In the News

SHREVEPORT, La- Three new inaugural markers for the new Louisiana Civil Rights Trail were unveiled in Shreveport on Friday morning.

It happened at the Little Union Baptist Church on Milam Street. The life-sized markers are supposed to illuminate the role Louisiana played in shaping American history during the 50's and 60's.

Little Union Baptist Church was the epicenter of civil rights in Shreveport during that time, with Reverend C.C. McClain as its leader.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made his last public appearance at the church as well, speaking from the pulpit.

"It's an honor for me to be here," said Verma Henderson, a long-time parishioner of Little Union Baptist. "Plus I was raised up in Little Union and I was under Pastor C.C. McClain. But I been in this church since I was 6 years old."

"This is a really moving exercise today. To mark this history, to be able to teach the next generation what people went through," said U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson who also attended Friday's unveiling.

Little Union Baptist Church was also the scene where police attacked worshippers during a 1963 memorial service for the victims of the Birmingham Church Bombing.