The Louisiana Office of Tourism will unveil the newest marker on the Louisiana Civil Rights Trail at A.Z. Young Park in downtown Baton Rouge at 10:30 a.m. on August 9.
Louisiana's newest marker will honor the first march, and longest at 105-miles, in the Civil Rights Movement.
The Bogalusa to Baton Rouge Civil Rights March started 54 years ago on August 10, 1967, they say.
Led by Civil Rights Activist A.Z. Young, with Robert “Bob” Hicks and Gayle Jenkins, the Bogalusa to Baton Rouge March was referred to as the “105-mile gauntlet.”
While facing substantial opposition requiring protection from National Guardsmen and police, the march grew from 25 to 600 people during the journey.
On August 20, 1967, during a rally on the steps of the State Capitol, Young presented a list of grievances to Governor John McKeithen regarding employment discrimination and the election of ten Black people running for local offices in Bogalusa, they say.
In the celebration of the unveiling, Lt. Governor Billy Nungresser, elected officials and members of Young’s family will be present.
A reception honoring the site’s installation on the Louisiana Civil Rights Trail will follow at the Lt. Governor’s apartment in the Pentagon Barracks. The public is invited to attend at 800 N. Third Street in Baton Rouge. All COVID-19 safety protocols will be enforced.
The Louisiana Civil Rights Trail, according to the Louisiana Tourism Commission, is an experience of Louisiana’s bold, courageous, national leadership role in the modern civil rights movement.
The trail reveals inside stories and examines the civil rights era from culture and commerce to desegregation and protests and confrontation.
LouisianaCivilRightsTrail.com is a digital platform telling real-life stories of those on the front-lines through moving interviews and historic video.
To learn more about the unique and important history of the movement in the state of Louisiana or to nominate a site, person, or activity for inclusion, visit LouisianaCivilRightsTrail.com.
For more historic footage of the march, click here.
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