CHAPTER 15
LOUISIANA’S CIVIL RIGHTS
ERA: CHALLENGE AND
CHANGE
Pages 482-507
Focus on Skills
Interviewing
Page 484
Section 1
Segregation
Pages 485-491
Section 2
State Government
Pages 492-498
Section 3
Social Changes
Pages 499-503
Meeting Expectations
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Page 504
Chapter Summary
Page 505
Activities for Learning
Pages 506-507
Focus
As students enter the room, ask
them to write a word or phrase
related to human rights. Then,
review the Bill of Rights and ask
students to rank each one according
to its importance. Ask them to look
at the words or phrases they wrote
and categorize them under one of
the Bill of Rights. If some do not fit,
ask students to write additional
items to include in the Bill of
Rights.
15
Louisiana’s Civil
Rights Era: Challenge
and Change
Chapter
Reading Strategy
Chapter Preview
Terms: Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, boycott, Citizens’
Council, propaganda, National
Association for the Advancement
of Colored People, sit-in, Civil
Rights Act of 1964, Voting
Rights Act, code of ethics,
sunshine law, interstate highway, suburbs, busing
People: Ruby Bridges, A. P.
Turead, John McKeithen, Edwin
Edwards, Ernest Morial, Lindy
Boggs
Places: Bogalusa, Sunshine
Bridge, Fort Polk
O
ne tiny six-year-old carried the burden of desegregation on November 14, 1960, in New Orleans. Ruby Bridges became the symbol of
hope for some and the symbol of hate for others. That day she began
an experience that would not only change her life but the lives of
future generations. The adult Ruby Bridges has told her story of that eventful
time in her book, Through My Eyes.
My mother took special care getting me ready for school. When somebody knocked
on our door, my mother expected to see people from the NAACP. Instead, she saw
four serious-looking white men, dressed in suits and wearing armbands. They
were U.S. federal marshals. They had come to drive us to school and stay with us
all day. I later learned that they were carrying guns.
482
Louisiana The History of an American State
She described the barricades and the shouting people outside the school.
She described her walk toward the building. “As we walked through the crowd,
I didn’t see any faces. I guess that’s because I wasn’t very tall and I was surrounded by the marshals. People yelled and threw things.” Her experience is
the subject of a famous Norman Rockwell painting.
This was the first day in a strange school year for Ruby. Because the white
children would not attend, she spent every day alone with her teacher. As an
adult, she described the kind and caring teacher who read with her and played
games with her. The teacher, Mrs. Barbara Henry, later described Ruby as a
hero to other children who face difficulty because of her courage as she faced
such hostility. Ruby Bridges now seeks to help struggling children through her
foundation for inner city schools.
Chapter 15
Above: African American
first grade students, accompanied by their mothers,
register at Lafayette School
in New Orleans in 1962.
Louisiana’s Civil Rights Era: Challenge and Change
Reinforcing Vocabulary
Have students review the
definitions of rights and privileges.
Have them give examples of each.
T482
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Ask students why there are so
few children in the photograph.
Have them predict what the
children are thinking. What are
the adults thinking?
483
TEACH
Reading Strategy
Building Vocabulary
Write the word tolerance on the
board and have students write their
own definition of the term. Discuss
the definitions and their differences
compared with a standard dictionary
definition. (Tolerance is “recognizing
and respecting the beliefs, practices,
values, habits, etc., of others
without necessarily agreeing or
sympathizing.”) Point out that
modern uses have broadened the
term tolerance to include “accepting
and even appreciating others’
differences.” Ask students to discuss
what it means to “accept” the
differences of others. Ask, when the
values of another person differ from
ours, does it mean we have to
accept their values, rather than
ours, in order to be tolerant? Reach
consensus on a class definition of
the word tolerance and post that
definition, which will be used for
this chapter.
Social Studies Skill
Critical Thinking
Multidisciplinary Activity
Making a Timeline
Have students write examples of laws related to civil rights on note cards. (Write
one right on each card and do not include any dates.) Then, ask students to
sequence the cards according to when the right became law. Then, have students
predict the year when each occurred. Place the cards around the room in the
agreed-upon sequence. Have students review information in their textbook to
determine the actual date each event occurred. Rearrange the cards and write the
date on each. After examining and discussing the events, ask students to predict
the future of civil rights.
Guiding Question 9-14
Ruby’s teacher, Barbara Henry,
described the shy girl as a hero.
Have students brainstorm characteristics of heroes. Have students
apply those characteristics to
Ruby Bridges to determine if she
is a hero in their eyes.
Language Arts Have students
read other accounts of black
students who broke color barriers
in the 1950s. You may want them
to read The Story of Ruby Bridges
by Robert Coles, published by
Scholastic in 1995.
Writing Activity
Have some students imagine they
are Ruby Bridges. Ask them to write
a diary entry describing their first
day attending a previously all-white
school. Remind them to use sensory
words in their description.
Have other students write a news
article about Ruby Bridges’s first day
of school. Include the who, what,
when, where, why, and how of the
story.
Compare the two writing
products. Which is more factual?
Which is more emotional? Which
sparks your interest more?
T483
Each Focus on Skills defines a skill,
gives the teacher an opportunity to
conduct a guided practice on the
skill, and finally allows students to
apply their understanding by practicing the skill on their own.
Multidisciplinary Activity
Language Arts Have students write
questions and practice their skills by
interviewing their classmates before
they interview a person in the community.
Group Activity
Make a list of the changes that
are mentioned in the interviews.
You may want to have students find
pictures representing the changes in
order to create a class display or collage. You may also want to create a
list of the predictions that are made.
Ask students if they agree with the
predictions.
Social Studies Skill
Using Community Resources
You may want to invite some
people of different ages to come to
the classroom. Ask the person to
speak with the class about changes
that have occurred in her or his
lifetime. Then, give students a
chance to use their interview skills
by writing and asking questions of
the presenter.
Try This!
Answers will vary.
Focus
on
Skills
Interviewing
Defining the Skill
Throughout your study of Louisiana history, you
may have been asked to interview people in order
to collect specific information on a given topic. The
suggestions that follow should be used as a guide
when you are conducting an interview. The guidelines are intended to make the interview go more
smoothly as well as to ensure that you get the information you want or need.
1. Before you schedule the interview, call or
visit the person to get permission for the
interview. At that time, review the purpose of
the interview and describe what you would
like the interviewee to be prepared to discuss
with you.
2. Plan and write out the questions you will
ask. You might want to start with who, what,
and where questions.
3. Make careful notes or tape-record the
person’s answers. If you plan to use a tape
recorder, be sure to get permission from the
person to tape the interview.
4. At the end of the interview, thank the person
for her or his time.
5. Soon after the interview, go over your notes
or listen to the tape recording. If you did not
tape the session, your notes may help you to
remember other information that you did not
write down.
observed in your community over the last thirty years.
Share your findings with the class.
1. Who is being interviewed?
2. How old is the person? How long has he or
she lived in the community?
3. What changes have occurred in the community since he or she has lived there?
4. What changes does the person think have
been the most significant?
5. What change has most directly affected the
person?
6. What changes would the person predict for
the future?
It’s Your Turn!
Try This!
Use the questions that follow to interview a person in your community about changes he or she has
484
Identify someone from the chapter that you would
like to interview. Write a series of questions you
would ask the person if you had the opportunity.
1
Section
SECTION 1
SEGREGATION
Segregation
INTRODUCE
Outline
As you read, look for:
A. Baton Rouge Bus Boycott
B. The Fight for Civil Rights
1. Organizing
2. The New Orleans School
Crisis
3. Public Protests
• early civil rights protests in Louisiana,
• the civil rights movement in Louisiana, and
• vocabulary terms boycott, Citizens’ Council, Brown v. Board of
Education of Topeka, propaganda, National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People, sit-in, Civil Rights Act of
1964, and Voting Rights Act.
Whites in Louisiana had long operated in a system that benefited them and
deprived blacks. Most white southerners did not even consider this unjust.
Segregation was just the unquestioned way of life. The white community
and the black community lived parallel lives that crossed only under rigid, usually unspoken, rules.
Materials
Above: Civil rights leader A. P.
Turead of New Orleans.
Figure 30 Timeline: 1960–1985
1974
Voters ratified new constitution
1960
1964
Jimmie Davis
John McKeithen
became governor; became governor
New Orleans
school crisis
1960
1963
Civil rights march
on Washington;
President Kennedy
assassinated;
Lyndon B. Johnson
became president
Chapter 15 Louisiana’s Civil Rights Era: Challenge and Change
1965
1965
Voting
Rights
Act
1968
McKeithen
became first
governor to be
re-elected
1975
Superdome opened
1972
Edwin
Edwards
became
governor
1970
1968
Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr.,
1972
assassinated
Watergate
1967
Thurgood Marshall became first
black U.S. Supreme Court justice
1976
Louisiana celebrated Bicentennial
1977
Ernest Morial elected mayor of New Orleans
1975
1980
1985
1974
1981
President Nixon resigned; Gerald Sandra Day O’Connor
Ford became president
became first woman U.S.
Supreme Court justice
scandal
Section 1
Segregation
485
It’s Your Turn!
You may want selected students
to represent a person in the chapter
whom other students will interview.
T484
Objectives
GLE 9: Explain ways in which goals, cultures, interests, inventions, and
technological advances have affected people’s perceptions and uses of places or
regions of Louisiana.
GLE 32: Describe various peaceful ways of resolving political or social conflicts,
including majority vote vs. consensus.
GLE 33: Analyze how the democratic process has been used to institute change in
Louisiana.
GLE 39: Identify individual rights guaranteed in the Louisiana Constitution.
GLE 40: Describe ways by which citizens can organize, monitor, or influence
government and politics at the local, state, and national levels.
GLE 41: Explain the importance of being an informed citizen on public issues,
recognizing propaganda, and knowing the voting issues.
