Dr. Curtis "C.J." Gilliam [1922-1995] was a longtime Civil Rights activist and the first black optometrist in Baton Rouge. A former president of the Baton Rouge chapter of the NAACP, he was the first black Louisianan to enlist in the U.S. Marine...
School integration—Louisiana, Civil rights movement
Reverend Arthur T. Jelks, NAACP President (here at left) led this group of children to the Baton Rouge Junior High School in a futile attempt to register them at the school. Turning them away is R.L. Smith, school principal.
Jessie Stone (1924-2001). Mr. Stone was one of the first graduates of Southern University Law School in 1950. He worked as an NAACP attorney during the Civil Rights movement, served as Southern University President from 1974-1985. He was the first...