Deacon Series

Last in a four-part series Ferriday, La.—David Whatley, the first black student to integrate Ferriday High in 1966, returned from tortuous days at school only …

Deacons group protected ‘outlaw town’ Ferriday’s black community from Klansmen in 1960s Read More

Third in a four-part series A dozen times over three decades, Claiborne Parish resident Frederick Douglass Lewis had tried to register to vote in Louisiana, …

Deacons for Defense and Justice defied segregation Read More

This is the second in a four-part series. BOGALUSA, La. — Fiery red dust filled the air as Henry Austan, a 21-year-old insurance bill collector …

In Bogalusa, the Deacons fought violence with violence Read More

First in a four-part series JONESBORO, La. — On a July night in Jonesboro in 1964, the rumble of engines encroached on a quiet, black …

A half-century ago in Louisiana, armed black men fought back Read More