Two travelers look at cathedral-like stained glass inside Louisiana's Old State Capitol.
Louisiana's Old State Capitol

Louisiana's Civil Rights Trail

Explore the strength and courage Louisiana's Black community embodied for more than 100 years to make equal rights a reality.

Without Louisiana's Black community, the United States wouldn't be what it is today. Explore Louisiana's Civil Rights Trail, which highlights locations where courageous acts of resistance and resilience happened.

Begin at the Louisiana Old State Capitol in Baton Rouge. The striking Gothic Revival “castle by the river” served as headquarters for the first U.S. bus boycott in 1953. Under the Bicentennial Oak on the capitol's grounds, Rev. T.J. Jemison organized free rides for Black civilians — an early blueprint that influenced the Montgomery boycott years later. Today, the restored museum hosts rotating exhibits that honor the Civil Rights Movement.

At Camp Beauregard near Pineville, see military training grounds where the 761st Tank Battalion, a segregated Black unit known as “Patton’s Panthers,” formed. Their exemplary service helped lead to the U.S. Army’s desegregation in 1948. Learn more at the nearby Louisiana Military Maneuvers Museum, where you can explore exhibits on the 761st’s groundbreaking legacy.

Louisiana's Old State Capitol Building

A boycott held at Louisiana's Old State Capitol inspired the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

A parent and child kneel in front of a display of military artifacts at Louisiana Maneuvers and Military Museum in Pineville.

Explore the Louisiana Maneuvers & Military Museum to learn about a Black battalion.

Gumbo from the iconic Dooky Chase's in New Orleans.

Grab a bowl of gumbo from Dooky Chase's, where Black leaders often gathered.

Happy people enjoying food at a Louisiana restaurant

While in Shreveport, dine at the nation's longest-running Black-owned restaurant — Orlandeaux's.

In Shreveport, the city’s Civil Rights history centers on Little Union Baptist Church, where Rev. Claude Clifford McLain galvanized mass meetings that led to store boycotts, hiring protests and voter drives. Be sure to stroll Texas Avenue to explore historic venues like Freeman & Harris Café, one of many Black businesses born during the African American business boom in the ’50s and ’60s. Need a bite to eat? Grab a plate of stuffed shrimp from the nation's longest-running Black-owned restaurant, the famous Orlandeaux's Cafe.

Remember Ruby Bridges, the first Black student to desegregate a public school? Explore her legacy in New Orleans, where the Civil Rights trail passes through William Frantz Elementary School — the institution Bridges bravely attended. You’ll also find markers at Dooky Chase’s Restaurant and New Zion Baptist Church — the latter being a founding hub for Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Southern Christian Leadership Conference. 

Together, these sites exemplify the power of grassroots activism and the tenacity of Black leaders, organizers and community members. From legislative halls and military grounds to churches, schools and downtown thoroughfares, each site offers the chance to engage with Black power and perseverance.