Bogalusa is a city in

Washington Parish, Louisiana Washington Parish ( French: ''Paroisse de Washington'') is a parish located in the interior southeast corner of the U.S. state of Louisiana, one of the Florida Parishes. As of the 2010 census, the population was 47,168. Its parish seat is Fr ...

, United States. The population was 12,232 at the 2010 census. In th
2020 census
the city, town, place equivalent reported a population of 10,659. It is the principal city of the Bogalusa Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Washington Parish and is also part of the larger

New Orleans–Metairie–Hammond combined statistical area The New Orleans–Metairie–Hammond combined statistical area is made up of ten parishes in southeastern Louisiana and one county in Mississippi. The statistical area consists of the New Orleans metropolitan statistical area (MSA), Hammond me ...

. The name of the city derives from the

Choctaw language The Choctaw language (Choctaw: ), spoken by the Choctaw, an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, is part of the Muskogean language family. Chickasaw is separate but closely related language to Choctaw. The Choctaw Nation of Oklahom ...

term ''bogue lusa'', which translates into

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

as "dark water or "smoky water". Located in an area of pine forests, in the early 20th century, this industrial city was developed as a company town, to provide worker housing and services in association with a

Great Southern Lumber Company The Great Southern Lumber Company was chartered in 1902 to harvest and market the virgin longleaf pine (''Pinus palustris'' L.) forests in southeastern Louisiana and southwestern Mississippi. Bogalusa, Louisiana was developed from the ground up a ...

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

. In the late 1930s, this operation was replaced with

paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt, ...

s and chemical operations.

History

Founding

Incorporated in 1914, Bogalusa is one of the youngest towns in Louisiana. It was founded by Frank Henry Goodyear and Charles Waterhouse Goodyear, lumber barons of Buffalo, New York. In the early 1900s, the brothers Frank Henry Goodyear and

Charles W. Goodyear Charles Waterhouse Goodyear (October 15, 1846 – April 16, 1911) was an American lawyer, businessman, lumberman, and member of the prominent Goodyear family of New York. Based in Buffalo, New York, along with his brother, Frank, Charles was the ...

a prominent family of

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

who had been successful lumbermen in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, bought hundreds of thousands of

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

s of virgin

Longleaf pine The longleaf pine (''Pinus palustris'') is a pine species native to the Southeastern United States, found along the coastal plain from East Texas to southern Virginia, extending into northern and central Florida. In this area it is also known as ...

forests in southeastern Louisiana and southwestern Mississippi for the timber and further their strategy to build railroad spurs to bring the wood to market. In 1902, they chartered the

(1908–38) and built the first

in what became Bogalusa, a company town built to support the mill. The sawmill was the largest in the world at the time.LSU Libraries—Great Southern Lumber Company Collection
Retrieved 2013-12-28 The Goodyear interests built the city of Bogalusa to house workers and supervisors, and associated infrastructure. They also built the Great Northern New Orleans Railroad to New Orleans to transport their lumber and products to market. Bogalusa 1911 Map

The city, designed by architect

Rathbone DeBuys Rathbone Emile DeBuys (December 1, 1874 − June 27, 1960) was an American architect and sailing enthusiast based in New Orleans, Louisiana. On December 1, 1874, he was born to James Gaspard De Buys, a cotton magnate, and Elizabeth Maria Stell ...

of New Orleans and built from the ground up in less than a year, had several hotels, schools, a hospital, a

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

and

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...

, churches of all faiths, and houses for the mill workers. The town was laid out with the "Mill Town" on the south side and "Commercial Town" on the north side, altogether there were four quadrants with racially segregated neighborhoods defined by the railroad running north–south and Bogue Lusa Creek running east–west. It was called the "Magic City" in praise of its rapid construction. The manager of Great Southern Lumber Company was

William H. Sullivan William Healy Sullivan (October 12, 1922 – October 11, 2013) was an American Foreign Service career officer who served as ambassador to Laos from 1964 to 1969, the Philippines from 1973 to 1977, and Iran from 1977 to 1979. Early life and ca ...

