of tear gas. Students were arrested and put in garbage trucks. However many jumped out on the opposite side of the vehicle as fast as the cops put them in. About 16 students were arrested and four had to be treated at Confederate Memorial Hospital (now LSU Medical Center). In addition to the events of September 23, ,1963, the block has another claim to fame in that the house in which internationally acclaimed attorney, Johnny Cockran, spent his early years, still stands across the street from the scene of the BTW incident. Also the scenes from the movie Snitch were also shot in and in front of the second house to the left seen the color photograph.
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Stop 12: The John B. Simmons Home 2031 Ashton * Shreveport, Lousiana
The home of Reverend John B. Simmons is one of the two places where places where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. slept and comfortably ate with friends. It was impossible for him to spend any time in public motels in the African-American neighborhoods of the city. So, not only was he comfortable in the home of Reverend and Mrs. J.B. Simmons, he met many people for conferences and delicious meals.
Pastor John B. Simmons and other ministers ride the city bus to challenge the segregation laws. 50
Stop 13: Site of the Old 13th District Baptist Association Building (corner of Kenneth Avenue and Milam Street)
Because of the cruelty of Jim Crow laws and limiting opportunities for blacks prior to the 1950s and 60s, blacks Often spearheaded by religious, business, and civic organizations pooled their resources to have developed facilities that the community could use. One such facility was the Old 13th District Building which belonged to the 13th District Baptist Association located at the corner of Milam Street and Kenneth Avenue. The two story building was built of cinderblocks. On the lower level was offices, one of which at one time housed a barbershop and another a large office which often served as a place of worship for newly organized churches. The top floor was a vast auditorium were community meetings where held such as association gatherings, place of worship for congregations in their infancy, or a temporary house of worship for churches whose buildings were being completely renovated for a long period of time as in the case of Little Union n the spring and summer of 1961. It was most significant role was in September, 1963 as a gathering spot for civil rights demonstrators who were lined up there going east to Lewis Place, in an attempt to march to Little Union Baptist Church for the memorial service to to the victims of the Birmingham, Alabama church bombing that previous week. Since Public Safety Commissioner George DArtois refused to permit the march, threatening to arrest those who dared to march, the demonstrators then turned south, walking the back way, and arrived at the church while others came by car to the cheers of those in the church and the anger and dismay of DArtois and the Shreveport law enforcement community. The building like some properties that served the black community in terms of fostering civic responsibilities, business development as well as economic empowerment was torn down in the early years of the 21st century. But the legacy and the memories of its role in the life of black Shreveport, will remain forever.
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Stop 14: Former Parsonage of the Little Union Baptist Church of Shreveport, Louisiana 1140 Kenneth Avenue * Shreveport, Louisiana
This house, purchased by Little Union Baptist Church in 1959, was the residence or parsonage, for Reverend C.C. McLain and family from 1959 to 1974. During the tumultuous early 1960s when Pastor McLain served as Shreveport NAACP chapter, bigots were call the house making death threats. Pastor McLain would be cool, calm and collective, responding by giving them his address and say that he would be waiting on them, as he hoped that their life insurance was paid up. And one time, the Ku Klux Klan, left cards on the windshield of his old brown Dodge when it was parked in front of the house. The situation got so bad that the FBI was called in to interview Reverend and Mrs. Claude C. McLain and family. While I was never fully determined who was behind the harassing phone calls, some had speculated it may members of the police department of Shreveport, since background noise sounded as if the callers were in law enforcement office. On two separate occasion, two would be bombers were caught on the property. Pastor McLain had a very peripheral vision and could see behind him. The white gentleman when caught, then begged for his life, as was told to leave the property immediately. Nevertheless to say he did, unharmed. On another occasion, footsteps were heard in the drive way late one night. But Mrs. Mildred McLain, Pastor McLains wife, screamed and the alleged bomber ran, an act which saved the lives of the McLain family as well as the would be attacker who was about to be shot by Pastor McLain, in order to saved his family. On a June afternoon in 1963, the policemen called for ministers to come to the station to discuss the movement which they called a communist conspiracy as well as questioning the reports that some of the ministers had received communist literature. On this occasion, police visited Pastor McLains home while he was not there. Upon inquiring of his whereabouts, the youngest son, Asriel, age 10, at home alone, answered he did not know. The police without a search warrant, which the son knew they should have had, but did not entered, the home and searched it. The lad did not question the police about a warrant, for he did not know what the cops would do to him. However, the police later that day and picked up Pastor McLain, as well as Reverend David Matthews, who pastured Antioch Baptist Church, and lived down the street on Kenneth Avenue where a cross was burned on his front lawn, as the Klan got the wrong address, thinking they were terrorizing Rev. McLain. Other ministers were picked up by the police as a form of harassment that Friday, but released a few hours later. Like most homes of ministers, a guest room was kept ready in the event, a visiting preacher came to town as blacks could not stay in local hotels. When Dr. King came for what would be his last visit to Shreveport, in 1962 as the guest of Pastor McLain and the Little Union church, he was offered the hospitality of the McLain household. The compassion and concern for others is seen in Martin King, when offered the invitation to stay at the home of Pastor McLain, declined, stating that he did not want others at risk for bodily harm and that when and if they get me, he wanted it to happen alone
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Galilee Baptist Church was founded in 1877. It was located on this site from 1917 to 1975. In 1958, during the pastorate of Rev. J.H. Stewart. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke here, effectively initiating the Civil Rights movement in Shreveport. Strategies which lead to Caddo School desegregation also were mapped out here. This site is included in the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
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Stop 16: Site of Stans Record Shop( corner of Texas Avenue and Common Street)
The Youth Council, an arm of the Shreveport Chapter of the NAACP was organized in 1968 while B.J. Mason was serving as Chapter President. Larry Boogaloo Cooper was President of the Youth Chapter and Charles Crockrom was VicePresident. The development of leadership skills along with gaining access and employment at local businesses was the goal of the youth council. Stans Record Shop was the first target. Council members picketed their establishment all summer while being threatened, intimidated and arrested and charged with disturbing the peace. Ladies active in the community including Willie Bell Boyd, Eursla Hardy, Dorothy Johnson, Peola Davis, Julie Lester, Maxine Sarpy and Barbara Pendleton relieved the members each Saturday morning. This activity led to meaningful employment at Stans Record Shop and later, after the Black Christmas Boycott throughout downtown Shreveport department stores and food outlets..