Textbook, pages 485-491
Blackline Masters
A Protest Song, page 197
Southern Manifesto, page 198
A Stamp on Black History,
page 199
Lift Every Voice and Sing,
page 200
Teacher CD-ROM
Transparencies
Online textbook
mystatehistory.com
Focus
Ask students to imagine how it
would feel if everyone in the class
wearing a certain color were
separated from the rest of the class,
denied materials and supplies, and
refused permission to take breaks,
go to the water fountain, have
breakfast and lunch, ride the school
bus, attend assemblies, or participate in any of the school’s extracurricular activities. Ask them how
they would feel. Would this treatment be fair? Would they be angry?
Would those who were separated
feel differently from those who were
not? Would they accept the
separation? Would they try to do
anything to change the situation?
TEACH
Social Studies Skill
Reading a Timeline
Ask students to look at the
timeline and identify the events
that illustrate the social changes
during this period of time.
Guiding Question 9-15
T485
Class Discussion
Ask students to
• explain why a study of civil rights
is important. (Comprehension)
• identify various types of
segregated facilities. (Knowledge)
• explain why blacks began to
protest segregation.
(Comprehension)
• identify one of the earliest
protests against segregation in
Louisiana. (Knowledge)
Guiding Questions 9-10, 9-22
Figure 31
Major Civil Rights Decisions
U.S. Supreme Court Decision
When Decided
Explanation
Plessy v. Ferguson
1896
Declared that “separate” facilities for blacks and
whites were constitutional as long as they were
“equal.”
Smith v. Allright
1944
Declared unconstitutional the all-white primaries
held in the South.
Brown v. Board of Education
1954
Declared unconstitutional the separate-but-equal
concept for public education put forth in Plessy v.
Ferguson.
Baker v. Carr
Social Studies Skill
Reading Charts and Tables
Ask students
• how the information on Figure 31
reflects changing times.
• how many years elapsed between
Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v.
Board of Education.
• to choose the event that they
believe had the greatest impact on
the civil rights movement. Ask them
to give reasons for their choice.
Internet Activity
PBS produced an excellent sixpart series on the civil rights movement from 1954 to 1965 entitled
“Eyes on the Prize.” A second,
eight-part series, entitled “Eyes on
the Prize II,” covers the period from
1965 to the mid-1980s. A curriculum unit for the first series developed by the Yale-New Haven
Teachers Institute can be found
online at www.yale.edu/ynhti/cur
riculum/units/1992/1/92.01.03.x.
html. You may want to choose one
of the activities to assign to students or select background information to share with them.
Guiding Question 9-20
T486
Lagniappe
Before Reverend Martin
Luther King, Jr., began the
much-better-known bus
boycott in Montgomery,
Alabama, he called Reverend
Jemison for advice.
486
1962
Declared that voting districts should have
populations that are nearly equal.
The signs of segregation were seen everywhere. Some were literal and enforced by laws. Water fountains were marked “White only.” African Americans
had to use the rear entrance to movie theaters and sit in the segregated balcony marked “Colored.” Restaurants for whites did not serve African Americans. In stores, all of the white customers were waited on before a black person
could buy anything. Other signs of segregation were more subtle. Job opportunities were limited for African Americans. The educational system directed
black children toward manual labor instead of professional jobs.
Throughout the segregated South, voices from the black community began
to rise in protest. Many of those voices belonged to black veterans. They had
fought for the United States in World War II, and now they wanted their full
rights as citizens. The country had followed the Plessy v. Ferguson separatebut-equal ruling in name only. Life was separate but certainly not equal. Blacks
were tired of poor schools and all the restrictions of segregation.
Baton Rouge Bus Boycott
Returning veterans joined with others to protest being told to ride in the
back of the bus. The Baton Rouge bus boycott, one of the earliest organized
protests against segregation in Louisiana, took place in 1953.
Most riders of the Baton Rouge buses were African Americans. They were
expected to sit or stand in the back of the bus even when front seats were
empty. When the bus fare was increased, the idea of paying more money to
stand on a bus with empty seats seemed even more unfair.
Reverend T. J. Jemison, representing the African American community, requested that the city council correct this injustice. A new law changed the seating rules to allow African Americans to sit in the front of the bus if they did not
sit in front of any whites or sit in the same seat with a white rider. The bus drivers resisted this change. They insisted on following the old policy where the front
ten rows were reserved for whites, even if they were empty. The Louisiana attorney general said the city law violated the segregation laws of the state.
At this point, the African Americans decided to boycott the city bus system.
(A boycott occurs when a group refuses to do business with some organization
to protest its policies.) If African Americans did not ride the buses, the city would
lose money. People with cars provided free rides so that everyone could get to
work. Leaders at mass meetings encouraged support for the boycott and collected
money to pay for gas for the cars.
After five days, the city council and the boycott leaders settled the situation.
A new law said that blacks could sit anywhere but the front two seats as long as
they did not sit in front of whites or on the same seat as white riders. Bus drivers
were instructed to follow the law. As a compromise, blacks would enter the bus
from the back and whites from the front. The long back seat was reserved for
blacks. The majority of the protesters agreed to this settlement.
The year after this boycott, the U.S. Supreme Court declared segregation
unconstitutional. Louisiana’s black
citizens hoped they would no longer
be treated as second-class citizens.
Equal treatment had been declared the
only American way. The changes ahead
would end generations of discrimination. But those changes would come
only after years of struggle. White resistance blocked efforts to provide
equal rights and equal opportunities.
Critical Thinking
Ask students how they would feel
if they had to ride in the back of a
bus or stand if there were no back
seats—even though seats toward
the front may be available. Have
them propose alternatives to this
requirement.
Guiding Question 9-22
Class Discussion
Below: Firefighters used
firehoses in an attempt to
break up a protest against
desegregation in front of
the New Orleans City Hall
in late 1960.
Ask students to explain
• how Reverend T. J. Jemison was
responsible for having the bus law
changed. (Comprehension)
Guiding Question 9-21
• why the bus situation in Baton
Rouge led to a boycott.
(Comprehension)
• how compromise led to a
nonviolent agreement in the bus
controversy. (Application)
Guiding Questions 9-16 and 9-22
The Fight for Civil Rights
Research Activity
To the white community, segregation was the way of life. The U.S. Supreme Court’s Brown decision brought
a fear of change and uncertainty
about the future. Some whites formed
Citizens’ Councils to support segregation. This group used propaganda
rather than the violence used by the
Ku Klux Klan.
In 1959, Jimmie Davis was elected
governor after campaigning as a
strong segregationist. Davis faced a
Ask students to use a search
engine or other reference sources to
research Rosa Parks and her
involvement in the Montgomery,
Alabama, bus boycott. A good
source of information is teacher.
scholastic.com/rosa/. Ask students
to relate Rosa Parks’s story with that
of blacks who rode buses in Baton
Rouge.
Guiding Questions 9-17 and 9-20
Chapter 15 Louisiana’s Civil Rights Era: Challenge and Change
Section 1
Segregation
487
Reading Strategy
Objectives (Cont.)
Objectives (Cont.)
GLE 58: Describe historical and economic factors influencing the economic
growth, interdependence and development of Louisiana and the nation (e.g., mass
production, oil boom and decline).
GLE 62: Construct a timeline of key events in Louisiana history.
GLE 63: Interpret data presented in a timeline correlating Louisiana, U.S., and
world history.
GLE 64: Compare and contrast events and ideas from Louisiana’s past and present,
explaining political, social, or economic contexts.
GLE 65: Analyze the causes, effects, or impact of a given historical event in
Louisiana.
GLE 66: Analyze how a given historical figure influenced or changed the course of
Louisiana’s history.
GLE 67: Analyze given source material to identify opinion, propaganda, or bias.
GLE 68: Interpret a political cartoon.
GLE 69: Propose and defend potential solutions to past and current issues in
Louisiana.
GLE 70: Conduct historical research using a variety of resources, and evaluate
those resources, to answer historical questions related to Louisiana history.
GLE 72: Describe leaders who were influential in Louisiana’s development.
GLE 73: Describe and explain the importance of major events and ideas in the
development of Louisiana.
GLE 77: Describe major conflicts in context of Louisiana history (e.g., Rebellion of
1768, the French and Indian War).
Building Vocabulary
Have students discuss the term
passive resistance, the practice Rosa
Parks used when she refused to give
up her seat on the bus. Have students predict how history might be
different if Rosa Parks had given up
her seat or become violent.
BLM Assign A Protest Song on page
197 in the BLM book.
T487
Class Discussion
Ask students to
• identify the Supreme Court case
that supported segregation.
(Knowledge)
• name a right that was not
protected by the U.S. Supreme Court
according to Plessy v. Ferguson.
(Knowledge)
• name the Supreme Court case
that reversed the decision of Plessy
v. Ferguson. (Knowledge)
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Ask students to look at the
photograph of the attorneys for
Linda Brown. What do you think
they were thinking when this photo
was taken?
Critical Thinking
Ask students
• how Brown v. Board of Education
illustrates how the law of the land
can change to reflect changing
times. Challenge students to find
other examples of laws that changed
over time.
• to explain why the Supreme
Court said that even if facilities for
blacks and whites were exactly the
same, segregation deprived African
Americans of equal rights.
• how history might be different if
the Brown decision had been
different.
Research Activity
Have students use a search
engine or other reference materials
to research Thurgood Marshall. One
site for biographical information as
well as a timeline of his life is
chnm.gmu.edu/courses/122/hill/
marshall.htm.
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Connecting with U.S. History
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The Brown Decision
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In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court
changed the direction of Louisiana and the rest of the country.
Segregation, the separation of the
races, was ruled unconstitutional.
This history-making decision was
the result of the Brown v. Board
of Education of Topeka lawsuit.
Until that case, the U.S. Supreme
Court had said the Constitution
did not prohibit segregation.
In 1896, the U.S. Supreme Court
had upheld a Louisiana law that
required separate railroad cars for
blacks and for whites. In its ruling
in the Plessy v. Ferguson case, the
Court said that a person’s constitutional rights did not include protection from social discrimination.
