LSU Press, the LSU Office of Academic Affairs, the LSU Office of Equity, Diversity, and Community Outreach, the A. P. Tureaud Sr. Black Alumni Chapter, and the A. P. Tureaud Legacy Committee invite you to attend a landmark panel discussion: A. P. Tureaud and the Struggle for Civil Rights in Louisiana. Moderated by noted civil rights scholar Robert Mann and featuring authors A. P. Tureaud Jr., Rachel L. Emanuel, D’Army Bailey, and Keith Finley, this panel will be held on Tuesday, April 12, 2011, at 5:30 p.m. at the Bo Campbell Auditorium in the Cox Communications Academic Center for Student Athletes.
The panelists will discuss the life and work of A.P. Tureaud Sr., as well as the broader topic of civil rights in Louisiana in the mid-twentieth century.
As one of the few practicing black attorneys in Louisiana, A. P. Tureaud Sr. (1899–1972) worked tirelessly to promote civil rights. An instrumental player in the decades-long legal battle to end segregation, discrimination, and disfranchisement, Tureaud also fought to obtain equal pay for Louisiana’s black teachers, to permit black students to attend formerly all-white state educational institutions, and for the voting rights of black residents. During his lengthy and influential career, he pushed to end racial segregation on city buses, in public schools, and in public accommodations. His work, along with that of dozens of other African American lawyers, formed part of the larger legal battle that eventually overturned Plessy v. Ferguson, the 1896 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized racial segregation. In 1953, his son, A. P. Tureaud Jr., was the first black student admitted to LSU as an undergraduate.
After the discussion, a reception and book signing will be held on the terrace of the Manship School of Mass Communication. Books can be pre-ordered at www.lsu.edu/lsupress but will also be available at the event.
This event is free and open to the public. Reserved free parking is available behind the Cox Center.