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Civil Rights Trail Stops 17, 18, and 19 are combined on this page as they, along with Sears Department Store, were sites of the sit-ins. here in Shreveport. They are about one to one and half blocks about on Texas Avenue across from the Caddo Parish Courthouse. Until the mid to late 1980s downtown Shreveport was the place to shop as the more affluent citizens of the Port City shopped at Rubensteins, Selbers, M. Levi, Palais Royal and Goldrings while working class and poorer people traded on Texas Avenue which was the site of what was known as 5 and Dime Stores, such as Woolworth, Kress, H.L. Green, the equivalent of what be today would be, the Dollar Store such as Dollar Tree. While downtown shopping, store customers and those who worked in the vicinity, would stop and have lunch at segregated lunch counters, with the one for white customers in the front of the store and the one for blacks in the rear. However that system was challenged on July 17, 1963 when 11 young people simultaneously in groups of 2 or 3 went to the lunch counters and demanded service. One participant, Mr. Henry Sullivan, stated that the reaction of whites, both store personnel as well as shoppers panicked and were in a state of disbelief. The police were then called and those freedom fighters were then carried off to jail. The sit-ins at lunch counters here in Shreveport as well as throughout the south were as a battering ram knocking down the walls of segregation, underscoring the power of soul force over against brute force of racism and bigotry. They also laid the foundation for the next phase of the movement, namely economic empowerment, which underscored that the truth that it is not just important to have the right to eat a sandwich anywhere, but also the need to have a job so one could afford the sandwich as black Shreveporters would challenge the business community to hire persons of color in meaningful positions.
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One of the most memorable group of foot soldiers in the movement were the Freedom Riders, who were predominantly college students, both black and white who travelled through the south. They sought test as well as take out segregation in terms of travel on the bus as well as the use of the waiting rooms at bus terminals. The bus station in Shreveport too was the scene of a visit of the freedom riders. While the response to their visit here was not as violent as in other parts of the region, it still received notice from the local press and of course harsh response from the local law enforcement. Upon their arrival and refusal to obey the laws of segregated waiting areas, they were arrested, along with Rev. Harold Bethune, a local pastor. Their display of courage had local support including that of other ministers including, Rev. C.C. McLain who was the only pastor to greet them at the bus terminal on a hot summer day. At least two of them addressed the congregations of the Little Union Baptist Church and the Evergreen Baptist Church, pastored by Reverend J.R. Rethledge who also hosted a mass meeting at which one them spoke. The tenacious ride of the Freedom Riders, led to the Interstate Commission which regulated travel and trade across state lines, moving to knock down laws sanctioning segregation on various modes of public transportation on buses, trains and in waiting rooms serving customers.
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Prior to the fall of the Jim Crow laws, blacks, no matter what social status one had, were forced to stay in segregated facilities, including hotels. Even if one had achieved in any field, he was dogged by what the prevailing culture said was a curse of ones skin color. To provide accommodations to serve this need, hotels opened across the south to accommodate people of color. The Castle Hotel was such a facility here in Shreveport in the Ledbetter Heights(then known as the Bottoms Area) on Sprague Street. It was here such notables such as B.B. King, Court Basie, Duke Ellington stayed when performing in the Port City, despite their talents and appeal across racial lines. Black athletes also stayed there when in town playing at the Palace Park. Also during his visit to Shreveport, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stayed here. While the hotel is gone, it forever has a place in the museum of memory during the struggle to make America a more perfect union.