The ruling made segregation legal
in the United States and established the separate-but-equal concept. The Brown ruling reversed the
Plessy decision.
In the Brown case, the Supreme
Court considered the issue of segregation and declared that inequality existed throughout the country. The schools for African American children were not equal to the schools for white children.
The Court went further with its opinion, stating that,
even if the school facilities were exactly the same,
segregation still deprived African Americans of equal
rights. The Court’s ruling stated that separate facili-
488
ties were unconstitutional because they violated the
basic rights provided by the U.S. Constitution.
Class Discussion
Organizing
The black community faced this strong opposition. One of the most important organizations seeking equal rights for African Americans
was the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which had
been organized nationally in 1909. The first Louisiana chapter of the NAACP was formed in New
Orleans in 1915. The organization had supported
the Brown v. Board of Education case. Now its
members struggled to change Louisiana’s segregated schools.
A longtime leader of the Louisiana NAACP was
A. P. Turead of New Orleans. His Creole family
had lived in Louisiana for generations. Turead graduated from the Howard University Law School and then returned to Louisiana to begin his court battles.
One of the first African American lawyers in the state, he fought for equal rights
long before the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
In 1952, Turead had filed a lawsuit to allow a black student to enter a formerly all-white school in New Orleans. This occurred two years before the U.S.
Supreme Court ruled in the Brown v. Board of Education case. The New Orleans
case, however, had to wait until the Court decided the Brown case.
The New Orleans School Crisis
Above: Desegregation of the
New Orleans school system
did not go smoothly. In this
November 1960 photo,
white parents and students
at the William Frantz
Elementary School protested
the assignment of Ruby
Bridges to the school.
Ask students to
• compare the tactics used by
white Citizens’ Councils and the Ku
Klux Klan to support segregation.
(Comprehension)
Guiding Question 9-18
• tell what the initials “NAACP”
represent. (Knowledge)
• identify A. P. Turead and his
influence on the history of
Louisiana. (Comprehension)
Guiding Question 9-21
• describe how the Orleans Parish
School Board reacted to the Brown
decision. (Comprehension)
Guiding Questions 9-16 and 9-22
Writing Activity
Have students write a paragraph
using propaganda or bias to gather
support for segregation.
Guiding Question 9-18
Internet Activity
The schools for black children in New Orleans were overcrowded and rundown. At first, the parents pushed for improvements to the schools, willing to
keep the separate schools if they could be made equal to white schools. These
requests were ignored by the whites in power.
New Orleans then became the battleground in the struggle over desegregation in Louisiana. In the Brown decision, the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled
that segregated schools were unconstitutional. In 1956, a federal judge ordered the Orleans Parish School Board to submit a desegregation plan. The long,
ugly battle to desegregate the schools of New Orleans began.
The school board refused and appealed the decision. The state legislature
reacted by passing a law to take control of the New Orleans school system and
other local school boards. The legislature also established a Joint Committee
on Segregation that tried to block changes in the schools.
Chapter 15 Louisiana’s Civil Rights Era: Challenge and Change
Section 1
Segregation
489
Have students go to the NAACP
web site at www.naacp.org/ to find
information on the group’s history.
The site contains links to timelines
by the decade from 1900 to the
present. You may want to assign
groups of students to each decade.
Have them find five interesting facts
from their assigned decade. Then,
make a class timeline of events
students choose to include.
Guiding Questions 9-7, 9-14,
and 9-20
Multidisciplinary Activity
Writing Activity
Group Activity
Write a letter to the editor to
support or oppose the Brown v.
Board of Education decision.
Guiding Question 9-10
Divide students into groups
and ask them to research either
the SCLC (Southern Christian
Leadership Conference) or SNCC
(Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee). Have them identify
the leaders, purpose, and strategies of the group. Have students
prepare a visual (e.g., chart,
checklist, or mobile) for their
presentation.
Guiding Question 9-22
BLM Assign Southern Manifesto
from page 198 in the BLM book.
T488
Above: Attorneys (left to right) George Hayes, Thurgood
Marshall, and James Nabrit, Jr., on the steps of the U.S.
Supreme Court after the Court ruled in their favor in
Brown v. Board of Education, ending school segregation.
state filled with racial unrest. The states’ rights
argument, first heard before the Civil War, was
discussed again in the South. Louisiana’s legislature argued that the state had the right to
enforce segregation. They passed many laws trying to keep the segregated school system.
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Ask students to describe the
emotions of the parents in the
picture. Point out the political
sign that implores voters to
support segregation by voting for
states’ rights candidates. Ask
students to discuss why
segregationists would support
states’ rights candidates.
Art Have students create a collage
of civil rights images.
BLM Assign A Stamp on Black
History on page 199 in the BLM
book.
T489
Class Discussion
Ask students to
• explain why a federal judge
imposed a desegregation plan that
led to Ruby Bridges being sent to
William Frantz Elementary School.
(Comprehension)
Guiding Question 9-8
• describe why white parents
opposed the enrollment of Ruby
Bridges at a previously all-white
school. (Comprehension)
• list two methods of protesting
segregated facilities. (Knowledge)
Guiding Question 9-8
Social Studies Skill
Interpreting a Political Cartoon
Ask students to tell the point of
view of the political cartoon. What
symbolism is seen in the drawing?
(Segregation is a closed door, students are some distance from being
able to open it. The title indicates
that segregation is a slow process.)
Ask them to give the cartoon a title.
Guiding Question 9-19
Critical Thinking
Ask students
• what it would be like to be the
only student in a class. Have them
describe how Ruby Bridges might
have felt as she sat alone with her
teacher day after day.
• how the desegregation issue in
New Orleans schools affected the
city’s economy. Why would business
leaders outside of New Orleans not
want to do business there?
Guiding Questions 9-13 and 9-16
The Art of Politics
SSSSSSSS
SSSSSSSS
SSSSSSSS
SSSSSSSS
SSSSSSSS
SSSSSSSS
SSSSSSSS
SSSSSSSS
SSSSSSSS
SSSSSSSS
SSSSSSSS
SSSSSSSS
SSSSSSSS
Cartoonist Bill Mauldin was a strong supporter of
desegregation. This cartoon, entitled “Inch by Inch”
was published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 1960.
Lagniappe
Neither Ruby Bridges or
her teacher, Mrs. Barbara
Henry, missed a day of
school that year.
490
Public Protests
The conflicts did not end with the settlement
of the New Orleans school crisis. African Americans in Louisiana wanted an end to segregation. Their protests became louder
when changes did not come. Stores that refused to employ black workers were
boycotted. Downtown stores had always refused to serve blacks at their lunch
counters. African Americans began to stage sit-ins as a protest. Groups of mostly
young people would sit at the counter, requesting service. Sixteen students
from Southern University who participated in a sit-in at the S. H. Kress department store in Baton Rouge were expelled because of their protest. Their
convictions were later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. This was the first
sit-in case to be heard by the Supreme Court, and the decision encouraged
other protesters. Most of the group returned to the university’s graduation ceremony in May 2004 to be honored for their actions in 1960 and to receive honorary degrees from SU.
The Washington Parish town of
Bogalusa filled with unrest during this
period. The town had been established as a lumber town, and the mill
continued to be the largest employer.
The town was still a segregated community; the civil rights of African
Americans were largely ignored.
Civil rights groups demanded better mill jobs for black workers and
pushed to end inequality throughout
the community. The Congress of Racial
Equality (CORE), a national civil rights
group, organized the protests in
Bogalusa. The group’s members were
younger and more militant (aggressive)
than the NAACP. Some white segregationists in Bogalusa used violence to
oppose the civil rights groups.
Governor John McKeithen realized he had to act to prevent riots. He met
with leaders of both sides and managed to bring about a compromise. He then
appointed a statewide biracial committee to continue the efforts started in
Bogalusa. In 1965, when A. Z. Young, a leader of the Bogalusa protests, led a
march from Bogalusa to Baton Rouge, the governor protected the marchers
with the State Police and the National Guard.
Protests such as these in Louisiana and across the South brought results.
The U.S. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which ended segregation by prohibiting discrimination in public facilities and in employment. The
1965 Voting Rights Act outlawed all literacy tests and poll taxes and sent
registrars into the southern states to register black voters. The number of blacks
registered to vote increased greatly.
Check for Understanding
Reading Strategy
Building Vocabulary
Have students define the terms
Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting
Rights Act of 1965. Ask them to tell
the role the two documents played
in ending segregation.
Guiding Question 9-9
ASSESS
Check for Understanding
Above: A. Z. Young (center)
leads a march in August
1967 from Bogalusa to
Baton Rouge. Marchers were
protected by the Louisiana
National Guard.
1. How did black veterans of World War II react to segregation?
2. How was the Baton Rouge bus boycott ended?
3. What is the oldest civil rights organization?
4. How did the state legislature react to the judge’s order to
desegregate schools?
5. How did Governor McKeithen respond to the protest march
from Bogalusa to Baton Rouge?
Chapter 15 Louisiana’s Civil Rights Era: Challenge and Change
Section 1
Segregation
1. Since they had fought for the
country in World War II, they
wanted their full rights as
citizens.
2. A compromise ended the
boycott. The agreement
provided that blacks would
enter the bus from the back
and whites from the front.
Blacks could sit anywhere
except in the front two seats.
Blacks also could not sit in
front of whites or on the
same seat as whites.
3. NAACP
4. The legislature took control of
a number of local boards of
education and established a
Joint Committee on
Segregation that tried to
block changes in the schools.
5. He protected the marchers by
sending the National Guard.
491
Alternative Assessment
Writing Activity
Addressing Learning Styles
Reading Strategy
Have students write a
newspaper headline to describe
one of the protest events.
Body/Kinesthetic
Have students role-play a board
of education meeting in Louisiana
in 1957 where the Brown decision
is discussed.
Guiding Question 9-10
Compare and Contrast
Have students compare the
strategies of protestors in
Bogalusa with those of
protestors in Baton Rouge.
