SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) - The following five stories are a great place to start if you're interested in learning about historic places, people and events that are tied to Shreveport and connected to the American civil rights movement of the 1960s. Booker T. Washington High School Booker T. Washington High School was a school for African American students in Shreveport that opened on Jan. 23, 1950. It cost more than $1.5 to build a state-of-the-art structure in 1963, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015. But when students at BTWHS protested for civil rights in 1963, violence erupted. Students from Booker T. Washington High School running away from a cloud of tear gas on Sept. 22, 1963. (Source: Langston McEachern photographs, The Shreveport Times Collection, Northwest Louisiana Archives, Louisiana State University Shreveport) To learn more about BTW's place in civil rights, read: Booker T. Washington High School’s place in Shreveport Civil Rights history Shreveport's connection to Freedom Summer Dave Dennis, Sr. was raised on the Miles Plantation in Shreveport and grew up to become the architect of Freedom Summer in 1964. Dennis was studying at Dillard University in New Orleans when he became involved in the Congress of Racial Equality and joined in with Freedom Riders across the American South. Dennis became a leader in CORE's voting registration efforts, particularly in Mississippi, and worked with legends of the civil rights movement such as such as John Lewis, Diane Nash, Andrew Young, C.T. Vivian, James Farmer, Wyatt Tee Walker, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (3R) participating in planning session for Freedom Riders’ bus trip from Montgomery, Alabama to Jackson, Mississippi. (Photo by Lee Lockwood/Getty Images) Dave connected with Dr. C.O. Simpkins of Shreveport, who was the President of the United Christian Movement and a founder of the SCLC, which Dr. King headed throughout his years of activism. Dennis connected with other prominent figures in Shreveport’s Civil Rights efforts and became one of them. For more information about David Dennis' connection to the civil rights movement, read: Shreveport’s David Dennis was architect of Freedom Summer of 1964 Bombing at Lake Bistineau A triple-bombing that occurred on the night of Tues., Apr. 24, 1962 was meant to strike fear in the hearts of those working for equality in Northwest Louisiana.  A lakehouse owned by Shreveport dentist and civil rights activist Dr. Cuthbert Ormond (C.O.) Simpkins was destroyed when the bomb blasted the property. The ruins of Dr. C. O. Simpkins’ home on Lake Bistineau was destroyed by an explosion in 1962. (Source: Times photo b Lloyd Stilley) An investigation of the bombing of Simpkins’ home revealed that someone returned to the lake house the day after it was bombed. They set the remains of the home on fire. Two more bombings, both related to Shreveport's civil rights movement, occurred on the same date. Simpkins worked directly with Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert F. Kennedy, and others who made the movement move. And we now know the story behind a photograph of Simpkins, RFK, and MLK that appeared in widely-distributed civil-rights era literature. To learn more about the three bombs that caused Dr. Cuthbert Ormond Simpkins to leave Shreveport, read: Lost history: Triple bombing at Lake Bistineau in 1962 Desegregation of Shreveport's bus center Busses from across the country came to The Continental Trailways Bus Station in Shreveport, filled with out-of-town passengers and returning locals, and it was easy for residents in Shreveport to buy affordable bus or train tickets to New England, Florida, the Rocky Mountains, or hundreds of places in between. Passengers could even travel internationally to Canada and Mexico! The Shreveport Journal, Fri., July 14, 1961 The terminal was home to several bus lines, but there was a catch to eating at The Terminal Grill: you had to have white skin. And as if that weren’t enough of an embarrassment, if you were Black, you had to ride in the back of the bus—and that’s only if seats were available after white passengers bought their tickets. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was aware of the situation in Shreveport, and he was also fully aware that it wasn’t just a Shreveport problem. It was a Southern problem. Caddo District Court records show precisely what happened when four Freedom Riders were arrested on Aug. 4, 1961, as they tried to get on a bus to Jackson, Mississippi.  To learn what happened, read: 1961: Six Shreveport Freedom Riders tried to desegregate Trailways Bus Center Coleman College Coleman College was established in Gibsland, Louisiana in 1887 and became the first college for African Americans in North Louisiana. In 1899, tuition was $1.60 and room and board was $5.50 a month. By 1932, tuition had increased to $1.75. During the school’s heyday, the Coleman Bulldogs’ biggest rivals were the Grambling Tigers.   The girl’s dormitory (Reynolds Hall) at Coleman College in Gibsland, La. (Source: History of Louisiana Negro Baptists from 1804 to 1914, by William Hicks) “Coleman College is easily one of the greatest (African American) Baptist Schools not only in Louisiana, but in the South,” wrote William Hicks in the History of Louisiana Negro Baptists from 1869-1954.  Coleman College later moved to Shreveport and educated the next generation of citizens, some of which became leaders in Shreveport's civil rights movement. To learn more about Coleman College's history, read: Coleman College: First African American college in North Louisiana If you would like to know more about the civil rights movement in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, visit the KTAL Caddo Parish Civil Rights Trail Project webpage. The project is a collaboration between KTAL NBC 6, LSU Shreveport, and Red River Radio.