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Shreveport Civil Rights Pantheon (Hall of Fame) Here is a tribute to the personalities who are the heroes and heroes of the movement in this community. Remember their Tenacity and faith to break down the barriers of segregation. Succeeding generations must remember that future generations stand on their shoulders. Dr. C.O Simpkins Father of the Civil Rights Movement in North Louisiana
Dr. C.O. Simpkins, D.D.S. a national Civil Rights icon, known by most as the Father of the Civil Rights Movement in North Louisiana, ,was born and reared in Mansfield, Louisiana. He was the eldest of two children born on January 13, 1924 to Dr. O.S. Simpkins and Mrs. Olivia Gardner Simpkins. He had one youngest sister, Marguerite Simpkins Call. He was a product of the DeSoto Public Schools System and spent quality time also growing up under the nurturing of his loving grandmother, Mrs. Ella Simpkins of Mansfield. Dr. Simpkins is an undergraduate of Wiley College in Marshall, Texas. He later completed dental school at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. After graduation he returned to Louisiana and set up practice with his father, a practicing dentist in Shreveport, Louisiana. Not long after, he opened his own dental practice in Gary Street, an office later purchased by Dr. L.C. Pendleton. Dr. Simpkins immediately became involved in civil rights activities. He was the first black man to run for a seat on the Caddo Parish School Board in 1954, having garnered as many white votes as blacks exemplifying that there were some decent whites in the area who would vote for a qualified black person. He worked with others to promote voter registration and citizenship education in the area as well as equal resources for all schools. Later on, his home was bombed by the Ku Klux Klan because of Dr. Simpkins attempts to get blacks registered to vote and his other civil rights endeavors. In 1958 he met Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at one of Kings speeches in Chicago, Illinois. They became friends. Dr. Simpkins invited Dr. King to come to Shreveport for his first visit in August, 1958 for the United Christian Movement Conference on Registration and Voting. Dr. Simpkins was a founding member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference having served as Vice-President under the Presidency of Dr. Martin Luther King. After the bombing of his home and his inability to get home insurance as well as insurance for his dental practice, and his concern for other people in the community who were trying hard to protect him at risk to their own lives, he decided to leave Shreveport. After 26 years of self-imposed exile, practicing dentistry and continuing his activism in New York City, he returned to Shreveport. He ran in 1990 as the first serious candidate for Mayor, having won in the primary and narrowly in the runoff. The next year he ran and won a seat in the Louisiana House of Representatives where he served from 1992 to 1996. Dr. Simpkins is married to Dr. Elaine Shoemaker Simpkins and is the father of five children: Dr. C.O. Jr., Deborah, Eric, Lisa and Cheri. 58
Mrs. Frances Sullivan Shreveports Rosa Parks Mother of the Civil Rights Movement in Shreveport, Louisiana
Mrs. Frances Sullivan was the musician and choir at the Saint Mary Baptist Chuch of Shreveport. On August 1, 1957. She was arrested for refusing to move from a designated white seat. Her home was at 1456 Rex Street/
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Harry Blake
Born in Webster Parish on a plantation, Pastor Blake graduated from Bishop College, in Dallas, Texas, where he also was a charter member of Mu Gamma Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. He served as pastor of both the New Boggy Baptist Church of Bethany, Louisiana and the Lake Bethlehem Baptist Church of Shreveport. It was during this time that he as President of The Shreveport Chapter of the NAACP that he was savagely beaten unmercifully by the officers of the Shreveport Police Department. Later on he assume the pastorate of the Mount Canaan Baptist Church, leading it to be one of the innovative and progressive congregations in the nation. Reverend Blake has also served in various leadership capacities in denominational leadership including Moderator of the 13th District Baptist Association, the Louisiana Baptist State Convention, General Secretary of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., and Regional VicePresident of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. 60
Louis Pendleton
Dr. Louis Christopher Pendleton was born in Monroe, Louisiana, to Velda Leola Long Pendleton and Joseph Anthony Pendleton, Sr. While well known as a dentist, his civic leadership stood out as a star in the night especially in the lives of African Americans in Northwest Louisiana. This is evident is his push to widen opportunities for all, improving the quality of life in education, civil rights, health, business, culture and housing. Dr. Pendleton was the founder of the Ark-La-Tex Communications committee which opened up employment to African-Americans in the broadcast industry. With strong opposition to the creation of the Community Action Agency in Caddo Parish, working with leaders like the Honorable Alphonse Jackson, the late Dr. Jesse Stone and others, he accepted the Presidency of the agencys first Board of Directors. Through lawsuits in the early 1970s, he co-chaired the committee that found and gained representation for African-Americans residents on the Caddo Parish School Board and Police Jurynow the Caddo Parish Commission. He along with the late Attorney Hilary Huckaby,III, was a leading organizer of Blacks for Lasting Leadership (BULL). This group filed a lawsuit that did away with the old commission form of government, ,which did not allow for AfricanAmerican participation. This lawsuit led to the strong Mayor-Council form of government that we enjoy today. Dr. Pendleton was appointed by the late President Lyndon B. Johnson to the Louisiana State Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights. Dr. Pendleton was a prominent supporter of the local NAACP and the organizer of the Youth Council. Dr. Pendleton is the recipient of numerous awards and accolades. They include the Liberty Bell award by the Shreveport Bar Association., Business Leader of the Year award presented by the Shreveport Chamber of Commerce and with his lovely wife Barbara, the Brotherhood and Sisterhood Humanitarian Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews (now the National Conference for Community and Justice). He was also inducted into the Junior Achievement or North Louisiana Business Hall of Fame. A lifetime member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., his past and present affiliations include: Pelican State Dental Association, Northwest Louisiana Dental Society (a subset of the Pelican State Dental Association), National Dental Association and American Dental Association; Louisiana State University Board of Supervisors; Biomedical Research Foundation of Northwest Louisiana (member and treasurer of the Board of Directors); Shreveport Housing Authority; Loyola Foundation of Shreveport; The Community Foundation of Shreveport-Bossier; LSU Shreveport Foundation Board of Directors; Volunteers of America Board of Directors; Louisiana State Fair Board of Directors; Louisiana State Tourism Commission; Chairman-Permanent Review Board under the Diocese of Shreveport (chartered for the protection of children and young people); Finance Council of Diocese of Shreveport and St. Johns College Corporation. Dr. Pendleton was a member of the Cathedral of St. Johns Berchmans, where he served in many capacities.