Have students write a letter
from a foreign country to someone in New Orleans asking about
the school situation.
T490
In 1960, the federal judge imposed his own desegregation plan because the school board had failed
to implement a plan. Four 6-year-old girls led the
way to change. Their path was not easy. One little
girl, Ruby Bridges, was the only black child sent to
William Frantz Elementary School. The school was
located in a poor neighborhood that had both a
white housing project and a black housing project.
(A housing project provides publicly funded housing for low-income families.) The white parents felt
very threatened by the change and resented the fact
that schools in wealthier neighborhoods were not
part of the desegregation plan.
A crowd of mostly women gathered to scream at
the little girl in the starched white dress. Federal
marshals escorted Ruby Bridges to school each day
to protect her from the mob. White children assigned
to her first-grade class did not attend school all year.
Ruby and her teacher spent the days alone.
The entire state watched the situation in New
Orleans, which was not resolved for more than a
year. The worldwide publicity the city received was
mostly negative. Finally, local leaders realized that
the conflict had a major economic cost. The rest
of the country did not want to do business with
this conflict-filled city. Business leaders urged New
Orleans citizens to accept the changes and move
forward.
Multidisciplinary Activity
Math Have students calculate the
distance between Bogalusa and
Baton Rouge. Given that distance,
estimate how long the march
might have lasted.
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Ask students to describe the
thoughts of the following groups
of people: the marchers, the spectators, the armed forces.
Addressing Learning
Styles
Have students collect news
articles from local newspapers,
magazines, or television programs.
Based on the articles, ask them to
assess the progress of civil rights
in the United States. Have them
propose other work that needs to
be done.
Lesson Closure
Have students respond to the
prompt, “If I could talk with a civil
rights leader, I would choose ___
because ____.”
Musical/Rhythmic
Assign students Lift Every Voice
and Sing on page 200 in the BLM
book.
T491
SECTION 2
STATE GOVERNMENT
2
Section
State Government
INTRODUCE
Outline
As you read, look for:
A. Civil Rights Era Governors
1. Jimmie Davis
2. John McKeithen
3. Edwin Edwards
B. The 1974 Constitution
C. African American Elected
Officials
• the policies of the governors of this period,
• the reason why the state needed a new constitution, and
• vocabulary terms code of ethics and sunshine law.
The 1960s and 1970s were turbulent years for Louisiana and the
rest of the southern states. Desegregation brought conflict to
Louisiana and overshadowed almost everything else.
Civil Rights Era Governors
Materials
Textbook, pages 492-498
Blackline Masters
Executive Order No. 12,
page 201
My Fellow Citizens, page 202
The Severance Tax, page 203
Examining the Sales Tax,
page 204
Teacher CD-ROM
Transparencies
Online textbook
mystatehistory.com
In spite of the difficult times, the state’s governors led the
state toward progress in other ways.
Jimmie Davis
Above: Criticized when it
was first built, the Sunshine
Bridge is now recognized as
an economic asset.
Lagniappe
Focus
Ask students how societal and
economic changes can affect politics. Ask them to give specific
examples. (Students might mention
a different view of educational or
transportation policies.) Have them
predict what issues Louisiana’s
governors in the turbulent 1960s
and 1970s faced.
Jimmie Davis had first served as governor during World War
II. In 1959, he campaigned on the accomplishments of his first
term. He talked about harmony and unity, and his campaign
slogan was “Jimmie Davis never raised your taxes.” But low taxes
would not solve the problems or ease the turmoil facing the state
in the 1960s.
Governor Davis planned several projects to benefit Louisiana’s
future. One of these was a new bridge across the Mississippi River between Baton
Rouge and New Orleans. When the bridge was built, it connected cane fields
on one side of the river to cane fields on the other side. Critics claimed it was
a waste of state money. Today that
bridge connects industry on both
sides of the river. Named the “Sunshine Bridge” after Davis’s song “You
Are My Sunshine,” it is now recogThe Toledo Bend Reservoir
nized as an economic asset.
is the largest manmade
Other construction projects combody of water in the South
pleted during Davis’s term were the
and the fifth largest in
Toledo Bend Dam and the present
surface acres (205,000
governor’s mansion. The dam and lake
acres) in the United States.
at Toledo Bend provide electricity and
recreation for both Louisiana and
492
Chapter 15 Louisiana’s Civil Rights Era: Challenge and Change
Texas. The elaborate plantation-style governor’s mansion includes eighteen bathrooms, a fact often mentioned by the critics who thought the old mansion was
quite adequate.
The quality of state government was improved with a written code of ethics. The code of ethics described the standards for conducting state business.
The new position of legislative auditor was created to formally examine state
spending.
One scandal during Governor Davis’s term led to another
improvement. The Baker Bank scandal involved the investment
of state funds. A bank in the town of Baker in East Baton Rouge
Parish received state funds for deposit. The state accounts
benefited the bank rather than the state. After that information was made public, the legislature passed laws to require
the proper investment of state funds not immediately needed
to pay expenses.
Reading Strategy
Building Vocabulary
Have students discuss what they
think a code of ethics is. If they
need help, you might mention that
a code of ethics defines acceptable
behavior and promotes high standards of practice. Ask students how
a code of ethics could improve the
quality of state government. (You
may want them to write a code of
ethics for the class. One web site
that gives some tips for writing a
code of ethics is www.ethics
web.ca/codes/coe3.htm.)
Guiding Question 9-16
John McKeithen
John McKeithen took over the governor’s office in 1964.
McKeithen described himself as a country lawyer from Columbia in Caldwell Parish. He was the first candidate to use television effectively. He ended each television ad by repeating his
campaign slogan—“Won’t you ‘hep’ me?”—in his North Louisiana drawl.
This skilled campaigner learned about Louisiana politics as a
legislator when Earl Long was governor. McKeithen shared some
of the Longs’ social views but did not copy their dictatorlike
behavior. During the McKeithen years, the legislature was much
more independent than the Longs would ever have allowed.
Governor McKeithen brought progress to state government.
The ethics codes were made stronger. The governor also changed the way the
state made purchases. A central purchasing system saved money and was more
efficient.
Governor McKeithen also worked hard to improve the state’s economy. Businesses came to Louisiana because the governor traveled around the country
promoting the state. Tourism became a focus of economic development. Advertisements invited people to come to Louisiana, and a separate state agency
was established to promote tourism.
John McKeithen was so popular during his first term that people wanted
him to continue as governor. At the time, however, the state constitution did
not allow the governor to run for reelection. In 1966, the voters approved a
constitutional amendment to change this restriction.
The voters gave McKeithen 80 percent of the votes in the 1967 governor’s
race. Despite this strong vote of confidence, Governor McKeithen soon ran into
problems in his second term. The expensive Superdome project and labor
Section 2
Economic Activity
Above: As governor, John
McKeithen supported reform
measures and worked hard
to improve the state’s
economy.
State Government
493
TEACH
Reading Strategy
Making Connections
Go back to Chapter 13 and review
Jimmie Davis’s first term as
governor. Have them list the policies
and accomplishments. Then ask
them to make a list of the policies
and accomplishments of his second
term. Analyze the two lists to determine how time changed the types of
issues that he faced.
Guiding Questions 9-16 and 9-23
T492
Objectives
Objectives (Cont.)
GLE 28: Explain why taxes are needed and purposes for which tax monies/
revenues are used.
GLE 33: Analyze how the democratic process has been used to institute change in
Louisiana.
GLE 39: Identify individual rights guaranteed in the Louisiana Constitution.
GLE 40: Describe ways by which citizens can organize, monitor, or influence
government and politics at the local, state, and national levels.
GLE 41: Explain the importance of being an informed citizen on public issues,
recognizing propaganda, and knowing the voting issues.
GLE 58: Describe historical and economic factors influencing the economic
growth, interdependence and development of Louisiana and the nation (e.g., mass
production, oil boom and decline).
GLE 64: Compare and contrast events and ideas from Louisiana’s past and present,
explaining political, social, or economic contexts.
GLE 65: Analyze the causes, effects, or impact of a given historical event in
Louisiana.
GLE 69: Propose and defend potential solutions to past and current issues in
Louisiana.
GLE 70: Conduct historical research using a variety of resources, and evaluate
those resources, to answer historical questions related to Louisiana history.
GLE 72: Describe leaders who were influential in Louisiana’s development.
GLE 73: Describe and explain the importance of major events and ideas in the
development of Louisiana.
Ask students how it was possible
for the bank in Baker to make
money from state accounts that
were deposited in the facility. What
did the legislature do to remedy the
situation?
Class Discussion
Ask students to
• describe John McKeithen as a
person and as a politician.
(Comprehension)
• describe how McKeithen improved
Louisiana’s economy.
(Comprehension)
• explain how tourism became a
focus of economic development.
(Application)
Guiding Question 9-27
• explain how the will of the
people enabled McKeithen to
became governor for a second term.
(Application)
Guiding Question 9-8
BLM Assign Executive Order Number
12 on page 201 in the BLM book.
Reading Strategy
Compare and Contrast
Have students make a graphic
organizer to record the different
issues and programs of McKeithen’s
two terms.
T493
problems brought criticism. The
Superdome in New Orleans was projected to cost $31.5 million, but it
ended up costing more than ten times
that amount—$362 million.
Governor McKeithen faced problems as labor union strikes led to violence that brought negative publicity
to the state. In 1967, Life magazine
said the state’s labor problems were
linked to organized crime. An investigation into these claims found no
criminal activity.
Multidisciplinary Activity
Math The Superdome was projected
to cost $31.5 million, but it ended
up costing more than $362 million.
Have students calculate the percentage of increase in cost.
Class Discussion
Ask students
• why more blacks voted in
Louisiana after 1965.
(Comprehension)
Guiding Question 9-9
• to name the state’s first governor
elected with the support of the
African American community.
(Knowledge)
• to name the two groups who
were among Edwin Edwards’s biggest
supporters. (Knowledge)
• to identify the social programs
supported by Edwin Edwards.
