racial barriers. Among the organizations that received support from the Grand Lodge were the Louisiana Education Association, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and the National Urban League. In line with their commitment to youth and education, the Prince Hall Masons helped establish Camp Chicota, a sanctuary for underprivileged youth in Louisiana. They also provided significant financial backing to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in its legal battles against segregation, supported the integration of Louisiana ’ s transportation system, and provided housing and meeting spaces for NAACP members traveling to the state. Additionally, the Grand Lodge played a crucial role in organizing voter registration drives and assisting in funding the NAACP ’ s legal actions, particularly in the landmark 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education. Notably, the Grand Lodge was also instrumental in supporting the Baton Rouge bus boycott and the efforts of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, both of which are emblematic of the social justice initiatives in which the Prince Hall Masons of Louisiana were actively engaged.
One example of the Prince Hall Masons ’ involvement in the desegregation of transportation can be found in the correspondence between Grand Master John G. Lewis Jr. and Julius A. Thomas, Director of the Department of Industrial Relations of the National Urban League. The letter details events occurring three days into the Baton Rouge bus boycott in June 1953, a full two years before the more
widely recognized bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, led by activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The boycott in Baton Rouge, initiated by African American citizens to protest segregated seating on city buses, was the first of its kind in the Civil Rights Movement and inspired the later Montgomery boycott. However, despite its significant influence on the broader movement for racial justice in the South, the Baton Rouge bus boycott has been largely overshadowed and forgotten by history.
16
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online