Henry Walker
Just as in the battle against slavery prior to the Civil War, black Americans had white allies known as abolitionists, so during the movement seen in the many whites who came in support of the March on Washington, they those of good willwho know racism is wrong. Henry Walker wss such a person. He graduated from Tulane Law School in 1968 and practiced civil rights law in Shreveport for the next forty years until he retired in 2008. Henry Walker graduated from Tulane Law School in 1968 and practiced civil rights law in Shreveport for the next forty years until he retired in 2008. He filed numerous lawsuits against Commissioner George DArtois, and filed over ten suits that forced the closure of eleven prisons in North Louisiana parishes including all of those in Caddo and Bossier. Mr. Walker has been president of the Shreveport Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, is a co-founder and past president of the state Criminal Defense Bar, and received appointed to the Caddo Parish Public Defender Board. He has chaired the Civil Rights section of the Louisiana Trial Lawyers Association, and he chaired the domestic violence section of the Louisiana Bar Foundation, and was instrumental in the formation of a new Juvenile Justice section. He is also a past president of VYJ (the Volunteers for Youth Justice) here in Shreveport.
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Bernice Smith
Born in Benton, Louisiana Bernice Smith was one of 13 children. She moved to Shreveport, Louisiana after enduring indignities in her small hometown. After completing studies at Magnetic Beauty School, Mrs. Smith went on to work for Modern Beauty Shoppe. She became a local civil rights leader and beautician. Amid the Montgomery Bus Boycott and a myriad of sit-ins across southern states, Mrs. Smith chose to use her business as a haven in the fight for equality. She opened her services and limited resources to the hundreds of freedom riders that traveled through Shreveport. Mrs. Smith unselfishly opened her home to the activists determined to bring change to a nation buried in racism. Not only was she an advocate for freedom riders, she also fed and temporarily housed tireless picketers in support of minority owned businesses in Shreveport. Mrs. Smith was one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit that desegregated Caddo Parish Schools. Brenda Bragggs, Mrs. Smiths daughter, became the first African-American female to attend C. C. Byrd High School. In 1958, a few years prior to his iconic I Have A Dream speech, she had the opportunity to meet Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Shreveport at the historic Galilee Baptist Church. Mrs. Smith passed away Sunday, December 12, 2010, at the age of 83. Mrs. Smith has one son, Mr. Lynn Braggs, and two daughters, Brenda Braggs and Rosalyn Kady.
Brother Baruti
Baruti Donkor Ajanaku, formerly Ardison, was born out of the union between the late Sadie Mae Ardison and the late Grover Shannai on January 16, 1954. Brother Baruti said, When I learned my came from the slave chains, it had to go. God didnt give any man the right to chang e another mans name. He gave each its own on which to get it on. I changed my name and attitude to Baruti D. Ajanaku (no compromise, no backing down), thats my identity, that is my legacy and the way I approached my life. Your name should tell who you are, whe re you are, and where you came from. Brother Baruti was born and raised in the steel and concrete jungle of Shreveport, Louisiana. He attended Caddo Parish Public School System and also received a full indoctrination of Ghetto Life. Baruti was one of eight children, and had four children of his own. Four offspring that he loved dearly, and dedicated his life to. He is remembered for his steadfast support of Youth Coucil of the NAACP and his respect and admiration for the leader, Larry BooGa loo Cooper. He also promoted positive issues and sought unity in the black community as well as an Afro-centric view of reality.
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Joseph Johnson
Giving oversight of Christian Methodist Episcopal churches in the states of Louisiana and Mississippi, Bishop Johnson labors in the movement remind us that discrimination did not discriminate as far as gender nor denominational affiliation is concerned. A theologian, he and his brother are remembered for interceding with the Justice Department in his residence by phone to bring to the attention of the federal government of the injustices against civil rights activists in Shreveport in the late 1960s. Encouraging and counseling civil workers, he also hosted a meeting with civil rights leaders on numerous occasions in his residence. During the black Christmas campaign (boycott) owners of downtown Shreveport department stores were invited to his home to discuss hiring blacks in meaningful positions in their stores. Several of them attended the meeting including Aaron Selber, the co-owner of Selber Brothers Department Store. Shortly after other demonstrations and these meetings, downtown merchants hired black sales personnel in their stores. Bishop Johnson helped Larry Cooper and Charles Cockrom enrolled in Miles College to further their education and for their safety since they were activists in the movement for civil rights in Shreveport 63
of the city to serve on the Shreveport City Council, serving the unexpired term of Senator Gregory Tarver. Her husband, Dr. Joseph Sarpy, was an inspiration and motivator for her and many others during the movement. For his many roles during the period he was presented the Ann Brewster Award by the NAACP. Mrs. Sarpy has been very active in the community, having served on many boards and organizations. She served as chairman on many of them. The Port of Caddo-Bossier honored her by naming a street after her, Maxine Sarpy Boulevard. She has received other awards and commendations, too numerous to mention. Mr. Sarpy is the mother of a daughter, Julie Marie, a son Mark Daniel (his wife Laney), and the grandparent of two granddaughters, Marsha Clemons and Monique Clemons and Monique Lacour and four great-grandchildren Monet, James, Caleb, and Addison.