(Knowledge)
Guiding Question 9-23
BLM Assign My Fellow Citizens on
page 202 in the BLM book.
Reading Activity
Reinforcing Vocabulary
Review the definition of
severance tax. Ask students to
explain how the structure of the
severance tax was changed under
Edwards’s term as governor. Ask
students to explain the benefit of
assessing the tax on the value
rather than the volume of the
resource.
Guiding Question 9-6
BLM Assign The Severance Tax on
page 203 in the BLM book.
Building Vocabulary
Have students define sunshine
law. Ask them to tell how this law
got its name.
Addressing Learning Styles
Body/Kinesthetic
Have students brainstorm a list of
advantages and disadvantages of
labor unions. Ask students to do
some research to find additional
ideas. Then divide the class into two
sides and have them debate the
pro’s and con’s of labor unions.
Edwin Edwards
Top: Governor McKeithen,
seen here with the Cub
Scouts, was the first in the
twentieth century to
succeed himself. Above:
Edwin Edwards was a
popular governor during
his first term and was reelected in 1975.
494
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 finally enforced the constitutional
right of African Americans to vote. For the first time, no obstacles kept
them from voting. Long lines at the polls included many first-time voters
who were more than sixty-five years old. These new voters changed
Louisiana’s elections. Now, candidates campaigned to win black votes
instead of campaigning against their right to vote. In 1971, Edwin
Edwards was the first governor to be elected with the support of the
African American community.
Edwards also had the strong backing of another group. Despite his
English-sounding name, Edwards is a Cajun from Marksville in Avoyelles
Parish. After graduating from LSU Law School, he moved to Crowley in
Acadia Parish. Edwards reached his Cajun supporters by speaking to
them in French.
Governor Edwards began his first term with a broad base of support. He appointed a number of blacks and women to high-level state
jobs. These two groups had not been included in positions of power
before. He also emphasized social programs. More money was spent on public
hospitals that provide care for the needy. Welfare benefits were increased.
Vocational schools, parks, and tourism also benefited.
These expanded programs were paid
for with the money from a tax change.
The severance tax on oil was increased
Before serving as governor,
by 30 percent, and the natural gas tax
Edwin Edwards had been
was raised 50 percent. The method for
elected to the Crowley City
determining the amount of tax owed
Council, the state senate,
was also changed. The severance tax
and the U.S. Congress.
was now based on the value of the resource instead of on the volume or
Lagniappe
Chapter 15 Louisiana’s Civil Rights Era: Challenge and Change
Lagniappe
Objectives (Cont.)
Before Edwin Edwards’s first
campaign for governor, candidates
for governor ran with an entire
ticket for all statewide offices.
This approach changed when the
Voting Rights Act made the entire
election process more open.
GLE 76: Trace and describe
various governments in
Louisiana’s history.
GLE 80: Trace the state’s
economic development and growth
toward economic diversity (e.g.,
fur trade, tourism, technology).
BLM Assign Examining the Sales
Tax on page 204 in the BLM book.
T494
Reading Strategy
amount removed. Before this change, tax revenues did not increase if the price
of oil or gas went up. This tax change and the rising price of oil in the 1970s
meant that Louisiana received much more money from severance taxes.
In 1975, Governor Edwards was reelected with strong Democratic support.
The social programs of his first term made him a popular candidate. The people
were satisfied because the Louisiana economy was strong.
Several governmental reforms were enacted during his second term. One
law required that all government meetings be open to the public. This is called
the sunshine law because the meetings cannot be held in secret and must be
“open to the light.” Another law was passed to stop people from holding more
than one government office or job.
Labor violence in the late 1960s and early 1970s led to a right-to-work law
in 1977. Workers would not have to join a labor union. Business organizations
said that the unions were pushing wages too high and hurting the economy.
Union supporters said working conditions and wages would be unfair to workers without the protection of labor unions. Soon after the law passed, labor
unions lost much of their power in the state.
Above: In 1971, Edwin
Edwards campaigned on a
promise to rewrite the
state’s constitution. He kept
that promise, and the
constitutional convention
convened in 1973.
Labor-management conflicts led
to an investigation by the U.S.
Attorney General. Some of the worst
problems were in the Lake Charles
and Baton Rouge areas.
Critical Thinking
Ask students to
• explain how unions pushing
wages higher hurts the economy.
• explain how right-to-work laws
caused labor unions to lose much of
their power.
The 1974 Constitution
By the early 1970s, Louisiana needed a new constitution. The constitution
written in 1921 had been amended 536 times and had so many volumes that
it filled a shelf 5 feet long. One critic had described it as a “patchwork of deals
. . . containing endless trivia.” Finally, the voters refused to pass any more amendments. The legislators realized that a new constitution had to be written.
Section 2
Lagniappe
Research Activity
State Government
495
Have students use a search
engine or other reference materials
to research one of the civil rights
governors. Ask them to make a
poster board display of their
findings. Be sure they include
information on their early lives,
their careers before becoming
governor, their accomplishments as
governor, and their lives after they
left the Governor’s Mansion.
Guiding Question 9-23
Writing Activity
Have students write questions
they would like to ask one of the
governors discussed in this
section.
Guiding Question 9-10
T495
Focus
Ask students how many have seen
Toledo Bend. Have them describe
what they saw. If your school is
located close to Toledo Bend, ask
students how Toledo Bend affects
their lives.
Map Skills
Have students use a state highway map to find the route to Toledo
Bend and the distance in miles from
these cities: Lake Charles, Lafayette,
Baton Rouge, Alexandria, Monroe,
and Shreveport. You may also want
them to find the route and distance
from their homes. This activity can
be done in pairs or in small groups.
Internet Activity
Have students use a search
engine to find a map of Toledo
Bend. Have them list three possible
uses for the map.
Spotlight
Bend
Toledo
The region along the Sabine River between Louisiana and Texas has a colorful history. The disputed
border between Spanish-held Texas and the new
United States territory of Louisiana was called the
Sabine Strip and No-Man’s-Land. Today, it is known
for Toledo Bend Reservoir.
In the 1960s, humans made a major modification
to this natural environment. The Sabine River was
dammed to create the largest manmade lake in the
South. From the dam near Hornbeck, the lake extends
65 miles north to Logansport, covering 185,000 acres.
The Sabine River Authority of Louisiana and the
Sabine River Authority of Texas worked with energy
companies to build the dam and create the lake. Construction began in April 1964 and was completed in
1966. The reservoir provides both hydroelectric power
and a water supply. The hydroelectric power plant
began operating in 1969.
Economic change came with the marinas built to
support the recreational fishing on the lake. New
homes and weekend fishing camps were built along
the lakeshore. The people who fish on Toledo Bend
range from first timers to professional bass fishermen competing for large cash prizes. The fish population includes black bass, white bass, bream, catfish, and perch.
The 1,220 miles of shoreline provide even more
opportunities for recreation as people camp, picnic,
hunt, hike, and sightsee. A lucky visitor may get a
glimpse of a bald eagle, soaring above the trees.
Other wildlife, including deer, is abundant.
Two state parks lie along Toledo Bend. The mixed
pine and hardwood forest of North Toledo Bend State
Park and the small bluffs of South Toledo Bend State
496
T496
Park offer a variety of outdoor experiences. A stateowned golf resort, Cypress Point, attracts more visitors to Toledo Bend.
Toledo Bend Reservoir changed Louisiana’s geography, economy, and culture. Human goals and interests led to this plan, and technological advances
made it possible to dam the Sabine River and change
the region.
Below: Recreational fishing is an important economic
activity on Toledo Bend Reservoir. Opposite page:
Cypress trees near the edge of Toledo Bend Reservoir.
Chapter 15 Louisiana’s Civil Rights Era: Challenge and Change
Section 2
State Government
Reviewing GLEs
Toledo Bend can be used as the
topic in a review of the concepts
students need to understand.
For example:
GLE 5 Use Toledo Bend in a
description of the physical
geography of Louisiana.
GLE 6 How did damming the Sabine
River to create Toledo Bend affect
the development of the state?
GLE 8 How did Toledo Bend cause
the region along the Sabine River to
change?
GLE 9 What human goals and
technological advances led to the
constuction of Toledo Bend?
GLE 11 Why are retirees becoming
new settlers in the Toledo Bend
region?
GLE 13 How is Toledo Bend
an example of economic
interdependence?
GLE 14 What are some
consequences of creating Toledo
Bend? Ask students to predict
further consequences.
Critical Thinking
Dallas, Texas, needs another
source of water. One proposal is to
build a pipeline from Toledo Bend to
the city. Ask students what
questions should be answered before
this project is approved.
497
T497
Edwin Edwards had campaigned in 1971 for a new constitution.
He said, “The present constitution is an impediment to progress.
We need a new constitution to get our state moving in a new
direction.”
A constitutional convention met in Baton Rouge in 1973. The
delegates developed a much improved constitution. The new constitution recognized the rights of all citizens. But the delegates
could not agree to eliminate some of the details. Governor Edwards
said that if they had stopped after the completion of the bill of
rights and the three articles on the executive, the legislative, and
the judicial branches, they would have had a “beautiful document.”
The 1974 constitution had been written by delegates elected
by the people. Then, for the first time since the constitution of
1879, the people voted directly to ratify the constitution.
Class Discussion
Ask students to
• explain why Louisiana needed a
new constitution. (Comprehension)
• tell how the writing and ratification of the 1974 constitution was
different from previous times.
(Comprehension)
Guiding Questions 9-10 and 9-23
• explain the result of Baker v.
Carr. (Comprehension)
• name the first African American
to be elected to the Louisiana
legislature in the 20th century.
(Knowledge)
ASSESS
Check for Understanding
1. The Sunshine Bridge and the
Toledo Bend Dam
2. He traveled around the
country promoting the state
and inviting people to come
for a visit. He also
established a separate state
agency to promote tourism.