. As sawmill manager, he acted as town boss when the city was built. After Bogalusa was incorporated as a city on July 4, 1914, Sullivan was elected as mayor by white voters (blacks had been disenfranchised), and repeatedly re-elected, serving until his death on June 26, 1929. The Great Southern Lumber Company's sprawling sawmill produced up to a million

board feet The board foot or board-foot is a unit of measurement for the volume of lumber in the United States and Canada. It equals the volume of a length of a board, one foot wide and thick. Board foot can be abbreviated as FBM (for "foot, board measure" ...

(2400 m³) of lumber each day. With the virgin pine forest cleared, the sawmill closed in 1938 during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. An attempt to keep the sawmill open with California redwood proved too costly, and the mill was closed. It was replaced by the Bogalusa Paper Company (a subsidiary of Great Southern). In 1937 Bogalusa Paper Company merged with Gaylord Container Corporation; a chemical plant also run by Gaylord was built next to the mill.

Crown-Zellerbach Crown Zellerbach was an American pulp and paper conglomerate based in San Francisco, California, purchased in a hostile takeover in 1985. Most of its pulp and paper assets were sold to James River Corporation, now part of Georgia-Pacific. It ...

acquired Gaylord's operations in 1955. The paper mill and chemical operations continued to anchor the city's economy. At its peak in 1960, the city had more than 21,000 residents. In 1985 Crown-Zellerbach was split up but the timber industry continued.

Racial conflicts

In 1919 workers went on strike, triggering the largest labor strife at the town's

, the largest sawmill in the world. Company owners supported a white militia group and brought in Black strikebreakers, increasing racial tension. Events culminated in the

Bogalusa sawmill killings The Bogalusa saw mill killings was a racial attack that killed four labor organizers on November 22, 1919. It was mounted by the white paramilitary group the Self-Preservation and Loyalty League (SPLL) in Thibodaux, Louisiana. They were supported b ...

which saw four union men killed. On August 31, 1919, Black veteran Lucius McCarty was accused of assaulting a white woman and a mob of some 1,500 people seized McCarty and shot him more than 1,000 times. The mob then dragged his corpse behind a car through the black neighborhoods before burning his body in a bonfire.

Civil rights era

Both black and white industrial workers had come to the company town for work since the early 20th century. After World War II and service for their country, African-American veterans struggled in Louisiana and the South against the oppression of

Jim Crow laws The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...

, state segregation, and

disenfranchisement Disfranchisement, also called disenfranchisement, or voter disqualification is the restriction of suffrage (the right to vote) of a person or group of people, or a practice that has the effect of preventing a person exercising the right to vote. D ...

and exclusion from the political system, all continuing since the turn of the 20th century. During the civil rights era, black workers pressed

to open all positions to them, promote them to supervisory positions, and otherwise give them equal opportunities at work. White workers resisted these changes. Similarly, blacks pressured the city of Bogalusa to integrate public facilities, especially after passage of the Civil Rights Law of 1964. In Bogalusa, black workers also struggled against the industrial class system. As their activism increased in the

civil rights era The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the United S ...

, whites resisted. Local

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

members dominated the region, attacking and intimidating civil rights activists in the 1960s. In 1964, as civil rights activists continued to push for their constitutional rights after congressional passage that year of the

Civil Rights Act Civil Rights Act may refer to several acts of the United States Congress, including: * Civil Rights Act of 1866, extending the rights of emancipated slaves by stating that any person born in the United States regardless of race is an American ci ...

that year, whites increased their resistance. Determined to fight for their rights, Bob Hicks,

Charles Sims Charles Sims may refer to: * Charles Sims (painter) (1873–1928), British painter * Charles Sims (mathematician) (1938–2017), American mathematician * Charles Sims (aviator) (1899–1929), British World War I flying ace * Charles Sims (American ...

