Baton Rouge’s New Black History Trail System Unveils Feb. 2026

Baton Rouge Seeks to Reclaim its Role in the Civil Rights Movement

BATON ROUGE, La (press release) – Baton Rouge’s New Black History Trail System will debut this month, creating an opportunity for residents and visitors to immerse themselves in critical moments of Black History via two walkable trails with interactive markers.

Through the efforts of The Walls Project, the Downtown Development District and EnvisioNBR, Baton Rouge’s Black History Trail System will be unveiled in Baton Rouge on Feb. 20.

The trails, ranging from 1.8 miles to 3.4 miles, can be biked or walked, with QR codes at designated sites to read, listen or watch stories tied to the historical destination.

Black History Trail System Unveiling Ceremony

When: Feb. 20, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Where: North Blvd. in Town Square

Guests will hear welcoming remarks from Mayor Sid Edwards, and then have the chance to be among the first to walk and explore the trails. An official trail dedication and block party is to follow.

• 9 – 10 a.m., Civil Rights Trail Welcome & Invocation
• 10 a.m., Trail Exploration (2 Hours)
• 12 – 1 p.m., Legacy Trail Dedication & Block Party (BREC Mary J Lands Park)

For more information on how to RSVP, support, donate or volunteer, visit: bit.ly/historytrailunveiling. Supporters are encouraged to tag #EBRBlackHistoryTrail on social media.

“This placemaking initiative has been three years in the making, to reimagine public space as a site of education, memory and historic preservation,” said the Public Art Associate Director for The Walls Project, Morgan Udoh. “The Black History Trail System currently includes two segments, the Greenway Civil Rights Trail and the EnvisionBR Legacy Trail, which together highlight Baton Rouge’s pivotal role in shaping strategies of nonviolent resistance that later informed national civil rights movements. Long before these movements gained widespread visibility, organizers in Baton Rouge tested and refined approaches that proved both disciplined and effective.

The Envision BR Legacy Trail, in particular, is focused on preserving neighborhood memory before it is overwritten. As redevelopment and revitalization move forward, it is critical that the cultural, social and historical narratives of these communities are documented accurately and centered intentionally. This trail ensures that residents’ histories remain the foundation from which future generations understand both where the neighborhood has been and the collective strength that has carried it forward. It is time for Louisiana’s leadership in social progress to be named, documented, and experienced in place.”

Trail system organizers share that “Baton Rouge is staking a groundbreaking claim in Black History as one of the legacy pioneers behind the bus boycott movement and many other essential strategies to the civil rights movement, and now it’s time for the public to know.”

Baton Rouge’s Goal: Reimagining the Civil Rights Narrative

From the trail system organizers: 

Before Montgomery, before Rosa Parks and before Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. became a national figure, Baton Rouge quietly proved that mass, nonviolent economic protests could work. In 1953, two years before the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Baton Rouge residents organized and sustained the first successful modern bus boycott in the United States.

Led by Rev. T. J. Jemison and strategist Martha White, the Baton Rouge Bus Boycott established the blueprint that would later be adapted and scaled in Montgomery.

When Montgomery activists launched their boycott in December 1955, they did so with direct knowledge of Baton Rouge’s tactics: church-based coordination, economic pressure through sustained ridership withdrawal, alternative transportation systems and disciplined nonviolent messaging.

The success in Baton Rouge demonstrated that segregation could be challenged not only in courtrooms but through organized collective action.

Contrary to popular belief, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Montgomery organizers did not invent the strategy; they refined it.

Despite its historical significance, Baton Rouge has largely been omitted from the national civil rights canon. Textbooks, documentaries and commemorations often leap from Brown v. Board of Education directly to Montgomery, bypassing the Southern city that proved that success was possible.

Recognizing Baton Rouge as the catalyst does not diminish Montgomery’s legacy; it strengthens the story of the movement as one of shared knowledge, regional leadership and iterative strategy. It also restores agency to local Black organizers whose work shaped national outcomes long before television cameras arrived.

Today, educators, historians and cultural institutions in Baton Rouge are advancing a renewed effort to correct the record through public history initiatives, interpretive trails like that of the Black History Trail System, and curriculum-aligned storytelling that centers the city’s role in shaping modern civil rights resistance.