3. African Americans and Cajuns
4. A change in how severance
taxes were assessed
5. Delegates elected by the
people
6. Voting districts must be fairly
based on population
Alternative Assessment
African American Elected Officials
Above: Ernest Morial
celebrates his election as
mayor of New Orleans in
1977. He was the first
African American elected
to that office. In 1967, he
had been the first African
American to be elected to
the legislature since the end
of Reconstuction.
In 1962, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in the Baker
v. Carr case. In the ruling, the Court stated that voting districts
must be fairly based on population. Voting districts had to be reapportioned (redrawn) so that all voters were equally represented.
After those changes, African Americans had a voice in Louisiana
elections. Since the 1970s, more African Americans have been elected to local
and state offices.
The first African American to be elected to the legislature in the twentieth
century was Ernest Morial from New Orleans. He was elected in 1967 and served
until he became a judge. His seat was then held by the first African American
woman in the state legislature, Dorothy Mae Taylor. Morial went on to be elected
the first African American mayor of New Orleans in 1977.
Check for Understanding
1. Name two construction projects completed while Jimmie
Davis was governor.
2. What did Governor McKeithen do to improve the state’s
economy?
3. What two groups helped elect Edwin Edwards?
4. What major tax change was made while Edwin Edwards was
governor?
5. Who wrote the 1974 state constitution?
6. What was the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in its Baker v. Carr
decision?
498
3
Section
Social Changes
Lagniappe
Lindy Boggs is the great,
great, great grandniece of
W. C. C. Claiborne, territorial
governor and the first state
governor of Louisiana.
As you read, look for:
• the effects of the women’s rights movement in Louisiana,
• the growth of the suburbs,
• the effects of the Vietnam War, and
• vocabulary terms interstate highway, suburbs, and busing.
The activism of the 1960s brought political and
social change. Even in conservative Louisiana,
changes took place. The voices demanding to be
heard could not be ignored.
Women’s Rights
The civil rights movement of the 1960s
brought attention to women’s rights. In 1964,
Governor McKeithen appointed a Commission on
the Status of Women to study women’s rights and
opportunities. He stated, “The full realization of
the rights and potentials of women is of vital
importance to the advancement of our state.”
The group recommended that Louisiana laws
concerning voting, holding public office, serving on a jury, and owning property be revised
to be the same for men and women. At the time, women were called to serve
on juries only if they had specifically signed up to be considered.
As the women’s rights movement grew, more women were elected to public
office. Louisiana had elected only a few women to public office before the 1960s.
The first woman to be elected to a statewide office was Lucille May Grace, who
was elected as the register of the State Land Office in 1931. She succeeded her
father in the position. In 1936, after her husband’s death, Doris Holland was
appointed to finish his term as a state senator. She then ran for a seat in the
state house of representatives and served there until 1948.
The first woman to be elected to the Louisiana senate was Virginia Shehee.
She was elected in 1976 from a Caddo Parish district. Louisiana also sent a woman
to Congress in the 1970s. When Congressman Hale Boggs from New Orleans
died in a plane crash in 1972, his wife was elected to take his place. Lindy
Boggs served the district for eighteen years and became a popular and powerful member of Congress.
Chapter 15 Louisiana’s Civil Rights Era: Challenge and Change
Above: Corinne “Lindy”
Boggs was the first woman
elected to Congress from
Louisiana. She filled the
seat held by her husband
Hale, who was killed in an
Alaska plane crash in1972.
Lindy Boggs served nine
terms in the U.S. House of
Representatives.
Section 3
Social Changes
499
Have students write questions
covering the material in the section.
Have them take turns asking their
questions to other class members.
Lesson Closure
Write a statement giving one of
the governors in the section advice
on how to handle one of the problems he faced.
T498
SECTION 3
SOCIAL CHANGES
INTRODUCE
Outline
A. Women’s Rights
B. Suburban Growth
C. Lifestyle Changes
D. Vietnam
E. Louisiana Celebrates the
Bicentennial
Materials
Textbook, pages 499-503
Blackline Masters
Proposed Equal Rights
Amendment, page 205
From Here to There: Leaving
the South, page 206
Teacher CD-ROM
Transparencies
Online textbook
mystatehistory.com
Focus
Tell students that the struggle for
civil rights was not the only
movement of the 1960s. The 1960s
and 1970s were marked by protests
and demonstrations primarily
involving women’s rights and the
war in Vietnam. Ask them what
they have heard grandparents,
neighbors, or relatives say about
this period of history.
TEACH
Class Discussion
Research Activity
Critical Thinking
Objectives
Have students use a search
engine or other reference
materials to research African
American political figures in
Louisiana in the mid-1900s. (You
should include Ernest Morial and
Dorothy Mae Taylor.)
Have students discuss why
redistricting voting districts
increased the participation of
blacks in elections.
GLE 9: Explain ways in which goals, cultures, interests, inventions, and
technological advances have affected people’s perceptions and uses of places or
regions in Louisiana.
GLE 33: Analyze how the democratic process has been used to institute change in
Louisiana.
GLE 39: Identify individual rights guaranteed in the Louisiana Constitution.
GLE 40: Describe ways by which citizens can organize, monitor, or influence
government and politics at the local, state, and national levels.
GLE 41: Explain the importance of being an informed citizen on public issues,
recognizing propaganda, and knowing the voting issues.
GLE 62: Construct a timeline of key events in Louisiana history.
Ask students to
• explain what Governor McKeithen
did to promote women’s rights.
(Comprehension)
• explain what recommendations a
special committee made to enhance
women’s rights. (Comprehension)
Guiding Question 9-23
BLM Assign the Proposed Equal
Rights Amendment on page 205 in
the BLM book.
T499
By 1980, changes in attitudes about the role of women finally ended a state
law known as the “head and master law.” This law made the husband the head
and master of his household. The law had required the man to take care of his
family but was also used against wives because a husband could sell the family
home without her knowledge. Now husband and wife are legal partners in a
marriage.
Social Studies Skill
Creating a Political Cartoon
Ask students to draw a political
cartoon to illustrate a point of view
about women’s rights. Students may
choose to draw a cartoon supporting
or opposing a particular cause.
Guiding Question 9-19
Suburban Growth
Critical Thinking
The “head and master law,”
Article 122 of the Louisiana Civil
Code, stated: “The wife, even when
she is separate in estate from her
husband, cannot alienate, grant,
mortgage, acquire, either by gratuitous or encumbered title, unless her
husband concurs in the act or yields
his consent in writing.” The law was
finally repealed in 1978, and a new
property law was passed in 1980.
Ask students if this was a fair law.
Why do they think it was passed?
Why do they think it lasted so long?
Guiding Questions 9-9 and 9-16
Below: The I-10 bridge
across the Atchafalaya
Swamp received design
awards even before it
opened in March 1973.
This era brought other major changes. The interstate highway system modified the landscape and the lifestyle of Louisiana. Small towns bypassed by the
new highways soon declined. New businesses developed near the access ramps
of the new interstates. Fast-food restaurants enticed travelers to stop for a quick
meal. Cities changed as the highways crowded out old businesses and neighborhoods.
The interstate highway system began with an act of Congress in 1956. These
multilane, limited-access highways were planned to cover America from coast
to coast. The two east-west highways that pass through Louisiana were begun
during the 1960s. By 1976, Louisiana had more than five hundred miles of
interstate highways. The elevated highway crossing the Atchafalaya Basin was
an engineering marvel.
The interstates fed the growth of the suburbs. American cities developed
these neighborhoods on the outer edges of cities after World War II. When the
soldiers returned from the war, they married and bought homes in the new
developments. The G.I. Bill helped finance that growth.
1950
1960
1970
Orleans, 570,445
Orleans, 627,525
Orleans, 593,471
Caddo, 176,547
East Baton Rouge, 230,058
Jefferson, 337,568
East Baton Rouge, 158,236
Caddo, 223,859
East Baton Rouge, 285,167
Jefferson, 103,873
Jefferson, 208,769
Caddo, 230,184
Rapides, 90,648
Calcasieu, 145,475
Calcasieu, 145,415
Lagniappe
The fastest growing areas
of the state between the
census of 1960 and the
census of 1970 were Vernon
Parish, because of Fort
Polk, and Jefferson Parish,
which had become a major
suburb of New Orleans.
The unrest of the 1960s and 1970s helped create a new lifestyle for young
Americans. Although most Louisiana young people were not “hippies,” some
elements of this new culture were adopted. In Jackson Square in New Orleans,
tie-dyed clothing, bare feet, and long hair were common sights.
The adults of the 1960s and 1970s were even more upset by this cultural
change than they had been about the rock and roll of the 1950s. The conflict
between the older generation and the younger generation centered on the
Vietnam War. Fathers who were veterans of World War II were angry and disappointed that their sons wanted to dodge the draft instead of serving their
country.
500
Chapter 15 Louisiana’s Civil Rights Era: Challenge and Change
Section 3
Social Changes
501
Reading Strategy
Building Vocabulary
Ask students to define the term
interstate highway. Ask them how
interstates are different from state
highways. Ask students to define
the term suburb. Have students
brainstorm a list of advantages and
disadvantages of living in suburbs.
T500
Have students make a list of
inventions and/or developments
that changed the lifestyle of
Louisiana families in the 1960s and
1970s. Ask them to find or draw a
picture of the invention, identify
the inventor, and tell how the
invention changed life in Louisiana.
Guiding Questions 9-2 and 9-16
Social Studies Skill
Air conditioning and television antennas signaled the new technology available to suburban homeowners. New appliances such as dishwashers and clothes
dryers changed the lifestyle of Louisiana’s families. Shopping malls replaced
downtown shopping districts and served as gathering places.
People also moved to the suburbs because of the conflict over desegregation in the city schools. In a court opinion known as Brown II, the United
States Supreme Court ruled that desegregation must be carried out “with all
deliberate speed.” At first, this was interpreted as allowing freedom of choice;
students could request a transfer to a school where the majority of students
were of another race. When this approach brought little progress toward desegregation, a new plan was introduced.