, A.Z. Young, and others had taken leadership of the (all-black) Bogalusa Civic and Voters’ League. On February 21, 1965, with the help of three activists from the

Deacons for Defense and Justice The Deacons for Defense and Justice was an armed African-American self-defense group founded in November 1964, during the civil rights era in the United States, in the mill town of Jonesboro, Louisiana. On February 21, 1965—the day of Malcolm X' ...

based in

Jonesboro, Louisiana Jonesboro is a town in, and the parish seat of, Jackson Parish in the northern portion of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 4,106 in 2020. History Founded on January 10, 1860, by Joseph Jones and his wife, Sarah Pankey Jones ...

, they founded the first affiliated chapter of that African-American self-defense organization. Other leaders of the Deacons were Bert Wyre, Aurilus “Reeves” Perkins, Sam Bonds, Fletcher Anderson, and others. They mobilized many war veterans within the black community to provide armed security to civil rights activists and their families. Expecting a violent summer, the State Police established an office in Bogalusa in February 1965. As explained by Seth Hague,

...the community came to embrace the militant rhetoric of the Jonesboro Deacons. Many violent conflicts ensued under this ideology and culminated in a climactic summer in 1965. Consequently, the black workers’ militancy threatened not only the power of the middle class blacks, but also the political and economic hegemony of the white power structure in Bogalusa. Except for a few noteworthy courtroom "victories" versus Crown-Zellerbach, threatening the power structure was virtually the struggle's only effect as the white power structure subsumed the militancy and rhetoric of the revolutionary Bogalusans."

Two unsolved murders of African Americans took place in Bogalusa during the civil rights era: killed in 1965 was Oneal Moore, the first black deputy sheriff hired for the Washington Parish Sheriff's Office, and in 1966 Clarence Triggs was killed.

1970 to present

With changes in the lumber industry, through the late 20th century, after 1960, a steady decline in industrial operations, jobs, and associated population of the town occurred. By 2015, the population was estimated at slightly less than 12,000, more than 40% below the high in 1960. These conditions have made it more difficult for remaining residents. In 1995, a railroad

tank car A tank car ( International Union of Railways (UIC): tank wagon) is a type of railroad car (UIC: railway car) or rolling stock designed to transport liquid and gaseous commodities. History Timeline The following major events occurred in t ...

imploded at

Gaylord Chemical Corporation The company headquarters of Gaylord Chemical Company LLC are located in the New Orleans suburb of Slidell, Louisiana, USA. Gaylord's original manufacturing facility located in Bogalusa, Louisiana was shut down and demolished in 2010, when the compa ...

, releasing

nitrogen tetroxide Dinitrogen tetroxide, commonly referred to as nitrogen tetroxide (NTO), and occasionally (usually among ex-USSR/Russia rocket engineers) as amyl, is the chemical compound N2O4. It is a useful reagent in chemical synthesis. It forms an equilibrium ...

and forcing the evacuation of about 3,000 people within a one-mile (1.6 km) radius. Residents say "the sky turned orange" as a result. Emergency rooms filled with about 4,000 people who complained of burning eyes, skin, and lungs. Dozens of

lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

s were filed against Gaylord Chemical and were finally settled in May 2005, with compensation checks issued to around 20,000 people affected by the accident. On August 29, 2005,

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

hit the city with winds of about , downing numerous trees and power lines. Many buildings in Bogalusa were damaged from falling trees, and several were destroyed. Most of the houses, businesses, and other buildings suffered roof damage from the storm's ferocious winds. Some outlying areas of the city were without power for more than a month.

Geography

Bogalusa has an elevation of . According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (0.52%) is covered by water.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the

2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

, there were 10,659 people, 4,874 households, and 2,923 families residing in the city.

2000 census

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2000, 13,365 people, 5,431 households, and 3,497 families resided in the city. The population density was . The 6,300 housing units averaged 663.5 per square mile (256.3/km). The

racial makeup A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...

of the city was 57.18% White, 41.21% African American, 0.32% Native American, 0.39% Asian, 0.16% from other races, and 0.73% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 0.75% of the population. Of the 5,431 households, 29.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.1% were married couples living together, 23.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.6% were not families. About 32.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 3.05. In the city, the population was distributed as 27.4% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 23.9% from 25 to 44, 21.3% from 45 to 64, and 18.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 82.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 76.0 males. The median income for a household in the city was $19,261, and for a family was $24,947. Males had a median income of $26,716 versus $17,992 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $11,476. About 26.1% of families and 32.9% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 45.1% of those under age 18 and 22.0% of those age 65 or over.

