Gustav Young (September 10, 1909 – March 19, 1969) was a prominent

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

leader in

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

. In 1932, Young was one of only three blacks in

East Baton Rouge Parish East Baton Rouge Parish (; ) is the most populous List of parishes in Louisiana, parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Its population was 456,781 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The county seat, parish seat is Baton Rouge, Louis ...

registered to vote. He was a member of the board of directors of his local

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

chapter and his city's Bi-Racial Committee. He was a member of St. John Missionary Baptist Church and the

Freemasons Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

. Gus Young Avenue (formally Capitol Avenue) in Baton Rouge is named for him. He is interred at the Gilbert Cemetery in Baton Rouge by descendants from his childhood and is a former military Rouge.

Early life

Gus Young was born September 10, 1909, in

Zachary, Louisiana Zachary is a city in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies north of the city of Baton Rouge, and had a population of 14,960 at the 2010 census, up from 11,275 in 2000. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Zachary's ...

. He was educated in the segregated black schools and received a high school diploma equivalent from the Humble Oil and Refining Company.

Civil rights activism

Young led the first voter registration drives in the Baton Rouge black community. In 1938, he founded the First Ward Voters League. He also worked to improve sanitary conditions in black sections of Baton Rouge. Young was one of the leaders of the 1953

Baton Rouge bus boycott The Baton Rouge bus boycott was a week-long protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on the city buses of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The boycott was launched on June 19, 1953 by African-American residents who comprised 80% of bus ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Gus 1909 births Activists for African-American civil rights People from Zachary, Louisiana People from Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baptists from Louisiana 1969 deaths African-American activists 20th-century Baptists