Desegregation in school districts was to be achieved through busing. That
is, schoolchildren could be transported to a school out of their neighborhood
to create schools that were racially balanced. White flight was the result. White
parents moved their families to the suburbs to avoid the busing, and private
schools were established in many parishes in Louisiana.
Lifestyle Changes
Class Discussion
Ask students to note major cities
in Louisiana that are connected by
major highways. Ask them about
cities not located along major highways. Ask them how the cities are
different. Ask students how the
development of highways affected
the growth of cities.
Guiding Question 9-16
Research Activity
Figure 32
Most Populous Parishes
Objectives (Cont.)
Objectives (Cont.)
GLE 64: Compare and contrast events and ideas from Louisiana’s past and present,
explaining political, social, or economic contexts.
GLE 65: Analyze the causes, effects, or impact of a given historical event in
Louisiana.
GLE 66: Analyze how a given historical figure influenced or changed the course of
Louisiana’s history.
GLE 67: Analyze given source material to identify opinion, propaganda, or bias.
GLE 69: Propose and defend potential solutions to past and current issues in
Louisiana.
GLE 70: Conduct historical research using a variety of resources, and evaluate
those resources, to answer historical questions related to Louisiana history.
GLE 72: Describe leaders who
were influential in Louisiana’s
development.
GLE 73: Describe and explain the
importance of major events and
ideas in the development of
Louisiana.
GLE 77: Describe major conflicts
in context of Louisiana history
(e.g., Rebellion of 1768, the
French and Indian War).
BLM Assign From Here to There:
Leaving the South on page 206 in
the BLM book.
Reading Charts and Tables
Have students look at Figure 32
and answer the following:
• Name the parishes that showed
continuous growth from 1950 to
1970.
• Which parish was not in the top
five after 1970?
• What was the population pattern
for Orleans Parish?
Multidisciplinary Activities
Art Have students find examples of
fashion in the 1960s and 1970s. Ask
them to bring in pictures or draw
examples of the fashions of the
times. Compare the fashions with
those of the 1950s. Ask students
how the fashion change illustrates
changes in society.
Math Ask students to create graphs
from the data on the chart. You
might ask groups of students to
construct different types of graphs,
e.g., circle, bar, line. (This would be
a good activity to produce a variety
of types of graphs to illustrate different methods to show data.)
Music Ask students to find examples of music of the 1960s and
1970s. Play sample pieces to the
class. Ask them to contrast this
music with that of the rock and roll
1950s.
T501
Vietnam
Class Discussion
Ask students
• why the United States sent
military advisors to Vietnam.
(Comprehension)
• where the major army training
facility in Louisiana was located.
(Knowledge)
• why people in Louisiana were
more supportive of the war than
people in others parts of the country. (Comprehension)
• how Louisiana civilians supported
the war effort. (Knowledge)
Guiding Question 9-24
Reading Strategy
Making Connections
Compare and Contrast
Have students review methods
that civilians used to support the
war effort during World War II.
Compare those with methods used
during Vietnam and the Iraqi War.
Guiding Question 9-24
Above: As American soldiers
slogged through the rice
paddies of Vietnam, the
nation was dividing over
America’s involvement in
the war.
Social Studies Skill
Drawing a Political Cartoon
The war in Vietnam greatly
divided the United States.
Thousands of young men fled to
Canada to escape serving in the military. When the war ended, troops
did not come home to a hero’s welcome, as they had done after World
War II and Korea. Have students
draw a political cartoon in support
of or opposition to the Vietnam War.
Guiding Question 9-19
502
Group Activity
In the 1960s, the world turned its attention to a
small area of southeast Asia. Vietnam was a divided
nation, with North Vietnam controlled by the communists. Because the spread of communism was considered a threat to the United States, Presidents
Eisenhower and Kennedy sent military advisors to
South Vietnam. The advisors turned into troops, and,
by 1968, there were almost 600,000 Americans serving there.
Young soldiers from all over America were sent to
Fort Polk in Vernon Parish for army training. The population increase improved the economy of both Vernon
and Beauregard parishes during this period.
People in Louisiana were more supportive of the war
because there were so many military bases in the state.
Children at a Baton Rouge elementary school wrote
letters to the father of one of their third-grade classmates. His reply described Vietnam as looking much
like the area between Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
He also explained the war to the children: “War is so
terrible that I doubt if anybody wins because the price
is so high.”
The Shreveport Times sent a special monthly newsletter to three thousand
servicemen in Vietnam. News briefs kept the soldiers up to date on life at home.
Three army specialists from North Louisiana wanted a Louisiana state flag to
fly in Vietnam. The newspaper sent them a flag, which they flew over their
barracks. “We are proud to be from a state whose citizens are so civic minded.”
Local communities honored their citizens involved in the military. The New
Iberia newspaper informed the town that Daniel Holmes, a local young man
serving in the navy, had been selected from among eight thousand men to be
honored as “Sailor of the Month.” In Lake Charles, the Young Men’s Business
Club built a tower as a memorial to peace.
Local support was also organized by the Red Cross. In Baton Rouge, the group
sponsored “Christmas in Vietnam” by having local women make drawstring
cloth bags. Residents could pick up a bag and fill it with military-approved
personal items. The bags were sent to Vietnam for several years.
Student protests, however, became louder as the war continued. A group of
several hundred Louisiana State University students marched three miles from
the campus to the old State Capitol. This protest followed the death of four
college students at Kent State University in Ohio. The LSU students protested
the use of U.S. military troops on unruly campuses. They wanted to “commemorate the deaths of our fellow students who were murdered.” The rally was closed
with the National Anthem, but many students refused to sing.
Divide students into groups and
ask them to identify a project to
preserve local history in their own
community. Ask them to assess
what would need to be done to
make the project a reality. Then,
have them actually develop a plan
to carry out their suggestion.
ASSESS
Check for Understanding
1. More women were elected to
public office.
2. The interstate highway system
3. Vietnam
4. Some participated in protest
marches and organized in a
rally in support of students
who were killed at Kent State.
Other young people supported
the war effort.
5. To celebrate the bicentennial
of the Declaration of
Independence
Alternative Assessment
Divide the class into groups and
ask each group to research one of
these events from the 1970s: ERA,
Vietnam, Watergate, the energy
crisis, the Iranian hostage crisis, the
Kent State Massacre, the Three Mile
Island Incident, the Jonestown
suicides, the first Earth Day
celebration, the Love Canal
evacuations. Have the students
reflect on how the incident has
influenced their own lives.
Guiding Question 9-24
Chapter 15 Louisiana’s Civil Rights Era: Challenge and Change
Lagniappe
Two of the soldiers charged with
murder in the My Lai Massacre were
from Louisiana. Another Louisiana
soldier, Hugh Thompson of
Broussard, was later recognized for
his efforts to save the unarmed
Vietnamese.
T502
Research Activity
Writing Activity
Critical Thinking
Class Discussion
There were many protests,
especially on college campuses,
during the Vietnam War. Perhaps
the most famous was the one at
Kent State in which four students
were killed. Have students use a
search engine or other reference
materials to locate examples of
Vietnam War protests.
Guiding Questions 9-22
and 9-24
Ask students to write questions
that they would like to ask
President Lyndon Johnson about
the Vietnam War.
Much of the opposition to the
Vietnam War was due to the
United States taking on the
problems of a foreign nation.
Many believed that Vietnam was
not our fight. Ask students under
what circumstances they would
support the United States’s
becoming involved in the internal
affairs of another country.
Guiding Question 9-24
Ask students what types of
celebrations were planned to
honor the bicentennial of the
Declaration of Independence. Why
were grants given to communities
to promote local history projects?
Have students name some specific
projects that were done in
Louisiana. Ask if there were any
local projects done as a result of
grants during that time.
Lesson Closure
Have students go to www.virtu
alstampclub.com/century8.html to
find pictures of 15 stamps that
represent events of the 1970s. Ask
students to choose one of the
stamps and find information about
its subject. Have students note the
significance of the event.
T503
Critical Thinking
Ask students to read the
provisions of the Civil Rights Act of
1964. Have them identify which
civil rights issues were addressed in
the law. (You might want students
to examine all parts of the law. A
copy may be found at www.histori
caldocuments.com/CivilRightsAct1
964.htm.)
Research Activity
Have students use a search
engine or other reference materials
to research Lyndon B. Johnson. Ask
them to list important events in his
life and focus on his role in the civil
rights movement.
Guiding Question 9-17
Multidisciplinary Activities
Language Arts Have students read
a biography of a civil rights figure.
Music Have students research
protest music of the period. Play
some of the protest music for the
class. Ask students to write lyrics for
a protest song, focusing on one or
more incidents of segregation.
Answers to Questions
1. Goods, services, privileges,
advantages, and accommodations
of any place of public
accommodation
2. Inn, hotel, motel, restaurant,
cafeteria, lunchroom, lunch
counter soda fountain, motion
picture house, theatre, concert
hall, sports arena, stadium
3. They brought attention to this
violation of civil rights.
4. Race, color, religion, or national
origin
5. Because segregation was still
being practiced
T504
Meeting Expectations
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Acts of 1964
was passed by Congress to
end discrimination. This is
one part of the law.
Title II
Injunctive Relief Against
Discrimination in Places of
Public Accommodation
and which is actually occupied by the proprietor of such
establishment as his residence;
(2) any restaurant, cafeteria,
lunchroom, lunch counter,
soda fountain, or the facility
principally engaged in selling
food for consumption on the
premises, including, but not
limited to, any such facility
located on the premises of
any retail establishment; or
any gasoline station;
(3) any motion picture house,
theater, concert hall, sports
arena, stadium or other place
of exhibition or entertainment.
Sec. 201.
(a) All persons shall be entitled
to the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services,
facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations
of any place of public accommodation, as defined in this
section, without discrimination or segregation on the
ground of race, color, reli1. The law says that all
gion, or national origin.
people shall be entitled
Above: On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon B.