Crime

With a crime rate of 60 per one thousand residents, Bogalusa has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes- from the smallest towns to the very largest cities. One's chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime here is one in 17. Within Louisiana, more than 92% of the communities have a lower crime rate than Bogalusa.

Economy

Bogalusa's economy has been linked to

lumbering Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

and its byproducts since the city's founding by the

chartered in 1902 by the Goodyears of

. The sawmill was, for many years, the largest in the world. A paper mill was added in 1918. By 1938, the Goodyear family's mill had clear cut all the virgin longleaf yellow pine within hundreds of miles of Bogalusa and after an unprofitable effort to import redwood from California, their sawmill operations at the Great Southern Lumber Company also ended. Bogalusa's industry then shifted to paper milling as Goodyear's sawmill passed onto

Gaylord Container Corporation Gaylord Container Corporation ( AMEX: GCR) was an American integrated manufacturer of packaging materials, primarily corrugated containers. Operating from 1986 until 2002, most of the company's facilities were originally part of Crown Zellerbach' ...

which was then bought by

Crown Zellerbach Crown Zellerbach was an American pulp and paper conglomerate based in San Francisco, California, purchased in a hostile takeover in 1985. Most of its pulp and paper assets were sold to James River Corporation, now part of Georgia-Pacific. I ...

in 1955. By the mid 1960s the mill was producing some 1300 tons of paper daily with four machines. Georgia Pacific acquired the mill in 1986. Its brown paper successor owned the Bogalusa mill until 2002 when Gaylord was acquired by

Temple-Inland Temple-Inland, Inc. was an American corrugated packaging and building products company. It was acquired by International Paper in 2012. History Inland Container Corporation was founded by Herman C. Krannert as Anderson Box Company in Anderson ...

Corporation, the area's largest employer. The spill-over of industrial products into the

Pearl River The Pearl River, also known by its Chinese name Zhujiang or Zhu Jiang in Mandarin pinyin or Chu Kiang and formerly often known as the , is an extensive river system in southern China. The name "Pearl River" is also often used as a catch-all ...

in August 2011 resulted in Federal fines of over one million dollars. The following year, 2012, Temple-Inland was acquired by

International Paper The International Paper Company is an American pulp and paper company, the largest such company in the world. It has approximately 56,000 employees, and is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. History The company was incorporated January 31 ...

headquartered in

Memphis, TN Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-most ...

and the mill came under new ownership. The Bogalusa mill still operates as a

corrugated fiberboard Corrugated fiberboard or corrugated cardboard is a type of packaging material consisting of a fluted corrugated sheet and one or two flat linerboards. It is made on "flute lamination machines" or "corrugators" and is used for making corrugated ...

plant making boxes and shipping containers. As of 2019 the plant remains the city's largest employer with 425 people. However production is much less than the 1960s with only two machines now in operation.

Arts and culture

*The Robert "Bob" Hicks House was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2015. *The Robert Hicks Foundation was established to carry on the work for civil rights. An annual award is made in his name."Deacons for Defense and Justice"
Robert Hicks Foundation website *Robert Indiana's painting "Louisiana" (1965) : "Just As in the Anatomy of Man Every Nation: Must have its Hind Part: The Fair City of Bogalusa" *'' Deacons for Defense'' is a 2003 television movie made about the 1965 civil rights struggle in Bogalusa. Directed by

Bill Duke William Henry Duke Jr. (born February 26, 1943) is an American actor and film director. Known for his physically imposing frame, Duke works primarily in the action and crime drama genres often as a character related to law enforcement. Frequently ...