B. J. Mason Jr.
Author and Civil Rights Activist, B.J. Mason was born April 5, 1944 in Shreveport, Louisiana to Rev. Walter, Sr., and Zeola Stewart Mason. He attended Charlotte Mitchell High School and Grambling College (now Grambling State University) where he received the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Speech and Drama and pledged Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated. He returned to Grambling University In 2001 where he obtained the Master of Liberal Arts Degree. After completing undergraduate school and teaching briefly, Mason moved to Chicago, Illinois where he worked as a features writer for the Chicago Sun Times, associate editor for Ebony Magazine and freelance writer for such magazines as Essence and Heart and Soul. He was a long time columnist for the Shreveport Sun. In 1968 and 1969, Mason spearheaded the city-wide Civil Rights Movement as President of the Shreveport Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Under his leadership, businesses in downtown Shreveport opened its doors to hiring blacks, and changes were made in the local school system by being more conscious of the needs of black students. Marches, boycotts and sit-ins were conducted at various sites to promote civil rights causes and these protests were successful in accomplishing their goals. Larry (BooGaLoo) Cooper and Charles Crockrom served as President and VicePresident of the Shreveport NAACP Youth Council under Masons Presidency. In the early 1970s, he appeared in guest starring roles on T.V. shows such as Mod Squad, Mannix and Love American Style. He also appeared in the movies Mandigo and WUSA with Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. He was among the early African-Americans starring in television and movie productions. He authored two books, Jerusalem Freedom Manufacturing Company and Sunday Morning Blues, and also wrote the Hollywood movie, The Book of Numbers. His latest work, Walk on the Water was completed shortly before his death. Mason was the recipient of numerous commendations and community service awards including the prestigious Ann Brewster Award presented by the NAACP for Civil Rights. He was a licensed counselor and ordained Baptist minister, and he took seriously his charge by ministering to those on the highways and by-ways as he felt led by the Holy Spirit, and for that many will be eternally grateful. He was married to Queen Phillips and to this union one son was born, Binaca Joseph Mason.
Ann Brewster
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Jesse N. Stone
From a university Presidents driver and valet to the presidency of the Southern University System; from the courtrooms of north Louisiana to the Louisiana State Supreme Court are paths taken by Jesse Nealand Stone, Jr. He was the oldest of six children born to educators in Gibsland, Louisiana. His father a principal and his mothers, a teacher, instilled in their children the value of an education and the responsibility that each person has to the community. These values were not lost on Jesse. He recognized his responsibility to his people and the community at large early in his life and continued to give even in failing health. Devoid of career counseling, Jesse entered Southern to major in Agriculture Education. He was sure he did not want to be a teacher, but respected education. Like his parents, he believed ones life could be enriched through education. He believed it helped to make you whole and provided the opportunity to help people and promote racial harmony. Growing up in north Louisiana, Jesse knew one doctor, and one dentist. He had never seen a lawyer. His father was a community leader, and counseled many on a wide range of living experiences. Witnessing this made Jesse want to help people. He witnessed two incidents as a child that further imbued his desire to help others. When asked his fathers name by white strangers in town, as a young boy Jesse answered, Mr. Stone. He was ridiculed and admonished for doing so by the strangers who had inquired. Upon hearing the commotion, a white stone owner interceded, telling the others to leave Jesse along and saying, it is an ill - hearted person who doesnt respect his father enough to address him as Master. On another occasion, in rural North Louisiana, Jesse as a young man witnessed whites chasing a black man. Unable to catch him, the whites grabbed the walking stick of an elderly black man. The elderly man refused to let go of the stick and leaned back on it long enough for the man being chased to get away. In witnessing these incidents Jesse Stone realized that problems could be resolved without violence if one commanded respect and was determined. Jesse graduated in the first class of the Southern University Law School. He opened a law office and became the first black man to practice law in Shreveport in fifty years. Establishing a law practice was not easy. It was necessary to demand the right to sit behnd the rail with the other lawyers. A difficult feat which had to be repeated in every court room. As he established his practice he associated with Attorney A P. Tureaud who was a cooperating attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and counsel for the Louisiana Educational Association, founded by his mentor, the late Dr. J. K. Haynes. Jesse was an associate for civil rights matters in Louisiana. Through this association he filed voter registration suits in many parishes which enabled blacks to vote in all political elections. He was also responsible for getting court orders to implement the rights attained by others through court actions in other parts of the country. Although Jesse was a successful criminal trial lawyer, having won his first five jury trials in capital cases with all white juries, he brought suit challenging the composition of juries. He sought and attained the right for blacks to participate in jury trials. Jesse was primarily a criminal lawyer but raised civil rights legal issues and asserted the rights of sit - ins in restaurants and bus stations. One such case was affirmed by the United States Supreme Court. While Jesse was not directly involved in Brown vs. Board of Education, after Brown he was instrumental in having enforced in hostile territories the decisions that Attorney Tureaud, Attorney Thurgood Marshall and others had won. When asked about his career as an attorney of firsts, Jesse says, I am quite proud of the help I had during my career assistance came from too many to name, but I thank them all. Jesse Stone was a prayerful man and perhaps the hallmark of his character was his humility. He has shared his measure of success with his wife of 52 years, Willia Dean. They have two children Michael(deceased) and Shonda, a judge in Caddo Parish.