(b) Each of the following estabto the full and equal
Johnson signed into law the most sweeping
lishments which serves the
enjoyment of what?
civil rights legislation since Reconstruction.
public is a place of public ac2. The law identifies a
commodation within the
number of public
meaning of this title if its operations affect commerce,
establishments that must not discriminate.
or if discrimination or segregation by it is supported by
List them.
State action:
3. How did the lunch counter sit-ins help bring
(1) any inn, hotel, motel, or other establishment which
about this law?
provides lodging to transient guest, other than
4. The law states four grounds of discrimination
an establishment located within a building which
that will not be allowed. List them.
contains not more than five rooms for rent or hire
5. Why was this law passed?
504
Chapter 15 Louisiana’s Civil Rights Era: Challenge and Change
Group Activity
Chapter Summary
• Have students write questions
from the chapter and use those
questions to play Jeopardy.
• Have students write questions
and use the questions to play
Baseball.
Segregation
• Legal and social segregation was the way of life
in the South.
• The Baton Rouge bus boycott was an early civil
rights protest.
• The Citizens’ Council was an organization of
white segregationists.
• The NAACP worked to bring an end to segregation
in schools. The 1954 United States Supreme
Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education
of Topeka said that segregation was
unconstitutional.
• Desegregation started in New Orleans with
protests and boycotts.
• The legislature tried to block desegregation.
• Protests such as sit-ins brought more attention
to the inequality.
• The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed by
Congress to end segregation. The Voting Rights
Act of 1965 outlawed literacy tests and poll
taxes and protected black voters.
Reading Strategy
Summarizing
Assign students one of the topics
for review and ask them to write
about it, emphasizing the main
points.
Economic Activity
Above: John McKeithen giving a speech during the
1964 Democratic primary campaign.
Have students work in pairs and
discuss how improvements in
infrastructure, bridges, and utilities
impact the economy.
Guiding Question 9-13
State Government
• Governor Jimmie Davis’s accomplishments
include the Sunshine Bridge, the Toledo Bend
Dam, and a code of ethics for state government.
• Davis’s successor, John McKeithen, appointed a
statewide biracial committee to bring the groups
together and ease the tensions. McKeithen
brought new businesses to Louisiana and improved the economy. He was so popular the
voters changed the law so he could run for a
second term.
• Building the Superdome caused some controversy, and labor violence was also a problem.
• Edwin Edwards became governor in 1972 after
campaigning for social programs and a new
constitution. Other laws passed during his two
terms changed the way government operated and
how labor unions operated in the state.
• African Americans held legislative positions for
the first time since Reconstruction.
Political and Social Changes
• Political and social changes brought more opportunities for women.
• The development of the interstate highway
system led to the growth of suburbs.
• With U.S. involvement in Vietnam, Louisiana
was once again the site of numerous training
facilities.
• Louisiana participated in the Bicentennial of the
United States in 1976.
Multidisciplinary Activity
Art Governor McKeithen traveled
around the country promoting
Louisiana. As a result, tourism
expanded and began to play a major
role in the state’s economy. Have
students make a brochure highlighting a tourist attraction in Louisiana.
Have them consider a target market
when developing the brochure.
Guiding Question 9-27
Group Activity
Chapter Summary
505
BLM Assign Civil Rights
Vocabulary from page 207 in the
BLM book.
Title IX, which was passed in
1972, provided gender equality in
educational settings. One of the
main emphases of Title IX has been
to provide equal opportunities in
sports for women and men. Have
students research the history of
female sports in their school system.
Find out what sports are offered to
women today as well as what was
available prior to 1972. Ask students
to interview school personnel to
learn stories of before and after
Title IX.
Guiding Question 9-20
T505
REVIEW
1. Answers will vary.
2. a. Civil rights movement
b. African Americans in Baton
Rouge
c. Citizens’ Council
d. Brown v. Board of Education
e. Voting Rights Act
f. Toledo Bend
g. Biracial committee
h. Superdome
i. African Americans and women
j. Interstate highway system
3. a. Jim Crow laws were still in
effect.
b. NAACP
c. The immediate cause was the
increase in the bus fare, and
the effect was a compromise
that gave the African
Americans more choices about
where to sit.
d. They tried to block it by
taking over the state schools.
(Note: Interdiction)
e. A nonviolent protest to
express the opinion that not
allowing African Americans to
eat at the lunch counters was
unconstitutional
f. Appointed a biracial committee
and met with the leaders of
the protests
g. More African Americans were
appointed to state jobs, and a
new constitution was written.
h. Yes, more people could
participate in the process.
i. The law that had given men
control over the property of
the marriage was struck down.
j. Fort Polk trained huge numbers
of soldiers. Some protests
occurred, but many people
showed support for the war.
T506
Activities
for
Learning
A
w
Review
1. Identify each key person and place and
explain each term in your own words.
2. Connect each statement with a person,
place, or term.
a. This movement is based on the idea that
the U.S. Constitution gives equal rights
to all citizens.
b. This group of people participated in the
first bus boycott in the United States.
c. This organization of whites resisted the
changes of desegregation.
d. This decision of the U.S. Supreme Court
brought major political and social
change.
e. Before Congress passed this law, most
African Americans were not allowed to
vote.
c. Describe the cause and effect of the
Baton Rouge bus boycott.
d. How did the Louisiana legislature react
to Brown v. Board of Education?
e. What was the purpose of sit-ins?
f. What actions did Governor McKeithen
take in response to the protests?
g. What are two ways government changed
during Governor Edwards’s first term?
h. Did Louisiana become more democratic
during this period? Explain your answer.
i. How did women’s lives change?
j. How was Louisiana affected by Vietnam?
4. News stories include the 5 W’s: who, what,
where, when, and why. Make a chart with
three important events in this chapter and
list the 5 W’s for each.
f. This government project was a joint
effort of Louisiana and Texas.
Connect
g. Governor McKeithen appointed this
committee to ease racial tension.
With Your World
h. This huge state project caused controversy because of its cost.
i. These two groups began to be elected to
public office.
j. I-20 and I-10 are examples of this
project of the federal government.
3. Answer these questions.
a. How were the ideas of social segregation
supported by the law at this time?
1. During the civil rights era, many people took
risks in order to bring about political and
social change. What would you be willing to
do to express your opinion about an issue
important to you?
2. What actions do people take today to
influence government? What is one way a
person your age can express an opinion on
an important issue?
b. What organization worked to end
segregation in schools?
506
Chapter 15 Louisiana’s Civil Rights Era: Challenge and Change
CONNECT
With Your World
1. Answers will vary.
2. Answers will vary.
3. Answers will vary.
o
3. People had different opinions about using
state money to build the Superdome.
People still disagree about how government
money should be spent for economic
development. Find a recent example in
Louisiana. What are the arguments for and
against this use of public funds?
With Civics
With U.S. History
14. Why did most civil rights struggles take
place in the South?
15. What president is responsible for getting
the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights
Act passed by Congress?
16. What situation in Vietnam led to the
Vietnam War? Why did this war become
controversial?
4. What two laws were passed by Congress to
bring a legal end to segregation?
5. How was the issue of states’ rights used to
support the segregationist laws passed by
the Louisiana legislature?
Extend
6. Why did voters want to change the
constitution to allow a governor to serve
two terms in a row?
1. If you could have filmed a documentary on
civil rights in Louisiana in the 1960s, what
are five important scenes you would have
included?
7. The Superdome was built with state money
as a public rather than a private good. Why
would some people have opposed this?
2. Write a letter to the editor from the point
of view of a citizen who wanted the New
Orleans school boycott to end.
With Economics
8. What was the economic impact of some of
the civil rights protests? How did this
economic impact influence the result of the
protests?
9. What is an example of Louisiana’s strong
economy during the 1960s?
10. Name two economic effects of the Toledo
Bend Dam.
With Geography
11. How did Louisiana’s physical environment
affect the building of Interstate 10?
12. How did the new interstate highways
change the settlement patterns in the
state?
13. “The goals for the United States interstate
highway system changed the use of place in
Louisiana.” What does this statement mean?
3. Interview a member of your community
who was active in the civil rights movement. Ask the person to tell you the
message they would like young people
today to have about their efforts.
4. Design a post card featuring Toledo Bend or
the Superdome. Include a descriptive
message written from the point of view of a
visitor from another state.
5. Do an Internet search to find three
different web sites about Toledo Bend.
What is the purpose of each site? What
kind of information is included on each
site?
6. The LSU Library web site has a special
online exhibit about the Baton Rouge bus
boycott. Study the photographs and read
the interviews to learn more about this
experience. Write a paragraph describing
your response to the information.
Activities for Learning
With U.S. History
14. Because segregation was part
of the laws of the South
15. Lyndon Johnson
16. North Vietnam became a
communist nation. Because of
the Cold War, the United
States considered this a
threat. The war became
controversial when so many
soldiers died and the war had
lasted so long.
EXTEND
1. Answers will vary.
2. Answers will vary.
3. Answers will vary.
4. Answers will vary.
5. Answers will vary.
6. Answers will vary.
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With Civics
4. Civil Rights Act and Voting
Rights Act
5. Supporters said the power of
the federal government came
from the states. They said
states could oppose actions of
the federal government.
6. Because John McKeithen was
such a popular governor
7. They did not think the state
would benefit enough from this
use of tax money.
With Economics
8. Some protests were against
businesses that were considered
unfair to African Americans.
These businesses lost money.
Some of them were willing to
change their practices in order
to get their customers back.
9. Many people purchased the new
appliances that were available.
10. It provides electricity to power
businesses, and it provides
income for many businesses
such as fishing marinas.
With Geography
11. The highway had to be designed
to cross the swamp and open
water in the Atchafayla Basin.
Nothing like that had been
engineered before.
12. Businesses and then towns
developed at the interstate exits,
and towns that were bypassed
by the interstate lost businesses
and population.
13. Places that had been considered
just rural property now became
an important part of this
highway system crossing the
country. Former cow pastures
became exit locations.
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