A.Z. Young's Home Civil Rights Leader
While serving as the President of the historic Bogalusa Civic and Voters League (The League), Dr. A. Z. Young, a noted Civil Rights Leader, Luminary & Icon, led the historic 1967 nine day Civil Rights March from Bogalusa to Baton Rouge Protected by the Louisiana State Police referred to as the 105-Mile Gauntlet. Young faced opposition to the march known as the Great Challenge and faced a violent counter demonstration known as the "The Battle of Satsuma." In 1956, after the Louisiana State Legislature enjoined the NAACP from operating in Louisiana, the League was organized to represent the black people of the city. Young became president in 1965, and guided the League to test the city of Bogalusa's compliance with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Young returned to Bogalusa as a 42 year old World War II veteran, who served with distinction in the U.S. Army 761st Battalion under General George Patton, and begin as a worker, organizer, and leader at the Crown-Zellerbach Paper Company. Young led the League through a tumultuous decade of white resistance and violence against black citizens' struggle to end de facto and de jure racial segregation.