NATCHITOCHES, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Louisiana Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser will visit northwest Louisiana Tuesday morning to unveil the state’s newest civil rights marker in Natchitoches. He will travel to Shreveport to provide updates on state parks, seafood, and the future of hospitality in the state.

The Lt. Governor’s first stop in Natchitoches will unveil the newest stop on the Louisiana Civil Rights Trail, a marker at the Texas and Pacific Railway Depot.

Nungesser said unveiling the markers around the state excites him and shared the spark that led to the creation of the Louisiana Civil Rights Trail while attending a tourism conference in Arizona shortly after he was elected as the Lieutenant Governor.

“Mississippi and Alabama got up and talked about all the thousands of visitors that come through the civil rights trail,” Nungesser said.

He said when he returned to the state he and others went to work creating a civil rights trail for the state.

Crowd at civil rights marker unveiling in Natchitoches (Source: KTAL/KMSS Staff)

Nungesser said the civil rights trail serves as both a marker for Louisiana’s civil rights history and an opportunity to spur rural economies in the state. Providing spaces for visitors to have meals and a place to stay when they visit.

These markers throughout the state will serve as reminders of the past and educational tools according to Nungesser who said the information and stories behind these crucial moments in history will be available for download and use in school or at home.

“So these hero’s voices will live on forever and tell those stories that many didn’t know before now.”

Nungesser thanked the organizers, and gave a special thank you to the students of Southern and Grambling Universities who did the research and told the stories behind the civil rights trail.

The depot is a symbol of the Great Migration – a time in American history when African Americans migrated away from rural communities in the South to larger cities in the North and West.

Nungesser’s second stop in this region will be at the Committee of 100 Meeting.

He is expected to provide an update on tourism, state parks, Louisiana Seafood, Keep Louisiana Beautiful and more. He will also share the state’s priorities for the future of the hospitality industry.