The Civil Rights Movement

The library holds an especially rich collection of oral histories related to the struggle for civil rights in Baton Rouge. Most of the interviews were recorded during the 1990s, but largely discuss the 1940s-1960s, with particular focus on the 1953 Baton Rouge Bus Boycott, which served as a model for the Montgomery Bus Boycott two years later. One notable interview is from Johnnie Jones, Sr., a veteran of D-Day, who discusses the discrimination faced by Black soldiers, and his later work as a civil rights attorney and activist in Baton Rouge. His interview sits at over 17 hours long (or 708 pages of transcription). Most items are shorter and contain a combination of audio, written, and electronic accessibility options. 

African Americans -- Civil rights -- Louisiana.
African American churches -- Louisiana -- Baton Rouge.
Baton Rouge Bus Boycott, Baton Rouge, La., 1953.
Racism -- Louisiana -- Baton Rouge.