BATON ROUGE, La. — The Louisiana Office of Tourism received a $50,000 grant to complete the design and installation of the first round of Louisiana Civil Rights Trail markers, they announced Thursday.
The grant was awarded through the African American Civil Rights Grant Program from the Historic Preservation Fund administered by the Department of the Interior’s National Park Service (NPS), they say.
According to NPS Deputy Director Shawn Benge, this competitive grant program is just one of the many ways the National Park Service is working to preserve and interpret the lesser-known facets of our nation’s shared history.
“We have spent the better part of three years developing the Louisiana Civil Rights Trail,” said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. “The Louisiana Office of Tourism began research on the Louisiana Civil Rights Movement in January 2019. We held 22 meetings across the state with stakeholders, historians, citizens, and tourism representatives to gather information on Civil Rights events and history. A group of university scholars, who are subject matter experts in African American studies, vetted and reviewed each nomination. From the nominations submitted, a website was created as a first step and now we are placing markers at locations where events and activities of national importance occurred.”
The first four Louisiana Civil Rights Trail markers installed are located at Dooky Chase’s Restaurant in New Orleans, the Old State Capitol and A.Z. Young Park in Baton Rouge, and Little Union Baptist Church in Shreveport.
As they obtain property permissions, and the design and fabrication of additional markers happens, they will announce those marker installation dates.
To learn more about the unique and important history of the movement in the State of Louisiana or to nominate a site, a person or an activity for inclusion, visit LouisianaCivilRightsTrail.com [link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com].
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