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have, now that he can go through the front door of a bowling alley, how not to take for granted the right to step up to the snack bar and place his order for Nachos and a Coke. Yes, we will go bowling but there is a story to shared first. The pot boiled over like a pot of rice, but because we are no longer telling the story of 60s, because we as a people have become complacent and our voices have become hushed because colored signs are now pulled down. We dont have to sit in the balcony of a local movie theaters after entering the side door. We are now again taking for granted the privilege we now experience because someone died for those rights. Fifty years later we should not just take and write about it but we should be pro-active, the Supreme Court is reversing Civil Rights policies. White men like George Zimmerman can shoot and kill a 17 year old black boy and due to legal loopholes get off, fully acquitted.
After All
I laid it all on the line for equality at CMMC. When the order was given to integrate CMMC there was resistance. White employees would move rather than sit with blacks in the cafeteria. Blood give patients was segregated, with blood bank donations made by blacks labeled red and blood bank donations made by whites were labeled with white stickers. I and other would have them running all over the place when we would sit at a table with them. Many still practice segregation. White water fountains, color water fountains, separate toilets were the order of the day.
1975
A new day, the new governor of Louisiana, Edwin W. Edwards, new hospital administrator, new medical director, and new State Representatives and State Senators. The fight was on. A union was formed at CMMC. Grievances were written. I was one of the 25 original workers to sign for the petition for the union. The fight for the change the name Confederate Memorial, change the colors of the uniform, and our salary. I was questioned by an administrator, "What do you want? I answered better pay and treatment.
Medicaid Expansion
We teamed with the AARP and Together Louisiana to travel to Baton Rouge to help with uninsured. NAACP Member-Healthcare. Laying It All On the Line. If I can help somebody, then my living wont be in vain.
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FALSE ARRESTS JAIL TERMS SERVED BY MANY BLACKS By Dr. Mary Louise Wilson
People of color were picked up for almost anything imaginable in the early sixties. Imagine college students trying to use the downtown library and ending up in jail with a fine of $100 and 90 days sin jail!!! Willie BradfordSouthern University, Baton Rouge Campus; Philip PennywellSouthern University, Baton Rouge Campus; Melvin Crockett, Tuskegee University; Lawrence Rouge-Tennessee A and I are four who were just wanting to use the library downtown and ended up in jail with a fine. Then, there were many others who were thrown in jail for just trying to be served in the clean part of H.L. Green, ,Woolworth, Kress, or trying to get decent services at Sears or pass to the ticket office through what wass for white only or drinking from a water fountain that was labeled WHITE ONLY. Mrs. Helen Brown, Ann Brewster, Bernice Smith, ,Mercie D. Rodgers, Mildred Nelson, Mamie Love, and Ophelia Kennon who stayed in jail 12 days just for sitting on a stool that was in a segregated part of Woolworths. There were so many more who are mentioned throughout this treatdle. Many of the people who were fined, beaten, thrown dead cats on their lawns and had yard signs painted while crosses burned to illuminate the area with ignorance have scars even today that will not vanish.
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A Fine Mess
As Told By Rosa Harris Robertson and Ruther Harris Washington The Daughters of the late Deacon Andrew Harris On the night of September 22, 1963, after worshipers had left the Little Union Baptist Church, the Shreveport Police literally rode horses into the sanctuary at 1846 Milam Street in Shreveport, Louisiana. Here is the account of what the daughters of the then janitor of the church, Deacon Andrew Harris saw in their words On a hot steamy Shreveport day, the Chief of Police led the riot on horseback into the Little Union Baptist Church. His men (other policeman) beat and whipped innocent citizens of the black community including men, women, and children. Our unforgettable memories included policemen beating community leaders that led a march for human rights with bully clubs/night sticks. In the midst of this chaos, a white policemen confronted our father (the late Deacon Andrew Harris) while standing on the front porch of our house and said to him, Nigger get back in the house unless you want your butt whipped. My father very calmly gathered his wife and his children and went into the house which was only two doors from the church. We all witnessed policemen going into the church on horseback with intentions of doing considerable damage to anything in their way. On the next morning, when our father woke up, he called us to go with him to the church and help clean up. He was an officer of the church and also the custodian at the time. The house of God was in disarray and horse manure all over the carpet and floors. We did not understand why our father had to clean up this mess and why we had to help. Our father simply responded by saying, One day you will understand.
Afraid to stand up to white people for their rights. On occasion to passed the time they would sing freedom songs, which church songs, the wording of which was changed from strictly religious ones to those which the feelings of the movement It was so powerful in jail at that times some in jail go religion and wanted to be baptized. Rev. Major Johns, the CORE leader at that time stated since there was no water available to immerse a person, all could do was to sprinkle a drops of water from the face bowel, in the name. The jailor on the other hand told them if they did not keep quite, he would give them any dinner and let them go hungry. Eventually thanks to the legal skills of Attorney Jesse Stone, they were released. Mr. Sullivan went on to say because his daddy feared from his sons safety sent him to Minneapolis, Minnesota to stay with an other sister. He attends college at Southern University prior to transferring to the University of Minnesota. As with anything else, a change did come, and segregated lunch faculties are history.
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J. K. Haynes
C.D. Simmons
Clara Carr
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A G. McLain
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Sample Literacy Test Circa 1960s for Voting In Louisiana This is a copy of sample exam used to help perspective voters get ready for their journey to the parish courthouse. Its appearance is to remind us how far we have come and how far we have to go. As you look over the test remember those who fought and died to secure this precious right for all people as well as those are yet fighting to form a more perfect union.
