SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) - An often-unidentified woman from one of the most recognizable photos in Shreveport's history spent much of her lifetime shattering glass ceilings in a very personal journey for equal and civil rights. Maxine Prescott (Sarpy) in 1959. (Source: R. W. Norton Art Gallery) Mrs. Maxine Elizabeth Prescott Sarpy has embodied civic responsibility and community engagement since she arrived in Shreveport in 1963. Born Maxine Elizabeth Prescott on November 9, 1939, in Houston, and raised in El Paso, Texas, Maxine began to make history at a young age. She graduated from the University of Texas Medical Branch, Health, and soon after, Dean Marjorie Barthoff asked Maxine to return to the school the following fall to teach obstetrics and gynecology. She became a nursing instructor at the Unviersity of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Maxine became the first African American to teach at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Health. Maxine moves to Shreveport Maxine Prescott and Dr. Joesph Sarpy were married on Aug. 31, 1963. (Source: R. W. Norton Art Gallery) Maxine Prescott married Dr. Jospeh Sarpy of Alexandria, La. on August 31, 1963. She moved to Shreveport, where Joseph was already practicing medicine, and two weeks later Maxine was in the heart of a city that had reached its tipping point. Racial tensions were high even before the Ku Klux Klan bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama on Sept. 15, 1963. Dr. C.O. Simpkins, a beloved leader in Shreveport's civil rights movement, had moved away from the city after three bombs caused destruction in the home he was building, his camphouse on Lake Bistineau, and his dental office. The empty space in the movement that Simpkins left behind when he moved was difficult for the civil rights advocates who stayed in Shreveport. Lost history: Triple bombing at Lake Bistineau in 1962 But when 14-year-olds Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and 11-year-old Cynthia Wesley were killed in the Birmingham bombing, a national outrage was ignited. The following week, September 22, 1963, at Little Union Baptist Church in Shreveport, Rev. C. C. McLain held memorial services for the four girls. Little Union Baptist Church: the epicenter of Shreveport’s Civil Rights Movement Homer Daniel Coke, the 16th Street Baptist Church Public trustee, was a survivor of the bombing and was slated to speak at Little Union Baptist Church in Shreveport, along with Clarence Laws and Rev. Harry Blake. Public Safety Commissioner George D’artois and the Shreveport Police Department had a different plan, though. Instead of providing security for the service that mourned the loss of the girls, D'artois and the SPD provided an unwelcomed security detail that intentionally disrupted the memorial. Hidden history: Clarence A. Laws and civil rights in the Deep South The memorial quickly devolved when police began beating Rev. Harry Blake on the steps of the Church at the hands of the Shreveport Police. Amid the chaos, the police rode horses on the church steps and tear-gassed and beat bystanders. Shreveport Commissioner of Public Safety George D’Artois (foreground) The photo was taken early during the confrontation at Little Union Baptist Church on September 22, 1963. Source: Northwest Louisiana Archives, Noel Memorial Library, Louisiana State University Shreveport. According to Rev. Asriel McLain’s Coming Forth as Pure Gold: A Look at Civil Rights Activities in Shreveport, Louisiana 1959-1968, the newlywed Dr. Joseph Sarpy and nurse Maxine Sarpy were the first African American professional medical team in Shreveport. They provided immediate aid to Rev. Blake’s head injury. He was later taken to Dallas, Texas, for further treatment and to prevent him from being the recipient of further violence. The following days saw civil rights demonstrations at Booker T. Washington and J. S. Clark Junior High School. A renewed sense of change lingered in the air. The civil rights movement in Shreveport had caught its second wind. Maxine Prescott Sarpy speaks at NAACP meeting At just 23 years old, freshly married and living in unfamiliar territory, Maxine became the principal speaker at a mass NAACP meeting at Mt. Canaan Baptist Church on October 17, 1963. She delivered a powerful message. The following is a transcript of her speech: “I consider myself honored to have been asked to speak with you tonight. It is a great privilege because I am new in your community, having not been here two months yet, but I want you to know that I am a part of your community. “I couldn’t deny that the problem of we are to speak tonight constitutes the cancer of our democracy, and as a nurse, being trained to alleviate diseases in all its suspects, but mainly as a negro, your problem is my problem.” Maxine related her message to the Christian principles that Christ bestowed upon his disciples. Reverend Harry Blake received medical attention After being clubbed by police. Reverend C.C. McClain is on the left. (Source: Willie Burton, On the Black Side of Shreveport: A History. Shreveport, LA. Published by the Author, 1994, E5.) “Christ’s organization was definite when he said, ‘You go and preach and convert in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.’ M.K.O. Motivation, knowledge, and organization – and that is the message I would like to pass to you tonight, since we are assembled to speak of survival. “What is the motivation of all of us gathered here tonight? To fight segregation and all it stands for. To attain total freedom as individuals and as American citizens. To fight such happenings as those that occurred in our city on Sept. 21st, 22nd, and 23rd, when a minister of the Lord was beaten brutally, when a principal of a school was beaten to the ground as if he were dirt, when children were punched and kicked as they were animals. All of these things constitute our motivation. “What is our knowledge? Our knowledge is that truth, wisdom, and courage will prevail. These things not only constitute our knowledge, but they are also weapons and we must organize to utilize them to their fullest extent. How do we organize? I cannot give a definite answer to this question, but I do have a few ideas. First of all, we must support the NAACP and all other groups fighting for freedom. We must not only support them financially or morally, but physically as well. Each of us must be