, it stars Academy Award-winner

Forest Whitaker Forest Steven Whitaker (born July 15, 1961) is an American actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Forest Whitaker, various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a British Academy Film Award ...

, with

Ossie Davis Raiford Chatman "Ossie" Davis (December 18, 1917 – February 4, 2005) was an American actor, director, writer, and activist. He was married to Ruby Dee, with whom he frequently performed, until his death. He and his wife were named to the NAACP ...

and

Jonathan Silverman Jonathan Elihu Silverman (born August 5, 1966) is an American actor, known for his roles in the comedy films ''Brighton Beach Memoirs'', ''Weekend at Bernie's'', and its sequel ''Weekend at Bernie's II''. Early life and education Silverman was ...

. *A Bogalusa Civil Rights Museum is planned to open in the city in 2018, to commemorate the struggle in the 1960s and continuing work for social justice. *Robert Indiana's painting "Louisiana" (1965) : "Just As in the Anatomy of Man Every Nation: Must have its Hind Part: The Fair City of Bogalusa"

Government

The city charter designates a mayor and a council of seven members, five of whom are elected from the respective districts and two are elected at-large, all serving four-year terms. Bogalusa is home to the 205th Engineer Battalion of the Louisiana

Army National Guard The Army National Guard (ARNG), in conjunction with the Air National Guard, is an organized Militia (United States), militia force and a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States A ...

. This unit is part of the 225th Engineer Brigade, which is headquartered in

Pineville, Louisiana Pineville is a city in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is located across the Red River from the larger Alexandria. Pineville is hence part of the Alexandria Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 14,555 at the 2010 cens ...

, at

Camp Beauregard Camp Beauregard is a U.S. Army installation located northeast of Pineville, Louisiana, primarily in Rapides Parish, but also extending northward into Grant Parish. It is operated and owned by the Louisiana National Guard as one of their main t ...

Education

Bogalusa operates its own public school system, Bogalusa City Schools, consisting of seven

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

s, one

junior high A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

and one

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

. As of 2020 there are over 3600 students enrolled and almost 230 teachers working for the district. Northshore Technical Community College is located in Bogalusa. In 1930, it was the first trade school established in the state of Louisiana, and it is now a fully accredited community college.

Media

The local newspaper is the ''Bogalusa Daily News'' with one

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

station, WBOX 920 AM & 92.9 FM.

Infrastructure

Highways

Bogalusa is located at the juncture of Louisiana Highways Louisiana 10

10 running east–west and Louisiana 21

21 running north–south.

Rail

There is no passenger rail to Bogalusa but the Bogalusa Bayou Railroad (BBAY) serves Bogalusa's International Paper plant connecting it northward with the Canadian National line in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

Air

The Bogalusa Airport, officially named the George R. Carr Memorial Air Field is owned by the city. It is located north of the city.

Police

The Police Department employs 35 officers and 12 reserves.

Notable people

Kenderick Allen Kenderick Allen (born September 14, 1978) is a former American football defensive tackle who played in 31 NFL games from 2003 through 2006. He was signed by the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent in 2003. He was also a member of the N ...

, NFL defensive lineman 2003-08 *

Perry Brooks Perry Brooks (December 4, 1954 – March 1, 2010) was an American football defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins. He played college football at Southern University and was drafted in the seventh roun ...

(1954–2010), football defensive tackle,

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

(1977–1984),

Super Bowl XVII Super Bowl XVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 1982 Miami Dolphins season, Miami Dolphins and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 1982 Washington Redskins season, Washington Reds ...

champion *

Jacob Brumfield Jacob Donnell Brumfield (born May 27, 1965) is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates, Toronto Blue Jays, and Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles D ...

(born in 1965 in Bogalusa), professional baseball outfielder from 1992 to 1999 * Al Clark, NFL player 1971-76 *

James Crutchfield James Crutchfield (May 25, 1912 – December 7, 2001) was a St. Louis barrelhouse blues singer, piano player and songwriter whose career spanned seven decades. His repertoire consisted of original and classic blues and boogie-woogie and Depress ...