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When civil rights are protected, we are all protected. As District Attorney I insist on those rights and as an individual, I am dedicated to their preservation.
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Recognizing 50 Years of Bold Leadership For a Noble CauseLiberty and Justice for All
By Bessie
Davenport Smith
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The North Louisiana Civil Rights Coalition Salutes Those Students Who Dared And Marched at Booker T. Washington High School, September 23, 1963 As Well As Those Arrested For Sitting-In at Lunch Counters In Downtown Shreveport Stores, the Library, and the Bus Station For their courage, they suffered for laying it all on the line. Students Who Were Treated at Confederate Memorial Hospital (Now LSU Medical Center)
Patricia Oliver Pasty Pennington Calean Payton Mary Ann Jones
Students Who Were Arrested For Sitting In At Downtown Store Lunch Counters
Joseph Russell * Luvert Taylor * William Bradford Melvin Crockett (Deceased) * Lawrence Roque (Deceased) Larry Nichols * Henry Sullivan Ann Brewster(Advisor) Students Arrested At The Library Reginald Nichols Gladys Russell James Hollingsworth
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Best Wishes on This Golden Anniversary of The Struggle For Justice and Equality From The New Antioch Baptist Church 1905 Short Thomas Street Monroe, Louisiana 71202
The Reverend John L. Russell, Sr., Pastor
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Best Wishes For a Great Celebration of Fifty Years of the Struggle For Justice and Equality For All In Forming A More Perfect Union
From
The Baptist Ministers Fellowship of Shreveport and Vicinity Dr. E. Edward Jones, President
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Best Wishes For a Great Celebration of Fifty Years of the Struggle For Equal Rights For Every American From Mrs. Verma Lee Henderson
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Congratulations and Best Wishes During The Golden Anniversary Celebration of the Struggle For Justice And Equality To The North Louisiana Civil Rights Coalition From The Sport City Corvette Club
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Congratulations to the North Louisiana Civil Rights Coalition In Celebrating 50 Years of The Struggle for Justice and Equality For All People Evergreen Baptist Church 804 Allen Avenue Shreveport, Louisiana 71103 Phone: 318-221-8866 Dr. Aaron Dobynes, Pastor We Remember the Labors of One of Our Beloved Pastors Who Was a Pioneer in the Civil Rights Struggle
Who In the Heat and Height of the Battle Was Faithful and Fearless, Never Wavering and Hosted Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., During His Last Visit to Shreveport, in 1962, Charles Evers (Brother of Medgar Evers), and one of the Freedom Riders. He also was one of eight who dared to ride in the front of the bus so all could ride anywhere on the bus.
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We Have Come Thus Far By Faith In the Struggle for Freedom, Justice and Equality After 50 Years the Struggle Continues For a More Perfect Union
May God Continue to Bless the Efforts of the North Louisiana Civil Rights Coalition. Sunlight Baptist Church 526 Winfield Road * Haughton, Louisiana 70137 George L. Monroe, Jr. Pastor Deacon Caldwell Dunn Deacon Johnnie Garrison Deacon Curtis Griffin Deacon Byron White Sister Ossie Emerson, Clerk
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CONGRATULATIONS! NORTH LOUISIANA CIVIL RIGHTS COALITION ON YOUR 50TH ANNIVERSARY THE SAINT PETER BAPTIST CHURCH FAMILY APPRECIATES YOUR SERVICES GIVEN TO THE COMMUNITY AND ABOARD. ARTHUR DOUGLAS, JR., PASTOR OFFICERS: Hunter Davenport Bonnie Draughn Cleophus Banks James Petterway Rickey Moore Felton Petterway
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Best Wishes For a Great Week of Celebration and Reflection Of 50 Years of the Struggle for Justice, Freedom and Equality For To The North Louisiana Civil Rights Coalition From The Avenue Baptist Church 901 West 70th Street Shreveport, Louisiana 71106 Phone: 318-670-8852 Reverend Clarence Hicks, Pastor
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********************************** Mrs. Mildred Margoree Oliver McLain And Ms. Ann Brewster Secretary, Shreveport Branch NAACP *********************************** Thanks to The Only Remaining Member of the the Nicodemus Club Reverend Clyde Louis Oliver Uncle Clyde Pastor, Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church Ruston, Louisiana
With Hope And Prayer For A More Perfect Union With Liberty and Justice For All
Patricia McLain * John Oliver McLain Clifford Eugene McLain * Gene McLain Asriel Gamaliel McLain And Our Children and Grand-Children
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Best Wishes to the North Louisiana Civil Rights Coalition for A Great Week Of Celebration and Commemoration Motto: Friendship is Essential to the Soul Cardinal Principles: Manhood * Scholarship * Perseverance * Uplift We Salute Omega Men Who Have Made A Great Contribution to the Struggle For Human Dignity and Justice Everywhere Including: Brother Jesse Jackson, Sr. * Brother Harry Blake Brother Roy Wilkins * Brother Benjamin Hooks * Brother Calvin Wilkerson Brother Vernon Jordan * Brother Jesse Stone * Brother J. K. Haynes
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DR. JOSEPH SARPY, JR., M.D. THE WIND BENEATH MY WINGS 50TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARYAUGUST 31, 2013 MAXINE ELIZABETH PRESCOTT SARPY
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Your Proud Family Mrs. Barbara Chocolate Pendleton Dr. Karen Mless Pendleton Dr. John Joseph Ward Dr. and Mrs. Scott Edward Pendleton Jackson Connor Pendleton Meredith Anne Pendleton Laura Latrice Russell And Other Family Members
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New Light Baptist Church 2617 Corbitt Street Shreveport, Louisiana 71119 Reverend Robert Richmond, Pastor
Reverend Robert Richmond and New Light Baptist Church consider it to be so marvelous as our national civil rights leaders are remembered after 50 years for their part in the battle for civil rights. We believe it to be none the less fitting that the people from our local community be remembered for their sacrifice and leadership during those early days of our struggle for freedom.
