Gus Young

Who was Gus Young?

Gustav Young was a prominent civil rights leader in Baton Rouge, the Louisiana state capital. In 1932, Young was one of only three blacks in East Baton Rouge Parish to have been allowed to register to vote. He was a member of the board of directors of his local National Association for the Advancement of Colored People chapter and his city's Bi-Racial Committee.

Young was born in Zachary in East Baton Rouge Parish and educated in the segregated black schools. He earned his high school equivalency by attending classes at Humble Oil and Refining Company. He led the first voter registration drives in the Baton Rouge black community. In 1938, he founded the First Ward Voters League. He also worked to obtain street and sanitation improvements for black sections of Baton Rouge. He was a member of St. John Missionary Baptist Church and the James A. Taylor Masonic Lodge No. 78.

Gus Young Avenue in Baton Rouge is named for him. He is interred at the Gilbert Cemetery in Baton Rouge.