(1912–2001), barrelhouse blues piano player; raised in Bogalusa *

Jack Dunlap Jack Edward Dunlap (November 14, 1927 – July 23, 1963) was a United States Army sergeant stationed at the National Security Agency who later became a spy for the Soviet Union in the early 1960s. Dunlap enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1952 and ser ...

NSA The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collectio ...

agent accused of spying for the Soviet Union *

Rodney Foil Robert Rodney Foil (August 12, 1934 – February 4, 2018) was an American forestry researcher, educator, and university administrator. Early life Rodney Foil was born in Bogalusa, LA to Rosa Green Foil and Odell Foil. He graduated from Louisiana ...

(1934-2018), forestry researcher, educator, and administrator at

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...

. * Bob Hicks, civil rights activist. See above. * Trumaine Johnson, Grambling and professional football player; born in Bogalusa *

Yusef Komunyakaa Yusef Komunyakaa (born James William Brown; April 29, 1941) is an American poet who teaches at New York University and is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. Komunyakaa is a recipient of the 1994 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, for ''Neo ...

(born in 1947 in Bogalusa), winner of 1994

Pulitzer Prize for Poetry The Pulitzer Prize for Poetry is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually for Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first presented in 1922, and is given for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author, published ...

; born James Willie Brown, Jr. *

Skip Manning Skip Manning (born April 23, 1945) is a former NASCAR driver from Bogalusa, Louisiana. He competed in seventy-nine Winston Cup events in his career, spanning from 1975 to 1979. Manning won the rookie-of-the-year award in 1976. He had sixteen top ...

(1934-), 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year * John McGeever, NFL

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

1962-66 *

Beth Mizell Mary Beth Sherman Mizell (born January 1952), is a businesswoman from Franklinton, Louisiana, who is a Republican member of the Louisiana State Senate for District 12, which encompasses the parishes of St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, and Washington, ...

(born in 1952 in Bogalusa), state senator for Washington Parish * Henry "Tank" Powell, represented Tangipahoa Parish in state legislature 1996–2008; member of Louisiana Board of Pardons * Professor Longhair (1918-1980), funky pianist who inspired artists such as Dr. John; several of his songs are Mardi Gras anthems *

Snoozer Quinn Edward McIntosh "Snoozer" Quinn (1907 – April 21, 1949) was a jazz guitarist who was admired by his fellow musicians but who left few recordings. Career Quinn was born Edward McIntosh Quinn in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Bogalusa, L ...

(1907–1949), pioneer of jazz guitar; raised in Bogalusa * Jared Y. Sanders, Sr., former

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, arranged tax breaks for GSL and helped the sawmill with startup * Jared Y. Sanders, Jr., former

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

and state legislator, practiced law in Bogalusa early in 20th Century * E.S.G., Hip-Hop musician * JayDaYoungan (1998–2022), Hip-Hop musician * Robert Benjamin Smith, former defensive end in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

and

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

Charlie Spikes Leslie Charles Spikes (born January 23, 1951) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder who played from 1972 through 1980 for the New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, and Atlanta Braves. He also played 26 games for the Chunichi ...

, the "Bogalusa Bomber";

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player 1972–1980,

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

* Clarence Triggs, unsolved murder *

Malinda Brumfield White Malinda Grace Brumfield White (born April 1967) is an American businesswoman and Republican Party (United States), Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives. She formerly ran as an Independent politician, independent and as a De ...

(born 1967), member of Louisiana House of Representatives from Bogalusa *

Dub Williams Walter Cecil "Dub" Williams, Jr. (November 26, 1927 – October 27, 2014), was an American politician who was a Republican member of the New Mexico House of Representatives from 1995 to 2009. Williams attended New Mexico State University and was a ...

, New Mexico legislator

References

;Bibliography * * - Total pages: 386

External links

City of Bogalusa
{{authority control Cities in Louisiana Cities in Washington Parish, Louisiana Company towns in the United States Riots and civil disorder in Louisiana African-American history of Louisiana History of racism in Louisiana