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CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NORTH LOUISIANA CIVIL RIGHTS COALITION, INC. IN MEMORY OF MY HUSBAND, MCHENRY HARDY, JR. AND OSSIE DAVIS, ACTOR Eursla Dickerson Hardy, Civil Rights Worker
At the home of McHenry Hardy, Jr. and Eursla Dickerson Hardy Ossie Davis, Actor, Eursula D. Hardy and McHenry Hardy, Jr. A reception for Ossie as he was in Shreveport filming the movie, The Slaves
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CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NORTH LOUISIANA CIVIL RIGHTS COALITION FOR THE CELEBRATON OF THE GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT IN SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA
This page is dedicated to the memory of St. Rests former pastor, The Reverend John B. Simmons A Stalwart Giant in the Civil Rights Struggle
The St. Rest Baptist Church 1664 Garden Street Shreveport, Louisiana 71101 The Reverend Robert L. Walton, Pastor The Church With An Open Door
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Weve come a Long Way in 50 Years; Weve come from dragging cotton sacks, To driving Cadillacs. Weve come from the back of the bus, To driving the bus. Weve come from shotgun shacks To split level mansions. Weve come from being at the mercy of the government, To being the leaders of the government. Weve come a Long Way in 50 years; We Still have a Long Way to go. Rev. And Mrs. Roy Lee Thomas, Sr. Rev. and Mrs. Cartrie Lee Washington, Sr. We give all the praise and glory to God.
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DEDICATED TO THE MEMORIES OF Mr. J. K. Haynes Mr. Albert McHenry Rev. C. C. McLain Rev. C.P. Payne Mr. Calvin Wilkerson They Recruited Five of Us as Teachers and Working Ages Out to the Day One Was to Register to Vote! Dr. Mary L. Wilson
Congratulations to the Fifty Years Celebration of the Civil Rights Coalition of North Louisiana Dr. James A. Chaffers and Family Ann Arbor, Michigan
In memory of the courage and life sacrifices made in the Civil Rights Struggle by Reverend Calvin Austin and Reverend Frank Daniels
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In Loving Memory of Our Sons and Grandson Dennis D. Winn Randy J. Winn Terrance R. Winn Mrs. Betty B. Winn and Family
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In Loving Memory Of Deacon Andrew Harris And The Reverend Doctor Ralph Edward Harris From Rosa Robertson Ruther Washington
The L & W Missionary Baptist Church Jena, Louisiana Recognizes the 50th Anniversary of Civil Rights Activities In Shreveport, Louisiana Rev. Jimmy Young, Pastor
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Mount Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church 10930 Ellerbe Road Shreveport, Louisiana 71115 Sunday School at 9:30 A.M. * Morning Service at 11:00 A.M. A Church Where Love is Preached, Taught, and Practiced H. Calvin Austin, Pastor
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Congratulations on the 50th Anniversary Celebration Of Civil Rights Activities In Shreveport, Louisiana
HOLT REAL ESTATE APPRAISAL, LLC. Service With A Smile Dr. James B. Holt, III Owner/Manager 306 Holcomb Drive Shreveport, Louisiana 71103-2030 Phone: 318-424-7915
To God Be the Glory! New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church Womens Ministry 3300 Greenwood Road Shreveport, Louisiana 71103 Dr. Louis Smith, Jr. Pastor
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Lakeside Service Station 901 Pierre Avenue Shreveport, Louisiana 71103 March Ashley, Jr. Proprietor
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Best Wishes and Congratulations for 50 Years in The Struggle For Justice and Equality For All!!
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During This 50th Year Celebration We Remember Our Grandparents and GreatGrandparents
During These Golden Anniversary Celebrations of the Civil Rights Struggle Across America We Remember Jackson, Mississippi * Birmingham, Alabama Shreveport, Louisiana
And Of Course
Selma, Alabama Where Our Mother, Mrs. Viola Liuzzo Gave Her Life So All Could Have That Precious Right to Vote
From Her Daughters Sally Liuzzo Prado * Mary Liuzzo Lilleboe Penny Liuzzo Herrington
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CONGRATULATIONS
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Senator Gregory Tarver notes that his grand-uncle and grandfather served as the founding officials of the first NAACP chapter in Shreveport in the late 1800s His material Uncle ClaudeDr. H. Claude Hudson, local dentist, served as the first president of the local chapter, while his grandfather, J.S. Williams, local businessman and founder of the J.S. Williams Funeral Home and Insurance Companies, was the second president of the NAACP. Senator Tarvers brother, Dr. Leon Tarver II, president emeritus of the Southern University System, was president of the Shreveport chapter of the NAACP in the early 1970s.
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