1. A.P. Tureaud Sr.
Tureaud Hall at LSU
15 S. Stadium Drive
New Orleans attorney Alexander Pierre Tureaud Sr. was a champion of Black civil rights, handling nearly all the desegregation cases filed in Louisiana from the 1940s to the 1960s. When he died in 1972, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall delivered the eulogy. Tureaud Hall at LSU is named for him. In 1953, his son, A.P. Tureaud Jr., was the first Black undergraduate to enroll at LSU.
2. Dr. Leo Stanley Butler
Dr. Leo S. Butler Community Center
950 E. Washington Street
Leo S. Butler was the first man to receive a diploma from McKinley High School, and moved on to complete both undergraduate and medical degrees from Howard University in Washington, D.C. Heavily involved in the Baton Rouge community, Butler volunteered countless hours to Blundon Home, an orphanage for Black children. Butler was also a civil rights activist and served as director of student health services for many years at Southern University. He died in 1978.
3. Frank Hayden
Frank Hayden Hall
Southern University
A Memphis native who graduated from Notre Dame University, Frank Hayden was a well-known, nationally respected sculptor who taught at Southern University. Several significant pieces are installed throughout Baton Rouge, including the “Marche de Galvez” bronze relief and the Oliver Pollock monument in Galvez Plaza. Frank Hayden Hall houses Southern’s Department of Visual Arts. Hayden died in 1988.
4. Thomas Delpit
Thomas Delpit Drive
This New Orleans-born entrepreneur changed the face of fried chicken in Baton Rouge, founding the first Chicken Shack in front of his home on East Boulevard in 1935. His son, Joe Delpit, worked for the family business and later took it over, helping the brand to become an indelible part of the local culinary scene.
5. Odell S. Williams
The Odell S. Williams Now and Then African American Museum (renamed the Baton Rouge African American Museum)
538 South Blvd.
In 2001, the late Sadie Roberts-Joseph opened Baton Rouge’s only museum dedicated to Black history inside a building donated by New St. Luke Baptist Church. She named it for a beloved high school teacher, Odell S. Williams, who advocated that children should learn about Black history. Williams graduated from McKinley Senior High School in 1939 and earned a degree in education from Southern University in 1952. She died in 2012.
6. Arnett William “Ace” Mumford
A.W. Mumford Stadium
Southern University
The late Ace Mumford coached the Southern University Jaguars football team between 1936-1942 and 1944-1961, breaking only when normal operations at the school were interrupted by World War II. Under Mumford’s direction, Southern earned a reputation as a football powerhouse. He still holds the record for the most wins in Southern football history.
7. Gustav “Gus” Young
Gus Young Avenue
Young was a prominent civil rights activist who promoted voting rights for Black people. He was a member of local chapter NAACP board and was one of the leaders of the 1953 Baton Rouge bus boycott.
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8. Rev. Theodore Judson “T.J.” Jemison
T. J. Jemison Boulevard
A portion of East Boulevard was renamed for Jemison in 2015, a significant American civil rights leader who organized the 1953 bus boycott in Baton Rouge. The event served as a model for the Montgomery bus boycott organized by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Jemison was also a founding member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and served as president of the National Baptist Convention USA from 1982 to 1994.
This article was originally published in the February 2022 issue of 225 magazine.