ready to live and die if necessary for freedom. As Dr. Martin Luther King has said, 'If a man has not found something for which he will die, he is not fit to live.'" Maxine delivered a message to the Shreveport youth of the civil rights era and for future generations. “Our young people in this community have shown willingness to be heard from. Can’t we as adults be willing to fight for freedom? “We must execute our responsibilities to register to vote in order that we may vote. Before voting, however, we must thoroughly censor each candidate and then support one which we as American Negroes feel best represents our rights as human beings and citizens. The white segregationists are petrified of the Negro vote because they realize the Negro that if the Negro has the vote, that those who are elected will have to truly represent the will of all those citizens that he represents. “To the young adults, I say take advantage of every opportunity offered to you to develop your skills and abilities. Prepare yourselves to fight the white southern segregationist with a weapon for which he has no offense as well as no defense--that weapon being intelligence. “So prepare yourselves, so that in the future when freedom is realized, you the adults of tomorrow will be able to preserve freedom.” Maxine closed her speech echoing the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who, in 1958, in his visit to Shreveport, delivered a speech that is sometimes called “What Negroes can Learn from History." The closing of that speech is later reflected in MLK's renowned “I Have a Dream” speech that he presented at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom just months before Mrs. Maxine Sarpy spoke at the NAACP meeting in Shreveport. “So the sooner we stand together, the sooner will be able to stand hand in hand and sing – FREE AT LAST, FREE AT LAST, THANK GOD ALMIGHTY, WE’RE FREE AT LAST," Maxine said as she ended her speech that ignited a series of weekly speeches by other prominent figures in the Movement to address racial issues. Rev. A. L. Davis, a founding member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and Vice President under Dr. King, spoke at a mass NAACP meeting at Antioch Baptist Church the following week on October 24, 1963. A week after him, Rev. Amos Terrell, a minister who was beaten by the Shreveport Police on September 22nd, 1963, delivered an NAACP address. In May of 1966, Maxine attended a Voting Rights Conference in Washington, D.C. According to the Shreveport Sun, Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach called this conference to implement the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Mrs. Sarpy was one of two representatives called to represent Louisiana. President Lyndon B. Johnson told the group that he believed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was more important than the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Shreveport Times reported, “During that visit Sarpy met President Johnson, who read her name tag and said, “Maxine Sarpy, Shreveport, Louisiana. Mrs. Sarpy, that Shreveport’s a hard nut to crack.” This image is found in Asriel McLain's Coming Forth as Pure Gold: A Look at Civil Rights Activities in Shreveport, Louisiana 1959-1968 But tough did not mean impossible, which is evident in Mrs. Sarpy’s continued activism in subsequent years. In 1967, Mrs. Sarpy became the health and education specialist for the Community Action Program of Caddo and Bossier Parishes Inc. (CAP-CAB). (CAP-CAB was an organization dedicated to fighting poverty in both Parishes.) Maxine Sarpy's photo appeared in The Shreveport Sun, Mar. 7, 1968. Under President B. J. Mason, the Shreveport NAACP gained a third wind in 1968 when they protested several downtown businesses that continued hiring discrimination practices that worked against black workers. Stan's Record Shop protest and a political career for Maxine Stan’s Record Shop became the epicenter of the summer-long effort to boycott and picket the establishment for its lack of hiring black workers in prominent positions, despite selling to predominantly black audiences. Maxine Sarpy, Willie Bell Boyd, Eursla Hardy, Dorothy Johnson, Peola Davis, Julie Lester, and Barbara Pendleton protested at Stan's Record Shop – which eventually proved successful in its impact on other local stores. The demonstration laid the blueprint for further activism in the coming months. In December 1968, in the spirit of that summer’s protest, the Shreveport NAACP launched a “Black Christmas Campaign.” This campaign encouraged African Americans not to buy from establishments that continued discriminatory hiring practices. The campaign proved successful, resulting in integrated staffs. An incredible legacy In 1970, Dr. and Mrs. Sarpy were founding members of a new Civil Rights Organization, Blacks United for Lasting Leadership (BULL). BULL members initiated a lawsuit to reform Shreveport’s government and allow black citizens to serve on the city council. As this occurred, Maxine maintained her role in the CAP-CAB. Then in 1983, a decade later, Maxine made history again when she became the first woman to serve on the Shreveport City Council. Article from The Shreveport Sun, Jan. 3, 1984, celebrates Mrs. Sarpy becoming the first woman on Shreveport's city council. Maxine has spent her life shattering glass ceilings, and in the process she has made life easier for the rest of us. During her lifetime, Maxine has been honored with many honors. She received the “Golden Heart” award from the Shreveport Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Foundation. She served as a Eucharist minister and lector for Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Church in Shreveport. She has been active in many local organizations, including the Caddo-Parish Council on Aging and the National Conference of Christians and Jews. She directed several voter registration drives and citizen education programs and served as the first President of the Shreveport Mayor’s Women’s Commission. On May 11, 2024, the North Louisiana Civil Rights Coalition honored Mrs. Sarpy with a Living Legend Gala. Maxine Sarpy Blvd. is named in her honor. She still lives in Shreveport. Mik Barnes is a graduate student at LSU Shreveport. He and Jaclyn Tripp are both members of the KTAL, LSU Shreveport, and Red River Radio Caddo Parish Civil Rights Heritage Trail Project team. Mik took the lead on this article.